House buying equation doesn't add up
Currently renting a single family home in the San Francisco Bay Area. My rent is $4k, and though I'm happy, I really wish I owned my home. The problem used to be that it was *only* very expensive. But now, I don't even know if it makes sense at all.
Hear me out. The place I rent for $4k probably sells for about $2M. Let's say that TOMORROW, I stumble across $2M cash and decide to finally purchase a home. This is more money than most people will save in over a decade, but let's just assume that I actually get it immediately.
The property tax rate in my area is about 1.15%. This means that with a paid off house, I'll still pay $30k per year. Let's add about $5k for home insurance. That becomes $35k per year. Assuming (generously) that I have no maintenance or upgrades at all, I'm paying about $3k/mo! That's 75% of my rent today AFTER I amass a lifetime worth of savings.
How does this make sense, and how are prices still increasing?! They can't all be $NVDA people.
![](/images/reactions/icon-reaction-face-with-tears.png)
![](/images/reactions/icon-reaction-light-bulb.png)
![](/images/reactions/icon-reaction-thumbs-up.png)
![](/images/reactions/icon-reaction-red-heart.png)