Do you want to know a secret? Be prepared because David Sidoni will drop the biggest truth-bomb in this episode! He shares the reports and data he saw that will greatly impact your window to own a home. Although there are tools that we could utilize to help us buy a home, David reveals that these tools might not be useful in the future as the market shifts. You don’t want to be left behind and get stuck renting. Tune in to this episode with David before it’s too late!
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Is Your Window To Own A Home Closing – Are We Becoming A Renter’s Economy?
First Time Home Buyer Advice For Taking Advantage Of The Current Economy
You want to know a secret? Yeah, me, David Sidoni, your host, Captain Positive, Mr. You Can Do This is a little bit scared. Sun’s going down here at the office. I read a few articles and the tides could be turning. This episode might be my biggest truth bomb yet, so play the happy music.
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What has happened in my How to Buy a Home is in the past few months, maybe a year or so, I’ve been reading articles, and then now, two of them dropped on me. These two reports are freaking me out a little bit, and I felt so compelled that I had to share them with you. Now, fear not because this is nothing immediate and it’s nothing that you can’t avoid. Providing that you’re not listening to this in 5 or 10 years from 2024 as I record this.
My bros, my homies, my chicas, this crap, it scares the crap out of me. Not because I’ve never heard of this before, but because recently the post-pandemic data is now more than three years old and some of the trends are starting to look not so chill. This is scary information, but it’s information that will hopefully help you on your path to home ownership. Another reason and another motivation to help you out and help you move forward.
I’ve been watching the middle class in my own lifetime get squeezed out. The old days when I was a kid of people talking about having a steady job and buying a home and living that American dream, those thoughts and ideas feels like a black-and-white movie. Of course, we’ve had a crazy technological revolution, a change in salaries for more innovative careers, and the rise of the internet has created more individual entrepreneurs finding ways to succeed than we’ve ever seen in previous generations. The American dream, that simple path to wealth is starting to deteriorate. The hundred-year-old data that I use and I preach here on this show, touting it all the time, well, it could be in jeopardy or as weird Al would say, “I lost on Jeopardy, baby.”
The American dream and the simple path to wealth are starting to deteriorate.
Anyway, there’s a growing sentiment that we are in the early stages of becoming a renter’s economy. Now, you go all the way back to the beginning of time, and of course, it’s the landowners that always have the wealth. This was our little way to carve out the American dream and grab a little bit of land. Good news is you guys tuning in here in 2024 or even if you’re tuning in to this in 2025, you could still be okay if you use the systems that we have here. Of course, you’re going to need to mentally factor in the long-term math because it’s going to be more difficult than it was 3, 5, 10, or 15 years ago. That is just the math, but we’re finding out the only way to beat the new rigged economic system that is working very hard to push out the middle class is for you to grab your piece of the pie now.
Renting Versus Owning A Home
Unfortunately, what these reports and the data is showing me is that the less things change soon, your window on buying a home and becoming a regular old first-time home buyer, that could be closing a lot faster than we think. I’m wearing my hoodie now for my conspiracy theory vibes, so here we go. Truth bomb. I saw a report on the post-pandemic renting versus owning in the US now. Right at the beginning of the pandemic, renting versus owning, it was very affordable to purchase a home because interest rates were so low and the rents weren’t crazy. It’s gotten worse since then.
The data shows that since the pandemic, we’ve slowly been moving into what other places in the world call a “rental economy.” There are other economies in the world that operate this way, and that’s the way it is where the common person does not own real estate. Now, the thing that I’ve been trying to tell you guys for so many years is that owning real estate is the number one easiest way to accumulate wealth. The other option is work, save money, and invest. Now, those other countries where the average person doesn’t own where they live, they operate on more of a class separation than we see here.
I know some of you’re going, “There’s a massive one here.” I get it. The rich in the US are working hard to separate us to an even worse level than we’re at, but don’t give up. We are not in a rental economy yet. You don’t have to bail, become a renter forever, and decide to work, save money, and invest and think that that’s a better play. Keep in mind, that’s because no other investment provides you anything. Not immediately. It goes somewhere and it might grow, but no other investment comes from a necessity payment that you’re going to pay every month anyway. No other investment gives you shelter. No other investment using the rent replacement strategy is working with money that you’re going to spend anyway. It’s not extra money, it’s not saving money.
The signs for this potential of heading into a rental economy are getting harder to ignore. For instance, if you heard about the big corporations that are buying up homes and renting them out, all the single-family homes that you’re out there trying to buy, a lot of corporations are out there doing that. The corporations have figured out that the rents have continually been going up here in the land of opportunity in our free market. They took advantage of the opportunity to buy gobs and gobs of homes. Now, why do we think that is?
It’s not just because they saw the rental data, it’s because they know a good long-term investment. How do you think they made all that money to become a big corporation with lots of money anyway? They also have some juicy incentives to go with it. They are incentivized by crazy tax benefits, of course, cash flow appreciation, and by looking at the solid historical data on single-family homes as an investment. As a country, unfortunately, this wonderful free market has encouraged these corporations to decide to gobble up these homes and then charge you to rent them.
For now, we are not in this renter’s economy. Not yet. There will be a window over the next, some people are saying only 1 to 5 years where you can buy about the same as what you could rent for. I know some of you right now you’re like, “Not even close.” If you use tools like the mortgage interest rate buydown or you take into account that if your monthly payment, your rent to your mortgage goes up $500 or $750 a month, you’re putting money into a forced savings account.
What the report says is that we are in a perfect storm right now and predicts that in 5 to 10 years, the average person won’t even be able to use these tools to own a home. They predict that in five years, that window is going to start closing fast and the average person is going to find it extremely difficult, if not impossible to buy a home. The simplest way to use your largest monthly output to accumulate safety and security for your future, it’s a big bummer.
I used to say, if you want to get rich, then do what the rich do. Now, that corporations are jumping into the housing game, we might be heading into a rental economy. If you don’t want to be left behind by the rich screwing the little man out of their last hope to live a comfortable life, then do what the rich do and buy a home as soon as you can before it’s too late.
Now, there aren’t a lot of people talking about this because it sucks. Also, it’s a theory and to some people it sounds crazy, or a lot of you out there, it sounds like there’s someone trying to scare you into working with them to either get a loan on a home or buy a home so that that individual can make more money. That’s not my jam. I’ve been doing this for 18 years, and the one thing I’ve noticed over the last 18 years working with first-time home buyers, I can ask you this, “Since you’ve been adulting, do you feel like the economy has shifted in your lifetime? The rich get richer and the middle class get squeezed out? Have you seen reports on this? Have you read anything about that?”
Let me ask you, what have you done personally to protect yourself from that? I’m not talking in my microphone today to scare you. I’m not a scare salesperson. I’m an educator. I saw the broken real estate industry screwing first-time home buyers and I wanted to help out. This report is pointing out something that shows that the dream of home ownership itself could be fading from the common citizen. Now, I have to help you battle the real estate industry first. We’re also looking like in the next few years here, we’re going to be battling a rigged economic platform that favors the rich since they pay the politicians who create all the policies for them.
What are we? A little over ten minutes in here. Are you having fun yet? Okay, cool. Here’s the second report that scared the crap out of me. Once again, I’m telling you this one because the point of the report was to wake people up, people that are reading it or watching the video. It pertains to elected officials who are making changes. The whole point of the report was to get people to pay more attention to that. You know I don’t like to talk politics when it comes to buying your first home. There’s no blue or red when it comes to housing, just the green that you can accumulate over your lifetime with home equity.
Inventory Is Down
Here’s what the report said. First of all, no surprise, inventory’s down. We need 6 million homes minimum. We know that. They’re not building 6 million homes in the next year, so what’s the biggest problem in real estate going to be? Say it with me now, everybody. Low inventory. We also know that as a country, when we suffer a crisis, those who shoulder most of the burden are the poor and that sucks. We know that more than half of renters are spending at least one-third of their monthly income to pay rent. Also, we know that while that’s happening, some of those renters are out there trying to buy a home, but they’re finding new challenges every year.
What do we, as a normal citizen, do? We turn to our politicians and hope that they’ve got some solutions for us? What’s the big solution with the housing problem that the politicians have been doing over the past few years? It’s been changing zoning regulations, which can royally suck for the poor and now the middle class. For those of you out there who want to be first-time home buyers, many politicians are hearing from the home builders that the regulations that are in place to build new homes are too strict. That’s keeping the home builders from building enough to keep up with the supply and demand.
The politicians look at that and they realize it’s hard work to change regulations. What’s a lazy politician going to do? They’re not going to dig into the laborious process to tear down the regulations and start over. No. Why change the things that’s making harder for new home builders to find any profits in their business for building new single-family homes? Instead, they gave the home builders these new zoning laws, which helped them build stuff and make money, but that stuff doesn’t help the regular first-time home buyer.
Lots of home builders are finding that building condos is more profitable under the current zoning regulations that have been changed to help them out. It’s a better business model for them, but not for you. It doesn’t help you own. It’s condos built so that you can rent them. Zoning reform. A lot of politicians are running and winning on this. In city and states near you. Instead of changing regulations to make single-family homes easier to build, they’re rezoning so that the builders can build more multi-family homes. More density near public transit and more streamlined permitting in the processes for those larger condos and other larger multifamily homes.
What’s happening is the leaders are making it harder to buy a home, harder for you to build wealth and become part of this dwindling middle class. If you think your rent sucks now, imagine if you’re still renting in 25 years. There is a lost opportunity of equity and that is a potential major problem for the next generation.
Perfect example of this is Minneapolis, Minnesota. Policymakers there got all stoked because they claim to have the highest level of new construction for housing in the US. For housing in the us, not housing for first-time home buyers to buy. If you look at what happened, here’s what they did. In the past 3 to 5 years, I think it started in 2017, lawmakers there have made a ton of zoning changes in this so-called effort to help the housing problem. They did that thing where they allowed more density near public transportation. They also eliminated parking requirements for certain pieces of property. They allowed more ADUs.
The big change that they made, they ended single-family zoning in many neighborhoods, which means people could go into those neighborhoods and build 2 and 3-unit dwellings in neighborhoods that used to be for single-family homes. Now I know, what does that mean for you? It means that the places where you used to buy an entry-level home or a starter home, are now going to be homes with ADUs, multifamily units and larger or more expensive homes. Maybe something that you would buy on your second or third home. How are you going to do that if you can’t buy your first?
With all these high purchase-price housing units, it’s likely that they’re all going to become rentals. The corporations buy those and buy the condos and the multi-lot units in the areas that used to be single-family homes. What happens to the regular first-time home buyer? They have to rent those places. Now, they’re turning to lifelong renters. I’m thinking super bummed for them years from now. What happens when they want to cash out like the boomers did?
At the end of this report, they ask the voters to be conscious of what their elected officials are doing to help the middle class. They asked a pretty interesting question. “Are your elected officials serving corporations or constituents?” That’s the double truth bombs of knowledge for this episode. Not a ton about buying your first home, but I just want to give you this information. You guys can go back and there are tons of other information in the catalog in the library if you’re looking for specific steps to help you get to where you’re going.
I want to help you get on the solutions side of things. The solution to these potential down-the-road scenarios is there’s only one answer, protect yourself with a plan today. I understand a lot of people get stuck on making a plan because they make fun of the boomers who bought their home for $50,000 and now they’re retiring and they’re selling it for $750,000.
If this happens and you figure out a way to get your rent replacement strategy right now and buy a home, in 35 years when you are old, drink. Wait, I called you old. Do you still have to drink? I don’t know the rules of the game. In 35 years then when the Gen Omega or Gen Apsa, Calfa, Beta, whatever they call themselves in 2054, those guys are going to be pissed at you because you might be the last generation who can afford to stop renting before you’re 50 years old. These truth bombs suck. What are the answers for now? I’d love to give you something cheery, but I’m going to go with the real. Suck it up. Deal with the now. Protect yourself with the power of equity. That forced savings account, that is the home that you own.
Deal with the now. Protect yourself with the power of equity.
If you’re looking for more information on this, go to HowToBuyAHome.com, you can start with the seven-day starter kit, or you can ask me directly your individual question, or you can ask me for a unicorn so you can find a local power team that knows what to do and can help you avoid being a renter for life. If you have a minute, do me a favor, write a review for the show. Thank you. Would appreciate that very much. Let’s keep the revolution going. Let’s keep helping people avoid this potential economic theory that could be looming. Let’s get you set up with the things that you need so you can have a prosperous future. Homies, I’m down with you. You can do this.
This podcast was started for YOU, to demystify things for first time home buyers, and help crush the confusion. After helping first timers for over 13 years, I knew there wasn’t t a lot of clear, tangible, useable information out there on the internet, so I started this podcast. Help me spread the word to other people just like you, dying for answers. Tell your friends, family, and perhaps that random neighbor you REALLY want to move out about How to Buy a Home! A really easy way is to hit the share button and text it to your friends. Go for it, help someone out. And if you’re not already a regular listener, subscribe and get constant updates on the market. If you are a regular and learned something, help me help others – give the show a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts, or write a review on Spotify. Let’s change the way the real estate industry treats you first time buyers, one buyer at a time, starting with you – and make sure your favorite people don’t get screwed by going into this HUGE step blind and confused. Viva la Unicorn Revolution!
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