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Is home ownership a 'right' or a 'privilege'?

Is home ownership a 'right' or a 'privilege'?

  • Right

    Votes: 7 22.6%
  • Privilege

    Votes: 18 58.1%
  • Unsure

    Votes: 6 19.4%

  • Total voters
    31

DA60

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Is home ownership a 'right' or a 'privilege'?










Jeez...hopefully THIS time I got this poll right.
 
Are you good with this one or do you want to give a few more tries?

P.S. You left out neither.
 
Is home ownership a 'right' or a 'privilege'?

Jeez...hopefully THIS time I got this poll right.



The "right to own a home" is a privilege granted to those who can pay for it.
 
I got one dollar. Gime my rights!
 
Are you good with this one or do you want to give a few more tries?

P.S. You left out neither.

Nah...I will leave this as is.
 
Last edited:
Not a right and not a privilege.

It is an "Option," perhaps a metaphor of a dream.

Property taxes come first. If you own property and don't pay the taxes, the owner takes the property, so, at best, it compares poorly to a mortgage, except a mortgage has a final payment and property taxes are forever.
 
Neither. It is something that you can do with your money if you have enough. No rights or privileges involved.
 
Is home ownership a 'right' or a 'privilege'?
Hmm so either it's a right and everyone's entitled to their ObamaHouse, or it's a privilege and the state can just take it if you own a gun or make a politically incorrect statement in public. Hmmm decisions decisions.
 
It's a right in the same way that owning a gun is a right. If you have the means, you can, but the government is not obliged to give you one for free.
 
Hmm so either it's a right and everyone's entitled to their ObamaHouse, or it's a privilege and the state can just take it if you own a gun or make a politically incorrect statement in public. Hmmm decisions decisions.

Well since owning a gun is guaranteed by the Constitution, where's my ObamaGun? Or BushGun for that matter, shouldn't he have been handing them out on street corners too?
 
Is home ownership a 'right' or a 'privilege'?

It is a right if you can afford it. One of the little thought things that make this country great is... A deed i.e. the right to own property. Investigate property "ownership" in other countries You may be surprised. Often, "ownership" in other countries is nothing more than a life estate or 99 year lease.

Try "DuckDuckgo.com" and investigate...:mrgreen:

Thom Paine

Have fun
 
If you can pay the bills, yes.

It will be a nice day to see people have the right to a comfortable and clean home by default. But, we're not there yet.
 
Well since owning a gun is guaranteed by the Constitution, where's my ObamaGun? Or BushGun for that matter, shouldn't he have been handing them out on street corners too?
Using the logic behind health coverage....

The government is required by the constitution to provide a personal firearm to every citizen.
US Constitution: Article 1, Section 8

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;......

....To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;....

The fact that the government does not provide personal firearms to citizens is a human rights violation.
 
It's as much a "right" as buying anything else on the open market.
 
Though I checked 'privilege' it is an earned privilege that anybody has a 'right' to, if they can pay for it.
 
You have a right to seek shelter, up to and including a home. You don't have a right to HAVE shelter provided for you.

Without a clear constitutional purpose, the government does not (or should not) have the power to bar you from seeking that shelter.
 
Using the logic behind health coverage....

The government is required by the constitution to provide a personal firearm to every citizen.

The fact that the government does not provide personal firearms to citizens is a human rights violation.

Great, I'm expecting the Republican party to pull up to my door with a free gun then. I'll need that to shoot anybody that comes on my property ...well, after that time.
 
Great, I'm expecting the Republican party to pull up to my door with a free gun then. I'll need that to shoot anybody that comes on my property ...well, after that time.
I'll come over and wait with you. We can have a BBQ. I'm thinking salmon and steak cabobs with whole roasted onions and mushrooms, roasted cheese-filled jalapenos. Cold baby tomatoes with pepper.
 
I'll come over and wait with you. We can have a BBQ. I'm thinking salmon and steak cabobs with whole roasted onions and mushrooms, roasted cheese-filled jalapenos. Cold baby tomatoes with pepper.

I can't eat mushrooms, but otherwise I'm on board. You'll have to bring some warmer weather if we're going to have a BBQ though.
 
I can't eat mushrooms, but otherwise I'm on board. You'll have to bring some warmer weather if we're going to have a BBQ though.
I'm from South Dakota, we BBQ in the snow if we have to. It keeps the beer cold.
 
You forgot the option, "Enormous sinkhole of time and money that is generally a tremendous pain in the ass".

Seriously though, whether or not it's a right depends on what you mean.

In the sense that I believe that anyone who is financially qualified to buy a home should be able to buy whatever home they can afford regardless of race, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status & etc... then I guess yes, in a sense, it's a right.

In respect to whether or not everyone is entitled to own a house by simple virtue of the fact that they exist and the implied obligation of society to provide them with that house in the event that they're unable to afford it, no, nobody has that right.

I can also see where home ownership is a privileged to the extent that the means to purchase a home are frequently contingent upon a lender's willingness to lend the money necessary to buy the house.

In a perfect world the only consideration in a lenders calculations as to whether or not a particular individual deserves the privilege of being extended a loan should be the lendee's ability to repay the loan (calculated as a function of cash on hand, income, and credit history).

Given what we know about the mortgage lending industry's use of "redlining" it's clear that credit worthiness is not always the only consideration where lending is concerned.

Since the Fair Housing Act of 1968 makes "redlining" on the basis of race, religion, age, gender, marital status & etc.. (no mention of sexual orientation here) illegal I think that goes back to the point I made above about home ownership being a right (provided the necessary conditions in respect to being able to purchase the asset are met).
 
You forgot the option, "Enormous sinkhole of time and money that is generally a tremendous pain in the ass".

Seriously though, whether or not it's a right depends on what you mean.

In the sense that I believe that anyone who is financially qualified to buy a home should be able to buy whatever home they can afford regardless of race, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status & etc... then I guess yes, in a sense, it's a right.

In respect to whether or not everyone is entitled to own a house by simple virtue of the fact that they exist and the implied obligation of society to provide them with that house in the event that they're unable to afford it, no, nobody has that right.

I can also see where home ownership is a privileged to the extent that the means to purchase a home are frequently contingent upon a lender's willingness to lend the money necessary to buy the house.

In a perfect world the only consideration in a lenders calculations as to whether or not a particular individual deserves the privilege of being extended a loan should be the lendee's ability to repay the loan (calculated as a function of cash on hand, income, and credit history).

Given what we know about the mortgage lending industry's use of "redlining" it's clear that credit worthiness is not always the only consideration where lending is concerned.

Since the Fair Housing Act of 1968 makes "redlining" on the basis of race, religion, age, gender, marital status & etc.. (no mention of sexual orientation here) illegal I think that goes back to the point I made above about home ownership being a right (provided the necessary conditions in respect to being able to purchase the asset are met).


My parents bought a house back in the mid 90's. Ten years later, after they retired and were budgeting their expenses/income, they asked me if I wanted the house as an inheritance or could they get a reverse mortgage and live their final years, payment free? I knew the house was not built like the homes of the previous decades, with quality materials, designed to last many decades. So, I told them to get the reverse mortgage and I was right.

After mom passed in 2012, the house was in need of $50K minimum of structural repairs from roofing (ceramic tile), pool and driveway resurfacing, new air conditioner/heater, termite damage in the walls, massive tree removal, painting, carpet/flooring, appliances, etc. And from the financing, it was owed as much as it was worth, not factoring in you pay $1000's a year in property taxes, home owners insurance and association fees. Pool, pesticide, lawn care, repairs all add up annually. It's a money pit that increases with time.

A trailer on some cheap lot, with paid utilities is the way retire.
 
Someone thinking home ownership was a right was the reason the housing market crashed.
 
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