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Here we go again, concluding we shouldn't buy houses because we won't make money from it.
by foobarian 11y ago
Here we go again, concluding we shouldn't buy houses because we won't make money from it.
- lechevalierd3on 11y agoYeah because renting makes you rich right?
- gcarre 11y agoThe article isn't about buying vs renting. It's about buying real estate in the Bay Area as an investment. The bottom line is that if you have money to invest you should invest it in something else because it's too risky right now, especially if you are already exposed to the risk by working in tech in the Bay Area.
- abcampbell 11y agoYes, this is what I am saying.
- chillydawg 11y agoDepends if you have something better to do with the deposit you would otherwise give to a bank for the permission to rent from them. Personally, renting is better value than buying for me, even given london house prices.
- sliverstorm 11y agoReally I don't understand why anyone buys or rents, both seem risky and fraught with expenses.
- beatpanda 11y agoBecause most cities in the U.S. are trying their hardest to make it illegal not to, in yet another move to subsidize the profits of land owners.
- sliverstorm 11y agoI was attempting to humorously hint at the fact that everyone needs somewhere to live, and that's the chief function of your house or apartment. It's like we forget about that sometimes.
- beatpanda 11y agoI get that you were joking, but this really is no joke. In California we're currently trying to get an affirmative right to sleep written into our laws, and we've failed to advance it two years in a row. And in the meantime cities in the U.S. are working really, really hard to find new and innovative ways to make it illegal to not pay rent or a mortgage. It's true that everyone needs somewhere to live, and I really, sincerely think that public land should act as a fallback. Currently, the fallback is jail, and that isn't working.
- abcampbell 11y agoI don't think you are hearing the argument if this is your synthesis. The article is saying that from an investment perspective it doesn't make sense to buy a house in SF right now if you work in tech. It's not saying you shouldn't in general. If you derive a ton of value from buying a house, buy a house, just understand the risks of doing it, and buy less house so that if it goes down and you lose your tech job, it's not ruinous.