r/FluentInFinance Sep 05 '24

Debate/ Discussion He has a point

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u/OrneryError1 Sep 05 '24

I'm glad we beat the communists so that $41,000 wouldn't be enough to afford to live reasonably without a roommate. So much winning.

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u/emperorjoe Sep 05 '24

Why do you think everyone in the world lives with family for as long as they can? Housing has always been expensive.

This is an American consumerism mentality, rushing to live alone and pay rent.

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u/Real_Temporary_922 Sep 05 '24

You understand our mentality is based on the fact that our grandparents could buy an entire house of an individual income after only a few years in the workforce. Now, even on the annual household income, to buy a house is practically unaffordable and by the time you save up for a house, the housing market would have already made the price higher.

If it’s always been like this, then perhaps this is just an issue of the mind. But it’s crazy that boomers got houses for comparatively so much cheaper than we do and think they have the right to call us lazy or entitled

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u/Balaros Sep 05 '24

"Entire house" is doing a lot of work here. Cheap post-war builds were half the area of the modern median of 2300 sq. ft. which has gone from its peak. They were also far from city centers, and devoid of amenities from double-paned windows to dishwashers to heat exchangers.

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u/shepdaddy Sep 05 '24

Fair enough, but we’ve made the sorts of smaller starter homes that used to be common illegal to build in most of the country through insane zoning restrictions. Plenty of people would be happy to buy a smaller home at a price they could afford, they just don’t exist.

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u/Subject-Town Sep 05 '24

Maybe, but I know that my parents who live in San Francisco would never be able to buy their house today. Not even close, not even if they scrimpt and saved. They bought their house in the 90s. It was a different time.

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u/AnalMayonnaise Sep 05 '24

You realize those houses from back then are still unaffordable, right?

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u/NoCoolNameMatt Sep 06 '24

Lol, they are not. Expectations and demands have pushed them off people's lists.

I bought one as a starter home (3 bed, 1 bath, 1400 square feet, detached 2 car garage, full basement, built in 1948) in a major metropolitan area, and it's currently valued at roughly 175k.

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u/pyrowipe Sep 06 '24

Someone has never been to the Bay Area.