Hidden Costs of Owning a House

Buying a house in America is rarely a carefully measured purchase. Somebody sees two houses, one of them is a two bedroom house renting for $2,000. Next door is a house that costs $2,000 a month for the mortgage. What would you do? Almost everybody goes, I'll get the mortgage because I'm building equity. Not so fast. They forget to factor in 30 to 50% of phantom costs, things they didn't even consider closing costs, maintenance, opportunity costs, transaction costs, renovations, and on and on. Most people do not realize the total cost of ownership tco until they've already bought the house. That is why I'm constantly reminding you rent is the maximum you will pay, but a mortgage is the minimum you will pay.