I posted my views on another blog, but I’ll restate them here…

I bought my house for shelter. Not for an investment. Not for a tax shelter…. but shelter for my family in the form of a roof. I’m 6 years into a 15 year mortgage and so my deduction is shrinking every year. My goal is to have a house that I own outright – no mortgage payments. Obviously – the longer I pay into the mortgage, the less interest, more principal I pay.

Unless you refinance frequently – that’s true for most of us… interest deductions go away over time.

If they give me the deduction, great… I’ll take it. But it was not a deciding factor on whether to buy a house. Long term stability was.

I don’t think I’m that unusual in my attitudes… well maybe in California I am… no one seems to pay off their mortgage out here… but my attitude is shared among my friends in other parts of the country.