[Giggler]

I think a pro-rent stance is a self-justifying argument told by people who don't have their money straight to buy a home. For sure it's tough to get into a home in the Bay Area. You have to SACRIFICE to make it happen.

One of the easiest way to get into a nice home is to start with what is commonly referred to as a "starter home" through a process called "Moving Up". Here's an example:

Step 1. Buy a 500K condo (a 400K mortgage after 20% down payment) - live in it for 5-10 years - sell it for 700K.

step2. now take all your 300K profit (down payment plus equity) from selling your house and buy a 1M property. (700K loan with 30% down). Now you've got a million dollar house with a 700K loan.

Yeah, you potentially could have pulled that same 300K profit from yoru starter home by buying FANG stocks, but I can assure you that the money you pay into a mortgage is not that much more, and probably less in most cases, than the money you put into rent, so a home owner is just as likely to be able to participate in the markets as a renter.

Here's another thing to consider (a gray area that people don't often talk about): People who pay rent will always be stuck in a rental market. You're always going to have limited and inferior choices of housing. Not to mention there's a world of difference between living in a community full of fellow home owners versus a community full of tenants. Generally speaking, tenants are fair weathered people who come and go, and who have no pride in their homes and little respect for their neighbors. There's also tax advantage and HELOC's and other ways of using your house for financial gain, but it gets to be a rabbit hole.