Thread

1. DarkNova6 · 1790255345 · focus · HN ↗

   I am more and more convinced that young people have a much better understanding of technology and especially its impact on society.

   1. Insanity · 1790255666 · focus · HN ↗

      I think there’s 2 factors at play. 1) they grew up with technology rather than having it introduced later in life and 2) they grew up with a version that is arguably quite negative.

      For e.g millennials, we didn’t have internet until our teens, and the early years of the internet looked very different from the ad-infested hellscape that it is today.

      1. amelius · 1790256309 · focus · HN ↗

         Those younger generation are in a really dark place right now. In many cities they will never be able to afford a house; and on top of that AI labs are now saying they will never have a job.

         1. KPGv2 · 1790258143 · focus · HN ↗

            > In many cities

            In like five cities in the USA. I live in a top 10 city by population in the USA (so it's not "flyover"), and the median home price is 288–319, while median HHI is 89. That's easily in the recommended home loan range of 3*HHI.

            Look, I'm sorry you can only be happy living in SV, but there's plenty of jobs in the boring parts of America, and the homes are affordable.

            All that being said, homeownership is largely a scam, financially. Use your downpayment as a market investment and rent. You'll end up with more money when you retire, and as a bonus, you aren't tied to one geographic location if you lose your job.

            The only reason apartments can even exist is because of economies of scale. If you have one rental property, it's virtually impossible to make money (certainly not in a way that outpaces index funds) because you don't have the economies of scale at your disposal.

            1. hajile · 1790282037 · focus · HN ↗

               Mortgage pretty much always costs less than rental per square foot.

               1. KPGv2 · 1790315597 · focus · HN ↗

                  Right, but the opportunity cost of the down payment is what gets you. You're forgetting that if you rent, you have a large chunk of cash that you could invest in higher yielding assets.

                  This isn't controversial. This is what anyone with finance expertise will tell you.

                  1. kakacik · 1790355606 · focus · HN ↗

                     Yeah but real estate is something even people with seriously subpar IQ understand well, like gold. Its a conservative investment in most places, but risk of losing it is next to 0 realistically, which is something folks like a lot. Those that invested 20 years ago in many cases saw massive returns, in very safe manner. Not even going into airbnb and similar.

                     Also, if your down payments on mortgage are equal to rental fees, you won't save much renting, you just have better flexibility with moving, something great for single folks but families want opposite. In our case, for example we pay less mortgage than we would be paying in rental for same place (can check easily since symmetrical apartment next door is rented).

                     I don't want risky investments with potentially better returns for me, real estate is good enough.

                  2. bluefirebrand · 1790363981 · focus · HN ↗

                     Finance people are welcome to go live in shoeboxes and invest in higher yielding assets, clears them out of the housing market for the rest of us who value a house to live in over higher yields.

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