5 ms·
It’s relative on how you define wealth really - ability to provide stability in the form of a mortgage, or amount of money you make. I feel like in SF or any b
by taurath 8y ago
It’s relative on how you define wealth really - ability to provide stability in the form of a mortgage, or amount of money you make.
I feel like in SF or any big expensive city owning a home is not something for the middle or upper middle class - there’s a point that no matter how many brunches or vacations you can take, you can’t trade them for a house except in an area where you’ll be basically going down in economic and social class (live out in Tracy or something, have a 2 hour one way commute, far fewer vacations etc). The trade off for that “stability” isn’t one that a lot of people currently renting think is a good deal. IMO the best way to do it is keep on renting while putting as much money in investments and retirement funds as one can, with the idea of retiring somewhere else, or only buying if you get a windfall.
But I’m terms of lifestyle, those in that 9.9% have a far richer one than the rest, but they don’t have the long term security of owning their own home.
- jacob019 8y agoOwning a home is overrated, it owns you.
- hndamien 8y agoDepends how big the home is.
- LyndsySimon 8y agoRelative to your income. My home was about $120k. It’s easily affordable on a tech industry salary. The median household income in my county is under $30k...
- hndamien 8y agoAhh, so you mean the debt owns you, not the house per se.
- LyndsySimon 8y agoIs this just a general comment about mortgages? As it stands, my mortgage is significantly less than most people's as a proportion of my income.
- AnimalMuppet 8y agoI'm not jacob019, who originally made the comment, but as I understand it, the point was not the debt. The point was the maintenance. When the basement floods, it's my problem, not the landlords. When the attic fan fails (I was surprised that attics had fans), it's my problem. When the driveway concrete starts to buckle, it's my problem. In that sense, the house owns you, not the other way around.
- geebee 8y agoThe problem is, renting often ends up owning you too. I'm no stranger to the anxiety of leaky pipes, dry rot, flooded garages, water damage, crazy people you can't easily more away from. On the other hand, I know people who have had to move a few times now because their rent keeps getting jacked up. Single family houses, as well as apartments in many Bay Area cities, aren't rent controlled, so you never know when you're going to be looking at a huge rent increase. Choose your poison.