pull down to refresh
Yeah there's a bunch of that location-dependent thing. Hopeless
My pal, balls-deep into property ownership and investing, recently told me plenty of apartments in London — hottest property market there is, aight, can't go wrong — are selling for less now than 5-10 years ago.
Change in buyers' taste and market structure/macro etc can just rug you. You thought you were just parking cash in a real-return guaranteed asset and you end up having a part-time job repairing things and forecasting the local labor market.
The thing about all those expenses of ownership is that you still get to make the decisions about how much to spend. That’s important.
When you rent, you’re paying upfront for an unknown amount and quality of service plus the moral hazard that comes with renting.
I've owned homes for the last ~30 years. No plans to sell now (kids are still in school), but when the youngest moves out we are debating whether to buy or rent for our downsizing.....
Homes are generally really bad assets. Yes, they go up in value*, but the constant upkeep becomes increasingly burdensome.
In 2024 had to replace main A/C unit and water heater (both were at their engineered 10 yr failure point). That was about $15K in total expenses....
Holding the cash, earning a dividend, and dedicating the proceeds to rent does simplify things.