re: I think people need to accept that the housing window has closed

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They'd need their income to roughly go up to $70k to afford that $200k house, which the house is also going to be going up in those 7 years. Again, this is why people are stuck. It is the heart of the issue.

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So in other words entry level pay for most degrees that are tied to a profession:

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U.S. entry-level annual pay varies by field: engineering ($70,000–$85,000), finance ($65,000–$90,000), accounting ($55,000–$68,000), law ($75,000–$120,000 for public/small firm up to $225,000 for big law), doctor ($64,000–$78,000 for residency), and scientist ($60,000–$80,000).

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I'm now convinced it's harder than ever to buy a house.

No one is capable of living within their means anymore and buying a starter home for a low/modest price.

I can filter my area on zillow and find 150 homes at less than $120,000.

Yes, at least half of those are in the hood, (thanks blacks for completely fricking the real estate market, yet another thing you've ruined), but half of them aren't. They are just old, BUT THEY ARE STILL MILES BETTER THAN BLOWING THAT MONEY ON RENTING.

$120,000 mortgage is appox a $750 note. The goal is to live here for 3-5 years.

Build equity, and then roll that equity into a modest/mid tier 150-175K house.

DON'T WASTE MONEY ON BRAND NEW VEHICLES. Learn to live without a vehicle note.

There is a path and it is an easy path. People just aren't disciplined and have been fed a lie about credit, credit cards, financing shite in general, and no one is taught to goal set, save, and live within their means.

I bought a $45k home that was 750 sq ft in 2007. I then rented it for 5 years while I moved into a $85k home in 2011. I sold it and then bought a $175k home in 2023. I have a $629 mortgage because I put $75k down. We will build a $300k-350k home in a few years and we will only finance half of that. We have no vehicle notes and are maxing our Roth accounts and trying to save as much as possible.

It's not rocket science, people are just not disciplined.

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The point was more to illustrate that even with the numbers the other poster was deciding to use, you pretty much have to get yourself up towards the median income to afford pretty much the bottom of the housing market, which frankly just isn't a great position for society to be in

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On a single income starting salary......

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On a single income starting salary......

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Jesus christ.

Are we just pretending we don't know what the median household income is?

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It was the other poster's number...I literally did the math of the situation he laid out.

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Then, had he googled household incomes, he would have had a stronger argument that a $200K house is affordable.

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quote: I'm now convinced it's harder than ever to buy a house

As a single person how big of a place do you want?

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That was sarcasm in response to the guy arguing that people can't buy a $200,000 house unless they make $70K a year. I was pointing out that's entry level pay for several professions that require a professional degree.

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Then, had he googled household incomes, he would have had a stronger argument that a $200K house is affordable.

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Right, that's the point i've been making multiple times now. Need to be making around $70k in order to afford a $200k house putting 10% down (his percentage). Median household income gets you to around $250k give or take.

Who assumes you need 10% down? FHA is 3.5%

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Who assumes you need 10% down? FHA is 3.5%

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Other poster used it. When discussing time needed to save up for a down payment.

Again, it is all a sliding scale. Looking at affordability based on the 28% rule too. Can you do more, absolutely. When talking in generalities though, have to establish a reasonable baseline. 3.5% you are more in the $230k max or so for the median household income to be within the 28% rule.


ETA: I don't know if jumping into the middle of it will really work. It all started from a point I responded to about jsut needing to buckle down and save. So I asked for parameters to put actual numbers into what that looks like, with where things actually are right now.

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Jesus christ. Are we just pretending we don't know what the median household income is?

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No we just dismiss stupid shite that is taken from census data and doesn't pass the critical thinking test.

Do you truly believe the median household for working families in LA is $60,000.

If so, you believe that if we lined up every working family from minimum wage to wealthiest and the midpoint is a husband and wife making $15/hr each.

You can believe that shite but I'm not buying that.