surveyor, when you roll credit card debt, auto loans, or medical bills into your mortgage, your are converting a short term debt into a 30 year loan, and paying 2-3 x interest on the debt because you are amortizing it over such a long time. Personally, I think that’s a bad idea.

BikeRider is correct. We never really own our homes. sdrealtor, try not paying your mortgage for a few months, or skipping out on next year’s tax bill, and you will realize the bank owns your home and the County owns the right to the land. Unless you paid off your home, it isn’t yours at all.
The closest we can come to owning a home or car is when it is completely paid off. Anyone with a mortgage holds a deed to the home, but does not own the house itself.

In the upcoming recession, many of us on this forum could lose our jobs and our homes. We will then realize the transient nature of houses and material things.

In Switzerland, people don’t usually own their homes either. It is customary to pay interest only, around 1-2%. I need to ask my family there on further details.