I was able to refinance my home at 2.8% during COVID. Now I’m paying less than $2k for a 2200 sqft home. I’ve got neighbors who are paying $4-6k for equivalent housing.

My mom, who bought her home in the 90s, has the mortgage fully paid off and only owes real estate taxes (around $12k annually) on a 5000 sqft property.

A lot of landlords simply inherited their homes or had enough credit to buy cheap units during the dips.

They also do a shit job of maintenance. But it can’t be overstated how much of this property is either owned on extremely low interest credit or fully paid off.