2 ms·

> So at what point does anyone get to keep the money?! You get to keep the money when you move to a less expensive area. Or you retire and downsize.

richev 3y ago
Not if you end up having to help your children buy their house(s).
- shiroiuma 3y ago
  Problem solved: don't have children! (Just look at the current birthrates.)
tuatoru 3y ago
... and no-one does that, to a first approximation.
monkeydreams 3y ago
> You get to keep the money when you move to a less expensive area. Or you retire and downsize. I live in a satellite township to one of the poorest suburbs in Melbourne, Australia. My house is tiny, too small for the four of us, and has cost us nearly $100k just to make it weather-tight (also with $10k of solar panels). So, in total, we have spent nearly $800k for a small home that is too small for our needs. If I were to move somewhere less expensive I would not be able to do my job. As it is I have to spend 3 hours a day (minimum, some days it can be up to 5 hours if there are train issues) commuting to my place of work. Australia is a huge country with a handful of large cities with amenities and only hundreds of small towns which do not. The only places where housing is on par with US towns (i.e. 150k-300k) may be in the middle of the outback, 10 hours drive from the nearest city, and be so ramshackle and run-down as to be unlivable.
lawn 3y ago
It's very, very rare that people move to a less expensive area or downsize. The exception is when you're too old to take of your house. I talked to a friend of mine and pointed out that if they sold their house in the city they could move to the inexpensive part of the country where I live and basically retire and live off investment returns. But it didn't even register as an option.
rascul 3y ago
Or when you finish paying it off, and don't move somewhere else right away, you get to keep the money you would have been spending.

richev 3y ago

Not if you end up having to help your children buy their house(s).

shiroiuma 3y ago
Problem solved: don't have children! (Just look at the current birthrates.)

tuatoru 3y ago

... and no-one does that, to a first approximation.

monkeydreams 3y ago

> You get to keep the money when you move to a less expensive area. Or you retire and downsize. I live in a satellite township to one of the poorest suburbs in Melbourne, Australia. My house is tiny, too small for the four of us, and has cost us nearly $100k just to make it weather-tight (also with $10k of solar panels). So, in total, we have spent nearly $800k for a small home that is too small for our needs. If I were to move somewhere less expensive I would not be able to do my job. As it is I have to spend 3 hours a day (minimum, some days it can be up to 5 hours if there are train issues) commuting to my place of work. Australia is a huge country with a handful of large cities with amenities and only hundreds of small towns which do not. The only places where housing is on par with US towns (i.e. 150k-300k) may be in the middle of the outback, 10 hours drive from the nearest city, and be so ramshackle and run-down as to be unlivable.

lawn 3y ago

It's very, very rare that people move to a less expensive area or downsize. The exception is when you're too old to take of your house. I talked to a friend of mine and pointed out that if they sold their house in the city they could move to the inexpensive part of the country where I live and basically retire and live off investment returns. But it didn't even register as an option.

rascul 3y ago

Or when you finish paying it off, and don't move somewhere else right away, you get to keep the money you would have been spending.