Owning Your Home Is a Wage Slave Trap! 

So I guess you sold your house ?🤷🏽‍♂️

It's interesting that in all the comments, nobody is addressing the thing that has been first and foremost on my mind as a happy renter regarding homeowners these days. The number one reason I wouldn't want to buy a home right now is the rise in natural disasters (natural or not - think Maui), fires, hail storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, landslides, not to mention skyrocketing crime, and what used to be a safe home is now in a very unsafe area. some people can't even renew their homeowners insurance because the risks are too great. If any of these things happen, I can pick up and find another apartment in a snap. But if you own a home, it's going to be very tough to recover from something like that.

yes, you know you got yourself an stable and obedient worker who will never complain. its kind of sad that most people in their 20s don't realize how free they are, and so briefly, before they fall for the security of an "adult life" where you are more stuck than ever.

Careful with what you say. Normies will get pissed off.

@@zakuma22 Lol. Dude; I have Asperger's. Normie's getting pissed at the things I say is the norm for me.

@@occamsrazor1285I appreciate that you're honest when interacting with normies. I've ruined my whole life keeping my opinions quiet and trying to keep them happy by doing what I *thought* I was supposed to do. It's soul crushing.

@@Anubis424242Yeah, I gave up on that for the most part. I "studied" people in my 20s to try to emulate them, but eventually realized that the data I was getting was flawed (I couldn't be aware of ulterior motives and arrived at false conclusions due to bad data). So I just be me, now. Luckily I'm pretty good at my job and am empathetic. That solves about 99% of the social problems. The only issues I really have (in the workplace) now are what I call the "incompetency mafia." Most people aren't good at their jobs and are just hoping no one figures it out. I have a low tolerance for incompetence, so I see it. They see I see it, and they don't so much conspire as they all have the same self-preservation tactic: they all independently report that I'm "hard to work with." And that's how you get rid of someone that sees through your disguise.

tbh i don't. i hope it stays running on the backs of the normies who never give the bigger picture a second thought. that way i can live comfortably with my niche way of circumnavigating it. If it collapses then 100 percent of us are in deep shit lol

@@KD6-3.7.2 what is your way of circumventing it?

Don't forget get forever taxes. So even if you play be the rules, you still have to pay to keep it! Disgusting tyranny!!!

*there were no modern heating/water/infrastructure/lighting/furniture (?)

@@KD6-3.7.2 What is your niche way of circumnavigating it?

100% agree

That part. People with MORTgages have been brainwashed to believe they're above everyone renting. They have a false sense of security and chip on their shoulder as if the bank still doesn't own their property. They also forget that this government can easily use eminent domain to get their property. They are very obsessed with screeching about how much their home is worth. Who cares? Unless they plan on always trying to sell a house vs building a stable family in one place. Even companies are starting to leave states like Florida and not cover homes. They've drank the Kool aid the powers that be established to make mortgage (mort) payers feel like they're better than everyone else.

Wrong but okay keep thinking that, the bank has no incentive to take your house it is a costly and awful process in the uk

@@James_36 I didn't say they have an incentive to do that. But they will if you stop paying. Maybe you could call that conditional ownership or something, but it's very different from owning it outright. The fact that people use the same phrase ("I own that house") is a marketing trick created by the issuers of mortgages if you ask me. It might still be a good option relative to renting depending on your circumstances, that's a different issue.

Yes, and even after the mortgage is paid off you still don't really own it. The government can take it away anytime..

That sounds like a good investment. But you do have to worry since you own it you mean? Repairs and such.

Nice - I got mine similar age. I’ve just turned 28 with £75k to go 😱 wish me good luck

People don’t realize that apartment complexes make a PROFIT off of you renting from them. They wouldn’t rent to you if they didn’t profit off of it - that means that yes you do pay for the maintenance, repair, property taxes, and inflation through the rent + margin for the investors and business owners. It doesn’t feel as much bc there’s some cost charging when they cram everyone into those buildings per the square footage of land. But you’re all still paying for it. Our total house cost is less than our rent. Yes, there’s repairs and maintenance but we got a house built in the 1980s in the countryside so all our repairs thus far have been super affordable. When we rented we had issues like sewage backing up in the sink and they didn’t send anyone to help for that weekend and then got mad bc we bought a bucket to drain the sink ourselves all bc they refused to respond to our request for help in a timely manner! It’s their responsibility bc the line backed up outside our building but they still don’t want to pay for it 🤦🏼‍♀️

​@@KevinM88TR11 Some are too busy working and juggling life to do those repairs. Not to mention unskilled, don't have the tools, and no mental energy left.

@@KevinM88TR11 ...pfffff hahahaaaa....wait till you've been taking care of that house for 30 years and then get back to me...fucking kids are so cocky i swear 🙄

not to mention how volatile and risky investing in crypto is

I doubt that you can grow wood as fast as you need to cut it down for fuel. Subsistence farming is tough and you starve if the crops fail and the animals die. It's all a nice fantasy but reality is pretty harsh.

@@KevinInPhoenix you're pretending that this isn't what people have been doing since forever. Do you know how long the concept of supermarkets exist? I know this might all seem a bit overwhelming to you but just like the majority of people you can learn this too. It doesn't take a genius.

I watched a video recently about a guy who lives in an abandoned house in the Japanese countryside. Not like a squatter, it's a program they have where you can get cheap, rural housing, so long as you to maintain the property. In return, he lives a quiet, simplistic life for super cheap, but with limited ameneties due to it being so rural. He doesn't do more than a few odd jobs around his local community and has sworn off consumerism. Anyway, something he said stuck out to me as simple, but poignant. "People look at the simple way I live my life and say, 'Aren't you worried if it doesn't work out? What if it doesn't work?' But that's the thing about Nature... It's always worked."

@@KevinInPhoenix no one said it was easy lmao

Yeah its terrible if you also consider that you have a family and you are stuck in this "mortgage prison". One thing I forgot to mention in this video, is that studies have shown how little space people actually use in their homes. Its actually a lot less than people would have guessed. But I think its good that you figured out this trap before its to late. :)

@@TomScryleus That’s so true. I optimize the space in my apartment and if I were to move to a bigger place I actually don’t even think I would enjoy that space. There’s this weird feeling of happiness that comes from keeping things simple and minimalistic when there’s no need to have it any other way. I also wanted to take the chance to say that I have been watching a good chunk of videos from you, from different channels through the last 5 years, and I’m really impressed by your latest content about this exact topic. This is in my humble opinion your best work so far, and I will return to this channel for honest and no-bullshit videos about topics that really matters for our well-being

I remember you from the Tommy Starsson days. :) I appreciate your kind words. Well i've noticed that whenever I talk about wage slavery and escaping 9-5, I get a lot of views. I think this topic is not usually covered.

@@TomScryleus Yeah, those were good times! Many years has passed, and we’re still doing it, this RU-vid-thing!🤣👌

But now you depend on the generosity of your landlord. If he doesn't want you anymore he can just kick you out.

Yeah I'm not sure I agree with taxes on ones primary residence.

It means the government has taken ownership of YOUR property. You are paying rent.

These criminals levying rent for profit need to be held accountable.

Regardless of what property taxes are use for, the problem in my eyes is that they are used as the driver in criminal schemes to take your home if you can't pay them. Alternatively, councils have been known to be even more scandalous, and have even stooped to artificially inflating the valuation of working-class homes in order to essentially firce the removal of the occupants with a minimum of muss and fuss, because by doing so this process drives up their property taxes which these individuals who are already struggling and with little to no extra money available cannot pay for. With local judges often corrupt or weak or crooked, he easily grants the county the green light to steal the homes and it's a wrap. Now, this process is an absolute illegal crime but it's happened in more than one municipality in recent years. It's been used as an easy way to force out residence in majority black and brown working-class neighborhoods through the years in order to pave the way for gentrification. With or without perceived cause, one's county comes to take the home, and may or may not give you the difference after its auctioned off at an oftentimes below or sharply below market value like it's a piece of stolen art. Every bit of this is a crime of superhuman proportions, and often illegal, but it is being currently engaged in everywhere because people profit from this. Home flippers and corporations LOVE this and local county leadership doesn't give a shir about their citizens or they wouldn't participate in this. This is a criminal racket which needs to be treated as such & criminalized at the state and federal level- home seizure by local authorities should be a crime no matter the reason - unless the primary owner is convicted of secks trafficking, but of course it won't be, because wherever there's an illegal or criminal dollar to be made the whole groups just waiting to take it. So it's not so much the taxes I mind, I just mind that they're used as a reason to throw a family or an individual out on the street. Yes people can fight back but if you're barely keeping your head above water you oftentimes can't afford a good lawyer and not enough lawyers want to take on low rate or pro-bono work. Throw in a greedy/corrupt judge who is only too ready and willing to greenlight these criminal scams, and the local county enforcers are off to the races. THAT'S why I hate property taxes. Because a county cannot steal your home without them. Even the most scandalous of banks aren't going to foreclose on you if you're current on your mortgage so this is the only other way that a county or city has to quickly depopulate an area that they're trying to gentrify or just take a bunch of homes bec hey... why not??? I mean they have the Monopoly on organized Force so I mean why not go for broke and just take what they want? "Is a crime if the government does it ??" They certainly don't think so. It's the purest essence of white collar crime, but it happens right here in the open, everywhere. I want to find a way to stop this. Just like HOAs, these are are open and naked crooked rackets and unjust behavior masquerading as legitimate law.

Regardless of what property taxes are use for, the problem in my eyes is that they are used as the driver in criminal schemes to seize your home if you can't pay them. Alternatively, councils have been known to be even more scandalous, and have even stooped to artificially inflating the valuation of some working-class neighborhoods in order to essentially force the removal of the occupants with a minimum of muss and fuss, because by doing so this drives up their property taxes which these individuals, who are already struggling, cannot pay for. With local judges often corrupt, weak or crooked, they easily grant the county the green light to move forward and it's a wrap. There are a few of any morals or conscience left in our courts these days from the reports that make it to my ears. Now, this process is absolutely illegal but it's happened in more than one municipality in recent years. It's been used as an easy way to force out longtime residents in majority black and brown working-class neighborhoods in order to pave the way for corporate-driven gentrification. Every bit of this is a crime of superhuman proportions, and often illegal, but it is being currently engaged in many places because people profit from this. Home flippers and corporations LOVE this and local county leadership doesn't give a shit about their citizens or they wouldn't participate in this. This is a criminal racket which needs to be treated as such at the state and federal level- home seizure by local authorities should be a crime no MATTER the reason - unless the primary owner is convicted of secks trafficking, but of course it won't be, because wherever there's an illegal or crooked dollar to be made there are whole groups just waiting to pounce. So it's not so much the taxes I mind, I just mind that they're used as an excuse to throw human beings out on the street. Yes people can fight back but if you're barely keeping your head above water you oftentimes can't afford a good lawyer and not enough lawyers want to take on low rate or pro-bono work. Throw in a greedy/corrupt judge who is only too ready and willing to greenlight these criminal scams, and the local county enforcers are off to the races. THAT'S why I hate property taxes. Because a county CANNOT steal your home without them. Even the most scandalous of banks aren't going to foreclose on you if you're current on your mortgage so this is the only other way that a county or city has to quickly depopulate an area that they're trying to gentrify or just take a bunch of homes bec hey... why not??? I mean they have the monopoly on organized force so I mean, why not go for broke and just take what they want? "Is a crime if the government does it??" as they say. The answer is of course hell yes, but who's going to stop them? It's the purest essence of white collar crime, but it happens right here in the open, everywhere. I want to find a way to stop this. Just like HOAs, these are are open and naked predatory and unjust behavior masquerading as due process.

that is also what im thinking

Yes and having 5-10 acres means you don't have to deal with your neighbors as much.

Haha!! I love that story. Thank you for sharing

how did you have the money to buy a house just like that without any dept?

thank you. Im glad you enjoyed the video. have a great weekend.

depends on what you rent. You can always find cheap living. And use the surplus to invest, or work less to work on your business.

Also, mortgage repayments are fixed at the price of the year you purchased. Yes, they fluctuate with interest rates.. but the purchase price isn’t indexed like rent.

Has nobody heard of MAINTENANCE a large cost of owning any property. Do you know how long your roof will last?

@@Trox2018 maintenance isnt a great cost unless your adding an extension

if you mean council tax /rates ,thats payable while renting too

Very true, statistically speaking, your zip code will determine how many years you will live.

That would be $147k in today's money. Good luck finding anything decent for that price. Living rural is not for everyone, the healthcare and infrastructure are often worse and good paying jobs can be sparse. Also curious, how much was your interest rate at that time?

@@RuckFussia I agree, you can't find anything like that now. Living rural would have ended my wife's life if she had had her VTach out there. I'm glad we live close to everything now because the emts were here in 5 mins which saved her. Interest rate at the time was around 7.5%.

We just bought our first house for $185k at 1,100 sq feet 30 mins outside of the city we commute to / I work from home, too as “broke millennials” on half an acre! It’s brought so much peace to stop giving MORE money to an apartment - our housing cost is less than our rent. We have a 2006 Toyota Prius as a commuter car. It’s already gone up in value allegedly it’s worth $200,000+ now. I believe it bc the previous owner bought it for $145k and sold it to us for $185k two years later 😭 so we’re happy to be homeowners now. Our dog is happier out here too!

So your home WAS an investment! More solid proof to discount this brainwashing landlord promoting ‘renting is great (for me!)’ narrative.

@@toddspangler6669 so, are you renting now or another mortgage?

Well obviously.

dont forget the opportunity cost of commuting vs living near everything.

I completely agree with this, renting means having nearly every aspect of your existence micro-supervised by the land owner/manager. From what products you can use, who you can have over and when, how many vehicles you can have and what kind, what kind of pets and how much your pets can weigh if you can have any at all, what you can put on the walls and in your windows, what time you can do laundry, what temperature it can be inside your rental, if you can work from your rental or not, ect… Rent is wildly expensive and never decreases and can be increased at any time, you can be evicted at any time, you are still responsible for some general maintenance and repairs, you can have your rent indefinitely increased as a result of a repair, you can be sued for damages and have actions against you placed in a public record. It’s a terrible, unstable and risky way to live.

@@ahansen9583 a lot of what you describe can be implemented by a HMO. CAVEAT EMPTOR

He also forgot to mention how annoying neighbors living all around u can be. Parking wars…etc. just watch “fear thy neighbor”

I did the same thing in 2022. I'm about 1 hr from a major city. Luckily, I work from home.

Why do y’all never talk about the property taxes or home insurance? Depending on where you live those can be very expensive.

Can be, but in my case I've done the math, and even accounting for taxes, maintenance, condo fees, etc, owning, even with a mortgage, is cheaper. The math might work out differently if I was buying today rather than 10 years ago as I did, though.

Inflation. Yeah I have similar experience. Remember how much movie tickets and comic books used to cost.

None of the fiat currencies are wealth. They are all debased constantly, devalued constantly. That's why investing is so important. And real estate is only an investment if you rent it out and become a landlord. As someone who has been a landlord let me tell you...other investment instruments are flat out better. Not that I failed to make a profit as a landlord, it's just that the profits were nothing incredible. 8% for a lot of work.

thank you, really appreciate that you shared your experience. I love how you phrased it that you value your time, and not being a slave to your property. Sounds like you did alright in life. :)

So now your just a slave to your landlord who can decide to get if of you or put your price up when he feels like it? Amazing choice

what makes you think youre not paying property tax, insurance, maintenance, utilities.....in other words, everything you paid for before...now?

It wasn’t the house that was a problem. The marriage set you back big time.

@@gppizza8979 A small apartment will only incur about a quarter of those costs compared to a large property.

Most people dont see the value of freedom. Something very sad about that…

All true, but the question is how long are you in this mortgage prison? If you are lucky like me bought house at 21, 2nd house at 27 and completely debt free by 35, then it's not so bad. Now I feel completely free with zero debts and plenty of cash and income, also fully retired at 55. It's all about timing though. I got in young and got stuck into it, and was lucky it turned out great for me. Replicating my experience today would be a struggle though, the world is different.

@@whisper2441 It doesn't look so bad for you. I think it depends on your goals and what you want to do. For me, I don't know how to take care of a house, so I'd have to learn everything about that. I have a business that needs time, energy, money and investments. So a house becomes inconvenient. I'm thinking about travelling for long periods of time in the future. I can't bring the house with me. For now, I'm single and no kids so an apartment makes more sense to me.

thats fine. and it doesn't sound like a bad idea at all. but its still a wage slave trap.

@@TomScryleusno it’s not bro, if you purchase intelligently, you can make out like a bandit. A home you live in can definitively be a good investment. I made $100k on my first home purchase, minus $4000 in repairs, total payment (PITI) was under the cost of rent in area. All done in 4 years. Bought smart, sold smart, also got a little bit lucky. What would you consider that? Yes, homes can be traps, but this is not a hard and fast rule that you’ve decided that it is. Adding nuance here will help the audience and come off honestly rather than ideologically driven. The wage slavery topic is important, but I’m worried here that you’ve decided this is true, when I can clearly show you why it’s not. There are a lot of exceptions, AND I MEAN A LOT.

I agree bought a house for 114k when Covid was at its worst… 2% interest rate.. costs 750$ a month. I rent it out right now. I pay 1,200$ to rent a condo. It’s all about the same with the costs. If you have to pay 2k-3k for a home a month then yeah that’s crazy no one should be buying a home in this economy.

agree 100%

It’s semantics, at the end of the day, you’ll always owe something to someone. Whether you have a mortgage or not.

This is wrong, you do own it

@@James_36 If you can't pay anymore, I think you will see who owns it.

@@newtonmoon no they have to go to court and get a ruling, they don’t own it you are factually 100% wrong

Big house. Zoning compliant. Perfect example of the “investment” model that everyone is talking about. Perfect example of how USELESS that model is for quality of life.

Obviously no morgage is a whole different thing.

@@TomScryleus LOL exactly!

@@TomScryleus LOL exactly! Thought people would see that it’s not the same thing.

Nice. I would say (house hacking) would flip owning a home to an asset since it is generating income.

still not an investment.

@@TomScryleus a house can be a very GREAT investment! I bought a house in '94 for 40k. It's worth 6x that on today's market. The greatest guaranteed financial return available to people is the savings when they pay down the principle on the front half of a mortgage. example: the first month on my 40k house, i paid an extra $100 and that gave me an instant savings of $350 of interest. An amortization chart can really be an eye opener. A home is a great thing. Home ownership is the foundation of financial well being.

@@TomScryleus Renting is a sunk cost, no present or future value at all. Furthermore, there is no security as the landlord can get you out at some unspecified date.

Im 27 years old and My parents (god bless them) bought me an apartment worth 80k USD in my name. We own 3 properties at this point and I feel fulfilled. I'm sure that by the time im 47 years old, it'll be worth much more. im happy. thank you universe/god/mom&dad

@@TomScryleus it is in the fact that at the end of the mortgage you have a large asset whilst at the end of renting you have nothing,and a relatively risk free investment unlike a business or speculation

1000%

thank you 🙏😃

that's not mental math, I'm yet to find a person who can calculate compound interest without a calc. Anyways, there are many other costs. You meant arithmetic, but that's still not a mental one.

@@swojnowski453 Not trying to be specific here (to what purpose?). Colloquially speaking, people also call it "if it passes the smell test".

That works both ways. Most home owners in NZ saw their homes double or triple in value in last 15 years...and since rent was high and interest rates low, they have been probably paying as much as rent.

How do you have spare money. Everyone I looked at renting vs my own home the rent was more than my mortgage for the same house size and value - with renting you get less house, no equity and no security - renters are coping and lying to others

Yah buying our first home in 2022, renting felt like slavery. They were constantly hiking the rent every year. We went from paying $1,300 to $1,700 plus $100 per month for a second garage 🙄 over the course of 4 years! Guess what - our salaries did NOT compete so we were so squeezed from both ends. We bought a house and locked in at $1,500 per month. We could refinance it for less interest down the road or just pay it off early. We could sell it and have equity built up already. We could stay here forever if we don’t outgrow it or turn it into a rental property or Airbnb. The important thing is it gives us options!

Rent is more than a mortgage now. It was generally more before 2020. Owning is not all bad.

yes I agree. But in general, I think people are actually to defensive when it comes to investments. I would rather that people become more offensive in their investing strategy. (Not saying careless though). Stop looking for "safe investments" etc.

@@TomScryleus "Stop looking for "safe investments" etc." I have nothing wrong with risky but the problem is peoples thinking real estate is not risky. I would argue real estate is very risky because it concentrates the risk in one illiquid, very expensive asset.

It's the same amount in the end. Countless studies show long term home ownership wins out in the end taking everything into account, even opportunity cost.

well said.

The payoff is the freedom to walk away at any time and not be stuck if your landlord gives you sh*t you can just move. Your property is only worth as much as people are willing to pay for it

Unless your can 2k-4x your investment. There are ways to do this.

You are wrong. Crime is higher in apartments. Better to own the whole damn apartment building and control the lives of your neighbors.

Cant argue with that :)

thank you!! good examples.

My mom bought the house I live in in 2018 and we've had to work on it like mad men for many years I'd have over $100,000+ saved if we rented by now and the opportunity cost of having to work on the roof while COVID was around passing all my investment opportunities away was beyond heartbreaking FUCK owning a house

Not if you include what you paid for the house.

@@TomScryleusyes even if you include the initial cost of acquiring the home. I can only speak for the US. Renting can be 3-4K a month. Owning will be 1500-2k. If the home was paid off then it can drop to 300 a month. This doesn’t even count the folks who purchased the home for 100k and can now sell for 700k plus !

Love it

I bought my mobile home for $10k, brought my land for $11k, installed the home for $8k, installed septic tank for $3k, installed well for $7k, and installed solar array for $20k. Paid cash for everything and the solar array is in my backyard. I don't put anything on my roof as that will damage it. Even my wood stove chimney is through the wall. My only energy sources are electricity and wood. Mobile homes and tiny homes are the only homes anyone can own as long as you own the land outright as well because the taxes are low, you can save up the cash to buy them outright including the land in a few years, you can generate your own electricity and even go off grid.

Glad you liked it, and thanks for sharing your thoughts. I think of that movie ”the matrix” how people are a part of the system. They believe in the system thats why they dont question it. Questioning it would affect their sanity.

very true sir, just know that your work is changing someone's life, may not be every single person who clicks on your videos, but you're igniting a spark in someone out there. @@TomScryleus

It is financial suicide to rent your entire life so where are you getting these finances from precisely?

thats because you have not including missed opportunities due to morgage, morgage interest, repairs. watch the whole video in full to understand it better.

Exactly

not directly.

Sounds great. Good for you