Multi-millionaire doesn't own a home

[inparadise]

@intercst

That’s the return for the Houston condo I mentioned in my “Minimizing the skim” article. A purchase price of $45,000 in 1981 grew to $100,000 in 2021 when I wrote the article. I just looked at Zillow, current asking price for a unit there was $146/sf. It’s dropped to $88,000 since for a 600 SF condo – a sub 1% return over 43 years. {{ LOL }}.

@aj485

I will also say - in general, condos have lower appreciation rates than SFHs - precisely because they are much more like living in an apartment.

There is also a low barrier to new construction for condos and townhomes. New construction tends to leave older builds with only price as a selling point. SFHs tend to appreciate faster. 600SF condos in particular have near zero flexibility for living arrangements. Get married? Have kids? Have to move. Very limited number of eyeballs for this type property.

@intercst

It depends, ask Goofy about his Boston condo. There are 600 SF condos that appreciate like the stock market. Just not in Houston.

Boston is very geographically constrained to new construction. Almost anything does quite well there…depending on you entry point. Though Boston does quite well with time, it too has experienced less than stellar real estate markets.

IP,
who grew up in the Boston area and left it to live in a lower COL place to be able to do more than tread water financially