Two numbers that show how badly America’s middle class is hurting

[bshole]

Oh yeah, an asset that appreciates at roughly the rate of inflation in a stable market and needs constant cash infusions just to maintain its value is a phenomenal investment. Your business acumen is legendary!

Yea but it also gives you a place to live at the same time. It is dual purpose. Rent for 30 years and you have nothing to show for it. Own for 30 years and you have a $250K asset that you can now tap for your golden years. No-brainer really.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Yea but it also gives you a place to live at the same time. It is dual purpose. Rent for 30 years and you have nothing to show for it. Own for 30 years and you have a $250K asset that you can now tap for your golden years. No-brainer really.

Yeah, that's my philosophy as well. First and foremost, my house is a place to live. After paying off my mortgage, I can sell and put that money towards a smaller place for retirement and have money left over.

 

[Exterous]

Yea but it also gives you a place to live at the same time. It is dual purpose. Rent for 30 years and you have nothing to show for it. Own for 30 years and you have a $250K asset that you can now tap for your golden years. No-brainer really.

Again - that completely depends on the cost of renting being roughly equal to or more than a mortgage payment. There are plenty of places where this is not the case. This could easily be rent for 30 years and have $750,000 more than you would if you owned a home

 

[bshole]

Again - that completely depends on the cost of renting being roughly equal to or more than a mortgage payment. There are plenty of places where this is not the case. This could easily be rent for 30 years and have $750,000 more than you would if you owned a home

Yea actually rent is generally HIGHER by about 20% than what it costs to own. Go to zillow, pick a house, used the zestimate for rent and to own, assume 10% down and do the math.

The monthly payment on my new house is 840/month while the rent zestimate is 1430/month. I have setup to make double payments and I should have it paid off in 5 years. Another benefit is that all my neighbors are owners like myself. Communities of owners are generally much nicer places to live than communities of renters. So the extra benefit is quality of life which is not easily quantifiable.

 

[Exterous]

Yea actually rent is generally HIGHER by about 20% than what it costs to own. Go to zillow, pick a house, used the zestimate for rent and to own, assume 10% down and do the math.

I bolded an important statement in your post. I would encourage you to read the thread because I already 'did the math' using a real world example and it came out heavily against your claim. Your specific case may hold true but I hope you aren't stupid enough to think that a few examples can be used to cover the entire country with a blanket buy>rent statement

Another part of your problem is that you assume you would rent the same house you bought. I am pretty sure that you had more options than 1 when renting or buying