As a renter you have a tax deduction. It is called the standard deduction.
“Even if it loses half its value, wouldn’t that be better than not having a tax deduction?”
Only the interest can be deducted which, for the first year, is about $1200 a month for 120K at 12%. At the most the tax deduction is $550 (If you are in a high tax bracket of 35%). Of course you cannot claim the standard deduction anymore which would be about $300 a month for the same tax bracket. Net tax deduction $550-$300= $250
Let say it looses half it’s value in 5 years and it is now worth $60,000:
