Why would someone choose to get a mortgage if they could just pay for the house in cash??

Well there are several points involved. 1. It might put them into a category that they can take Schedule A tax deductions and save on taxes. 2. You can't buy groceries, etc. with the equity in your home. Unless you have ample funds to support yourself, including any emergency condition, after paying cash for a house, it could be a dangerous financial move. 3. History has proven that the stock market increases in value much faster than homes in most markets, especially Michigan. The best financial move can often be to put 20%-25% down on a home and invest the difference to maximize your monetary value. The house will still appreciate in value regardless of whether there is a mortgage or not, as the balance of the mortgage goes down. 4. If you pay cash for a house and then have a financial reversal and need to get your cash back out of the house, you usually won't qualify to do that and your equity can only be obtained by selling the property. If you are over 62 you can do it with a reverse mortgage which will only access a small portion of the equity and have high interest rates and fees. I have had several people in this situation that certainly regretted having all of their funds tied up in their house.