And so we come back to the famed why don’t you stop buying avocados and Starbucks? argument again. Nobody said it yet, but this particular topic does bring out that highly ignorant statement more often than it should.
The problem is still the same—the US housing market is so overrun by corporations and money-grabbing investors that it just keeps inflating the prices beyond what regular Joe-Shmoes can afford. And it is so problematic that even kids are now starting to catch on. And if it’s that obvious, even to a 6-year-old, you know it’s huge.
More Info: Reddit
Imagine having a 4-bedroom lake-side house, a boat, a jet-ski, and two cars. In this economy
Image credits: eberhard grossgasteiger (not the actual photo)
Well, it's possible if you can manipulate time. But you can also understand why it's a problem. It's even obvious to a child
Image credits: PrimaryAd9159
A Redditor shared how her 6 y.o. wondered what her great-grandparents did to earn all they earned
Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio (not the actual photo)
This one Redditor recently approached the antiwork community with a message that is considered old news at this point, but one that should be as alarming as ever.
OP’s 6-year-old approached her asking what her great-grandparents did for a living. She responded that great-granddad worked for the state and great-grandma was a secretary. This particular question arose within the context of her great-grands owning a 4-bedroom lakeside house in Minnesota, a boat, a jet-ski, as well as a truck and a car, both under 10 years in use.
The kid’s next question was “so, you can get rich doing those jobs?” Immediately, the mother noticed how she, despite being quite young at this point, is starting to realize that something isn’t adding up.
“If my husband had the same exact job that he has now, but set in the 1970s, we would be absolutely rolling in money. Instead, we both have to work full-time to afford a 3 bedroom tract house, and we’ve never had a real vacation,” elaborated OP.
Heck, OP doesn’t even know anyone who could afford more than two kids, let alone proper housing. But when even a 6-year-old’s gears are starting to turn the right direction, you know the system is beyond broken.
The answer isn't realistically easy to explain to someone her age, but even she understood that something's not right
Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)
Immediately, a discussion was a-brewin’ in the comment section. The economic imbalance in the US has been so huge that virtually everyone has at least one story to tell about how problematic it has become.
This commenter’s mother went through law school for $1,500 a year. This prompted the commenter to ask her mom to never slap her with reality like that ever again.
Another Redditor shared their suspicion their dad thinks they’re lying about the sheer amount of raw work they do. Because they barely have anything to show for it. That’s the same 40-hour work week, mind you.
Others were of the opinion that what used to work back then doesn’t any more. And it escapes the boomer mind that maybe their decades of systematic repression of sensible living clauses and conditions in consideration of future generations might have had an impact on it all. But living in denial is easier.
The discussion continued in length, reaching 3,000 comments, all of which can be seen here. The post itself got over 37,500 upvotes with an 87% positivity rating and a single Reddit award.
For more context on the matter, you’re more than welcome to check out a recent Bored Panda article on the topic. What should, however, be mentioned is when will this chaos and madness subside?
And that only emphasizes the point of how broken the current US housing market is at this point
Image credits: Pixabay (not the actual photo)
The short answer is not this year, and probably not any time soon. According to a number of experts and sources gathered in this article, signs are showing that the US market won’t crash as much as it will correct itself. “Today’s homeowners stand on much more secure footing than those coming out of the 2008 financial crisis, with many borrowers having positive equity in their homes.”
For context, a market correction is a steady and temporary drop in market value over a longer period of time, like a week, for instance. A crash is much more brutal as it can happen at a much bigger rate and in just a day. With corrections, it stabilizes within a few months, whereas crashes can have devastating effects for a year or two.
So, what can you do as a real estate buyer? TL;DR: if you really need a house, plan and buy one now according to your budget. It’s hard to foresee when and where is the right time and location to buy real estate. But if you buy according to your budget and make it fit your current situation, it will quite likely be the right fit for you.
Besides, if you already have something and another opportunity arises, you can take it from there, instead of lingering on could’ves, should’ves and would’ves.
Folks immediately sparked a discussion, sharing stories and ideas on what's what
