[ehsankia]

I honestly never understood all my peers constantly complaining about not being able to afford $2M house, as if that's what happiness is all about. You can still rent a very fancy apartment, max out your 401k, have a top car and live a great life, but just because they don't own a house they are always unhappy.

I guess it's true that money != happiness. There's always more you could have.

[pm90]

It might be hard to understand if you've not grown up in America, but homeownership is considered a part of adult life, of demonstrating you're seriousness and a gateway to adult life. This is sort of changing recently, but only because many millennials are straddled with student debt and jobs that won't pay enough to afford the down payment.

But every single American friend I have either has a home, or dreams of home ownership in the suburbs. And it makes sense, if I grew up in a home with a yard, I would probably want something similar for my children too. That kind of emotional connection is hard to overcome.

[warp_factor]

Yes, Home ownership is seen as the pinnacle of social status. This is stupid and people should rethink this preconceived notion.

In the bay area for example it doesn't make ANY sense to buy right now (Price to rent ratio, google it) but still people are flocking on every shitty apartment on sale. That's because they want to feel that little ego boost when they say they are "homeowners".

[pm90]

People will flock until they can’t and that’s when the bubble starts popping.

All the sfba homeowners who bought for cheap but are now sitting on millions of dollars of property could easily make a tidy sum if they were willing to sell for less but they will feel like they left money on the table. Ultimately when the bubble pops, everyone will sell for less but they will all think it’s perfectly rational because the “market is down”. I don’t get that perspective at all. Buy low and sell high, within reason.

[fizzbuzz123]

So the Tax advantages and building equity are worthless and play no part in peoples desire to buy instead of rent. Ok

[warp_factor]

you should search what "opportunity cost" means. The market is highly inflated compared to other investments because people are blindly buying without thinking at almost any stupid price. Your comment is a perfect example of that.

[malvosenior]

You can leverage your money much better with a mortgage though. You just need a small down payment, but you get the upside (and downside) on the entire value of the home.

I'd also argue that most other assets are also highly inflated. The P/E on most tech stocks for instance looks a lot scarier than the overall real estate market. I'll add that people have been saying the Bay Area housing bubble will pop for over 30 years. It hasn't yet.

[warp_factor]

This is a bet on the future price of the home. And a lot of simulations have shown that you will come ahead in stocks unless you are in an exceptional growing market and not moving for at least 5 years.

There is a huge lobby in society to convince you that owning a home is the way to go (banks, real estate agent, other homeowners and people repeating this nonsense all the time). Don't let this fool you and make the calculations before buying anything.

[flashgordon]

Ummm I dont think anybody cares about the house being $2M (or 5). If they could pay a quarter of that for a Single Family Home with N bedrooms (N being what they need for their family) and in an area they would like to be in (say closer to work/good school district etc) they would happily do so. Now if you are judging somebody because they wanted to live in house with a backyard instead of a apartment that is just passing your moral judgement onto somebody. True money may not be happiness but not having to worry about money for real estate definitely removes a lot of stress.

[bradlys]

This is basically it for me. I don't care about how much it costs as long as I can get it. It could worth $1, I'd be fine with that. Personally, I have no interest in the financial aspect of real estate.

I want a home that I can modify to my desires and use as I please. I want a woodshop at my home or to do some small machining in my garage - can easily do it if I own the home. As it stands, my landlord gets on my case about even the smallest of changes or for even using my god damn backyard patio. (He says my furniture ruins the "cutesy aesthetic" of the exterior; the oh so visible area that no one but us can see)

It's pretty annoying and home ownership doesn't remove all the burdens/restrictions but it is better than the overbearing landlords that seem overly abundant in the bay area.

[flashgordon]

Oh man tell me about it! That but about waking one morning and changing a wall as I see fit is important for me. I don't care if I had to pay only a dollar for the place (as long as it doesn't go down in value). A house is a convinience thing for me more than a status symbol based on worth.