It’s a racket
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This morning, I read an article about how impossible it is for young people to buy houses right now, unless they have steep support from families.
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Real estate is a racket, isn’t it?
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Back in 2007 when I got married, everyone told us to buy a house right away.
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Housing prices in Calgary (where we lived) were soaring.
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“You’ll never afford a house if you don’t get in RIGHT NOW!” everyone said.
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So we saved up and threw ALL our money down. It was a new build. We bought in July when it was just a foundation and moved in December once it was complete.
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During that time, the economy crashed.
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January arrived, the 2008 recession had grown legs, and we’d already lost $50,000.
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On an “investment” that EVERYONE told us was a “sure thing”.
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Later, when the jobs dried up in Calgary and we moved to Toronto, we couldn’t sell our house without losing an incredible amount of money.
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So we rented it out.
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But rent prices had fallen, so we had to rent it for $400/month LESS than our mortgage (!!!).
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We arrived in Toronto where friends were buying the cheap real estate.
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Fast forward to the Toronto boom. These friends made million dollar profits in 5-year timespans.
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And so it is.
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We moved again. Bought a cabin in the woods. A fixer upper.
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Most people thought we had LOST OUR DAMN MINDS.
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Fast forward to the pandemic. Throngs of people leave the city en masse. Housing prices soar in our rural area.
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Suddenly we find ourselves on the right side of the equation.
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To be clear:
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When we followed everyone’s advice, we lost all our money.
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When we followed our hearts, we finally made a good investment.
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Don’t be discouraged by the news about housing, if you’re not currently an owner.
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Real estate is a racket and the “experts” often don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about.
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Follow your heart towards whatever stupid adventure it wants to explore. And I guarantee you, you’ll be better off in the end.