wood for sheep?
this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2024
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If you include maintenance and taxes, it actually sold for less than the same amount of money invested in an index fund.
That's kind of silly comparison, as that money wouldn't have been available to invest if it hadn't been spent on a home. It would have been spent on rent instead.
Still a tough bind for someone who isn't already a homeowner. I've put a lot into index funds which have performed really well, but if I sell them now to buy a house and the real estate market shits the bed (which it really should), then I'm in an even worse place. I remember talking to people in 2007 who complained they would "never be able to afford a house", but three years later their local listings fell by 30-40%.
Look, unless you're renting it out, your house isn't an investment. It grows in value and that's nice, but you'll spend more on maintenance and improvements than it will increase in value.
Your house is your house.
It will cost you less than paying rent, so it's absolutely an investment
For sure, it just illustrates that as much as the market can feel fucked up, as an investment housing isn't necessarily the best. I've checked the numbers many times when I hear people talking about their parent buying a house for X$ in 19XX and it's very rare that they beat the market. It's the people that bought in 2009/2010 or right before COVID that are the real winners when it comes to real estate as an investment because they made a lot of money for the amount of time, but people who buy as an investment to hold it long term? Nah
Housing can't be an investment (i.e. exponential growth above inflation) AND an affordable place for people to live for future generations. This mentality is absolutely brain-dead.