Don't try and turn this into a ridiculous class war statement on me. Am I a homeowner? Yes. I've literally only been a homeowner for 13 months. Before that, I rented for over 26 years. Most of my friends still rent.
The idea that renters simply have a prefer rent is absurd and I was attempting to be charitable in that you might be socially removed from this reality. What is your excuse for this absurdity, then?
And yes, there are people who choose to rent - some choose the motility, some choose to invest over mortgage and some choose to remain renters for the reasons stated in the start of this very comment thread. Don't pretend otherwise.
These are almost all misunderstandings of basic finance, not informed preferences. False consciousness, if you will. There are a handful of people who live in a place for a year or two and should rent, sure. This is very few people outside of maybe college students. Choosing to "invest over mortgage" means you think you'll be netting 100% returns every year. This is for delusional climbers that think they will beat the market or the financially incompetent. Luckily, very few people do this. In the real world, people rent because they cannot get a mortgage (yet). They are economically coerced by not having a sufficient down payment nor financial security to get a loan from the housing brokers - banks.
You're still acting like loan debt repayments and a rental payment are the same thing.
No I'm not.
In short: I don't care how badly you want to be a pontificating chud
I don't think you know what a chud is.
A bank does not legally own a house under mortgage.
Legality is an incomplete analysis of the relationship of ownership. Cool, you have mortgage. What percentage of your total payment goes to a bank? What happens if you fail to pay for a year or two?
Rent and loan repayments are not the same thing.
They are similar in this circumstance for the reasons I have provided. Feel free to address them directly if you would like to.