O for Ownership

Ownership: Have you ever heard that “To own a thing is a burden”? If you have nothing to lose, you have nothing to worry. Nowadays, more and more people choose to buy a house rather than to rent. This is not just about ownership, but also in consideration of the rising home value. People seldom expect that their own houses will become negative assets one day. Lots of people have suffered from the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. I remembered my husband has once said that (before the crisis), the house value has increased to a rate that similar of buying a rice cooker at $3,000 back in 1997 in Hong Kong, which a normal person will not do it. Many owners going bankrupt after July 1997; they bought their houses at the tip of the dropping zone.