Sign...sign...EVERYWHERE a sign.....

“Blockin' out the scenery….Breakin' my mind….Do this, don't do that….Can't you read the sign?”??

FOR RENT.?

Main Street of America is FOR RENT.?

It turns out that you can still get your kicks on Route 66.? You just can’t own them.?

Every three years, the Fed sponsors a research program and produces a report called the Survey of Consumer Finances that looks at the net worth of homeowners in the United States compared to renters. They only publish every three years so the latest-and-greatest data is from 2019.? More current data should be published later this year.??

In 2019, the average net worth of home renters in the United States was only $6,270. For homeowners, it was $254,900.? This means the average homeowner in the United States is 40 times more wealthy than the average renter.? This means that the average renter in the United States is 40 times “less wealthy” than the average homeowner.? Let me say that again.? Forty times.?

“Less wealthy”???

For further clarity, or confusion, imagine the icy, cold, 40-ounce (old school) Budweiser beer that might accompany your BBQ at any number of roadside establishments along Route 66.? Now imagine it 40 times “less wealthy”.? In my world, this? is no longer considered “a forty”.? It is now considered “an empty”.?

40 times?? Less? Anything.? Is not ”less”.??

It’s less than nothing.?

See.

For additional edification, or insult.? Back in 2010, the gap was $198,000.? Meaning the average homeowner had $198,000 more wealth than the average renter. By 2019, that number had increased to $249,000.? I’m not good at math so call it 50, geez.

That equates to a 25% increase of passive wealth gain over the last ten years.? For some -? law enforcement, teachers, and public servants -? the $50,000 pick up in wealth equates to picking up a full year’s pay without punching the clock directly to receive it.? It’s a good gig.? If you can get it.?

And people want it.?

According to NAR (National Association of Realtors)? there are 44 million renters in the US.? ? Some sources estimate that as many as 71% of renters aspire to be homeowners which equates to 31 million aspiring homeowners.? Had they been homeowners over the last decade or so they could have taken part in accumulating all or part of the $50K in wealth gain homeowners were able to enjoy.? Collectively, the market and the country would have realized a collective wealth gain of $1.5 Trillion. ? We all lost.?

This wealth gap largely exists because of the combination of equity and home price appreciation. Home renters typically don’t see a return on the money they pay in rent. With the incredible amount of home price appreciation that has occurred - and will likely continue in its modern-day form, the wealth gap will widen. Especially in those markets where rents are high and/or continue to rise.

I don’t have a super-highway for homeownership for these renters.? Not yet anyway.? It could happen.? I know powerful people.? I know you.? And I know that there is no voice more powerful in this country than that of the American Consumer.? If you are reading.? You are consuming.? My voice.?

We need yours. ?

JOIN America’s Homeowner Alliance.?

Encourage your Family and Friends to JOIN.?

It is FREE.?

www.myaha.com