Everything he says is true. I'm a boomer and part time Realtor in Greater Boston and I can't imagine buying a place now. I was able to buy something 25 years ago and that is the only way that I can own today. We even sold and moved to a cheaper town because property taxes are out of control. And some people think that owning a condo might be a better alternative, but HOA fees are astronomical now as well.... $500-1200/month depending upon the cost and amenities. It's not sustainable.

There was no college education amount my mom's seven siblings. Yet they bought a modest house. They all did it with a partner but most had a stay at home mom, in the kids early year. (Yeah, remember when one income could do it) My heart breaks for the people like this.

The housing market really has gone insane tge last couple of years. My husband and I were able to buy a house in 2008 for $265,000. We spent the next decade lamenting how we way overpaid, as we watched tge housing market continue to drop and then fluctuate up and down. As well as slowing realizing that our house, which was built at the height of the early '00s housing boom, was built with every cheap short cut imaginable. It wasn't until 2020 that our house was valued at $300,000. Then the pandemic hit, our boring little town suddenly became a hot real-estate market. Our house is now supposedly worth over $450,000. Meanwhile I've received a 3% raise at my job in the last 5 years. There is no way we'd be able to afford our house now as 1st time homebuyers.

Man, that has to be one of the nicest houses I've ever seen. Sure, it needs a scrape and a paint job, but look past first looks. It's a cottage, likely two or three bedrooms, has a yard with two trees, needs sod, has a full driveway with a detached two car garage. The yard looks to be at least a quarter acre. That's huge by todays standards. Here in Salt Lake City the lot itself would easily go for $300,000. With the house and garage it would be around $500,000. With a 30 year mortgage that's only $16,000 a year. Plus $4000 interest.

Yes, everything is bloated right now but the math here still doesn't add up. With good credit and low debt they'd get a better loan and first time buyer incentives. Its never been easy or guaranteed. For most, living with parents or years of roommates, renting, commuting and budgets are the only way to a home investment.

Curious where this was (did I miss that?) and what his budget was (did I miss that also). Sadly that house wasn't likely on the market to be bought and lived in but, rather, to be bought and torn down and a McMansion shoehorned into it. There is no financial incentive in the US for builders to make smaller home, just to maximize profit. Much of the US's housing stock was post WW2 GI Bill Capes built with an incentive from the government to provide affordable housing for veterans. As each one of these homes gets torn down and replace with a huge one. the class disparity widens.

I live in Poland, in Cracow. I'm making twice more than average, still I can only dream about renting or buying a house. I'm currently paying half of my payroll to live in 30sq m flat, quite far from city center.... And I'm f****** depressed about the reality

A lot of it depends on where you choose to live and work. We (62M, 60F) left a $ 2,600-a-month, 1-bed apartment in a Los Angeles suburb in December 2019. We could not touch a house like the one in the photo above anywhere in the county for less than $700k. In Feb 2020, we bought a new construction home in Brevard County (Space Coast, NASA, etc) Florida for $247k. If I could pick this house up and put it anywhere in SoCal it would be worth north of 1.4 Million. Do you know what else? Wages here are only about 30% lower. The timing was everything for us because the same model home 3/2/2 1756 sq ft on a 1/4 acre are now selling for $350k in 2023. We will never be able to sell because our mortgage rate is only 2.6% and could not afford to buy the same house at today's interest rates anyplace else. Everyone else that got 3% or under interest rate is in the exact same boat, and that is a major reason for the current housing shortage. Wages are the problem.

Couple of things from the comments: 1, rent to own does exists in parts of the southwest. You sign a 'lease' agreement that you payments go to owning the property after so many years. Payments are higher than normal rent, but not by a huge amount. If you leave, the money is forfeited. 2, van life is not what sexy man-bun/bikini girl make it look like on their instagram. It's actually quite expensive-on par with an apartment. Things you have to think about like buying food every day and single serve items- usually more expensive- because you can't store it, charging electronics, washing clothes, showering and getting water, upkeep on the van and gas... the costs offset the lack of rent. You can't always find a parking lot to sleep in so you're stuck paying for campgrounds or you can try and get lucky parking at a hotel or something. The cost of the van itself is almost 50-60K, even if you do the work you. Plus, living in a van costs a whole lot more in insurance.

I love the generalization that all people my age think younger people need to buck up, stop being lazy, save, etc., and they should be able to buy a house like people my age did. That's ludicrous! I couldn't afford to buy a home in the county and or town I grew up in now, or any place around it, because housing is so out of sight. The teachers and cops who work there wouldn't think of buying a home unless they're married to someone who makes 6 figures, and then it's a townhouse or condo at best. They live in the surrounding counties or state, and even those areas are becoming too expensive. When I was young, that county was mostly middle class people, and the town I grew up in had more minority home ownership than any other place in the county. When they tried to build affordable homes a few years ago at the site of an old motel, the residents next to it put up such a stink the project was stopped because it would bring down their property values. The place I knew is dead.

I'm all for a nice, high, well-enforced minimum wage. But it was never enough to live well on. Relative to inflation, the highest it ever was, at $1.60/hr, was $12.40/hr in 2023 money. That enough to keep you off of the bread lines and lying in the streets and instead eating boiled rice and beans for dinner living in a youth group home.

BP filled with whiners complaining about this, yet 95% of you fools vote Democrat.

It's not just houses. It's EVERYTHING. My husband and I are looking for a new car, as our old one finally gave up the ghost. He is on disability. I do work. But together we only make a little over $28,000 a year. Fortunately, our insurance covered our own car, and gave us a good amount. But the only car we can find, that fits us, that we really like and is good shape without a rebuilt title, is over $11,000. And that's for a 6 year old car. A house? Fugghettaboutit. The only reason we're surviving is because we lucked into our trailer at the right time. It's tiny, but it's all we need. It's home. It scares me to live here, when it storms. But our rent here is super cheap. Like, we couldn't even afford an apartment, on our income. It terrifies me to think of ever having to move out. And groceries are through the roof, too. It's like they're actively TRYING to keep peoole down, isn't it?

OK, I know the market is crazy. But my son, 25, in the Army, just bought a $230k house, with 10% down. Sure it is in Kansas, but it is still a $230k house. And trust me in the army with his wife working they don't make anywhere close to a $100k a year.

I live in Northwest Indiana. 2 beds, 2 bath 770 square feet = 170K

Eat the rich. Seriously it's the only option that makes sense

Im a boomer. I bought my house 15 years ago, with a down payment if 15K. At the time I was working in retail with good pay and a great credit score. I will never go back to Apt living. ,,, Cost is astronomical ! Also would never buy another house these days. The housing market is ridiculous! Just so glad that I got my house before all the bad stuff went down.

This isn't caused by boomers. We bought our houses and are still in them. How is this boomers' fault?

So, what was the budget and where was this?

Housing prices are criminal these days. An average middle class 2 story home can go for over $1 mill. What? As far as I’m concerned that’s legal theft. My nephew and his wife are looking for their first house. Daughter due to be born this summer. She’s a Nurse Practitioner and he works in refrigerator repair and he makes very good money. They’ve saved like crazy. Very responsible with money. They’re getting nowhere. They keep losing out to people having sold their houses and now have lots of money to put in large offers. I don’t know what the answer is, but young people and young families see no hope of homeownership. It’s horrible. And then the banks also won’t approve a monthly mortgage payment that is LESS than your rent. WHAT?

I'd love to know where that is. Is it a VHCOL city? I bet it is, especially with him saying his parents' house is worth 600k now. You move to where you can afford to live, not where you *want* to live. I live within an hour of NYC and have gorgeous lake views from my living room windows and watch the sun rise over the lake with my coffee every morning. I haven't had to lock my car doors in 20 years. This person could very easily afford my house with their salary and have lots left over to save/invest. Could I or they afford the same house in the heart of NYC, Seattle, Toronto or Silicon Valley? Of course not. Not saying the housing market doesn't suck rn, but there are affordable and nice places to live. This guy's parents just happened to buy in an area that became HCOL over time, which he'll benefit from eventually anyway.

My wife and I keep looking to try to move closer to her family, but there's just no way. Anything we find is like this and all gutted out inside so you're looking to spend a lot more than the asking price of the house. We're very much just stuck here for now. So many things would be easier if we had family nearby but sadly, it just can't happen.

My parents (Silent Gen/Boomer cusp) had an 8-room Colonial custom-built in 1974. It cost them $40,000. In 1997, I (GenX) bought a 5-room dilapidated ranch that hadn't been updated since it was built 40 years earlier. It cost me $99,000, and I could barely afford it after 6 months of working 12-16 hour days, 6-7 days a week AND it was the peak of the buyer's market. I'm just now able to afford an equity loan to update the house so my daughter (Millennial) will have a home. Oh, and as is, my house is worth nearly 3 times what I paid.

Asking this because I want to learn: how much of this is expectations? For example, I grew up in a poor household. My father worked 2 jobs for 10 years just to get the down payment for a house. I saw him at dinner for an hour each day. Parents went out to eat once a year for anniversary. Every penny was saved. As a result I did not expect to have a home, two cars and eating out twice a week. My point is have we been sold on an image of what our lives should be but not the reality of what it used to take to get it?

Unfortunately the real estate lobby, with the loyalty of both the Democratic and Republican parties and the media have hammered the narrative that rent controls are bad for decades, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

What we need is rent strikes and foreclosure riots, just like they used to have in Ireland.

I was considering buying a studio flat in London in 2010. I liked it and it was good area. It cost £ 97k. I did not get mortgage as a single person even though mortgage was lower than rent. I later met my husband and moved in with him, otherwise I would be stuck renting forever and probably have to go back to houseshare. That studio flat was for sale again 3 years ago for £ 275k.

I have a decent full time job, but I will literally never be able to afford to buy a house.

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My brother bought a craftsman house on a postal carrier salary. Most of the people who posted that are bitching and moaning are the ones who won't stick with a job for longer than six months and are only looking for a house in a certain area. Seriously, you can get up a little earlier for the commute, but instead b***h and moan and say boomers are out of touch. I'm pretty sure it's not the boomers who are out of touch.