Michael Saylor stated that if the annual property tax rate is 2%, homeowners pay taxes to the government equivalent to the purchase price of the home approximately every 36 years, making primary residences not an ideal store of value.

This viewpoint stems from his examples of property tax burdens in certain areas of Florida, rather than a universal calculation applicable to all regions and property types. Florida does not have a uniform statewide property tax; actual tax rates are determined by counties, cities, school districts, and special tax districts, and 2% does not apply to all properties.

The "36 years" is not simply the result of 1 ÷ 2%. If home prices and tax bases remain unchanged, it would take 50 years to accumulate payments equivalent to the original home price at a 2% tax rate; Saylor's claim of 36 years implies that property assessments or tax burdens increase over time, but he did not provide specific assumptions about price growth, exemptions, or tax rates.

Saylor also includes mortgage interest, homeowners insurance, maintenance, property management, and transaction costs in the cost of holding a home, arguing that these ongoing cash flow expenses diminish the long-term real returns of real estate.

He does not assert that housing is necessarily worse than holding cash: he explicitly states that holding cash in a bank or safe is usually worse; if purchasing property in a jurisdiction where property taxes are manageable, real estate can still generate wealth accumulation.

In market mechanisms, homebuyers pay for living services, leveraged equity, and future price exposure, while sellers include original owners, local governments, banks, insurance companies, maintenance providers, and real estate agents. Rising home prices, fixed-rate mortgages, and rental income substitutes benefit homeowners; rising interest rates, tax base reassessments, increasing insurance premiums, and maintenance costs compress net returns. Saylor's analysis views housing as an asset that requires ongoing "holding costs," rather than just considering the down payment, price appreciation, or nominal net worth.

Source: Public Information