>Replace mortgage with rent and the issue is still the same. Seconded. I've have owned a 3 bed/2.5 bath condo in Mountain View for 14 years. Right now my total

>Replace mortgage with rent and the issue is still the same. Seconded. I've have owned a 3 bed/2.5 bath condo in Mountain View for 14 years. Right now my total monthly cost is about the same as a 2 bed/1 bath apartment in one of the major apartment complexes in M.V. The thing about mortgages is that ideally the way it should work is that you buy something that fits within your budget, and your payment remains mostly stable while your salary increases due to inflation and/or promotions. The first few years I owned my condo, my finances were indeed tight, but eventually that eased. The idea that a mortgage is incompatible with being a startup founder seems to be based in the misconception that because a new mortgage is expensive and burdensome today, it will be expensive and burdensome forever. When in reality, after a few years the equation can change quite dramatically. Of course, everyone's experience is different, and one can make choices that indeed keep a mortgage expensive and burdensome. But you can do that with renting, too. The question in both cases is simply "can I cover my housing costs for a year or two without a salary?". Personally, when I contemplate becoming a first-time founder (and yeah, I'm in my 40s), the fact that I own rather than rent isn't a big consideration.