Funding the Adventurous Life
In the summer of 2020, we sold our home in Denver, Colorado, where we had lived for seven years. Once all the costs were tallied, we were shocked to see the return on our home ownership investment. Should we have rented instead? Today we revisit this post in light of our recent move.
Continue reading “The Real Cost of Home Ownership (and a Life Update)”
I want to check back in on a topic near and dear to many: housing affordability. We’ve witnessed soaring real estate prices nationwide, with many cities exceeding a 20% year-over-year growth in sales prices of homes. Is income growth keeping up? For those looking to get into the housing market for the first time, can you expect better future prices or less competition?
Well, let’s see…
Continue reading “Housing Affordability: This Isn’t Normal”
In August, we closed on our home of seven years in Denver, Colorado. And against all odds, with a raging pandemic, unprecedented unemployment, and a very uncertain future, we sealed the deal on an offer far better than we anticipated.
In this post I run the final numbers on the economics of our seven years of home ownership. Despite the often-touted rule-of-thumb that home ownership is a great investment….well…was it for us?
This is part 3 in a series. To see other posts on the subject, check out Part 1 and Part 2.
Continue reading “This Just In: The Real Cost of Home Ownership”
Hi everyone. Welcome to the second installment of me sharing stuff on the internet that I’ve either enjoyed, questioned, or am too lazy to write myself (yet).
Continue reading “Weekend Briefs, Volume 2”
WHOOAA!! Yes, it’s true. By the time you are reading this, I have finished my last day in Corporate America, facing an uncertain future. We have achieved financial independence, perhaps reaching a new pinnacle of unrelatability. I have no job, and I have no plans for a job. The story of how this came to be is both planned and not, but either way, I’m incredibly excited for what is to come. So, how did we get to this point?
Continue reading “BREAKING: I (Sort Of) Quit My Job”
Howdy! Last week on Should I Buy a Home (Part 1), we established that home ownership isn’t really a good “investment.” Make sure you go back and take a gander at that post first. But, when compared to the cost of renting all along, is home ownership still a better long-term financial decision, especially for early retirement? Or did we pay the biggest expense of all…opportunity cost?
Stick with me here. This sort of stuff was never my forte years ago, but I’ve grown to love this like Mrs. CC grew to love sushi. We can all learn to love raw fish, seaweed, rice, and investment return analysis.
Continue reading “Should I Buy a Home? Part 2: Opportunity Cost”
In the personal finance world, the decision to own a home or rent is a particularly frothy debate. Traditionally, the long-held belief goes something like this: a home is an investment and a path to building wealth. I’m here to put a gentle and understanding hand on your shoulder, but deliver the hard news that your home is no longer an investment or an even remotely efficient wealth-building machine (was it ever?). But can it still be a better long-term financial alternative to rent?
This will be the first in an on-again-off-again series as we consider selling our home over the next year. We plan to document all incurred costs of homeownership, and compare to what we likely would have spent if renting all along.
But as current homeowners, was it a mistake for us buy in the first place? What should you do if you are weighing home ownership? Quick, math!
Continue reading “Should I Buy a Home? Part 1”