A woman who studied 600 millionaires discovered most of the super rich have surprisingly affordable homes. Here’s what some of those look like.

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• The key to building wealth is living in a home you can easily afford, according to a researcher who studied more than 600 millionaires. 
• She found that most of the millionaires she studied live in houses that cost below their means, allowing them to save and accumulate more wealth.
• Several well-known millionaires and billionaires, like Warren Buffett and Mark Zuckerberg, live in affordable homes that cost little compared to their overall wealth.

The key to building wealth? Living in a home you can easily afford.

That’s according to Sarah Stanley Fallaw, the director of research for the Affluent Market Institute. She co-authored "The Next Millionaire Next Door: Enduring Strategies for Building Wealth," in which she surveyed more than 600 millionaires in America.

She found that no factor plays as big a role in accumulating money as where you choose to live. Most of the millionaires she studied had never purchased a home that cost more than triple their annual income. Even some high-profile, ultra-rich people — from Mark Zuckerberg to Serena Williams — have purchased homes well below their means.

To compile the list below, we compared the cost of these homes to each person’s net worth. We didn’t have the data to determine their net worth at the time of purchase, so we adjusted the house purchase price for inflation using the US Inflation Calculator to compare against their net worth today.

For example, billionaire investor Warren Buffett bought his home in 1958 for $31,500. Adjusted for inflation, that’s equivalent to $274,357 in today’s dollars — just .0003% of his $82.1 billion net worth.

Everyone on this list owns a home less than 5% of their net worth.

Sarah Stanley Fallaw, director of research for the Affluent Market Institute, studied more than 600 millionaires for her book, "The Next Millionaire Next Door: Enduring Strategies for Building Wealth."

Courtesy of Amazon

Source: "The Next Millionaire Next Door"

She found that your neighborhood plays a huge role in how much you save and spend.

xavierarnau/Getty Images

Source: "The Next Millionaire Next Door"

If you live in a pricey home in an affluent neighborhood, you’re more likely to mirror your neighbor’s consumption habits and less likely to accumulate wealth over time.

Lars Niki/Stringe/rGetty Images

Source: "The Next Millionaire Next Door"

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

See Also:

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• 11 of the most massive real-estate price cuts we’ve seen in the past year, from the 70% discount on Michael Jackson’s ranch to a $350 million price drop on an LA hilltop
• Meet Amancio Ortega, the fiercely private Zara founder who’s worth $62 billion and owns properties in Madrid, London, and New York City

SEE ALSO: A woman who studied 600 millionaires discovered where you choose to live has 2 effects on your ability to build wealth

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Source: Business Insider – hhoffower@businessinsider.com (Hillary Hoffower)