/biz/ - Business & Finance

>>431346
Yes, your missing fucking everything.

Houses cost money to maintain, this is a nontrivial expense, annualized.

Houses do not provide a guarenteed return. Many studies have shown lots of housing returning inflation, annualized. You can absolutely make money buying and selling real estate(those transaction costs), or by slumlording, but you -DO NOT- make money off of your own godamned shelter. Don't expect it, be happy if it happens.

The interest rates of today(I locked in 3.25%) are un-fucking-heard of, and likely won't exist in the future. Even then, it's still greater than inflation, so buyer beware.

Housing also has opportunity costs. Local area employment is shit and want to move?
http://www.citylab.com/work/2013/05/link-betweeen-high-levels-homeownership-and-unemployment/5520/

If you sell your house, that brings those transaction costs. If you get a tenant management firm to take over, then they take their cut.

There is a case to be made for owning a house, but no, it's not the "Path to prosperity". The middle class of the US, who fucking loves houses so godamned much, has swallowed a godamned lie. They treat(ed) their houses like credit cards, oversized them according to their wants instead of to their needs(pic related), believed that housing "could only go up", and would've been better off putting it in stocks, or bonds, or fucking any other actual productive asset.