Rebuttal to Counter Argument, "Visualize student home ownership"

This is the email I sent in response to the communication below,
respectfully defending my ideas in "Visualize student home
ownership."
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Dear [name deleted]

Those are some really great challenges to my thinking. You
should write an opinion piece and send it to fzerr@mndaily.com

However, when it comes to paying rent and getting nothing
permanent, versus paying the same exact amount of money,
and having equity, I think equity is to be preferred.

There is also an emerging trend of parents buying a second home for their
offspring to use in college, so money for rent isn't just flushed
(as it were) down the metaphorical toilet.

By the way, the logic of your reasoning isn't THAT hard to
turn on itself. You said you knew "one or two" people in college who
were responsible enough for home ownership. But, clearly,
you didn't know the WHOLE COLLEGE. So if you
knew one or two from your circle of friends, then there is a
certain percentage of "responsible enough" folks which
adds up to a lot of people at a campus as big as this
one.

Also, note my pointed mention of GRAD STUDENTS. The grad
student world is much different than the undergrad world.
Actually, I know a grad student who has an arrangement
like this, and it WORKS. Thanks for reminding me...I
need to go show the column to him and see if it spurs
him to write anything. (He works right downstairs)

Also, age makes all of us look back and cringe at our
immaturity. But 18-year-olds can buy a firearm, have
a child, join the military...shudder to think, huh?

I think buying a house is less of a commitment than
having a child. Banks will take back a house on
foreclosure...but a child is a real commitment.

Also, please note this column is written as a reflection
of current real estate market conditions, which are
an extraordinary buyer's market.

We may still disagree, but thanks for reading me and
thinking about what I said.