The cheapest that I can rent in Phoenix Metro area right now is about $1000 per month. Thats $30 per day.

Someone even posted an RV in their backyard that they were renting for $800 / month, but even that doesn’t seem to be available anymore.

Some of my prize possessions cost near or less than that. I bought a full windfoiling setup (board, mast, sail, foil) for $1260. My mountain bike (a nice one) was $1250 new.

Both of these purchases seemed pocket-breaking, but at least I still have the object that they purchased, and they each have an above $0 resale value. Compare that to rent, where the money is completely gone, and they want me to pay again next month.

I’ve been considering moving to San Diego. If I have a roommate, it will cost $1500ish per month. One of my other prize possessions is a microscope that I bought off Facebook Marketplace for $150. Thats equivalent to just 3 nights of not paying rent. If I delay my renting by just 1 month, I could buy 10 microscopes at the price of my first one.

If someone bet me $20 that I couldn’t sleep in my car tonight, I would take that bet. Its an easy $20.

Yet by just abstaining from renting I am pocketing $30 per night, at a minimum.

The value of other material things which can be purchased, such as boats, a jetski, a sailboat, land, etc, just so far outweighs the value of rent that I don’t see myself having a place for a long time.

Theres a working jetski for sale on FB marketplace right now for $400. I could buy 2 of these, have them break, make no attempt to sell them broken or for parts, throw them in the garbage, and it would be less of a financial burden than 1 single month of rent.

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I’m thinking of moving out to the boonies where I can get cheap land or a cheap place, but I attend a lot of developer meetings and network here in the valley. Tyler Cowen said in a podcast appearance that people are much more productive in an urban environment. So while it is easy to measure per-month outflows of cash, minimizing that is not likely the best way to maximize lifetime savings.

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Its all a pretty simply equation though, supply and demand. I became a programmer mainly because it aligns with my natural skills and disposition, but also because I really believed that bringing AI into the world will lead to massive improvement in the human experience everywhere. Well, I haven’t actually contributed to the development of AI, outside of paying to use it, and now that its time for me to pay rent I kinda wish I would have become a home builder instead.

So many people in my generation are going to college that its hard to imagine the bargaining power of home builders not going up tremendously, which will take the form of high house and rent prices.