I am not really taking that stance. Just using a personal anecdote to reply to biased anti- Real Estate sentiment. Probably shouldn’t do that.
You can own property at any time you want and it might be a good idea. Those possible options don’t appeal to you.
“If your house is a big piece of your nest egg, then you are relying on people like me to buy it sometime in the future.”
Not really. Yours truly hasn’t ever flipped anything. The properties I have owned previous to this one were mine and the banks) an average of 6.5 years. A low level, working class widow made a small fortune from one of them. Someone who apparently is not as bright as you or even me, bought the other one in the spring of 05.
This property is a big piece of my overall low net worth,it is also splittable. I might give it to my kids developed when I die. If I could not have afforded it here, I was headed for Arkansas..or Prescott AZ. I could sell it and diversify better but that is going away from my strengths and I like life here.The size of it means I could sell a portion or build a rent-able home or 3.The original house with a smaller property, after the split is worth almost as much as it was before the split and the new lot has a ton of potential. besides, meanwhile, I want more money, but I don’t need it. Maybe I’ll end up living on my assets when I am old,or sooner. I don’t find that so unusual be the assets be a pile of cash, stocks or property or a combination.
Soliloquy:
I think the point is , investing in RE for comfort and prestige, before you can really afford it doesn’t work well for capitalization, but that doesn’t begin to describe the potential in the asset class. I see many people on this blog who, at least for the time being, see it in the shallow way .Hopefully some of them, especially those that should(the non rich), will see it differently before they pull the trigger regardless of the timing. Sounds grandiose for a slow starting, small fish like me, I know :).
