re: Major social unrest is coming

Then wait to buy a house until you can afford to do so.

I was married at 27. My wife an I could not REASONABLY afford a starter home in a decent neighborhood. So we rented a condo. It wasn't the biggest or the best condo in town, but it was plenty good enough for our needs. We lived there for nearly two years...all the while putting money away for a down payment on an eventual home. Once we had the money saved and had advanced in our careers a bit more we purchased our starter home. It was small, but in a good neighborhood. Could I have gotten a loan for a bigger home and bigger mortgage? Sure. But that wasn't a smart decision based upon our income at the time.

Ultimately we stayed there for over a decade and started our family. Eventually, we outgrew the house. But, because we knew we would eventually do so we continued to put money away for an eventual bigger home. We could have moved several times over during that decade, but didn't. Over that period our house slowly became the smallest house among our friend group. But we didn't let envy force us into a poor financial decision. Our "small" house met all of our basic needs...even while it continued to become more crammed.

Eventually, my wife and I had advanced far enough in our careers and saved enough over a decade where we could comfortably afford the "bigger" house. But it didn't happen over night. The biggest problem with "younger folks" is at 26 and just starting out in their careers they want (and expect to have) the "American Dream" of someone in their 40's.