13
A Generational Wealth Gap: Is Housing Affordable for Young People in Your City?
(www.realtyhop.com)
I'm mid-40's and bought my first home last year. I'd saved a little less than 90K towards it over 10-15 years (helped a lot by a severance package from an employer that moved away).
I was preapproved for something like 400K which i thought was absurd, I was looking in the 150-200K price range for a small 2-3B\1-2Ba house in an area where that's the lower end, but certainly not unavailable.
Over about 6 months I saw over a dozen houses and made offers on almost all of them- ranging from 120-180K offers. Every time I was beat by a cash offer. Months later I'd drive by these places and see them up for rent. I was being boxed out from home ownership by the landlord class. My agent recommended I look more in the 250-300K range and I hated that idea.
My standards got lower and I adjusted my goals and found a place for just under $90K I could make a cash offer on. Right on the edge of a decently wealthy old neighborhood and a pretty low income area. Two houses down one way is a 3 story mansion on the corner of a nicer street with balconies everywhere, two houses the other way is an abandoned shotgun home that looks like it has fire damage.
I found it on a fire insurance map from 1947 so I know it's at least that old. It's 2BR\1Ba, no A\C (I live in the deepest south). But I kinda prefer window units in a way. Cinderblock construction with no insulation, metal clad roof (though that's a bonus in my book). Electrical system is crazy but I found out why from an old newspaper article that a guy that lived there 10 years ago was arrested for stealing utilities and it's been a rental property ever since. It has a meter now but pretty sure it's never been brought up to code. Didn't even have an oven. Did have a toilet but no seat. Surprisingly the windows are all double-pane though. Massive tree\brush overgrowth on one side of the house I've only recently finished clearing out. Overall not the kind of place most people would want to live- but I'm a bit of a freak so it works well for me.
I was literally the first showing so I got there before the 'passive income' crowd, but I have no doubt if I'd been a day later it would be a rental property again by now. I will say I'm super glad I didn't have to fuck with the bank in the end. It was painful handing over that cashiers check but closing was actually a breeze without all the loan bullshit. Also fuck the entire concept of HOAs but I dodged that bullet too thankfully.
That's what young people are up against in my area. I'm certainly not wealthy but I'm pretty well established and I barely slid past the finish line. If I were in my 20's home ownership would seem about as realistic as living on mars.