Originally Posted by Socks

Never understood the absurd desire to buy a house.

In a perfect scenario, you've busted your ass, lived at home, and saved the entire nut to buy a home with. Here, an average home is ~400k. So you've got your $400k in the bank, and you trade it for a home.

At 5% interest, your $400k makes $20k a year, which you no longer get because you don't have the money.

My rent (big 3 bedroom apt) is about $1400 a month, so $17k a year. In this scenario you could keep your money, use the interest to pay your rent and have $3k left over.

Of course very few people have this scenario. They're paying a mortgage, which I've read often end up costing 3x the value of the house over the course of the mortgage. Even if that number is inflated, clearly someone with a mortgage isn't going to make out nearly as well as someone who didn't pay a bank to buy their home.

Also, the rent and home markets must be kept close at all times. If it was way better in either direction, you'd see investment banks, funds and other financiers buying up all the undervalued investments.

It just doesn't make sense. You need somewhere to live, and that costs money, so the whole "throwing away your money renting" doesn't add up. Clearly whether you rent or buy, you did so out of the need to have somewhere to live.

If something breaks in my apartment, they fix it. Electricity, water, gas, parking, all included. $0 home insurance. $0 property taxes. $0 repairs. $0 spent on aging appliances. I have no windows, doors, siding, roofing, driveway, lawn, etc etc.

People know you need more than the $300k pricetag to really afford a Ferrari. Why don't they understand it takes more than $40k to own a $400k home? If I showed up with $30k to buy a Ferrari and the guy told me I had enough... I mean...

It's also the hardest investment to get out of. You can't put a stop-loss order on your family's home.