Owning The Hood

"Ownership" is a thing whose value is sometimes overrated.
Take rental property as an example.
Let's say that you own a neighborhood outright and have a sense of empathy towards your tenants.
Let's say that you decide to charge one or two hundred dollars a month in rent (or no rent in cases of extreme hardship) to people who are having a hard time getting ahead in life.

Regardless of the town, county or state - there are costs associated with owning property.
Taxes (even on the most humble homes - and even when the properties are listed in other peoples names to take advantage of the state's lenient Homestead Tax Discounts.), insurance and repair/maintenance costs would dictate that the usual rent would be closer to five hundred dollars a month [$3,000 ownership costs ($1,500 taxes, $800 insurance and $700 yearly repair/maintenance costs) divided by twelve ($250) and then doubled ($500)].
So, if you charge $200 a month - you are paying $600 a year for someone to live in your homes.
At $100 a month - you are paying $1,800 a year for someone to live in your homes.

Now let's say that a hurricane comes along and does about $4,000 in damage to most of your houses.
The tenants receive financial aid from FEMA, The Red Cross and local charities.
The owner is stuck to make repairs from his own pocket, because there is a $5,000 deductible on each insurance policy.
(Or because the insurance companies are so financially obligated to so many people - they decide to disallow many of the items for which your policy states you are covered.)
Since too much property is owned - FEMA the SBA and other agencies decide that the owner has the resources to make any repairs on his own and decline to offer any assistance.
But the properties must be repaired to be able to charge any tenant any amount of rent.

So who is better off?
The renter - who has no responsibility but who qualifies for financial aid.
Or the owner - who has all of the responsibility but is stuck paying money after the storm?

If someone advises you to "Own" your house - think about it - you may be better off renting.