Renting in America Has Never Been This Expensive

Re:Renting in America Has Never Been This Expensive by happyfriend on Thursday August 13, 2015 @12:53PM (#10055546)

>Massive implicit and explicit government distortions in favor of home ownership. Starting with the type of mortgage available in the US and virtually nowhere else

Which ones? The horrible interest-only ones, or the horrible variable interest with balloon payment ones, or the horrible fixed 5% interest ones?

Now look at Japan. I can get a home there with a 1-2% fixed mortgage rate and that comes with a 5% discount at the local mall/grocery (Aeon). I could actually make the 1% back just on my food spending.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-07/record-low...

4% may not sound like much, but it is huge over the course of a 30 year loan.

100,000=>115,000@30yr,1% 100,000=>193,000@30yr,5%

What a rip off... Nearly double the principal, just in interest. Mortgages here seem like legalized financial slavery to me.

I rent here in the USA. I haven't seen great changes in my rent in the past few of years. This story seems very suspicious to me. Is it an advertisement paid by the mortgage industry?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Renting in America Has Never Been This Expensive by vonmoltke on Thursday August 13, 2015 @01:15PM (#10055716)

That is because the Japanese currency has been moribund for about 15 years. There have been many periods where you could actually make a profit by lending someone money at 0%. A 1% interest rate in the US would not even keep up with inflation; the lender would lose money on every loan.

[ Parent | on HN ]