This post was thorough and comprehensive and really resonated with my experience as a former homeowner. I owned a house by 30 and and three houses by 35. Two were rental properties. This was 2000 - 2008 in Memphis, TN. We could not sell either house because of the recession. We actually had cash buyers for two of them and the banks refused to sell because it was better for them to write off the debt. I was almost unable to take a new job because of those houses. We left and rented in our next state. Thankfully, it was a small town and the landlord did not even do a background check. I was so relieved. After that awful experience, I refused to buy again because in my career, I have to be mobile to increase my salary. But, I do own a house now that I inherited from my grandparents who raised me. The house is in MS in a small rural all Black town. It's only worth $60,000 but it's paid for and my mom lives there. Now, we still have to pay taxes on it so is it really ours? Other countries I'm told don't operate like this so in America, do we ever really truly own anything even if the mortgage is paid off. If the taxes aren't paid on this property, then the government will take it. If we end up needing the government to provide medical care or a nursing home, will the government take it? These questions are why I plan to retire abroad and become an expat this year. I will probably deed the house to my kids. But, it has not really increased in value but at least it's my grandparent's legacy for years of overwork.
I've been thinking a lot about this and how I want to manage things moving forward. It's heartening to know there are others out there who are choosing to live differently.
Loved this post! We lived and worked overseas for many years and only invested in the stock market - we did well. Then we moved to the US and were overwhelmed with how much it cost to buy a house. Luckily, we qualified for a number of incentives as first time homebuyers and we managed to buy a duplex near a subway stop in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Not a beautiful house, but our renters paid for most of our mortgage. When we sold 5 years later, we lucked out in our timing and made a lot. I think it also helped that we thought of the house purchase as an investment- not a “dream home”. We moved to Washington, DC and put this money into another duplex. While we didn’t lose any money, we would have been much better off renting and investing the keeping cash from the first sale. Once again, we were lucky we sold when we did (since DC is now heartbreakingly hurt by current government and related industry layoffs). We now enjoy a nomadic early retirement, renting wherever we want to go.
This post was thorough and comprehensive and really resonated with my experience as a former homeowner. I owned a house by 30 and and three houses by 35. Two were rental properties. This was 2000 - 2008 in Memphis, TN. We could not sell either house because of the recession. We actually had cash buyers for two of them and the banks refused to sell because it was better for them to write off the debt. I was almost unable to take a new job because of those houses. We left and rented in our next state. Thankfully, it was a small town and the landlord did not even do a background check. I was so relieved. After that awful experience, I refused to buy again because in my career, I have to be mobile to increase my salary. But, I do own a house now that I inherited from my grandparents who raised me. The house is in MS in a small rural all Black town. It's only worth $60,000 but it's paid for and my mom lives there. Now, we still have to pay taxes on it so is it really ours? Other countries I'm told don't operate like this so in America, do we ever really truly own anything even if the mortgage is paid off. If the taxes aren't paid on this property, then the government will take it. If we end up needing the government to provide medical care or a nursing home, will the government take it? These questions are why I plan to retire abroad and become an expat this year. I will probably deed the house to my kids. But, it has not really increased in value but at least it's my grandparent's legacy for years of overwork.
Love this. Excellently said! Thank you.
I've been thinking a lot about this and how I want to manage things moving forward. It's heartening to know there are others out there who are choosing to live differently.
Loved this post! We lived and worked overseas for many years and only invested in the stock market - we did well. Then we moved to the US and were overwhelmed with how much it cost to buy a house. Luckily, we qualified for a number of incentives as first time homebuyers and we managed to buy a duplex near a subway stop in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Not a beautiful house, but our renters paid for most of our mortgage. When we sold 5 years later, we lucked out in our timing and made a lot. I think it also helped that we thought of the house purchase as an investment- not a “dream home”. We moved to Washington, DC and put this money into another duplex. While we didn’t lose any money, we would have been much better off renting and investing the keeping cash from the first sale. Once again, we were lucky we sold when we did (since DC is now heartbreakingly hurt by current government and related industry layoffs). We now enjoy a nomadic early retirement, renting wherever we want to go.