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There is no other asset I can own that alleviates the financial burden of burning nearly half of my take-home pay in perpetuity to fund some rich landlord's bea

There is no other asset I can own that alleviates the financial burden of burning nearly half of my take-home pay in perpetuity to fund some rich landlord's beach vacations.

xur17 5y ago
But it doesn't remove that financial burden entirely (or even close to entirely). You're still paying: * opportunity cost * property taxes * interest
- jurassic 5y ago
  You're paying many of these things in a rental as well. But at the end of 30 years the landlord keeps the asset.
  - refurb 5y ago
    I was living in a place in SF that would have cost me 3x to purchase versus my rent. I could take the leftover and invest in other assets. I'm actually ahead of where I would be had I owned since condos have dropped in SF with Covid.
  - bumby 5y ago
    If someone is well-off enough to be in a position to choose, renting is essentially paying a premium for freedom of movement. Used smartly, this can be an avenue to dramatically increase earnings over time because in today’s economy switching jobs is one of the faster ways to increase wages. While previous generations may not have had that problem, I think it changes the own/rent calculus for younger people.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
bumby 5y ago
If you’re spending that large of a percentage on housing you’re already running against most prudent financial advice and probably shouldn’t be thinking of housing as an investment asset
- willis936 5y ago
  I live in the real world, not the fantasy one they haves think exist. I understand where you're coming from though. You wouldn't want social mobility to become the norm.
  - bumby 5y ago
    You may want to revisit the HN guidelines. With that aside, I absolutely do want to foster social mobility. I actually think it’s still possible but probably not in the dream-world way many people think where it comes completely on their own terms. In most cases, it involves avoiding a few basic things like substance abuse, onerous debt, living outside ones means, and having kids before one is financially stable. But that often flies in the face of what people emotionally want or are told to pursue, so sometimes people want to go into massive debt for depreciating assets or to go to college because that’s what “everyone” does, or to live in an expensive, trendy area because it’s cool or they think that’s where they need to be to chase status. Barring those types of mistakes, social mobility (towards the upper middle class level at least) is generally available. I’m willing to bet many people on HN are already close to that status even if it doesn’t feel like it because they’re comparing themselves to economic outliers rather than the average citizen.

There is no other asset I can own that alleviates the financial burden of burning nearly half of my take-home pay in perpetuity to fund some rich landlord's beach vacations.

xur17 5y ago

But it doesn't remove that financial burden entirely (or even close to entirely). You're still paying: * opportunity cost * property taxes * interest

jurassic 5y ago
You're paying many of these things in a rental as well. But at the end of 30 years the landlord keeps the asset.
- refurb 5y ago
  I was living in a place in SF that would have cost me 3x to purchase versus my rent. I could take the leftover and invest in other assets. I'm actually ahead of where I would be had I owned since condos have dropped in SF with Covid.
- bumby 5y ago
  If someone is well-off enough to be in a position to choose, renting is essentially paying a premium for freedom of movement. Used smartly, this can be an avenue to dramatically increase earnings over time because in today’s economy switching jobs is one of the faster ways to increase wages. While previous generations may not have had that problem, I think it changes the own/rent calculus for younger people.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

bumby 5y ago

If you’re spending that large of a percentage on housing you’re already running against most prudent financial advice and probably shouldn’t be thinking of housing as an investment asset

willis936 5y ago
I live in the real world, not the fantasy one they haves think exist. I understand where you're coming from though. You wouldn't want social mobility to become the norm.
- bumby 5y ago
  You may want to revisit the HN guidelines. With that aside, I absolutely do want to foster social mobility. I actually think it’s still possible but probably not in the dream-world way many people think where it comes completely on their own terms. In most cases, it involves avoiding a few basic things like substance abuse, onerous debt, living outside ones means, and having kids before one is financially stable. But that often flies in the face of what people emotionally want or are told to pursue, so sometimes people want to go into massive debt for depreciating assets or to go to college because that’s what “everyone” does, or to live in an expensive, trendy area because it’s cool or they think that’s where they need to be to chase status. Barring those types of mistakes, social mobility (towards the upper middle class level at least) is generally available. I’m willing to bet many people on HN are already close to that status even if it doesn’t feel like it because they’re comparing themselves to economic outliers rather than the average citizen.