Editing Owner-occupancy (section)

== Pros and cons ==
Home ownership gives occupants the right to modify the building and land as they please (subject to government, [[homeowner association]], and deed restrictions), protects them from [[eviction]], and creates a right to occupation which can be inherited. In some jurisdictions, it also confers certain legal rights with regard to [[abutter|abutters]].

Houses and the land they sit on are expensive, and the combination of monthly [[mortgage loan|mortgage]], insurance, maintenance and repairs, and property tax payments are sometimes greater than monthly rental costs.  Buildings may also gain and lose substantial value due to real estate market fluctuations, and selling a property can take a long time, depending on market conditions.  This can make home ownership more constraining if the homeowner intends to move at a future date. Some home owners see their purchase as an investment and intend to sell or to rent the property after renovating or letting the house appreciate in value (known as [[flipping]] if done quickly).

Due to the fact that homeowners have a financial stake in their homes, being a homeowner is an economically efficient course of action.
In order to improve their physical and mental well-being as well as their level of life satisfaction, they have a motivation to preserve or raise the value of their properties. Conversely, renters are incentivized to view local issues through a narrow lens, could be unmotivated to participate in civic life, and could see themselves as having little social utility.<ref> (2015) Generation X and Y’s demand for homeownership in Hong Kong, Pacific Rim Property Research Journal, 21:1, 15-36, DOI:10.1080/14445921.2015.1026195</ref> Compared to [[Renting|renters]] and absentee landlords, owner-occupiers are sometimes seen as more responsible toward property maintenance and community concerns, since they are more directly affected.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100961300 The Advantages of Renting]</ref>

Traditionally, home ownership has been encouraged by governments in Western countries (especially [[English-speaking countries]]) because it was thought to help people acquire wealth, to encourage savings, and promote [[civic engagement]]. However, the housing market crash of 2008 in most of the English-speaking world has caused academic and policy-makers to question this logic.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.economist.com/node/13491933 | newspaper=The Economist | title=Shelter, or burden? | date=2009-04-16}}</ref>