I hate feeling "I contributed" to driving home prices up to make buying a home unreachable for others. I wonder if during our attempt to buy a home, that feeling was also there, but we didn't know the severity of it? For example, my first purchase was a $30,000 condo in Malta. I was freaked out about affording it. I made $25K a year! But, I scrounged together a few thousand, made the down payment and "got my foot in the door" and here we are. So, yes - buying a home in a highly desirable area is probably not in the cards, but there are still homes out there that are "affordable" if you want to live in a less desirable area. Like, Gloversville or Amsterdam! Especially now that remote work is more possible than ever.
This article rings true to some of us in the previous generation, or what is left of it,. Laura Vecsey's parents -- my wife and I -- both had full-time jobs at 20, she as a teacher, me as a reporter. She bought our first house at 23, on her lunch break from teaching art. Now, the dream of house and job is badly distorted. Houses are being built -- white-and-black monstrosities, filling every foot of property, with trees being lopped down. Nobody thinks of the working class, the young. It's the time of Musk and Bezos and even worse,. Laura's article makes us wince for our grandchildren's generation.
I think about all this too. Well said. Don’t know what the answer is except fairer tax policy and grants to make home ownership more widely accessible. But with all the nonsense that followed the student loan forgiveness program, I fear the social conscience for progress is withering. Totally depressing.
Renting is not all bad!
I hate feeling "I contributed" to driving home prices up to make buying a home unreachable for others. I wonder if during our attempt to buy a home, that feeling was also there, but we didn't know the severity of it? For example, my first purchase was a $30,000 condo in Malta. I was freaked out about affording it. I made $25K a year! But, I scrounged together a few thousand, made the down payment and "got my foot in the door" and here we are. So, yes - buying a home in a highly desirable area is probably not in the cards, but there are still homes out there that are "affordable" if you want to live in a less desirable area. Like, Gloversville or Amsterdam! Especially now that remote work is more possible than ever.
This article rings true to some of us in the previous generation, or what is left of it,. Laura Vecsey's parents -- my wife and I -- both had full-time jobs at 20, she as a teacher, me as a reporter. She bought our first house at 23, on her lunch break from teaching art. Now, the dream of house and job is badly distorted. Houses are being built -- white-and-black monstrosities, filling every foot of property, with trees being lopped down. Nobody thinks of the working class, the young. It's the time of Musk and Bezos and even worse,. Laura's article makes us wince for our grandchildren's generation.
George Vecsey, Long Island, New York
I think about all this too. Well said. Don’t know what the answer is except fairer tax policy and grants to make home ownership more widely accessible. But with all the nonsense that followed the student loan forgiveness program, I fear the social conscience for progress is withering. Totally depressing.