It seems that every time I turn on the TV or look at a newspaper, people are bemoaning the fact that there is a “housing shortage.”
The dream of homeownership is just that: a dream. Very few houses are available to buy. The cost of owning your own house is astronomical. Interest rates are outrageous. And scraping together enough money for a down payment is nearly impossible.
Many looking to live in a house are renting instead of buying. It’s like living in an apartment in that you are not earning equity but paying big money corporations an “investment” year after year and having nothing to show for it.
I am constantly being asked if I would like to sell my house, or the house that my parents left. A week does not go by without one of these “happy to buy your home buyers” (aka “vultures”) asking me to take the easy “cash payment” and say good-bye to another member of the neighborhood.
So, the next time you see an ad for a “fast and easy” way to sell your home to these vultures of big business, think twice. Are you making the rich richer at the expense of young, first-time buyers whose dream of owning a home is practically unattainable?
Taking the easy way out is very tempting. It’s a tough decision, but think of your children or grandchildren. What will they have to pass on to their children? A house with equity or rental receipts?
Tom Ratkowski, Milwaukee
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Will you leave your kids a home with equity or rent receipts? | Letter
Reporting by Letters to the Editor, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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