Unpopular opinion: I was wrong about buying a house in 2021, my buddy Dave in Cleveland was right
Back in March 2021 I swore renting was smarter and told my friend Dave he was nuts for buying a place in Cleveland at 3.1 percent interest. Last month my landlord in Columbus raised my rent $240 and I did the math on what Dave's place would have cost me versus what I've paid in rent since then. I owe Dave a beer and an apology, that cold take aged like milk sitting in the sun. Anyone else eat their words on the housing thing or am I alone in this?
Watching my sister go through the same thing in 2022 taught me a lot about this. She was renting in Denver and her lease jumped almost 20 percent while her friends who bought in 2020 locked in these crazy low payments. The thing people forget is that rent keeps going up forever but a fixed mortgage doesn't care what happens to the market. Even if you buy at a rough time you're still building something instead of feeding someone else's investment. Dave probably feels pretty good right now, so buy that man a good beer.