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Down payments are the monkey wrench here. The requirement to have a down payment means high prices basically lock people out of homeownership, period. That in t
by api 7y ago
Down payments are the monkey wrench here. The requirement to have a down payment means high prices basically lock people out of homeownership, period. That in turn limits ability to build wealth at all, even at a crappy interest rate.
- LUmBULtERA 7y agoOwning a home is not the only way to build wealth, nor is it necessarily the best way to build wealth.
- tathougies 7y agoHaving a mortgage is not a form of wealth.
- rukittenme 7y agoI put $15,000 down or 4.2% of the total loan amount.
- war1025 7y agoThe main way that owning a home allows someone to build wealth is that it forces them to put money towards something productive rather than blowing it on stupid things. My experience from buying a house two years ago is that though I suspected it, I never truly realized how many amenities were covered by my rent. I went from paying $30/month in utilities, etc. to ~$400 /month. I also now live 10 miles further away from where I work / hang out. Granted, we live in a house that is ~2x as big as our apartment, plus two car garage. But if you factored out strictly the various recurring expenses I now pay from my previous rent, it is extremely close to breaking even. And that isn't including the increased cost of owning / operating two cars that now drive ~60 more miles a day between the two of them. Our net worth increased much faster while we were renting than now that we have a house.