Aug 1, 2024
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Home prices have become so prohibitive in the U.S. that even rich, young Americans are ditching the dream of homeownership … for now.
In the past four years, the average monthly mortgage payment for a new home has nearly doubled, increasing by 96%. Zillow reports that the average buyer is now facing monthly payments of around $2,200, assuming they can afford a 10% down payment.
Sky-high mortgage rates and other housing costs are causing some high-income millennials and Gen Z to reconsider their timeline for the age-old American Dream of homeownership. These prices have pushed housing costs far beyond the traditional affordability threshold of 30% of the median household income of $74,580.
“Look at any major city, look at the stagnating minimum wage, look at the housing costs going up and also rent going up — it's not easy to live anywhere right now,” Tori Dunlap told Moneywise last year.
The founder of the financial education platform “Her First $100K” and high-earning renter is based in Seattle — where the median home price was a cool $779.9K in December, according to Realtor.com data.
Invest in residential properties without becoming a landlord
According to the RentCafe report, the number of millionaire renters in the U.S. tripled over that same five-year period, with 36% of that seven-figure club belonging to the Gen Z and millennial generations.
The rich young renters are more interested in building a strong financial platform — through sensible money management and strategic investing — before making the biggest financial commitment of their lives.
Despite the financial perks that can come with being a landlord, the role still comes with a hefty amount of work. If you’re not interested in being in charge of managing tenant complaints or fixing broken washing machines, you may want to opt for alternative means of getting in on the action.
Backed by world class investors like Jeff Bezos, Arrived makes it easy to fit rental properties into your investment portfolio regardless of your income.
Arrived’s easy-to-use platform offers SEC-qualified investments such as rental homes and vacation rentals.
Its flexible investment amounts and simplified process allows accredited and non-accredited investors to take advantage of this inflation-hedging asset class without any extra work on your part.
If you’ve ever dreamed of investing in your favorite city anywhere in the country, Cityfunds, lets you own a piece of top U.S cities – like Miami or Austin – without buying the property outright.
Cityfunds is an online investment platform offering access to diversified portfolios of owner-occupied properties in major U.S cities – with minimum investments starting at $500.
With a community of over 10,000 users, Cityfunds can help you take advantage of owning a stake in the $20 trillion home equity market across different cities.
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Necessity-based real estate
Dunlap is not against homeownership by any means. She’s certainly not in the same camp as prolific real estate investor Grant Cardone, who says buying a home is a “fantasy,” a “trap” and a “terrible investment.”
Rather, she’s more in line with fellow personal finance personality Ramit Sethi — a millionaire who rents because “it fits the season of [his] life.”
If home ownership isn’t right for your life at this point, you could consider necessity-based real estate as a way to invest in this asset in the commercial sector.
Private equity firm First National Realty Partners makes necessity-based real estate easily accessible.
With FNRP’s platform, accredited investors can invest in institutional-quality, grocery-anchored real estate investments without having to find deals on their own. FNRP’s team of experts manages the entire investment process so you can feel confident taking advantage of this asset.
Private real estate funds
When Dunlap was in her early twenties, her career took off, to the extent that her “well-intentioned parents” encouraged her to buy property at the age of 22, because they thought “renting is throwing money down the drain.”
The only property she could afford at the time was a small condo, located an hour outside of Seattle and a good distance away from her friends. She put an offer in but backed out at the eleventh hour — a move she now describes as “one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”
If you’re looking for another viable option for profiting off the real estate market, without having to take out a mortgage or become a landlord, consider investing in a private real estate fund.
With private equity real estate funds, you can get access to a wide range of different real estate investments, such as residential, commercial or real estate debt, meaning you aren't keeping all of your money tied to the fortunes of a single property.
With Fundrise , you can invest in several different real estate funds, each calibrated for consistent growth. Fundrise's real estate funds include a wide range of assets, including residential and commercial properties and real estate loans, ensuring diversification within your portfolio. Unlike most private real estate funds, which require institutional-level capital to get into, Fundrise has a minimum investment threshold of $10.
You can start investing with Fundrise by signing up and answering a few questions about yourself and your investing preferences and risk tolerance. Then Fundrise will suggest a portfolio best suited to your goals
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