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Will real estate ever be normal again?

nytimes.com

111–120 of 620 posts

Re: Will real estate ever be normal again?

#111

I don't have any economic theories to offer. All I know is I love my house, with all of its land, trees, and nice quality living. I will protect this thing to my death, because it is so much better than living in an apartment. I don't care if it costs me $4,000 a month.

It's well established that low density housing is completely unsustainable.

Re: Will real estate ever be normal again?

#112

Once investors figure out that Bitcoin is the superior investment property after you already have a primary residence the excess speculation will get sucked out of real estate. This may be in the 2024 halving cycle. I say Bitcoin is superior because it's more portable, more fungible, no property tax, and the work of managing the properties doesn't scale linearly with the amount you own. Don't need to worry about bad…

You also don't have to worry about owning anything that is, you know, useful in any way.

Re: Will real estate ever be normal again?

#113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't quite understand the obsession with homeownership. If a large enough percentage of people rented from property management companies, there would be more impetus to have strong tenant's rights laws to protect residents, and people would have more flexibility to move around. Moreover everyone would have an interest in increasing supply to keep their own rent down, pushing prices down toward cost-of-materials an…

Then you don't have an asset. You paid for the option of living there for the duration of your leas, but you have no control on the property, or your future.

a house isn’t a particularly good investment. it’s just the one everyone, in america, makes because they’re financially illiterate. anyone can buy ETFs now with zero commission and zero gate keeping.

Re: Will real estate ever be normal again?

#114

The Fed at this point controls the whole economy and they have two options: 1. Raise interest rates and stop printing. Crazy inflation stops, but asset prices crash and we enter a major recession or depression. The end result will likely be unrest and blood in the streets. 2. Do nothing, keep printing. Inflation picks up massively. The economy keeps humming along but young people, including myself, are permanently pr…

In the early 80s a 13% mortgage rate was not uncommon. People survived. Very little blood was spilled

Re: Will real estate ever be normal again?

#115

The Fed at this point controls the whole economy and they have two options: 1. Raise interest rates and stop printing. Crazy inflation stops, but asset prices crash and we enter a major recession or depression. The end result will likely be unrest and blood in the streets. 2. Do nothing, keep printing. Inflation picks up massively. The economy keeps humming along but young people, including myself, are permanently pr…

I don't quite understand the obsession with homeownership. If a large enough percentage of people rented from property management companies, there would be more impetus to have strong tenant's rights laws to protect residents, and people would have more flexibility to move around. Moreover everyone would have an interest in increasing supply to keep their own rent down, pushing prices down toward cost-of-materials an…

Unlike paying renting, paying a mortgage is nice because you're paying for something that is eventually going to be yours.

Re: Will real estate ever be normal again?

#116

The Fed at this point controls the whole economy and they have two options: 1. Raise interest rates and stop printing. Crazy inflation stops, but asset prices crash and we enter a major recession or depression. The end result will likely be unrest and blood in the streets. 2. Do nothing, keep printing. Inflation picks up massively. The economy keeps humming along but young people, including myself, are permanently pr…

I don't quite understand the obsession with homeownership. If a large enough percentage of people rented from property management companies, there would be more impetus to have strong tenant's rights laws to protect residents, and people would have more flexibility to move around. Moreover everyone would have an interest in increasing supply to keep their own rent down, pushing prices down toward cost-of-materials an…

Sometimes you want to modify the property, renting precludes that

Re: Will real estate ever be normal again?

#117

The Fed at this point controls the whole economy and they have two options: 1. Raise interest rates and stop printing. Crazy inflation stops, but asset prices crash and we enter a major recession or depression. The end result will likely be unrest and blood in the streets. 2. Do nothing, keep printing. Inflation picks up massively. The economy keeps humming along but young people, including myself, are permanently pr…

I don't quite understand the obsession with homeownership. If a large enough percentage of people rented from property management companies, there would be more impetus to have strong tenant's rights laws to protect residents, and people would have more flexibility to move around. Moreover everyone would have an interest in increasing supply to keep their own rent down, pushing prices down toward cost-of-materials an…

It seems pretty simple, I can spend money to rent a place, and after 30 years (rent), have nothing to show for the money I put in, or I can buy a house (mortgage), spend money for 30 years, and then have an asset I own.

Not to mention the freedom to do whatever you want to your home / house without having to ask for permission, or being in a position of putting money into an asset that you don't own.

Re: Will real estate ever be normal again?

#118

The Fed at this point controls the whole economy and they have two options: 1. Raise interest rates and stop printing. Crazy inflation stops, but asset prices crash and we enter a major recession or depression. The end result will likely be unrest and blood in the streets. 2. Do nothing, keep printing. Inflation picks up massively. The economy keeps humming along but young people, including myself, are permanently pr…

I don't quite understand the obsession with homeownership. If a large enough percentage of people rented from property management companies, there would be more impetus to have strong tenant's rights laws to protect residents, and people would have more flexibility to move around. Moreover everyone would have an interest in increasing supply to keep their own rent down, pushing prices down toward cost-of-materials an…

Some people don't like subscriptions...still prefer the old good way of owning things.

Re: Will real estate ever be normal again?

#119

The Fed at this point controls the whole economy and they have two options: 1. Raise interest rates and stop printing. Crazy inflation stops, but asset prices crash and we enter a major recession or depression. The end result will likely be unrest and blood in the streets. 2. Do nothing, keep printing. Inflation picks up massively. The economy keeps humming along but young people, including myself, are permanently pr…

I don't quite understand the obsession with homeownership. If a large enough percentage of people rented from property management companies, there would be more impetus to have strong tenant's rights laws to protect residents, and people would have more flexibility to move around. Moreover everyone would have an interest in increasing supply to keep their own rent down, pushing prices down toward cost-of-materials an…

There's something to be said for privacy, and owning your own slice of the universe to do (mostly) whatever you want with. Not to mention a nice asset and something to pass along to family.

Re: Will real estate ever be normal again?

#120
post #74

I know this may be sacrilege to some, but: Consider moving to a less desirable place if you can. I got priced out of my hometown of Seattle. So I moved to a small town in rural Oregon and I couldn't be happier. The combination of spending comparatively little on housing + a tech salary is hard to beat. I have my own shop! It feels like freedom, even if it comes at the cost of being near my extended family.

I don’t think this is good advice financially, though there is more to life than money. First, if by “tech salary” you mean a software engineers salary or a product managers, then you should be able to afford a house in a place like Seattle. It might be tight if you are early in your career, but it is very doable.

The main reason this is likely to be bad financially is that your house won’t appreciate like a house in Seattle. I’ve been doing tech for a long time at this point, and have seen people make both choices and how it plays out over the long run. Those that stayed in the big city are basically financially independent at this point, and those that moved are not. The difference in net worth after 20 years is very significant.

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