What are the biggest pros/cons of home ownership?

I Love home ownership. I do not like the upkeep, especially the yard, but it’s all well worth it. Then you have insurance premiums
to deal with. Looking forward to others’ replies.

Thanks, @Aster. So insurance and upkeep from you as cons. I need to hire a personal assistant/yard boy!

There is nothing like it. just finished paying off my mortgage and the Paid In Full paper is framed and on the wall for the world to see. owning a home is like being married to a good man or woman. as everything ages, including the mortagage, you have a thrill sensation thats really hard to describe. maybe, its like your winning horse coming around the last turn and heading for home and winning. i would never pay for something that would never belong to me. its like just burning money and nothing to show for it. buy it, love it, cherish it, your home.

I own my house and 21 acres of land. That gives me a nice bumper against my neighbors being able to mess with my peace and quiet. I have a nice set of woods I can wonder in less than 200 feet from my house. Plus, I have gained quite a lot of equity even in this market.
Downside: Taxes. Here in NY my taxes will be about $4000 this year. My insurance isn’t to bad, it’s a fairly new house. Upkeep is a little bit of a pain, but being less than 20 years old, not to expensive. Heating in the winter’s a pain, but again not to bad. Probably around $1500 to $2000 depending on the winter. Owning means I’m responsible for everything that goes on with the house. There’s no landlord to call when something needs to be fixed.
Overall I would recommend it. Edit: I forgot the nicest thing of all. It’s home. At the end of a day or first thing on a weekend I’m home. I’m not in someone else’s building they’re renting to me.

Pros: You build equity and you own your domain.

Cons: Home maintenance is a never ending job.

Pros: What they all said.
Cons: Not having stuff fixed with one call to a landlord.

@Adirondackwannabe Your place sounds exactly what I’d love to own. I did at one time.

Pros:I love the location and the nature. That’s extremely rare with a rental.
Cons: Isn’t one on this issue.

Pros: It’s a good investment. And you can do anything with it that you want without having to ask someone’s permission.
Cons: You have to upkeep the house at your own expense, which could be pricy depending on what broke.
I think those are the most important pros and cons for me, that i can think of off the top of my head.

Pros: you get a place that you can call your own, and you can make changes to make it reflect you.

Cons: Some say the largest investment most of make in our lifetime is our home. The second largest investment is actually the mortgage itself. According to some calculations I made using this site, for a $300,000 house with a 30 year mortgage at 4.0% fixed rate, you would pay $251,543.27 in interest, That does not include things like insurance, property taxes, other fees (such as HOA fees) that you are responsible for. Sometimes some of all of these fees are rolled into the monthly payment by the mortgagor, bringing the monthly payment up considerably.

Wow, it’s been almost 3 years! I did not end up buying the home, but am back to thinking about home ownership. I appreciate you guys.