BudFox7 said:

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Lol @ the peepaws suggesting buy less Starbucks. They make memes about you.

Real estate is less affordable because of absurd monetary and fiscal policies. It will become even more so as giant financial institutions buy up supply.

Blaming fellow citizens is exactly what govt wants of you.

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"Fellow citizens " are perpetuating the problem through the voting booth.

Let's add cars into the discussion as well.

Artorias said:

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Owlagdad said:

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Is buying really worth it anymore? After Trumps tax cuts, you need a boat load of deductions to write home interest and taxes off. Doubt if many youngsters are tithing, so hitting the threshold is tough. They are throwing up real nice patio homes around here all rentals. Makes no sense to me to pay $2500 in rent, but to others, makes perfect sense.

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My sister-in-law and her husband pay $1800/month for a small 2-BR apartment in Ft Worth. That is more than my mortgage payment on our 3200 sq ft house on 20 acres with a huge barn and spring-fed pond here in east Tennessee. Doesn't make any sense to me, but to each their own I guess.

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I have a couple of friends that are paying over 5k per month in rent for a 1000 sq ft apartment in Brooklyn. They'd obviously be able to afford a very nice place if they moved back to Texas, but they wouldn't be anywhere near as happy they told me.

It doesn't make sense to me, but to each their own.

People forget that buying a home is not a right. It takes a lot of hard work and you might not be able to buy a home that looks like the one your parents worked for their whole lives right after graduation.

Yes increases are an issue, but my wife and I lived in a dumpy appt, worked and saved meticulously for years before we bought our first home.

We live in a nice home now, but it took a lot of hard work and sacrifice. We still have things undone in our house that we will do in the next several years as funds allow.

Maybe consider a location that fits your long term plans.

No Spin Ag said:

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Artorias said:

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Owlagdad said:

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Is buying really worth it anymore? After Trumps tax cuts, you need a boat load of deductions to write home interest and taxes off. Doubt if many youngsters are tithing, so hitting the threshold is tough. They are throwing up real nice patio homes around here all rentals. Makes no sense to me to pay $2500 in rent, but to others, makes perfect sense.

---

My sister-in-law and her husband pay $1800/month for a small 2-BR apartment in Ft Worth. That is more than my mortgage payment on our 3200 sq ft house on 20 acres with a huge barn and spring-fed pond here in east Tennessee. Doesn't make any sense to me, but to each their own I guess.

---

I have a couple of friends that are paying over 5k per month in rent for a 1000 sq ft apartment in Brooklyn. They'd obviously be able to afford a very nice place if they moved back to Texas, but they wouldn't be anywhere near as happy they told me.

It doesn't make sense to me, but to each their own.

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My business partner lives in a 1000 sq ft apt. in Manhattan with his wife and 3 young children. Makes no sense to me, why anyone would want to live like that, but I simply cannot convince him to move out of NYC.

How did I not guess that was going to be another Bitcoin article? Typical

Quote:

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Yes increases are an issue, but my wife and I lived in a dumpy appt, worked and saved meticulously for years before we bought our first home.

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Sounds like you should've cut back on the Starbucks, amigo

jopatura said:

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We bought a starter home 10 years ago for $170,000. We bought our next home during COVID for $360,000.

That same starter home would sell for roughly $450,000 today, maybe more. There's absolutely no way we could afford it today if we were 10 years younger. Hell, we'd be straight up struggling with our current salaries. You can't put this all on a lazy generation.

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Real estate is all about location. The house you bought is likely in a more desirable neighborhood today than it was when you bought it. There are starter homes out there for less than $450. People just have to go to ****tier neighborhoods and live there until they get better. You can't argue everything has changed in the world of real estate and then try to make a comparison assuming almost nothing has changed.

Young people want nicer homes than they can afford. They're *****ing when they can't find them and blaming someone else. Ironically by acting like that, they are making it more profitable for big investment firms to own rentals.

Owlagdad said:

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Is buying really worth it anymore? After Trumps tax cuts, you need a boat load of deductions to write home interest and taxes off. Doubt if many youngsters are tithing, so hitting the threshold is tough. They are throwing up real nice patio homes around here all rentals. Makes no sense to me to pay $2500 in rent, but to others, makes perfect sense.

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So.......are you complaining about Trump's income tax cuts? Most people would not be able to generate enough deductions to surpass the personal tax deduction allowed under President Trump's tax reform act. It was a win for millions of taxpayers.

coolerguy12 said:

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I'm 32 and have owned 3 homes in my life, starting when I was 23. My twin brother is in the same boat. My older brother bought around 25. My younger brother bought around 27. My sisters also had houses by the time they were in their mid 20s.

Low interest rates and first time home buyer loans made it pretty easy actually.

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That's impressive, but can you agree that it would have been much more difficult if you had come out of school a decade later? I feel bad for young people/families trying to get into a first home these last couple years.

No Spin Ag said:

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Artorias said:

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Owlagdad said:

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Is buying really worth it anymore? After Trumps tax cuts, you need a boat load of deductions to write home interest and taxes off. Doubt if many youngsters are tithing, so hitting the threshold is tough. They are throwing up real nice patio homes around here all rentals. Makes no sense to me to pay $2500 in rent, but to others, makes perfect sense.

---

My sister-in-law and her husband pay $1800/month for a small 2-BR apartment in Ft Worth. That is more than my mortgage payment on our 3200 sq ft house on 20 acres with a huge barn and spring-fed pond here in east Tennessee. Doesn't make any sense to me, but to each their own I guess.

---

I have a couple of friends that are paying over 5k per month in rent for a 1000 sq ft apartment in Brooklyn. They'd obviously be able to afford a very nice place if they moved back to Texas, but they wouldn't be anywhere near as happy they told me.

It doesn't make sense to me, but to each their own.

---

Downtown Dallas is approaching that level of absurdity.

Funky Winkerbean said:

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Madman said:

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jopatura said:

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We bought a starter home 10 years ago for $170,000. We bought our next home during COVID for $360,000.

That same starter home would sell for roughly $450,000 today, maybe more. There's absolutely no way we could afford it today if we were 10 years younger. Hell, we'd be straight up struggling with our current salaries. You can't put this all on a lazy generation.

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The median household income in Houston is less than $60k. Just like education and medicine government intervention has caused prices to skyrocket.

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That $60k figure seems awfully low. That's less than $15/hr for two people working full time.

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Maybe the data is wrong but its probably close. I can't imagine how a family can do anything on the official numbers.

ScapeGOAT said:

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Quote:

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Yes increases are an issue, but my wife and I lived in a dumpy appt, worked and saved meticulously for years before we bought our first home.

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Sounds like you should've cut back on the Starbucks, amigo

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We don't drink coffee, but thanks.

No, we payed off student loans had our first two kids and saved $100k that largely went to buy acreage and building a home in the hill country.

I can sympathize with the younger folks as it might be hard now, but there are still good opportunities. Be smart, we're Aggies here. We can do it.

fightingfarmer09 said:

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TRADUCTOR said:

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Kids shopping where they cannot afford.

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This x1000.

Plenty of jobs and opportunities out in middle America. Homes are very affordable. But you won't be in a hip neighborhood or have a local LGBT club to hang out.

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A decent 2,400 SF cookie-cutter suburban home on the outskirts of College Station is likely to run you damn near $500k. It's not like Navasota or Hempstead are cheap either. Hell, Amarillo's not cheap. Bastrop is straight up expensive. Not a crap ton of jobs or opportunities in those places, or many small towns really, but I guess some people can work from home nowadays.

We can mock Gen Z for not wanting to live in small decaying towns with only a Brookshire Brothers and a Wal Mart, but think some of you would HATE trying to buy a first home right now...ANYWHERE. We were all lucky to come out when we did and should be thankful.

Wycliffe_03 said:

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fightingfarmer09 said:

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TRADUCTOR said:

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Kids shopping where they cannot afford.

---

This x1000.

Plenty of jobs and opportunities out in middle America. Homes are very affordable. But you won't be in a hip neighborhood or have a local LGBT club to hang out.

---

A decent 2,400 SF cookie-cutter suburban home on the outskirts of College Station is likely to run you damn near $500k. It's not like Navasota or Hempstead are cheap either. Hell, Amarillo's not cheap. Not a crap ton of jobs or opportunities in those places, or many small towns really.

We can mock Gen Z for not wanting to live in small decaying towns with only a Brookshire Brothers and a Wal Mart, but think some of you would HATE trying to buy a first home right now...ANYWHERE. We were all lucky to come out when we did and should be thankful.

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There are quadplexes in CS for $450k. I'm calling bullshtt on half million dollar starter homes.

How's about they buy the quad, live in one unit (2/1.5) and live rent free while the three tenants pay the mortgage in the quad and they build equity.

Look at that, I just taught you how to free up your monthly nut from a mortgage payment and get a family moving toward wealth building.

Gotta keep up with the Jones' gram.

DrEvazanPhD said:

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3.0 interest rates and people moving from commiefornia to Texas in droves hasn't helped

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Business moving to Texas from California are celebrated.
Their employees moving here are not.
Sleep with hookers, wake up clapping.
Somehow most Texans miss that.


Look at builder/developer homes built during high interest rate periods.
They were basic.
Cheap interest rates and ninja loans coupled with govt requirements have made builder/developer homes palaces. Higher interest rates will bring everyone back to Chevy from Cadillac.

YouBet said:

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No Spin Ag said:

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Artorias said:

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Owlagdad said:

---

Is buying really worth it anymore? After Trumps tax cuts, you need a boat load of deductions to write home interest and taxes off. Doubt if many youngsters are tithing, so hitting the threshold is tough. They are throwing up real nice patio homes around here all rentals. Makes no sense to me to pay $2500 in rent, but to others, makes perfect sense.

---

My sister-in-law and her husband pay $1800/month for a small 2-BR apartment in Ft Worth. That is more than my mortgage payment on our 3200 sq ft house on 20 acres with a huge barn and spring-fed pond here in east Tennessee. Doesn't make any sense to me, but to each their own I guess.

---

I have a couple of friends that are paying over 5k per month in rent for a 1000 sq ft apartment in Brooklyn. They'd obviously be able to afford a very nice place if they moved back to Texas, but they wouldn't be anywhere near as happy they told me.

It doesn't make sense to me, but to each their own.

---

Downtown Dallas is approaching that level of absurdity.

---

I'm sure.

And with construction of new starter homes not keeping up, for whatever reason, with the demand from the newer generations, they're stuck having to choose between an older house none of us would want to live in, or be stuck renting in an apartment that's price keeps increasing because there's no places for them to afford to move into, and the cycle continues.

Once those new starter homes start coming to market, things will become more affordable for everyone at all levels, but right now, if you're just making teacher money or less, good luck on getting out of your apartment or into a much older home in a neighborhood you never thought you'd end up in.

jopatura said:

---

We bought a starter home 10 years ago for $170,000. We bought our next home during COVID for $360,000.

That same starter home would sell for roughly $450,000 today, maybe more. There's absolutely no way we could afford it today if we were 10 years younger. Hell, we'd be straight up struggling with our current salaries. You can't put this all on a lazy generation.

---

People blaming this on Starbucks are absurd. I own two properties by now because of above average income-not Starbucks. My parents and my wife's parents each have at the time and accounting for inflation very affordable homes in downtown Seattle and Orange County. They are worth more than 10 times what they paid today. Neither would have been close to affording such homes in such areas.

The current situation is simply something older folks didn't have to deal with.

Lots of decent 3/2 around bcs for under 400-300k. Sorry it's not all hoa/hardwood/granite counter/lazy river type homes. I guess you're gonna have to....lord almighty...save money for a badass house.

Emotional Support Cobra said:

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Overspending on day to day items like starbucks, 3 meals of takeout, and fast fashion DAILY, phones, grooming, etc and not having savings is another.

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Don't forget to mention the biggest waste of money, new cars with high car payments.

Also, young folks want a totally move in ready house. While I drove a $2,400 car my folks helped me buy and I drove when I was at A&M; Wife dove $5,000 car her parents helped pay for half from an auction. No car payments after paying them off.

I bought my first house for 23,000, while I was making $1,500 per month and wife was in school with part time job. Lived in father in laws home a few weeks while we fixed it up, paint and floors were so ugly and outdated. Floors were rotten in places. Plumbing was bad in some places. I didn't know what I was doing, I just jumped in and did it. Made mistakes and then just fixed mistakes. I should have paid a little money and gotten plumbers to fix more than I did but I eventually got it.

Sold it two years later for 45,000. Bought 55,000 house in better neighborhood that was outdated. Sold it for 75,000 2 years later, Bought 75,000 house from an estate that was outdated. Still had green toilet and bathtubs and stove.

Sold it for 120,000 two years later. Built 3,000 sq ft house. Loved in it for 20 years.

Folks can buy a house. They need to tighten up on spending, lower their living standards on the first house, be willing to do some work themselves. None of its that difficult, it's just the experts already have made their mistakes and know how to avoid them. Get experts for wiring and maybe plumbing. Although I did a lot of plumbing myself. Just know how to cut off the water if you mess up.

I did know how to finance things though. I got the sellers to say the purchase price was 28,000 and I had $4,000 down payment which I really only gave them $1,000. Bank financed 22,400 and I was not out of pocket much on the purchase but I needed money for remodel.

If a lot of repairs are needed , Better way would have been to get local bank to finance purchase AND remodel, then refi to 30 year mortgage after everything is fixed up.

No Spin Ag said:

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YouBet said:

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No Spin Ag said:

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Artorias said:

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Owlagdad said:

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Is buying really worth it anymore? After Trumps tax cuts, you need a boat load of deductions to write home interest and taxes off. Doubt if many youngsters are tithing, so hitting the threshold is tough. They are throwing up real nice patio homes around here all rentals. Makes no sense to me to pay $2500 in rent, but to others, makes perfect sense.

---

My sister-in-law and her husband pay $1800/month for a small 2-BR apartment in Ft Worth. That is more than my mortgage payment on our 3200 sq ft house on 20 acres with a huge barn and spring-fed pond here in east Tennessee. Doesn't make any sense to me, but to each their own I guess.

---

I have a couple of friends that are paying over 5k per month in rent for a 1000 sq ft apartment in Brooklyn. They'd obviously be able to afford a very nice place if they moved back to Texas, but they wouldn't be anywhere near as happy they told me.

It doesn't make sense to me, but to each their own.

---

Downtown Dallas is approaching that level of absurdity.

---

I'm sure.

And with construction of new starter homes not keeping up, for whatever reason, with the demand from the newer generations, they're stuck having to choose between an older house none of us would want to live in, or be stuck renting in an apartment that's price keeps increasing because there's no places for them to afford to move into, and the cycle continues.

Once those new starter homes start coming to market, things will become more affordable for everyone at all levels, but right now, if you're just making teacher money or less, good luck on getting out of your apartment or into a much older home in a neighborhood you never thought you'd end up in.

---

Get a Fannie homestay reno loan, it's 3% and its has a contractor and the cost of the renovation built into the deal. Not to mention the fact that the homeowner would have increased the value of the property after the reno. That's INSTANT EQUITY for choosing that older home and having someone renovate it for you.

Quit being a whiner.

The Debt said:

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Wycliffe_03 said:

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fightingfarmer09 said:

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TRADUCTOR said:

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Kids shopping where they cannot afford.

---

This x1000.

Plenty of jobs and opportunities out in middle America. Homes are very affordable. But you won't be in a hip neighborhood or have a local LGBT club to hang out.

---

A decent 2,400 SF cookie-cutter suburban home on the outskirts of College Station is likely to run you damn near $500k. It's not like Navasota or Hempstead are cheap either. Hell, Amarillo's not cheap. Not a crap ton of jobs or opportunities in those places, or many small towns really.

We can mock Gen Z for not wanting to live in small decaying towns with only a Brookshire Brothers and a Wal Mart, but think some of you would HATE trying to buy a first home right now...ANYWHERE. We were all lucky to come out when we did and should be thankful.

---

There are quadplexes in CS for $450k. I'm calling bullshtt on half million dollar starter homes.

How's about they buy the quad, live in one unit (2/1.5) and live rent free while the three tenants pay the mortgage in the quad and they build equity.

Look at that, I just taught you how to free up your monthly nut from a mortgage payment and get a family moving toward wealth building.

---

I just looked at Zillow and the ones that you say are worth $450k will require at least $80K worth of work. All to be able to rent out with market rates that are less than the cost of the mortgage so you'll be worse off on cash flow and have to pay for all the maintenance taxes and everything else that wasn't factored into that. If you buy a turnkey property for $600,000 you still have the same problem. I'm not saying that house hacking isn't a good idea, but you need to present realistic numbers and not magical thinking.

Aggrad08 said:

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jopatura said:

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We bought a starter home 10 years ago for $170,000. We bought our next home during COVID for $360,000.

That same starter home would sell for roughly $450,000 today, maybe more. There's absolutely no way we could afford it today if we were 10 years younger. Hell, we'd be straight up struggling with our current salaries. You can't put this all on a lazy generation.

---

People blaming this on Starbucks are absurd. I own two properties by now because of above average income-not Starbucks. My parents and my wife's parents each have at the time and accounting for inflation very affordable homes in downtown Seattle and Orange County. They are worth more than 10 times what they paid today. Neither would have been close to affording such homes in such areas.

The current situation is simply something older folks didn't have to deal with.

---

It's not how much you make, it's how much you save.

If someone is buying $6 lattes 5 days a week, instead of $.89 coffee at cefco they are spending $1320 a year on a pickme up, rather than $180.

"$1000/year isn't going to make a difference!" Sure, but would you rather have that $1000 or 70 gallons of urine? If you can't be disciplined with coffee, the chances of them being disciplined with lunch/dinner spending is out the window. Even today you can have a lunch for $3 made at home and taken with you. How many people pay for a #2 at the drive through paying $7 for a meal? How many rather go to sit down restaurant and pay $15 -20 for a meal? That $3 tuna sandwich and hostess cake may not come with a server, but damn it's gonna save you hundreds of dollars a month.

I bought my house in 2007 (at 34) in College Station. I did so because rental cost just started increasing and increasing. Figured I could at least lock my payment at one price and the place would be mine. I'm glad I did because a house being rented in my neighborhood now is going for twice as much as what I'm paying a month in mortgage, and that includes escrow.

The Debt said:

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No Spin Ag said:

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YouBet said:

---

No Spin Ag said:

---

Artorias said:

---

Owlagdad said:

---

Is buying really worth it anymore? After Trumps tax cuts, you need a boat load of deductions to write home interest and taxes off. Doubt if many youngsters are tithing, so hitting the threshold is tough. They are throwing up real nice patio homes around here all rentals. Makes no sense to me to pay $2500 in rent, but to others, makes perfect sense.

---

My sister-in-law and her husband pay $1800/month for a small 2-BR apartment in Ft Worth. That is more than my mortgage payment on our 3200 sq ft house on 20 acres with a huge barn and spring-fed pond here in east Tennessee. Doesn't make any sense to me, but to each their own I guess.

---

I have a couple of friends that are paying over 5k per month in rent for a 1000 sq ft apartment in Brooklyn. They'd obviously be able to afford a very nice place if they moved back to Texas, but they wouldn't be anywhere near as happy they told me.

It doesn't make sense to me, but to each their own.

---

Downtown Dallas is approaching that level of absurdity.

---

I'm sure.

And with construction of new starter homes not keeping up, for whatever reason, with the demand from the newer generations, they're stuck having to choose between an older house none of us would want to live in, or be stuck renting in an apartment that's price keeps increasing because there's no places for them to afford to move into, and the cycle continues.

Once those new starter homes start coming to market, things will become more affordable for everyone at all levels, but right now, if you're just making teacher money or less, good luck on getting out of your apartment or into a much older home in a neighborhood you never thought you'd end up in.

---

Get a Fannie homestay reno loan, it's 3% and its has a contractor and the cost of the renovation built into the deal. Not to mention the fact that the homeowner would have increased the value of the property after the reno. That's INSTANT EQUITY for choosing that older home and having someone renovate it for you.

Quit being a whiner.

---

I'm not whining, I'm simply stating what's going on out there.

BTW, what you mentioned is exactly what one of my friends did. He bought an older home in an older neighborhood and it looks as new as anything on the market inside. That being said, he's got no kids and so the fact that the school in the area is horrible, or that it's not anywhere near a nicer part of town where the younger generations prefer, but he's middle-aged now, so things like that don't matter anymore to him unlike when he was younger.

Normalized to 100 in 2000. I don't see how there's not an argument that it's harder today than it was years ago.

Malibu2 said:

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The Debt said:

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Wycliffe_03 said:

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fightingfarmer09 said:

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TRADUCTOR said:

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Kids shopping where they cannot afford.

---

This x1000.

Plenty of jobs and opportunities out in middle America. Homes are very affordable. But you won't be in a hip neighborhood or have a local LGBT club to hang out.

---

A decent 2,400 SF cookie-cutter suburban home on the outskirts of College Station is likely to run you damn near $500k. It's not like Navasota or Hempstead are cheap either. Hell, Amarillo's not cheap. Not a crap ton of jobs or opportunities in those places, or many small towns really.

We can mock Gen Z for not wanting to live in small decaying towns with only a Brookshire Brothers and a Wal Mart, but think some of you would HATE trying to buy a first home right now...ANYWHERE. We were all lucky to come out when we did and should be thankful.

---

There are quadplexes in CS for $450k. I'm calling bullshtt on half million dollar starter homes.

How's about they buy the quad, live in one unit (2/1.5) and live rent free while the three tenants pay the mortgage in the quad and they build equity.

Look at that, I just taught you how to free up your monthly nut from a mortgage payment and get a family moving toward wealth building.

---

I just looked at Zillow and the ones that you say are worth $450k will require at least $80K worth of work. All to be able to rent out with market rates that are less than the cost of the mortgage so you'll be worse off on cash flow and have to pay for all the maintenance taxes and everything else that wasn't factored into that. If you buy a turnkey property for $600,000 you still have the same problem. I'm not saying that house hacking isn't a good idea, but you need to present realistic numbers and not magical thinking.

---

"Require" lol. They are fully leased right now. Oh no they don't have granite countertops!

Again, if your options are to be fully liable for a mortgage on a $500k SFH or be partially liable for a mortgage on a $450k MFH, you are saying they are both bad options. Lol OK. Let's take your imaginary $80k reno on the MFH, you are now $530k into it and now you get your tenants that are paying "$100" more per unit. Is that $530k with tenants wiser than the $500k SFH?

The Debt said:

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Wycliffe_03 said:

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fightingfarmer09 said:

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TRADUCTOR said:

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Kids shopping where they cannot afford.

---

This x1000.

Plenty of jobs and opportunities out in middle America. Homes are very affordable. But you won't be in a hip neighborhood or have a local LGBT club to hang out.

---

A decent 2,400 SF cookie-cutter suburban home on the outskirts of College Station is likely to run you damn near $500k. It's not like Navasota or Hempstead are cheap either. Hell, Amarillo's not cheap. Not a crap ton of jobs or opportunities in those places, or many small towns really.

We can mock Gen Z for not wanting to live in small decaying towns with only a Brookshire Brothers and a Wal Mart, but think some of you would HATE trying to buy a first home right now...ANYWHERE. We were all lucky to come out when we did and should be thankful.

---

There are quadplexes in CS for $450k. I'm calling bullshtt on half million dollar starter homes.

How's about they buy the quad, live in one unit (2/1.5) and live rent free while the three tenants pay the mortgage in the quad and they build equity.

Look at that, I just taught you how to free up your monthly nut from a mortgage payment and get a family moving toward wealth building.

---

And back to the point of the thread...now young families are reduced to only being able to afford cheap crap quadplexes in college towns and share them with college kids.

First homes were MUCH more attainable for our parents, and us, than they are people looking to buy right now. We all know it, I am not sure why people pretend that is not the case.

There is NO WAY my mother would have ever been fine starting a family in a f-ing college living quadplex back in the 80's LOL. Good luck finding any woman who is cool with that. Smart strategy for a single dude though.

All of these idiot new grads just need to suck it up and buy cheap houses in South Dallas, Fair Park, or in Gunspoint Greenspoint in Houston.

Get over yourselves, Zoomers

Correct. It's not just size, but finishes have also changed over the years. Used to be 8' ceilings with plastic counter tops , linoleum floors, slab doors and low SER AC. Now every house has to have 10' ceilings, granite counter tops, solid wood flooring, 6-panel doors, VFD AC, paddle door handles, rocker switches, etc, etc, etc.

The Debt said:

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Aggrad08 said:

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jopatura said:

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We bought a starter home 10 years ago for $170,000. We bought our next home during COVID for $360,000.

That same starter home would sell for roughly $450,000 today, maybe more. There's absolutely no way we could afford it today if we were 10 years younger. Hell, we'd be straight up struggling with our current salaries. You can't put this all on a lazy generation.

---

People blaming this on Starbucks are absurd. I own two properties by now because of above average income-not Starbucks. My parents and my wife's parents each have at the time and accounting for inflation very affordable homes in downtown Seattle and Orange County. They are worth more than 10 times what they paid today. Neither would have been close to affording such homes in such areas.

The current situation is simply something older folks didn't have to deal with.

---

It's not how much you make, it's how much you save.

If someone is buying $6 lattes 5 days a week, instead of $.89 coffee at cefco they are spending $1320 a year on a pickme up, rather than $180.

"$1000/year isn't going to make a difference!" Sure, but would you rather have that $1000 or 70 gallons of urine? If you can't be disciplined with coffee, the chances of them being disciplined with lunch/dinner spending is out the window. Even today you can have a lunch for $3 made at home and taken with you. How many people pay for a #2 at the drive through paying $7 for a meal? How many rather go to sit down restaurant and pay $15 -20 for a meal? That $3 tuna sandwich and hostess cake may not come with a server, but damn it's gonna save you hundreds of dollars a month.

---

Look you can certainly improve savings by spending less, don't eat out and drive a hoopti ect.I've done and do most of that. It's simply not enough to makes homes affordable for most middle earners anymore in huge portions of the country. It simply isn't how it used to be.

You used to be able to do all those things and buy a modest sf home in the major city you were working in pretty early in life. The numbers are very different today.

Im not saying it's impossible -im saying it's dramatically harder. And I think you'd have to be pretty clueless to argue otherwise

Median income in texas: $31,462
Median house price in texas: $354,000


Gee, I wonder what it could possibly be.

With 1/8th of Texan kids being homeschooled now, the geography and ISDs are being less and less a factor. Expect that number to grow, BTW.

What this thread demonstrates is that ignorance is the biggest hurdle, and I don't mean that in a demeaning way. People do not know their options. There is no push to educate the population on HomeStay Reno loans. There is no major push to teach children how to steward their resources or make use of debt or arbitrage. The system wants mindless consumers who have limited options, ignorant of the possibilities.

Mainly because young people want the same standard of living as their parents, and therefore want more than they can afford....

but also the values have gone up.

Median home price in Austin is $550,000. It was $305,000 in January 2020. For those of you talking about how the landscape is the same as when you entered the market, you're just wrong. Between the boomer population owning all the livable houses, migration patterns, and institutional investors gobbling up properties, the landscape just isn't conducive to home buyers entering the market. Especially the markets where the high-paying jobs are. It's a renters market for young people.

To those talking about how they drove a $3,000 car and didn't buy coffee, this is horse***** I've driven the $3,000 car, and in this day and age the repairs on that were more on an annual basis than the payments on my new $25,000 car. There are more "standard of living" expenses now than there were 30 years ago, whether you like it or not.

There's nothing wrong with waiting and saving until all the boomers start dying and housing prices collapse so I can pay a reasonable price for a house. Why would I take a the risk of paying a comically over-inflated price and limit my mobility when I can just rent and wait for a good time to enter the market?