I experienced LOP this weekend, here's the full story
I'm sure you're also going through something VERY similar...
This weekend, we have been looking at open houses with my inlaws to check out new neighborhoods as our expanding family needs more space with new baby on the way.
We’re just trying to stay ahead and looking proactively. Sadly, every decent neighborhood we wanted with top schools had homes that would be $850k-$1m+.
Now, I know we’re not the only family in America that wants the TOP schools for our kids. And in this country, zip code is everything.
If you’re in the wrong neighborhood, your housing values will not increase that much comparative to the truly desirable school districts with award-winning, blue ribbon schools.
This is how primary home house buying works. You’re either gambling and hoping a place will turn around (gentrification) or you’re hoping the home increases in value so that you essentially can offset your cost of living by owning instead of throwing money at rent.
Thus, you need a top zipcode to see that happen bc people buy for schools as a main driver. The problem is - the BUY IN price is also high for this reason. The appreciation could be high - but the costs upfront and during are high, especially with these stupid interest rates at the moment.
With a family, the stability is also key so unlike before when I was single, I actually have to think about these things.
Which then leads to the troubling reality:
How many American families can afford a $1m homes?
I’m not a celebrity. I don’t even have a steady paycheck.
As self-employed and a new entrepreneur to social media influencing, I don’t even have steady streams of income yet.
My books are not out yet, I’m still writing Language of the Poor. My courses are not sold yet, I’m still in the process of making them.
I have 7 airbnbs but this year they’re not performing that well bc the overall economy is down. Crypto is down. I didn’t sell when I should’ve. Stocks are somewhat more or less down.
Nothing to really generate the type of money I need to afford a $1m house.
The burn rate for a $1m house in these parts just to keep the lights on is about $7000 (including home insurance and property taxes) and that’s MONTHLY.
So what did I do?
I started singing the language of the poor.
Why is it this way? How come everything is so expensive? It’s not fair! I just want to pursue my entrepreneurial dream. I don’t want to work a traditional 9-to-5 so that caps my income and borrowing potential (at least I’m not at the level I was at if I worked a w2 job).
Why can’t I have this beautiful house? It’s all the rich people ruining things and hoarding houses! Goddamn them all. It’s not right! We shouldn't have to live like this. We should all be able to buy the best homes for half the price.
Do you see where I’m going with this?
This is a common narrative you hear many angry, bitter, unenriched people say. And there’s NOTHING wrong with that. It’s true and it hurts that you can’t always get what you want.
So what is the solution to it all?
