Land home, yes or no?

[Dsanduril]

I didn't answer the poll because we've done it both ways

Fifteen years ago we got rid of pretty much everything. Then we went back to the land life for while and bought a house. This time we've been gone three years. We (and the bank) still own that house and have it rented out. Doesn't really do more than pay for itself, but as Ken says we're at least hoping it is an appreciating asset.

[theDangerz]

Yes!
Emphatically, yes!!

When we first quit the jobs and ran away (not to sail at that point, but to move into a van and travel full time) everyone said to “sell the house- it’s just how this is done”, they said.

Didn’t feel right to us to sell, and we already looked at it as more of an investment than a “home” anyway.
Looking back... I’m SO VERY glad we did!!

We only had enough savings for what we assumed would be a year or two on the road, and I’m sure selling the house would have meant a bigger window/more security.... but at any point in between if we had decided to go back we would have been priced out of the market (way out!), and over the last 7years it has gone from us having to pay a few hundred a month to the mortgage to breaking even and now to it paying us!!

In between we returned home a few times to do improvements, to convert the garage into a bit of a “home base” for us so we can return at any point if we ever want to (while still having someone else pay the mortgage)... and now rent out both while we travel.

There is no right answer for everyone here... but for us, if we had sold the house we would have been back at home and working to afford the mortgage years ago, as where now the house is essentially paying us to travel!
It’s what we like to refer to as our “creative land use plan”