this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2025
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A Boring Dystopia

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Buffett didn't hesitate. "If I knew where I was going to want to live the next five or 10 years, I would buy a home and I'd finance it with a 30-year mortgage, and it's a terrific deal," he said.

He didn't stop there. "If I was an investor that was a handy type, which I'm not, and I could buy a couple of them at distressed prices and find renters... it's a leveraged way of owning a very cheap asset now, and I think that's probably as attractive an investment as you can make now."

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[–] Ajen@sh.itjust.works 76 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

Wow, very misleading article. Buffet said those things in 2012, right as the economy was starting to recover from the great recession. Things are very different now.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 29 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

What he was talking about in 2012 is the world renters are living in today. This is the groundwork of how we got here.

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 13 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

And yet, still illustrative of the parasitic, evil mentality of billionaires.

[–] Ajen@sh.itjust.works 8 points 3 weeks ago

Most upper-middle class people are also looking for good investment opportunities. I'm talking about people who might have a net worth of far less than a million dollars. Let alone a billion.

[–] TheDemonBuer@lemmy.world 44 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

How rich do you need to be, you greedy fossil?

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 23 points 3 weeks ago

Exactly. I saw the headline and it just made me a little sick watching this guy, that so many think is the 'good billionaire' casually tossing out that he's a-okay with finding people who've been fucked over by the banks and housing markets and stacking more cash he'll never actually live to spend off of the corpses of their American dreams.

[–] bacon_pdp@lemmy.world 23 points 3 weeks ago

He is suffering from a severe form of mental illness (clinically diagnosed as a hoarder).

Unfortunately we celebrate people with mental health issues that make the world worse because they currently have the highest “score” in the game called money.

Funny enough recently passed laws could be used to “rehabilitate” billionaires by helping them free themselves from their hoarding disorders….

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 36 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Just in case you needed another reminder that all billionaires are bastards.

[–] HootinNHollerin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

And there are currently 3061 billionaires, according to Forbes’ tracker

[–] discosnails@lemmy.wtf 4 points 2 weeks ago

Does the tracker show their locations?

[–] the_crotch@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 weeks ago

Less than I thought. Is that only in the US?

[–] 0x0@lemmy.zip 4 points 2 weeks ago
[–] pseudonaut@lemmy.world 8 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I really don't get this.

House price to income ratios are at all-time highs. How could be calling housing a "very cheap" asset? Could housing costs really spike more than they have?

I've been of the mind that we're in a housing bubble that's going to crash sending prices down 20%. I'm no billioniare investor, so what do i know, but still shocking to think that the 1M California starter home is "cheap."

[–] surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 12 points 3 weeks ago

Yeah, he said it in 2012 apparently.

There are no distressed houses anymore, just distressed people.

[–] Stillwater@sh.itjust.works 7 points 3 weeks ago

Remember when any of these guys makes a statement about investment advice, it's not something that they want to do but something they will benefit from convincing you to do.

[–] rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works 8 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

Yeah, he's an old bastard but he's a smart old bastard.

If he's saying this, GTFO of the stock market and buy real property and tangible shit.

If there's a way for any individual to get minor shares of real estate just do it. This guy doesn't miss.

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 11 points 3 weeks ago

Smart and evil.

His company could buy a fucking bank and start a movement toward more equitable housing. It is possible to turn a profit without destroying people's lives.

Instead, he's stacking money on top of people's corpses.

[–] LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

This was in 2012. So we saw it already. If you bought forclosed house in 2012 for $150,000.. on average that house would sell for $257,000+ plus now. Assuming you rented it for $1,000/month during that time, assume you spent $50,000 dollars in upkeep/taxes they made $213,000 dollars off it so far. Obviously they still own the houses, so they can keep renting them out or sell them when the market is high right now.

[–] rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Stock market did better. I won't go look at mine but I know it performed wonderfully. What old Warren is saying is that real property is his pick for the next ten years

[–] LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

He did well off real estate during his life.

He also believes in long term investments. Never chasing stocks that are on the rise. He's been saying for about a decade the market is to expensive right now. The average total market value to GDP of the U.S. averages out to roughly 85%. Then he plays the market like counting cards. When the market value is below that 85% he buys long term investments. When it's above, he sits on his current investments and rides them unless he is forced to make a move.

So what you will see is in 2012, we were below market average, so he advised people to be making purchases/investments. Especially since the housing market collapsed in 2008 and people were running out of ways to pay their mortgage so they were foreclosing left and right.

Right now... The market is really overvalued. And a lot of it is probably tied to tech companies being way over valued. Will it collapse? Maybe not.. but it's hard to justify some of the prices we think things are worth.

[–] sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyz 5 points 3 weeks ago

People seem to get more upset over the individual hoarding ghouls than they get over the system that allowed these sociopaths to flourish.

[–] NotForYourStereo@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

I eagerly await the day this walking fossil stops walking.

[–] 0x0@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 weeks ago

Kill the fucker, rent out his house at affordable prices, there's probably enough space for many families.

[–] EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com 2 points 3 weeks ago

No thanks, not interested in starting a small business renting residential real estate.