To all my millenial and younger friends and peers. If you are thinking about buying a home in the near future, please watch this video and share it with your friends.
If you live in CA like me, you'll be familiar with that sinking feeling when you go look at homes in your price range only to find that the only thing you can afford is a shack that in no way resembles the long term home you desire.
The idea of buying a starter home that you can leverage up to your future "dream home" is a complete fraud. It's a fallacy designed to create more transactions that benefit lenders, realtors, and all the associated parties that charge fees for each transaction.
I built several models that show that in almost all interest rate environments, at almost all purchase prices, with a 20% down payment, you lose money on the house when selling it prior to holding it for 20 years or so.
My purpose in writing this and recording the accompanying video is not to say "woe is me, we are such victims" but rather to point out that millenials and the next generation of home buyers should dispel the fraud that starter homes are a smart decision. You should hold out longer to buy the PERFECT long term home for you - or something that you can make PERFECT. Starter homes make you poor and other parties rich - not the other way around.
I hope you'll watch this video and share it with friends/family who may be at risk of making a terrible financial mistake listening to the cliche phrase - property prices always go up, you can never lose money on property! Absolute hokey.
For anyone who wants I've also linked to the spreadsheet models i refer to in the video in the description below the youtube video. Feel free to poke holes, let me know where I may have overlooked or made errors, and I'd be happy to have a conversation about it.
I hope you find this helpful and that it saves you some pain.
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