Talked to my aunt about her first house in 1998 and the numbers were wild

She bought a three bedroom in a decent part of town for $87,000. Her mortgage was under $600 a month. We were just looking at a similar house there now, listed at $420,000. It made the whole 'starter home' idea feel totally different. How are people even supposed to save for that down payment?

3 comments

3 Comments

paulperry2mo ago

My buddy was looking at a house like that last year. He had to move back in with his parents for two years just to save up. Even then, his down payment was mostly a gift from his grandma. The whole process just broke his spirit for a while. It’s a totally different game now and the rules don’t make sense.

corar781mo ago

Yeah, it feels like the goalposts keep moving for our whole generation. You do everything they said, go to school, work hard, but the basic life stuff your parents had just costs ten times more now. It's not just houses, it's everything from daycare to a used car. The math doesn't work on normal salaries anymore, so people are burning out or leaning on family help just to hit the starting line. It really does break your spirit when you play by the old rules and still can't win.

jessicas722mo ago

My cousin just bought a starter condo in Phoenix for $350k with an FHA loan and only 3.5% down. His payment is high, but he got in. I feel like we focus too much on the 20% down payment idea from our parents' time. There are more low down payment programs now than in 1998, they're just not talked about as much. Doesn't that shift the problem from saving for a down payment to affording the monthly cost though?