re: How will young people ever get ahead?

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Did you pay for her college?

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we had FL pre-paid but she wanted to go to an Ivy League school, I bought her a catalog of grants/scholarships to apply for and told her she'd have to make up the difference, school she chose was $40k/yr. in 2006, she had academic scholarships, financial aid and worked three jobs while at shool, graduated with $16k debt

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Put a down payment on her house or buy her a car or put a down payment on that?

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no, I offered, she refused

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What company does she work for?

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she interned for the Dallas Cowboys during college and they hired her upon graduation, she worked for them for six years, then went to a non-profit for a couple of years, now works for a local hospital system, I want to help my kids and make it easier for them if I can but she's very independent and choses to make it on her own, she does consult me for advice quite often though


ETA: her graduation present from us was to pick up the $16k college debt, she had no idea and was already budgeting to start paying it down, as she has her cars and house, paying interest is like the high blood pressure of finances, the "silent killer"

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Not all Asians have six figure jobs and genius level intellects. As a demographic they mooch off their parents in ways you wouldn't believe.

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Conversely the parents mooch off the kids in retirement in ways that are unimaginable in the western world.

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Big difference between a couple weekends of paint or changing sink faucets and buying a cheap home in need of major renovations

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Nope. Do as much of the work as you can and sub out the rest. Its not impossible. It's just not desirable. You are making it out like it's this foreign concept and has never been done by someone with no experience before. Where do you think people get the experience?

The current house I am in needed a new roof because as I said it was hurricane damaged. Do you think I replaced over 100 squares of roof myself? Nope. I subbed it out. I did 80% of the rest of the work, though. I am also a perfectionist and didn't trust anyone to do as good of a job as I did with the custom trim and such but you could sub out as little or as much as you want to.

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Were you raised poorly? Like "My children" were in your opinion?

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No dickwad, we choose to stay in a smaller house that we bought when we got married when we could've moved because we don't currently need more space. We have no kids and don't need 2500 sq ft for just the two of us. We'd rather live cheaper and invest the additional income so we can support ourselves in retirement.


Ya know, all the stuff you claim my generation doesn't do.

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A serious issue I see is that younger people buying houses is they all want a newer house right from the start. Not a lot of them are willing to buy a fixer-upper and put in some sweat equity. Housing is still the greatest wealth builder for the middle class but there are steps to it.

Used to you would buy the starter home, fix it up and build equity, then move 5-10 years later into something else. Rinse and repeat a few times until you get to the bigger house.

Now, everyone buys that new tract home from the start because all of their friends did the same and they have to show it off on Facebook too.

No one wants to sacrifice anymore. They all spend $1400 a year on a new iPhone and wonder why they can't make ends meet.

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Zoning ordinances and building codes in most areas do not allow sweat equity. Most municipalities require a permit to change a water heater...and a permit requires a licensed plumber or in some areas electrician.

Employees also work more hours and have longer commute times than they ever have in the US...the amount of time they have to invest sweat equity is not sufficient as it once was.

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Its not impossible. It's just not desirable.

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Its literally a superpower to these people.

frick, I am far from a handiman, but I can do pretty much the basics of many things required to build a place.

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she had academic scholarships, financial aid and worked three jobs while at shool, graduated with $16k debt

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Some embellishments going on here.

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she interned for the Dallas Cowboys during college and they hired her upon graduation, she worked for them for six years, then went to a non-profit for a couple of years, now works for a local hospital system

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How much was the house she's paid off?

You sent her to a private school, right? Dallas St.Marks?

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I gotcha. So only my kids in a very similar situation were raised poorly because they were raised by a boomer..

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I was referencing your generation as a whole. You're being obtuse.

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Yeah back when starter homes existed.

Your post is a wild generalization.

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In 1996 the average square footage of new homes was a little under 1600 square feet. That number is now over 2200 square feet. Lots were also smaller in 1996...smaller homes, smaller lots, less money. Zoning and building codes have made it unprofitable to build modest homes on small lots in most parts of the nation.

It is might near impossible to find an area of the country with zoning which allows for homes built in high density areas (subdivisions) to not have a 2 car garage. Most homes built in those same areas in 1996 had no garage and were smaller.

Young people are the ones supporting the policies that are enslaving them.