I agree 100%. Home “ownership” is one of the most overrated themes in our culture. Particularly in California, you can never separate the fact that it is an investment. Maybe in the midwest the idea of buying a home strictly as a place to live is still somewhat reasonable because prices don’t fluctuate very much. But here in California forget it, prices fluctuate far too much to not view it as an investment.
Hardly anyone in San Diego really owns their house anyway, the bank does. It continues to amaze me how many Californians still have the “old school” mentality about real estate. As if they all grew up in the Midwest and still mainain those ideals. Wake up people! Nobody stays in the same house for 30 years anymore, so the majority of “homeowners” will never truly own their own house, they’ll always be simply “mortgage owners”
All the “mortgage owners” who have built up equity from real esate appreciation and think they are rich haven’t really made one dime of profit and won’t until they sell.