The example of a 30 year roof replacement is great because it nicely aligns with a 30 year mortgage. So in reality, the cost of homeownership should be the monthly cost of servicing the mortgage payments PLUS the amortized cost of roof replacement. Your real estate agent has no reason to tell you that a 200k house is actually 240k. Because by the time you "own" the house, it is due for a 40k roof replacement. With the amortized cost maybe you can't actually afford the house.
- Mortgage monthly payment - Amortized: -- cost of roof replacement -- cost of at least 2 refrigerators, more likely 4 refrigerators -- cost of at least 1 new air conditioning system + at least 100% of the cost of a new system over the lifespan of repairs of the current system -- Cost of at least 1 new garage door system -- Cost of at least 4-5 toilet replacements by a plumber over 30 years -- Cost of at least 1 whole home repainting, more likely 2 occurrences -- Cost of wear and tear; hard to quantify but Likely very significant.
This is not even considering the amortized costs of personal time. The time spent servicing chores like grasscutting, pruning, weed pulling, touchup painting, repairs caused by wear and tear.
Personally I think people should consider having a house repair savings account (or Money Market Fund or CD Account or whatever).
Now consider a set of tires for a car, replaced every 6 years, at $1200. That amortizes to $16 per month.
The replacement tires is only 4% of the cost of a roof replacement (1200/30000) but the amortized monthly cost of the tires is nearly 20% of the monthly cost of the roof replacement (16/83).
Long story short, I got increasing anxiety doing this math and watching my expected savings income evaporate over the long term as these amounts added up.
It's fine to wait if you actually are saving money and putting it in the stock market. But USA in general has a savings problem, so of course it blows up on people.
95% of WSJ is shilling for corporations. They're the most out-of-touch rag to currently exist.
How many times have they blamed "Millennials" (While somehow still believing that 20-30 year olds are Millennials) for businesses failing, rather than examining how businesses have enshittified their product or simply failed to adapt to changing market demands?
Of course they'll be pushing a narrative in which you shouldn't own your own home, the main source of financial security and peace of mind for when you are no longer able or willing to work a grueling 9-5 schedule.
Believe it or not, ownership costs aren't scary and, in most cases (unless you get fleeced by contractors) are very predictable and still cheaper than rent (especially in light of recent rent increases).
Personally, I wouldn't just treat this article with a grain of salt, I would disregard it entirely.