<prompt> Human: I would like to take a moment to post on how high housing prices and mini-mansions in America are contributing to the abscence of weath building in the American middle class. Some of what I say may be contreversial to those who refuse to do or reject the research, I understand that and welcome their opinions :.Housing prices in America adjusted for inflation have been essentially flat for 100 years! source and source2 To quote the NYTimes article from source 2Over the 100 years ending in 1990 before the recent housing boom real home prices rose only 0.2 percent a year, on average.That means when you factor in inflation your home is essentially returning OVER A VERY LONG TIME the inflation rate. There are of course exceptions like selling your home in 2006 before the bubble busted, but face it most Americans dont buy waiting on a bubble and in fact most bought in the bubble!So my home keeps up with inflation thats good right? WRONG, in addition to keeping up with inflation it also has property taxes that go along with it, of around 1 or 2, so when you factor those in you actually lose a small amount on the investment per year in taxes. In addition a home has upkeep. A modern roof will last 20 years and cost 3000 to put on. Thats over 100yr just for the roof, and you can work out the plumbingelectricalsidingdeckingwindowsinsulation and the rest for yourself. The rule of thumb I found says figure on 1-4 of the houses value per year sourceThat means if you bought a house IN CASH you are losing between 2-7 per year after inflation on that investment.But what about the power of leverage?Note: I am not talking here about rental properties. With a rental property the amount lost in maintence and taxes is worked into the rent price and you make money on those properties. Im talking about people treating thier primary residence like an investment.So what should we do live in RENT?!No, obviously home ownership is much better than the alternative of renting where you cant build any equity and lose 100. Let me give a scenario to illustrate.EXTREME CASE TO ILLUSTRATE POINTBack in 2012 a woman won 1,000,000 in the Michigan lottery and subsequently went out and bought two houses. It was found out later that just a few months after winning the lottery she was on food stamps because she couldnt afford the tax payments and bills on the houses she just bought sourceClearly this woman is a financial idiot, but she illustrates a point very well, which is many people buy a house well above what they should simply because they can afford it, but the costs of that house in turn make them poor.Picture this:BETTER ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE 1Joe Dirt makes 75K yr and has 20K saved up. He decides to buy a house, and settles on a 100,000 home where he has the 20 down payment. He gets a good mortgage at 3.5 over 30 years and pays off the house in 30 years.In that 30 years his home has doubled in value to 200,000Jane Doe makes 75K yr also and has 50K saved up. She puts 20 down on a 250,000 home. She also pays 3.5 over 30 years and pays off the house in 30 years with the terms of the mortgage. Her home also doubles to 500,000 in that time.Lets run the numbers shall we:JOE DIRT80,000 mortgage 3.5 over 30 years with a 1.5 property tax and no PMITotal of Principal Interest Taxes: 174,324.87Expected maintenance of 3000 3year: 90,000Total cost: 264,000Net Profit: NEGATIVE 64,000JANE DOE200,000 mortgage 3.5 over 30 years with a 1.5 property tax and no PMITotal of Principal Interest Taxes: 435,812.18Expected maintenance of 7,500 3year: 225,000Total cost: 660,000Net Profit: NEGATIVE 160,000LETS NOT FORGETJane Doe also has higher heatingelectic and other utility costs associated with that larger house.In addition the monthly payments are:Joe Dirt: 484.24Jane Doe: 1,210.59Meaning that Joe Dirt could in theory sink an extra 725 a month into the mortgage to pay it off faster, saving him 46,000 in interest and 21 years on his loan.SO WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN!?What this means is that you should spend the least on a house you can call home! Home is where the heart is, not necessisarily where the extra 2000 square feet are.The average home is 600 square feet bigger than it was in the 1970s source and they only keep getting bigger. So if you are thinking of buying a home, and you think its a great investment, ask yourself: Do I really need all of that?!Disclaimer: For some people The American Dream is owning the home of their dreams. To these people owning the home is enough for them to say Ive made it, I dont care about the money I would have saved. To them I say congrats on living the dream, none of the above applies to you.For the rest of us who think our home is an investment so Im gunna buy one thats big and comfy. Ask yourself how much money could you really save giving up some of that quality of life? By my estimates its around 7.5 a year on every dollar you dont spend on a house.Disclaimer 2: I tend to rant first and later edit for grammer, so I aplogize for any grammatical mistakes, please refrain from Ad Hominim attacks, as they serve no purpose in debate.  <response>: Holy sensationalistic dribble, Batman. 