I have a house in Florida and a house in Kentucky and pay nearly $4000 in property taxes for each one and a similar amount in insurance.
Owning a home is not cheap but then again nothing is cheap.
My first home was only $22000.00. That’s not two hundred and twenty thousand but twenty two thousand. That same little home today is worth well over ten times that amount. Today we talk about million dollar houses like it was nothing. I tell people it’s just inflation. In 1964 a gallon of gas was 19.9 cents, that is two dimes. Today two silver dimes are worth over five dollars, so gas is actually cheaper today than in in 1964. It is the same with cars and houses. In 1965 you could buy a Ford Mustang for just under $2000.00 today a new Mustang is $40,000.00 or more.
I do own but have several rentals too. I lost money in the stock market in 2003 and again in 2008 and decided to back away from Wall Street and instead go with rental real estate. I think it was a good decision. It isn’t for the faint of heart to be a landlord but for me over time it has been a more secure investment than the stock market.
The real estate investment keeps up with inflation and the renter helps you pay for it. When I sell out, if I ever do it will be a pretty nice pile of money. That isn’t all good because of capital gains taxes which should be outlawed.