this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2023
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And living this way isn't new there, either, it's an "evolution".
I can recall a story over a decade ago about google employees renting uhaul trucks to live in, parked on the google campus parking lots. The same article also followed some engineers who were illegally living in rent-a-storage spaces.
So compared to that, it makes these pods look like luxury living, even though they're all pretty depraved.
Being a software dev myself, I'll gladly take a lower salary in a low cost-of-living city if it means I can own a house (and not be mortgage poor, either).
All valid points. Thanks for mentioning, "mortgage poor". It's amazing how many people think that's the solution to rent....when you're typically agreeing to pay, essentially rent, for 30 years.
An everyone who gets a mortgage, with rare exception, OF COURSE, believes it will be paid off well before they are anywhere near 30 years. Seemingly forgetting that health issues, social issues, weather events, etc are likely going to stop that from happening.
This post just keeps getting more bleak, lol....
The advantage is it’s usually cheaper than rent, and you don’t have a landLORD to come and harass you or deny maintenance requests. Of course, people managed to fuck it up with HOAs though.
Yeah, I love looking at homes or lots of land for sale (rarely, for is depressing, ha), find something appealing (though generally still unaffordable), proceed to search for the address and wham-o! - HOA with monthly to annual fee. Plus bonus stipulations of what you can/cannot do to both the interior/exterior.
30 years of payments. Mostly consistent, during that time, the money is going towards paying off the loan of an asset and building equity. In the long term, I'll have something to show for the money I spent. 30 years of rent, on the other hand, and I'll still be renting.
If I decide to move, or something comes up, I have an asset I can leverage. Or I can sell the house, pay off the mortgage and have cash to use for rentals or a new house.
It comes with a lot more responsibility though. It's on me to maintain the house, upgrade, fix, landscape, etc. That's where a ton of money goes to keep the value of the house. I also have more liability. If something happens, that's my house that could burn down or flood. Then I'd be screwed. Or if I were to get sued, that's an asset that would be used to settle that.
There is no mistaking that 30 years is likely the minimum time to make payments. Those super lucky might put extra money into it early. But there is also a good chance people take a second mortgage or refinance and extend the mortgage with lower payments at some point.
But even with that, it's still a more sound investment for those that want a house than renting a house.
I did my internship in San Jose. Even back then it made sense. The cost was insane and from what I am reading has more than doubled since that point. I knew three interns staying in a single cheap motel together.
They need to finally start building.