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I’d say for the individual this is the core issue people face today. That they after needed fixed/utility costs have very little left over and that amount is actually decreasing and has been decreasing for decades now. “The economy” matters not to John Hancock and Jane Doe, all that matters is how much is left in the bank account once the bills they can’t remove or reduce are paid. And this is true also for the people that own, of course. Because while equity is great down the line it does little to alleviate the day-to-day / month-to-month finances.
Far to little economic policy in the US aims to actually make meaningfull progress on this problem, it’s all lofty high level goals but no decisive plans with a clear stated goal of improving the situation for all that truly struggle with making ends meet.
I’d actually rank this higher than healthcare, certainly higher than legalization and much more important than any identity politics or even international politics like the war on Gaza. To the voters that will win the election for either candidate this autumn it’s this question that will decide it, I’m certain. But if they’ll vote on “feeling” (i.e. which candidate they feel address their problem regardless of what they actually propose) or on proposed policy is entirely up to the candidates and so far none of them have done anything to address this in a clear and direct manner.
What does it mean that they ‘paid unaffordable rates’? Are they paying with borrowed money?
It means they had rents that were more than 30% of their income, by this study’s definition.
Shit, I consider myself in a good position if I’m under 50%
I’m not saying that rent isn’t high but I don’t like this definition. 30% is not crazy high. I would say 20% is low, 30% is medium, 50% would be high.
It’s a fairly typical “rule” in personal finance not to spend more than 30% of your income on housing or rent, which is probably why that’s what the study is using. You’re right it is a little conservative, and especially in cities most people have been going over that for quite a while. Some landlords will not even consider your application though if your income isn’t 3x the rent. It’s still a good idea to spend 30% or less on housing or rent, if you have the option. Not everyone does.
I paid my rent with real money. I bought my groceries with borrowed money.
People are maxing out their credit cards, so probably.
Wtf? The answer is literally in the first couple of paragraphs. All you had to do was open the article and read for less than 5 seconds.
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Renting is the biggest scam this generation has convinced itself to fall for.
As opposed to… homelessness??
No, no, no. Just pull yourself up by your bootstraps and buy a house
As opposed to living somewhere cheaper.
Most of you feel entitled to live in major cities.
Hey genius, if everyone moved to your shitty little town the rents would be unaffordable there, too
Everyone isn’t moving to my town, but if they did it would also be more attractive and create another place that people like you would like to live.
The key is to spread out. Create more supply to satisfy demand.
But you don’t want to do that because you feel entitled to live where you can’t afford.
Yeah, we want to live where its desirable to live, not at even intervals across all the available land so you have to travel 90 miles to get groceries. Room temp IQ
Then you have to pay more.
Supply and demand.
Why is this so difficult for you to comprehend?
When I find a fully remote job I’ll consider somewhere with a lower cost of living.
If, by “this generation,” you mean the past couple of thousand years.
People rented apartments in ancient Rome. And they had a high rent problem too.
Woah, it’s almost like magnitude matters and the amount of people doing something is important.
More people are renting than owning.
Very few people in Rome owned their home. It was mostly owned by the upper class.
Yeah, there are two generations.
The rome generation and this one.
Nothing in between, and certainly not a generation that valued ownership more than the current one.
No, there are also the many generations in between where the wealthy minority owned almost all of the land and charged for the “privilege” of living there.
Seriously, I have no idea why you think it’s the norm in history for most people to own their own property.
I have no idea why you think it’s the norm in history for most people to own their own property.
Because you have a bad habit of making up stances for other people.
I never said, nor implied, it was the ‘norm in history.’
My exact words were: “Renting is the biggest scam this generation has convinced itself to fall for” which is true.
Because you have a bad habit of making up stances for other people.
I was going to respond to the rest of what you said, but first you made this claim. I’m sure you can provide evidence for this. Unless it was a lie, of course. Was it a lie?
My buddy just ended up mortgaging an “Unaffordable house” and rented out the rooms.
Stop renting. You’re just putting yourself in a hole you’ll never dig yourself out of.
Ah yes I’ll just cough up the down payment for a
Checks market
2 million dollar 2br apartment
Hint: Stop living in places like that.
I.E. Stop living in the red:
Having a $300k/yr job means nothing if Rent is 250k/yr…there are PLENTY of jobs out there. Most places are minimum $15 any more. And with a median home price in the 250k-400k in the green areas, you can make it work. First time home buyers programs exist which will cough up the down payment for you in some instances.
I think you may be overestimating the average person’s financial capacity to uproot their lives and relocate themselves to somewhere more affordable. People who are already living paycheck to paycheck tend to struggle to save up enough money to cover the costs of moving down the street, let alone across the country.
What about living in hickledickle fuck Oklahoma for 1/3 the salary though? Maybe you ain’t thoughta that.
Salaries aren’t matching the cost of living ANYWHERE.
And remote workers moving to cheaper areas prices out the locals. I wish ppl would stop acting like navigating the housing market is as simple as finding a parking spot. Chuckleheads
I wonder if it’s always been like this. That the economy traps many people in the place they were born essentially.
It used to be that most people were serfs or slaves and couldn’t go anywhere.
… Used to be…
The serfs are allowed to travel now.
That chart is stupid. It’s comparing housing prices to the average income for the entire US. Income is higher in the red areas and lower in the green areas. It’s not the same in every county or state.
If you compare local housing prices to local pay you get a different map. A lot of those colors flip.
Another brilliant suggestion no one else thought of! Just leave my family, friends, significant other, home town, and employer to live cheaper in a Red State hellhole… It’s so easy!
It’s a bit more to than just that.
I’m in one of those dark red areas and I’ve never seen anything costing 20k a month unless its a huge swanky house on giant piece of land. One like this, in the rich part of Palo Alto. Most I’ve seen are around 5-10k for a 5-bed, even in Atherton. Rent for a single-bed apartment is between 2-5k depending on the lavishness.
Pay range generally has followed housing cost within the region. Meaning an engineer may be able to make >200k in one of the higher cost areas, but then make 80k in one of the lower cost, all while doing the same work. The problem is more that house prices almost everywhere cost beyond what most people can afford. Moving to a completely different region also may work for some people that have more universal jobs or are WFH, but a lot of people in those expensive regions have specialized experience/education that are hard to find jobs for outside. So, an electronics engineer with a specialty in EVs and battery cell physics wouldn’t be of much use in Nebraska.
Let’s do some hypothetical scenarios. If you’re making $80k a year, your take home pay is roughly $5k a month. Spending $2k a month on rent leaves you with $3k for everything else. If you make $200k+, your take home pay is closer to $10k a month or more. If your rent is $4k a month, that leaves you with $6k for everything else that pretty much costs the same as the area where you’re only making $80k. Even at $6k/month for rent, you still have more money. Automatically, it’s better to take the higher paying job with the higher rent.
First time home buyers programs exist which will cough up the down payment for you in some instances.
We used to have incentives like this here in Flanders but they were axed completely over half a decade ago, with the promise that “it would make house prices fall”.
Which of course never happened…
You’re correct, but these entitled children will downvote you and throw their mental gymnastics at you anyways.
Getting older is really showing me how stupid this generation is. Oh well, at least it’s easier for me to compete.
TIL wanting to afford living near family/friends means I’m entitled.
Take your pills, Grandpa.
Fucking read the comments, are you dense? Why the fuck would I want to live in a place where my wife might be forced to carry a terminal pregnancy? Or somewhere lacking employment opportunities other than fucking Walmart? Jfc.
It’s not about wants, it’s about needs.
If you can’t afford to live somewhere, you have to move somewhere else. Thinking otherwise is textbook entitlement.
If these places aren’t good enough for you, then you need to make more money to live somewhere else or do your part to make them better.
Thinking otherwise is textbook entitlement.
What’s actually entitled is thinking that people should just shut up and accept shit choices to preserve your property value (and commodified housing in general <.<) instead of building more goddamned dense housing and infrastructure.
“Suck it up” is one of the worst phrases invented. I’ve only ever seen it used to justify hierarchy, subjugation, abuses of power, and not changing things for the better. Its existence primarily serves the interests of those with power.
No, what’s entitled is thinking you deserve more before others who have less without being able to afford it yourself.
That’s textbook entitlement, lol.
“I could move to Bumfuck Montana where the rent is cheaper, or I could stay here and take care of my elderly mother with dementia. Yep. Montana it is because I’m not an entitled child.”
I don’t get it. If Bumfuck Montana isn’t good enough for you, then what about the people who are forced to live their because they can’t afford more?
Why should you get more before them? You already have more! Lol.
Show us where the mean old city folk touched you
My wallet.
Paying the mortgage usually isn’t the big problem people have. It’s getting hundreds of thousands for a down.
It’s getting hundreds of thousands for a down.
Lol, what?
My house was only $60k and it’s 1,200 sqft.
The problem is that people want to live outside of their means. They think they’re entitled to things they can’t afford.
“I live where no one else wants to live, you should too.”
“Supply and demand shouldn’t apply to me, but I’m not entitled.”
Fuck it, it’s not worth engaging with someone as myopic as you.
You just don’t want to acknowledge your entitlement.
I don’t want to engage with a fucktard. You don’t know a fucking thing about me, or about people in general.
FYI, I live in a 1.25M house that I could pay off tomorrow if I wanted to.
I live in a different part of the country, with a very different cost of living, and salaries that are adjusted for this region. I live here because this is where all the work is for what I do professionally.
That’s not the issue where I live. Houses easily go for $300k+ here and the only rentals I can find are $3000/mo, and/or winter months only. You may say to just move, but I grew up in this area, I have the best job I’ve ever had and my kids’ school is helping them immensely. Shouldn’t I be able to find a modest 3 bedroom that’s affordable? We’ll I can’t.
Then move somewhere else that you can afford.
You’re not exempt from supply and demand.
That’s the answer? Uproot my family, change the school that works well for my kids, and likely change jobs because land owners are greedy. Makes sense to me.
Yeah. You can no longer afford to live somewhere, so you have to move somewhere cheaper.
Other people are willing and able to pay more than you, so they get access to places before you do.
It’s called “supply and demand,” and unfortunately people like you have convinced themselves they are immune to it.
Supply and demand shouldn’t apply to basic necessities like housing, food, water, and healthcare.
Lmao where do you live, bumfuck Alabama?
Nope. I’m not giving out my location on the internet.
Because you’re full of shit lol
Or people don’t want to acknowledge their entitlement.
I know what I’d put my money on, lol.
Very happy for you my man, but not everyone has that possibility. My house was 200K when I bought it over a decade ago, it’s probably ~350K now. Putting it simply, I couldn’t possibly afford my own house today if I were a first time home buyer, and it’s a very basic house from 1958.
And I’m definitely one of the lucky ones. Many others can’t possibly get on the property ladder at all, and just because I did doesn’t mean I can’t recognize how much harder it is for them.
You would have to move to a cheaper area because you could not afford the one you live in.
It’s what happens when you can’t afford things; you don’t get them.
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Lol okay i bet it’s a fucking mansion
No, it’s a pretty modest house but has all the amenities that modern people expect.
1,200 sqft for 1 person is pretty damn good :)
Oh! That’s was easy. I just found my $200,000 down payment and credit in a jacket I forgot about.
Maybe you should look in cheaper areas.
Supply and demand applies to you, too :)
So if everyone up and moved to your shit hole town for cheap houses, what happens to the prices?
Everyone isn’t going to move to one town, so your question is pointless.
Just like your little anecdote
Just pull up stakes, say goodbye to all of your friends and family including all of your kids’ friends, rent a moving van, find a new temporary place for your stuff and a temporary place for you and your family to sleep, find a new job, then buy a house. Why is that so hard?
Nobody said it would be easy.
I replied to “stop renting” not “find more affordable rent”.
My point still stands.
Sure, you can say something irrelevant that isn’t really a reply if you want.
To work at a Denny’s for minimum wage? Get real. The jobs are where housing is expensive.
So how do people live outside of major cities?
No work gets done? Lol.
I wouldn’t word it with absolutes, but yeah that sentiment is correct.
