There’s no shortage of data points to describe how difficult it can be to buy a home in California, particularly in the state’s costly urban metropolises. Home prices remain far higher than the rest of the country; it can take decades to save for a down payment; the rise in mortgage rates in past years has locked even more buyers out, while it also locks in many owners to their current home — making a tight market even more so.
When my grandparents moved to California from Taiwan in the early ’90s, they bought a home in the East Bay for just over $320,000. That home is now worth more than five times that amount, and it’s become my home — my husband and I are gradually renovating and planning for the long haul; one day we will inherit it. We feel incredibly fortunate, as it’s unlikely we would be able to afford such a home on our own.
Yet amid all the challenges to homeownership, here’s another: the math on inheriting a home is changing, with many people in similar situations to mine finding the benefits of keeping an inherited property not as great as they once were…