The comment section of this article saddens me a bit. People are still buying into this "it's an investment to buy a house," but when you crunch the numbers, it isn't.

The only time you can really view a mortgage as an investment is if you don't plan to live in it. If you plan to live in it, you'll be paying way more for the house than what the purchase price was, you'll pay all kinds of fees, you'll pay homeowners' insurance, you'll pay taxes yearly (sometimes substantial taxes).

And let's assume you pay it off. Now you live rent free? Wrong.

You never actually own that house you're living in and paid on for 20-30 years. Once you've paid a substantial sum to the bank (far more than what you were loaned initially), you'll forever pay the government and insurance.

If you stop paying the government, then what happens? They steal your property, sell it at a HUGE discount, then you end up with nothing and a massive loss.

So, people that view the home they purchased, and that they reside in, as an 'investment' are just drinking the kool-aid.

When you buy a house to live in, you've purchased a huge responsibility and a place that you can sink money into over time, however you'd like (unless you live in an HOA, in which case, you can't do whatever you want).

And if you buy a house in an HOA? You're an even bigger fool. Not only will you be paying the govt. forever, but the HOA as well, and you'll have two entities that can take your home, the latter being an entity that can take your home for the most arbitrary reasons.

Buying a home to live in isn't a bad idea, but don't try and justify that decision because "it's an investment," because it isn't. It's just a responsibility and you're just leasing it from the govt.