Housing Bubble 2: Return of the Ugly

Christ dude do you think before you post, or do you think only renters get raises?

Let me try to make it simple enough for you to understand.

You and I have the same job, make the same money, and have the same non-housing expenses.

We moved into the same neighborhood, right next door, identical houses.

Accounting for mortgage, tax, insurance, amortized maintenance expenses, and tax breaks I pay 5k a month with nothing left over.

Your rent is 4.5k giving you an extra $500 to save.

$500 more than me.

Next year, we get the same raises and after inflation of non-housing expenses we have $200 extra.

My property taxes and insurance went up $100. Now I have $100 to save.

Your rent went up $300. Now you have $400 to save.

Only $300 more than me.

Do I really need to do every year for the next 20 years for you to get it?

Your extra savings will evaporate after just a few years and the tables will turn. And several years later, maybe a little over a decade, my brokerage balance will beat yours, even including capital gains and you investing what would have been a down payment. And that's without even mentioning equity. After 20 years I could light a match, burn the house to the ground, and walk away without a penny and still have a fatter brokerage account than you.

The guy two doors down from me is paying around $40k more in rent every year than my ownership expenses.

Next year when my mortgage is done it'll be closer to $90k and only go up from there for the rest of my life.

All because 19 years ago I put 5% down and spent 3-5 years paying a little more than my renting neighbors. Putting that money in my brokerage with the rest of my non-tax advantaged savings wouldn't even come close to the money I've already saved once rent exceed my expenses, forget about it paying the difference between rent and ownership expenses for the rest of my life.

Your missing the point when you talk about appreciation in home values. The paper value of a home with no mortgage is irrelevant to the person living in it. Unless they downsize, that only matters to their heirs. The value to the owner is spending the rest of their life paying peanuts for housing. And paying less than rent a few to several years after purchasing, depending on the specifics of the mortgage and the initial condition of the home.

I'm pretty sure you're engaging in an exercise in creative writing, possibly fueled by sour grapes. But just in case you're serious, I'll say one more thing. And I hope you take it in the spirit it's intended, sincere concern. I'm sorry, there's no nice way to say this.

You are financially illiterate.

Don't feel too bad, you have lots of company.

If you have any disposable income, or think you will in the future, please, for your own sake and for any impressionable ignorant people you talk to; stop googling for things to support your misconceptions and repeating things you read on Reddit written by some other clueless individual, and find a way to get a decent education in personal finance.