I still remember that moment: keys in hand, brain buzzing, heart loud. Not because the house was “perfect” (LA doesn’t do perfect), but because I finally made it real.
And here’s the part that surprises people:
I didn’t out-save LA. I out-volatiled it.
I used bitcoin as the long-term engine… and MSTR as the high-octane turbo inside a traditional brokerage account. It was messy. It was not linear. There were drawdowns that felt like getting drop-kicked by the market.
But it worked.
This is the story + the playbook.
LA is a treadmill that speeds up when you get tired
If you’re trying to buy a single family home in Los Angeles, you learn one brutal truth fast:
Cash is slow. LA real estate is fast.
Here’s the median Los Angeles County price for existing single-family homes (December of each year):
- Dec 2020: $660,000
- Dec 2021: $826,500
- Dec 2022: $799,670
- Dec 2023: $853,340
- Dec 2024: $912,370
That’s roughly +38% from Dec 2020 to Dec 2024.
So if you were “responsible” and saved in cash… you might’ve been sprinting while the finish line backed away.
I needed a different weapon.
Why bitcoin (and why I didn’t treat it like a lottery ticket)
Bitcoin wasn’t a quick flip for me. I treated it like:
- a long-duration bet on a scarce digital asset
- a savings technology (not a meme)
- a volatility machine that rewards patience and punishes panic
And 2020–2024 was the full emotional spectrum. Slickcharts’ annual BTC returns show it clearly:
- 2020: +303.16%
- 2021: +59.67%
- 2022: −64.27%
- 2023: +155.42%
- 2024: +121.05%
That 2022 drawdown? That’s not a typo. That’s the price of admission.
Why MSTR (the “bitcoin proxy” that hits different)
MSTR (MicroStrategy / now branded as “Strategy” in many places) was my trad-fin wrapper for bitcoin exposure.
The company publicly leaned into bitcoin as a treasury strategy in 2020—buying 21,454 BTC for $250M in August 2020 and explicitly framing it as a new capital allocation strategy.
So why did I use it?
- Brokerage-friendly: easy to buy/sell like any stock
- Liquidity: no wallet logistics when you need cash fast for escrow
- Amplification: MSTR can behave like “bitcoin with a turbo,” because the stock is a mix of business + BTC holdings + capital markets strategy
- Narrative + reflexivity: when bitcoin runs, MSTR can really run (and also really dump)
And again, the returns show the violence (up and down):
- 2020: +172.42%
- 2021: +40.13%
- 2022: −74.00%
- 2023: +346.15%
- 2024: +358.54%
MSTR is not “safe.” It’s a chainsaw. But in the right hands (and the right position size), it can cut through the LA down payment problem.
The mindset shift that changed everything
Most people think:
“How do I save enough cash for a down payment?”
I reframed it as:
“How do I build an asset stack that grows faster than LA home prices… and then convert it into cash at the right time without getting nuked?”
That’s the whole game:
stack → survive → convert → close.
My actual playbook
1) I separated “survival money” from “attack money”
Before I went heavy into volatility, I made sure I had:
- emergency fund
- bills handled
- no forced selling risk
Because if you need to sell bitcoin or MSTR to pay rent, the market owns you.
2) I built a two-engine portfolio: bitcoin + MSTR
My structure looked like:
- bitcoin = the long-term core
- MSTR = the high-beta satellite position
Not equal weight. Not YOLO. Position sizing mattered.
3) I stopped checking price like a maniac
I treated it like training:
- you don’t get strong by “checking your biceps” every hour
- you get strong by showing up, doing the reps, and not quitting
4) I expected the crash (so it didn’t break me)
When 2022 hit, both BTC and MSTR got smoked.
That drawdown was the real test:
- Did I actually believe in the thesis?
- Or was I just cosplaying conviction in a bull market?
I held. I kept buying small. I stayed alive.
The conversion: turning gains into a down payment (without getting cute)
Here’s the part no one hypes enough:
Buying the house isn’t about having the best portfolio. It’s about executing the conversion.
So I followed rules:
Rule 1: When the goal date gets real, reduce volatility exposure
When I knew I’d be shopping seriously (think: offers, escrow timelines, lender docs), I started moving toward:
- cash
- short-term “don’t blow up” instruments
- anything that won’t randomly drop 30% the week before closing
Rule 2: Don’t wait until escrow to figure out liquidity
Escrow doesn’t care about your thesis. Escrow cares about wired dollars.
So I planned the cash-out like an athlete plans a cut:
- staged sells
- no “one perfect top” fantasy
- locked the win
Rule 3: Keep clean records
If you’re converting bitcoin profits into a mortgage down payment, lenders can ask for source-of-funds documentation. You want:
- exchange statements
- bank statements
- a clean transfer trail
(Annoying, but way better than scrambling mid-escrow.)
Rule 4: Taxes are real—plan for them
If you sold for gains, you may owe taxes depending on your jurisdiction and holding period. Don’t get surprised.
The 2024 accelerants that helped the narrative (and the prices)
A couple major catalysts made the broader environment feel very “bitcoin enters the mainstream”:
- Jan 10, 2024: The SEC approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin ETP shares.
- April 19, 2024: The bitcoin halving occurred (reward cut event), a major structural milestone in bitcoin’s supply schedule.
- July/Aug 2024: MicroStrategy announced a 10-for-1 stock split, with split-adjusted trading expected to begin Aug 8, 2024.
Did these events guarantee anything? No.
But they mattered for flows, attention, and narrative momentum.
The biggest lesson: you don’t need to be perfect—just positioned
Looking back, the “secret” wasn’t a magic indicator.
It was:
- owning volatile assets early enough
- surviving the drawdowns
- having a conversion plan
- not hesitating when it was time to lock the win
That’s it.
I didn’t buy the top. I didn’t sell the top.
I just stayed in the game long enough for the odds to tilt.
What I’d tell anyone trying to do this in LA
- Stop trying to beat LA with cash savings alone.
- If you use volatility, respect it. BTC and MSTR both have years where they drop 60–70%.
- Have an exit plan before you “need” it.
- The goal is keys, not clout.
Bonus: 15-tweet thread version
1/ LA single-family homes are brutal. The finish line moves.
2/ I didn’t out-save LA. I out-volatiled it.
3/ My two engines: bitcoin + $MSTR.
4/ LA County median SFR price went $660k (Dec 2020) → $912k (Dec 2024). ~+38%.
5/ Bitcoin returns were insane and painful: +303% (2020), -64% (2022), +155% (2023), +121% (2024).
6/ MSTR was even crazier: -74% (2022), +346% (2023), +359% (2024).
7/ The key wasn’t “timing.” It was survival.
8/ I kept survival money separate from attack money.
9/ Bitcoin = long-term core.
10/ MSTR = trad-fin wrapper + turbo.
11/ MicroStrategy started buying BTC in 2020 and made it a treasury strategy.
12/ 2022 tried to break me. I held.
13/ When house-hunting got real, I de-risked + converted to cash.
14/ Escrow doesn’t accept vibes. It accepts wired dollars.
15/ Volatility can build a down payment… if you don’t let it wreck you first.
Quick publish kit
Meta description (SEO):
How I used bitcoin and MSTR gains—plus a strict cash-out plan—to beat the LA housing treadmill and buy my first single-family home.
Alternate titles (pick your flavor):
- “I Bought a House in LA With Bitcoin and MSTR (Here’s the Real Playbook)”
- “Beating the LA Housing Treadmill With Bitcoin + MSTR”
- “From Sats to Single-Family: My LA Home Story”
If you want, paste your real numbers (purchase price, down payment %, timeline, neighborhood vibe, how long you stacked), and I’ll tailor this into a hyper-specific version that reads like a movie scene—without sounding like a finance brochure.