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Millennial here 🙋🏻♀️
I think almost anyone can own a home if they want to. We’ve become such a consumerist society with unrealistic expectations. It seems a lot of people won’t accept a “starter home” and expect to to go in to something brand new with their first job. I’m guilty of setting those same expectations.
I see a lot of people get bent out of shape about the whole “don’t buy Starbucks everyday and you can afford a house” comments and refuse to accept that Starbucks is representative of all the stuff we buy that we don’t need (lulelemon, designer bags, vacations, etc.)
Old GenX here. The median home price to median income these is so far out of whack compared to when I was younger.
Yes, it's possible to get a home. But it is much more difficult than it was when I was younger. Certainly more difficult than when boomers or my parents were younger.
My first co-op in Manhattan cost $195k in 1997. I sold it 2.5 years later for exactly double that. And today it would cost around 5 times what I paid for it. Salaries have not gone up nearly comparably.
Housing costs have doubled in just the past 15-20 years or so. Salaries have not kept up.
100% can, but def not everyone can afford like an apt in Manhattan. I think the greater issue is the disconnect many younger ppl have between expectations and reality. Oh you parents could buy a home in their 20s! Sure but they bought a one level 2bd ranch house in Cleaveland. You can too if you want but ppl compare apples and oranges. Also your parents went into work every day 😂 and I'm a millennial, to head off the "ok boomer" comments
OM1, what country are you in that interest rates are around 12%?
Millennial 28M married with 27F here. My wife and I are saving for a house downpayment of 200k. We will complete our goal by 2026 and by then we are hoping to look for a house price of 450-500k. It takes a lot of sacrifice and saving for us to reach that goal so it's not impossible
I’m a millennial who decided to move to the south which allowed me to afford a house and the financial structure to build up the family. In tech sales + low cost of living = how a millennial can actually afford a house. We did not get any handouts from our parents either.
I came to the US 7 years ago. I am 38 but can only count those 7 years as my experience here because before coming here I did not have much. Unfortunately I will not be able to buy a house in my area. I may be more inclined to buy a townhouse. A house in Miami is going for more than $600k, with today's interest rates, cost of insurance, repairs and everything else it's too tough on the budget. Right now I am making $110k and trying to save as much with a baby that will also go to daycare at some point. No way I can afford a mortgage that's twice my rent.
I’ve given up on saving up for a home. My new strategy is marry into homeownership, manifest a big lump sum of money, or inheritance.
My wife and I are 40. Her parents helped her get a condo in 2008, right before the crash! By 2015 its value was back up to her purchase price, but we had some equity at that point to sell and purchase our first house, which we could barely afford.
We sold that in 2021 and moved into our current house, and equity in that got us our 20% and then some towards this one.
Getting equity in SOMETHING is the only way to move up throughout the years, but prices these days are absolutely insane.
I feel so bad for the younger millennials and gen z who have insane student loans, astronomical rent, and mediocre salaries.
If people think that elder millennials took too long to start families…it’s going to be even worse with the current young guns.
And speaking of families, daycare is almost as insane as housing cost-wise. That’s a whole other issue.
My wife was a teacher for ten years, until we had our first. I didn’t make enough for her to be a stay at home mom (still don’t), and she didn’t make enough to cover 2 kids in daycare. We knew we wanted another, so she left and got a job in project management. Now she makes more than me, and we just had our third kid, who’ll start daycare in a couple months. Daycare costs are obscene, but they forced us to put ourselves in a better financial situation.
We both work corporate jobs. Shifts are not an option. It’s certainly an option for some. My brother and his wife worked that out with theirs. It definitely doesn’t work for everybody though.
I'm gen Z and I bought a condo during the pandemic slump so did a few of my similarly aged friends. Prices for houses where rising but interest rates were low and I knew if I didn't buy I would never be able to buy.
I still stand by that as my condo is now worth about 60k more than I bought it for less than three years ago.
No one my age nor my older millennial friends could afford to buy even a condo at this point and I don't think it's going to get better.
I fully intended to upgrade to a house one day when I have a husband but tbh with the way things are going it's looking like I might live in this condo for the rest of my life.
No. I live in California.
There are still affordable areas in California. If there aren’t, consider moving to a place you can afford. These are variables you have control over.
Millennial here. I own two houses bought in 2011 and built in 2020/2021. Both were purchased with good timing. Probably the one and only advantage I had by not finishing college right after high school and going straight into the workforce.
Yes probably just not as grand as I once hoped
Millennial/36F: I bought a condo on my own in 2016 (~5x my salary with 10% down); bought a house on my own in 2020 (~3x my salary with ~23% down - had the larger down payment thanks to appreciation when I sold my condo). It's achievable, but it is about finding something you can afford, which may not be the nicest place (my condo was a fixer upper).
Yes. Bought a home 5yrs ago at the age of 28. Most of my friends are all around my age and also have homes.
Millennial and I’m on my third primary home and have had 3 rental properties that I exited last year.
It’s certainly harder than previous generations and buying in NYC, LA, San Francisco and a handful of higher cost markets will be much more difficult, but buying a house isn’t some pipe dream if you have a good job and are a responsible adult.
That said if you can go in on a house with friends you trust, and build equity, it’s a great alternative to renting.
I think part of the problem is truly how many people actually have a “good job.” So many on fish bowl, and people in your social circle will likely be from similar social statuses as each other. Your friends and colleagues probably have similar education, family wealth etc for the simple fact of where you grew up.
Outside of fishbowl and our social circles, I don’t think it’s as many sunshine and rainbows. So many consulting salaries are much higher than the median.
Just something to think about. A lot of us are already privileged from the get go, just based on who our parents were.