For most of my post college life, I’ve had a drastically larger exposure to real estate over stocks. I needed a place to live so I figured it was better to pay down a mortgage than to pay someone rent. When it was time to buy another property, I simply rented out my old place for positive cash flow, and enjoyed my new place until it was time to rent it out again and buy a new place.
I’ve gone through this buy-rent-buy cycle three times now, and it’s been by far the easiest way to make and save several million in tax-advantageous dollars. Within the next five years, our plan is to go through another cycle and buy a Hawaiian beach property and rent out our current San Francisco primary residence.
Now that my exposure to stocks and real estate are more equal after the sale of a SF rental in 2017, I’ve had time to think about the two asset classes more objectively. And during this time, I’ve noticed anti-housing crusaders reach deafening levels!
