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Charlie Munger didn’t have much patience for home-buying hype—especially if you were single.
At the 1998 Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK, BRK.B)) annual shareholder meeting, the late vice chairman and real estate attorney-turned-investor made his position clear when asked about buying a home: “The single people, I don’t care if they ever get a house.”
The moment came when an audience member from Southern California stood up to ask a very practical—and very personal—question.
“I’m still quite young, I don’t have a house yet and I’m thinking about buying a house someday soon,” the man said. “And in order to do that I’m going to have to put a down payment, which means I might have to sell my shares.” He wanted advice: When is the best time to buy a house, and how should that decision factor in interest rates, cash on hand, and investment opportunities?
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Warren Buffett took the first swing at it, sharing how he handled the same decision when he was just starting out. “We did have about $10,000 starting off,” he said of his early days with his wife, Susie. “And I told Susie, I said, ‘Now, you know, there’s two choices, it’s up to you. We can either buy a house, which will use up all my capital and clean me out, and it’ll be like a carpenter who’s had his tools taken away from him. Or you can let me work on this and someday, who knows, maybe I’ll even buy a little bit larger house than would otherwise be the case.'”
They didn’t buy a house right away. Buffett waited four years, purchasing their first home in 1956, once the down payment represented just about 10% of his net worth. “I really felt I wanted to use the capital for other purposes,” he said. And while he acknowledged that buying a home can be a good choice—especially if it’s the house you want—he added that it’s essentially a low-return move: “You’re probably making something in the area of a 7 or 8% investment, implicitly, when you do it.”
Then it was Charlie Munger’s turn.
“I think the time to buy a house is when you need one,” Munger said, with perfect timing.
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Buffett followed up: “And when do you need one?”
Munger didn’t hesitate: “Well, I have very old-fashioned ideas on that, too. The single people, I don’t care if they ever get a house.”
The crowd burst into laughter—but Munger wasn’t done.
Buffett prodded again, asking, “When do you need one if you’re married, Charlie?”
Munger’s answer: “You need one when your wife wants one.”
“Yes,” he added dryly, “I think you’ve got that exactly right.”
It was vintage Munger: short, blunt, and sharper than it first sounds. While Buffett looked at the question through the lens of capital allocation, Munger zeroed in on utility. If you don’t need a house—because you’re not settling down, don’t have a family, or don’t plan to stay put—it might not be worth the money or the commitment.
That view likely stems from Munger’s early background. Before joining forces with Buffett and building Berkshire Hathaway into a global powerhouse, Munger was a real estate attorney. He often had more interest in property than Buffett did, and in his own career, real estate played a foundational role. But even with that background, he saw homeownership as a lifestyle decision—not a default one.
Buffett’s logic tracks similarly: if you’ve got limited capital, tying it up in a home might slow down your ability to invest in higher-yield opportunities. That doesn’t mean never buying—but it does mean thinking twice before draining your account for a down payment just because it seems like the “adult” thing to do.
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So, when is the right time to buy a house?
For Buffett, it was when the down payment didn’t derail his plans.
For Munger, it was when you actually needed one.
And if you’re single? According to Charlie: maybe never.
Of course, that was a long time ago—and both men were speaking from a time and income bracket far removed from today’s median first-time buyer.
But here in 2025, their advice hits harder than ever. Home prices keep climbing, interest rates are holding steady around 7%, and an entire generation is stuck in limbo—unsure whether to buy, rent, or just keep throwing money into the market and hoping for the best.
According to Bankrate’s latest Housing Affordability Study, the income needed to afford a typical home has skyrocketed to $116,986 a year. Meanwhile, the median U.S. household income is just $78,171. In other words, the numbers don’t add up—and for a lot of young adults, homeownership feels less like a milestone and more like a pipe dream.
Munger may be gone, but his take is still hanging in the air for anyone scrolling Zillow out of boredom: You don’t buy a house to prove you’re an adult. You buy one when your life says you need it.
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This article Billionaire Charlie Munger Said Only Married Couples Need To Buy Homes — ‘Single People, I Don’t Care If They Ever Get A House’ originally appeared on Benzinga.com
