Wow, what an intriguing article. That this guy parades his stupidity in a regular article is surprisingly candid. He thinks he was snookered, but they were just stupid.
One of his comments was especially head-scratching. That is, that since it is a ‘starter home’ why bother paying principal. Yikes! That’s the whole purpose of a starter home. Build up some equity, take care of the property so it increases in value, and then you will have an easier time getting into a better house.
My wife and I bought in ‘98 at 125K with 20% down (1,100 sq feet, now that’s a starter home!). Last year, we moved into a 2,900 sq foot home with 20% down basically from the equity of the first house.
My wife and I are an almost carbon copy of this. Built a new home (1,860 sq ft) in 1999 for something like $136K and built a new 3,100 sq ft home last year, put 17% down with the equity (employee benefit here is no PMI, ever, so 20% wasn't needed) and still had a boat load of cash left over to purchase a new fridge, all new furniture (which was sorely needed), 2 new beds, and new furniture for the 3 year olds room. Along with the audio gear for a home theater.
Not bad