Owning vs. Renting in Hudson

I used to always like reading websites about "buying a home vs. renting."  These sites and blogs are usually pro/con lists, weighing things like having to shovel your own snow against not being able to paint... and then there's the financial side of things!  I always tell my students that you will always be able to find websites that say your idea is right, and it's true in the buy vs. rent debate as well.  If you think renting is better, you'll find someone else who says so, and if you want to own a home, there's plenty of sites that want to talk you into it.

I've come back to these sites, now that I do own a home.  I think for me, owning is right, not just because of not having a landlord and being able to do my own thing. Here's a few more reasons: 

1. For me, the concept of "my place" carries a lot of weight.  Times are tough, yes, but the idea of it being my place, my space, mine to maintain or let go, really matters a lot to me.  There are very few things in life that are yours, and a home is one of those things! 

2. Owning in Hudson, too, is pretty exciting!  Hudson has status in other Wisconsin towns.  If you live in Hudson, people in your life know you live somewhere beautiful.

3. I'm not the handiest person in the world, but between the internet and "do-it-yourself" type books, I'm generally getting by!  Nothing too overwhelming yet (keeps fingers crossed!).

4. No more landlord issues! I can definitely say I've never lived under a landlord and been happy with how things went.  My experiences have ranged from landlords giving permission to do something and then later saying they didn't, to the inevitable hitting you with every possible charge when you move out.

Now, with those opinions out there, I'd love to see some good responses, like there was with the political articles that were so popular.  Almost everyone reading this either owns or rents, so here's a few questions to get those fingers moving!

1. Do you own or rent?  Did you consider the "owning vs. renting" pros and cons, or is it just kind of what you fell into?

2. If you rent, what is keeping you from owning?

3. Does anyone rent because they no longer buy into the idea that owning is better?

4. Homeowners: is owning all it's cracked up to be?  What do you like about owning your home?

5. Renters: what do you like about renting?  It's weird -- when I rented, I liked renting, and whenever I've owned, I liked owning.  Are we all just happy where we are, maybe?