I lost money on the houses I've bought. This is because I factor in the cost of the mortgage, property taxes, real estate commissions, maintenance, insurance, etc.
No, I did not factor in implicit rent, I was looking at from the point of view of it being an investment.
Renting a place out has other costs. Tenant damage, tenants who don't pay rent, tenants who sue you (and landlords always lose), lawyer expenses, time when it sits vacant, vandalism, advertising, having to deal with the tenants, etc.
I also neglected to mention the cost of the house sitting there for months vacant waiting for buyer. I'd always price mine slightly under the market to get them sold.
As for accounting guidance, just what are you driving at? Are those expenses I listed not real? They certainly took real money out of my account!
You may be the worst real estate investor I've ever heard of. If housing was actually a lousy investment Blackrock and Berkshire Hathaway wouldn't have real estate holdings and they're both in the residential market in a big way.
> You may be the worst real estate investor I've ever heard of.
You may very well be right. However, everyone I hear saying how much money they made off of their house neglects to mention any of the expenses I listed.
Sure, I've seen all manner of goofy talking points (both pro and con) around the financials of home ownership. Conversely everyone I've heard say lost their ass on residential real estate either bought too much house in a market overrun with speculation (Hi Florida) or move frequently.
When you live in your own house, it's called "implicit rent" but when you actually rent it out at market rates it's just called "rent."
There are a few housing markets where what you say will be true, but it's not true of most of the US by any means.