If you invested the significant sums of money that you would be saving by renting, this money alone over 30 years would be enough that the income from Treasury Bills could cover your rent for the remainder of your life.
The benefits of owning a house are social and lifestyle benefits.
Probably the dumbest statistic I always hear quoted is that homeowners have a greater net worth than renters. Breaking news: people with more money can pay for more expensive things. 🙄
My story which was rocky at times but at the end of the day worked out for me but not entirely for my children,
I bought my home 22 years ago back when I had very little money and our combined family (family of 4) income was around 50k. It was very much a fixer upper house that had many issues but in a desirable area we purchased for 120k.
Once it had enough equity around 2006-07 I took out a loan against it and replaced just about everything and doubled the size of the house with an addition. I added 1500 square feet and fixed up the existing portion for 100k. The only parts I had done by others was the foundation, the external framing, and roof for the new addition so I could get it weather tight and do the rest of the work myself which took me around six years to do. I learned how to do the plumbing and electrical from a Good Housekeeping handyman book. I could not afford to have done it otherwise.
Recently I took a line of credit against the house to help fund our kid's education. They are through college and we owe 80K on that.
So, right now as I stand I owe around 300k against a house that is now valued at 900k. I pay $2200 per month for the mortgage, taxes, and insurance combined. Rents in my area are higher than that.
A power move I could make right now is to sell out and rent until the housing market drops and then buy back in with no mortgage, but I like my house too much so I don't want to do that.
It was not always easy. When I lost my job in 2008 and my wife was not working it was difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel with two aging kids that wanted to go to college in a few years.
My kids are not in a position to buy right now and it is not looking great as interest rates will continue to rise even if house prices go down.
You’ve been in your house 22 years and still owe 300 thousand people it? That’s just crazy. You didn’t have financial difficulties in 2008 because you lost your job, you had financial difficulties because you doubled your mortgage right before losing your job. And then you didn’t learn your lesson and did the same thing again to put your kids through college. If you ever want to retire: stop adding to your mortgage. Pay it off.
To all the boomers yelling about how they EARNED their house: yes, you did, congrats.
But, since then, there has been a striking lack of development in productive cities and suburbs – constricting supply and driving up prices. Many current homeowners enthusiastically support restrictive zoning and other policies that enhance their house value by limiting competition. These people are knowingly thieving from their children by using the government to monopolize land for themselves.
Sure, many of you have benefited passively from this hollowing of individual property rights and collectivist rent seeking, but you still have indirectly looted from your children. Ignorance does not excuse you. Now, go to your local zoning board meeting and do some penance. Encourage them to approve that 4-plex a few blocks away, no matter how terrifying it may be.
My story which was rocky at times but at the end of the day worked out for me but not entirely for my children,
I bought my home 22 years ago back when I had very little money and our combined family (family of 4) income was around 50k. It was very much a fixer upper house that had many issues but in a desirable area we purchased for 120k.
Once it had enough equity around 2006-07 I took out a loan against it and replaced just about everything and doubled the size of the house with an addition. I added 1500 square feet and fixed up the existing portion for 100k. The only parts I had done by others was the foundation, the external framing, and roof for the new addition so I could get it weather tight and do the rest of the work myself which took me around six years to do. I learned how to do the plumbing and electrical from a Good Housekeeping handyman book. I could not afford to have done it otherwise.
Recently I took a line of credit against the house to help fund our kid's education. They are through college and we owe 80K on that.
So, right now as I stand I owe around 300k against a house that is now valued at 900k. I pay $2200 per month for the mortgage, taxes, and insurance combined. Rents in my area are higher than that.
A power move I could make right now is to sell out and rent until the housing market drops and then buy back in with no mortgage, but I like my house too much so I don't want to do that.
It was not always easy. When I lost my job in 2008 and my wife was not working it was difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel with two aging kids that wanted to go to college in a few years.
My kids are not in a position to buy right now and it is not looking great as interest rates will continue to rise even if house prices go down.
You’ve been in your house 22 years and still owe 300 thousand people it? That’s just crazy. You didn’t have financial difficulties in 2008 because you lost your job, you had financial difficulties because you doubled your mortgage right before losing your job. And then you didn’t learn your lesson and did the same thing again to put your kids through college. If you ever want to retire: stop adding to your mortgage. Pay it off.
Is it difficult to understand that having no income can lead to financial problems?
I doubled my mortgage increasing the size of my home 100% and putting my children through college with equity.
My house is now worth 900k and I owe 300k on it. My interest rate on the mortgage is 3.5%.
I can easily make more than 3.5% with the money you would have me paying the mortgage off with. Why would I ever want to do that? I went through some tough times, but I listened and learned from those that gave me solid financial advice.