We should build and fund more public housing.
Unfortunately, a large chunk of the country doesn’t believe the government can or should do anything, so I guess that’s a difficult pitch to make.
This is the solution. Unfortunately in the United States when most people think of government housing you think of run down slums.
We need to follow the examples of Austria’s social housing. https://youtu.be/41VJudBdYXY
I was renting from 2009-2017. My threshold was $1000. Once they raised my rent above that I was out. So in all that time my rent increased ~$100-150. That was for an 1140 sq/ft, 2 bed, 1 bath apartment including the extra I paid for a detached single garage. I looked up the same apartment today. It’s $1750 and they don’t even post the garage prices. I’m gonna say probably $1900 all in for the same thing today. So a ~$900 increase in a similar timespan. Oof.
The apartment wasn’t anything special. Cheap carpet, old appliances but everything worked. It was showing its age but it was being maintained.
I worked in the largest city in the state but got an apartment ~25 miles away cause it was way cheaper than downtown. It was only a couple minutes drive from the highway and a tram station. So commuting wasn’t terrible. For a bit there my work even paid for the tram.
Even back then there was muttering about rent going up for the foreseeable future. Glad I got out of the renting situation cause it’s so much worse than I could have ever imagined.
My rent doubled in five years.
The place I used to rent is also doubled.
Everything doubled.
Except for wages.
I know that rent has gone up, but you definitely can hack it. I never spent more than 30% of my take home pay on rent. I managed that by looking at places that fit my budget or living with roommates. Pretty much you won’t have very good luck if you’re a single person trying to rent your own place though. In terms of finding places within budget, I always avoided any type of new buildings built in the last five to ten years or so. The cost of those is usually highest. They’ll promise flashy amenities, but it’s usually not worth it. Also, avoid corporate landlords. If you can, find a mom and pop landlord that’s been in business for awhile. They usually have better deals and don’t go up on rent every year provided you’re a good tenant that pays on time and doesn’t cause any stresses for them. You’ll have the best luck with this if you stick to places where people list their own properties like Craigslist, Facebook marketplace, etc. Avoid spots that corporate landlords use like apartments.com.
I’m wondering if the people in this thread who are saying they pay less than 30% of their income on rent as if it’s some sort of trick or achievement actually understand percentages since they don’t seem to understand that the “nearly half” part of the headline puts them in the majority…
I literally cannot remember a point in my life when I wasn’t spending half or more of my income on rent/mortgage.
same. I remember being told 1/3 was the ideal, and thinking “you aren’t spending twice that?”
I wish. I’m at a little below half lately.
Us too.
i’m over half, and expecting yet another rent increase soon.
I actually thought 30% housing was the norm for the past 10 years?
The goal but never the reality.
Ideally rent should be 1/4th or less of your budget
LOL
Who are the half that make the 7 figures required to not spend half your income on housing?
Did they just fully make up have the surveyed population?
Just to point out, with the median mortgage at $2349 a month, it’s more like you need a household income of $93,000 a year (probably closer to $100k with utilities and other expenses) for your housing costs to equal 30% of your income. That is steep for a lot of people, but still much more attainable than 7 figures. A quick Google says that makes up around 37% of US households as of 2022. Still doesn’t quite add up to their figures, admittedly, unless “nearly half” is doing a lot of work in that sentence.
$1400/mo, the rough figure from the article, is 30% of $56k/yr. If you made $1m, 30% of that would give you $25,000/mo. How do you figure?
Median household is apparently 80k now. 30 percent of that monthly is 2,000.
In my city 2,000 will rent you an infested place with water damage from the flood a year ago. But if the city comes around you have to pretend not to live there or else they’ll kick you out.
Don’t forget that household income is everyone in the house. So if you are all poor college kids with part time jobs making 15-20k a year your household income will still be close to or at the median, even though each of you are individually really poor
Maybe roommates?
I wonder if it’s net or gross.
Besides, it’s not seven figures, just mid-six figures necessary for that.
The typical “30% on income” advice is based on gross, not net. Which is about 93,000 a year for the median mortgage payment right now.
You don’t need remotely close to that income level. 200k household income will get you a nice home at a reasonable price.
Oh yeah just 2.5 times the median household income, no problem. Hey while we’re here can I have a million dollar loan?
Never said it was inexpensive. It’s just not nearly as expensive as you all make it seem. 15% of the country does hit this number and 25% are close.
Y’all out pretending nobody is buying houses.
No no we know people are buying houses. It’s just hard to compete when that person is Black Rock and they bought an entire development before it even hit the market.
Corporate owners own less than 4% of single family homes.
It’s not okay and that does put pressure on the market. We should strive to minimize that.
It’s not the hellscape you want it to be. $2500/mo still buys you a 2400sq ft home in a nice neighborhood in moderate CoL areas. Again that price is out of reach for many, but home ownership rates for Gen Z is higher than millennials when adjusted for age. Most of America own their homes.
It really doesn’t mean anything to say what a home might cost in a certain area, without specifying that area. People can’t just move across the country, because they don’t have jobs. And if you’re putting them in a situation where they would have to commute an hour and a half each way, that has its own set of issues.
The numbers that you include look nice, but I’ve seen a lot of other numbers that don’t look nice. Obviously this all depends where you live, how much money you have, and what kind of place you want to buy.
And yet the home ownership rates increase.
Again, it’s far from perfect. Not the hellscape described. Again, MOST (Almost 70%), will own their homes when they retire.
I lived in a place that cost 800$ a month for a room in the bay area and I was taking home more than 60% of my income working full time.
It’s doable, and it doesn’t mean only rich people aren’t rent burdened…
If you move outside the city, shit gets much, much cheaper. Mortgages are easily $1,750/mo ($300k, 30yr, tax + insurance included). If your goal is to live in NYC or Seattle, you will be spending quite a bit on your chosen lifestyle. If your goal instead is to buy/rent an affordable 2-3br home, there are lots of options.
“If you live where the jobs aren’t, you can afford a house.”
Cool.
The trades (electricians, etc) pay well and are in demand basically everywhere. The jobs are out there.
Ah, so this has become, “if you don’t want to pay high rent, get trained to be an electrician, then move out to some shithole, then buy a house.”
Let’s see… this says that trade school to become an electrician costs between $3000 and $19,000, so enjoy that debt- https://www.bobvila.com/articles/electrician-school-cost/
This says it then takes nine months to two years to get your trade school training, then 4,000 to 12,000 hours as an apprentice to become an electrician- https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-long-does-it-take-to-become-an-electrician
You’re right, this is totally a doable plan for most people to pay less rent money. Eventually.
Lets put these all together then:
- You have a 2-3 br home you pay $1,750/mo mortgage for
- You are an Electrician Apprentice, making a median salary of $57k
- You have very reasonable student loans between $3k and $19k (your number)
- You will be a full blown electrician in 2-7 years (your number, 4,000 to 12,000 hours, full time)
I don’t know about you, but that all sounds quite reasonable. That is a nice home, student loans that are very affordable and will be paid off soon, a good job, and a promising career path. You own your home, meaning you are building equity. And, hell, you can even rent out one of the bedrooms to vastly lower that already reasonable monthly mortgage.
This may not be what you specifically want in life, but it is a very achievable goal and a comfortable life for the average man.
Yes. Very reasonable. You just need to find a way to afford rent and food for you and your kids for those seven years, at least a couple of which you won’t be earning the sort of money you could earn to move out to Shitsville, Nowhere and buy a modest home.
I’m guessing your next piece of advice would be: just don’t have kids. Because women can just vacuum those back up once they come out.
Ugh. I get really annoyed when people defend egregious housing prices with the “just live in a shitty place, in a shitty location, in the middle of a food desert, far from economic opportunities, social interactions, public transportation, and you can afford it” argument
Lol yeah exactly… Its such a brain dead take.
I live 10 miles outside of Seattle and have never once spent more than 30% on rent. I have 0 of the downsides you listed, except a long commute, and I don’t make 6 figures.
It’s honestly not that hard to find affordable rent even in a VHCOL area.
I live 10 miles outside of Seattle and have never once spent more than 30% on rent.
There are a lot of unanswered questions here: what size is the place where you live? What is your income? How many people live with you and what is the collective income? How long is your commute? How long is the commute of the others who live with you, if there are any? What local amenities are available?
Not only that I’d be curious if 1) you’re required to own a car and all the costs associated with it, 2) the only thing really out there is chain restaurants and chain stores? 3) the only “entertainment” is a massive movie theater, and maybe a bowling alley.
Move far, far outside of populated areas and you don’t even need a mortgage.
Also known as The Unabomber Rental Mitigation Technique.
Where are you finding a livable home for 300k? I live in a rural area, and I love it here, but you’re never going to find a house for 300k unless you’re willing to put another 150k into stripping it down to the studs and renovating it.
They are rare but they are out there.
I was able to find a home for about $320k about 15 miles from the city. I searched for two years. My interest rate is shit. But hey, I have a house!
It was fully renovated.
I’m not saying the market isn’t shit. Because it is due to fucking investors.
I know I am lucky to have a job that pays well, even though it hasn’t kept up with inflation. I know that this isn’t the case for everyone and I’d be willing to take a hit on my home value if it meant others could buy a home too.
But my neighbors don’t feel the same way.
Now add in the cost of a car
The last time we moved we actually did this. Kept us from paying more bills to commute longer. I highly recommend figuring out your monthly gas/mass transit bill and adding that to the price of places you’re comparing.
Also, commuting time. If you have young kids but you don’t get home until 7:30, you’re going to spend very little time on them. And possibly a lot on child care.
But even if you’re not a parent, long commutes, by car, by public transit, or both can be pretty stressful after a long day at work.
And the cost of time spent commuting 2-3h each way to and from work every day
