re: DJT - “I don’t want to drive housing prices down. I want to drive housing prices up.”

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That's not reality. If you get a technical degree, you'll get a good job. My advice would be don't get a shite degree. Or don't a degree at all and become HVAC, Electrician, Plumber. Get some experience, then open your own business.

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I'm mid-30s, graduated with an engineering degree, worked my arse off as a field engineer on drilling rigs for 5 years. Saved money despite only making about $50-$60k per year at the time, but they lowered my pay as work dried up in the mid-late 2010's because of geopolitics out of my control and low crude prices. This then ate into my savings, so I moved in with my grandparents, taught myself how to code with a $13 online bootcamp, and just made 6 years at my company working as a developer.

I've never come close to making $130k, or six-figures for that matter and I certainly don't have a shite degree. I know some, but not all, of my engineering friends make more than that. In fact, my now-wife and I barely make that today combined with her in healthcare. Finally bought a meager 1200 sq/ft house in a safe area a couple years ago, and I have a good, stable, technical job with great benefits/work life balance and kind coworkers so no regrets, but it sure wasn't easy and wasn't a realistic possibility for me anytime in my 20s without going to unreasonably lengths like moving into an unsafe area or a very remote location, which I deemed wasn't worth it. Probably would still be a single guy too if I decided to move somewhere super remote.


So all that to say, it's never that simple.

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I'm mid-30s, graduated with an engineering degree

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What kind of engineering degree? I work with electrical engineers and they start right out of college at around 75K in Huntsville AL. I have a bachelors in Applied Mathematics and 20 years experience in Computer networking. Make 165K. You should look at jobs in Huntsville. If you do move here, PLEASE don't vote democrat.

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So really this is just a way to relax underwriting standards in home loans which will increase the demand in homes which will increase house prices.

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Everything increases... That's how the world works.

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All while helping those people who can’t afford the homes (they couldn’t qualify without this) live beyond their means at the expense of people who view debt as a burden and want to minimize it.

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Then keep renting. Problem solved.

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Isn’t that hurting the people who are “manning up” as you say and who are saving money to buy their homes rather than live a lifetime of debt?

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Nope. Once you get into the mortgage, you've locked in the price. That 400K goes up and you gain equity. In most cases it will gain more in equity than someone could save in a year.

Get the 50 year loan, pay the 30 year payment and it pays off in 30 years. Better yet, each time you get a pay raise add another 100 to what you're paying. Soon you'll be paying the 15 year payment and it will pay of in 15 years.....

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What kind of engineering degree?

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Petroleum, hence the drilling rigs.

As I learned later, universities almost always oversell how much you make out of school and what you'll be doing. Also, that degree doesn't isn't easy to transition into other engineering positions or industries, such as a mechanical or something, but I could've done far, far worse as an 18-22 year old. Still glad I have the degree.

You’re just exacerbating the problem we already have. In 20 years, I guess we’ll be telling our kids “just get the 100 year mortgage…make extra payments and it’ll be done in 50”

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Get the 50 year loan, pay the 30 year payment and it pays off in 30 years. Better yet, each time you get a pay raise add another 100 to what you're paying. Soon you'll be paying the 15 year payment and it will pay of in 15 years.....

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I don’t really see how this works in practice. If you have the income to pay for a 30 year payment, why wouldn’t you just get a 30 year. The payment difference is marginal because the rate will be higher on a 50 year

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How would anything I've said hurt responsible people?

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Because responsible people don’t buy things they can’t afford. The 50 year mortgage does not affect affordability, it only affects qualifying. Qualifying for a mortgage is not the same thing as affording.

Your “solution” might work for some buyers in the short term, but in the long term acts to inflate housing prices as more and more buyers overextend themselves to buy a house. Inflating housing prices makes houses unaffordable. Making houses unaffordable hurts responsible buyers/ savers who won’t overextend themselves with debt.

In 20 years, when they still haven’t addressed the underlying problems and housing prices have gone up another 70%, they’ll have to come up with some other gimmick to get people in the market.

Hope this helps.

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Qualifying for a mortgage is not the same thing as affording.

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If you can't afford it, you won't qualify..

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In 20 years, when they still haven’t addressed the underlying problems and housing prices have gone up another 70%, they’ll have to come up with some other gimmick to get people in the market.

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Around me they are building like crazy.

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Hope this helps.

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I don't need or want your help. You are wrong on this issue.

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If you can't afford it, you won't qualify.

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Yeah, see you’re treating “qualifying” and “affording” as the same thing. They’re not.