Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

> > > I can think of instances where this would not be true, for instance,
> > where the minimally available space might better serve for sleeping
> > room or for making a living sufficient to buy clothing, etc.
>
> If someone were so infirmed that they could not grow a garden, that  
> would be
> lamentable, but it wouldn't mean that lack of garden is a good thing.
> Likewise if one had so small a space at their disposal that it was a  
> choice between
> sleeping there or growing vegetables there, that's very bad, very  
> much a pity.
> But finding oneself in those circumstances is the bad thing, a  
> garden isn't.

Point well made and well taken.
> > > I disagree sharply with this notion. Used prudently, debt to buy  
> > > real
> > property or to pay for a good education is very worthwhile.
> > >
> And my view would again be, but what a pity!  Debt is thus viewed as  
> a normal
> course of human events, inevitable if you are ever going to have  
> anything.
> But this is a lamentable view.  For example, I bought this present  
> farmstead
> when I was 36, and then built a house on it (along with road,  
> septic, etc) and
> it never carried a mortgage.  I borrowed no money.  Neither did the  
> pieces of
> real estate whose sale helped buy it and build it.  I bought those  
> without
> mortgages too, the first one when I was 25.  It can be done if one  
> does not buy
> into the paradigm that debt is either good or inevitable.

And good for you and I wish more young people would do likewise. They  
won't, I think, until someone somehow burns it into their brains. How  
many young folks have you convinced to follow your example?

And were your early real estate purchases worth the same when you sold  
them as when you bought them? I suspect not. If not, what was their  
rate of appreciation?

I bought the first ninety acres here with ten thousand down and a  
local bank loan for the balance. I made payments on that loan while  
continuing my urban life, which included making payments on homes.  
Without a loan I could not have bought this land. My brother says it  
is the best thing I have ever done. Considering all the mistakes I  
have made, I cannot disagree. I have never regretted borrowing that  
purchase money.
> As far as education goes, the type of 'education' that is for sale  
> is rapidly
> fading in worth in the modern world.

Perhaps in some cases. But note that we now have a minority race man  
who may become our next president who used student loans to get an  
education not otherwise available to him. His wife did so, also. He  
would have never attained sufficient status to make a credible run for  
the presidency had he not gotten that education. Student loans made it  
possible. Borrowing that money was prudent; it was an investment in  
his future life.