FoxTrot by Bill Amend for January 07, 2024

“If you make enough to pay rent on an apartment, you make enough to pay a mortgage, Peter.”

Is what I’d like to say, but these days…

With the way prices are, I’m surprised ANYONE can afford a home. My sympathies to all those living in an apartment (livable or run down) that work 3 or more full time jobs just to meet the rent payments.

The house I was born and raised in was recently put on the market. It sold for about $315,000, for a single level and garage. My parents bought it in the mid-70s for $25,000 and did some renovations and additions in the 80s.

Don’t worry, Peter; prices will come down soon enough. Interest rates too, eventually; the government can’t keep paying 6% on the national debt much longer!

Peter should look into squatters rights.

I had looked into an apartment in Germany while attending school for a master’s.

Turns out free university and rent for a 3 bedroom in the city center with easy access to the train was only 600 euros a month. Utilities included. I live in Idaho and getting a 1 bedroom for under a thousand is impossible.

Burn it all down.

Andy’s way of saying “The clock is ticking…”

Last Week the Denver Post had an article on home prices. In Aspen, Colorado, a couple, each making $100,000/year, can’t afford to live there.

And in 1970 the average income in the USA was $9,870 and in 2022 it was $74,580. Combined with the demand for larger homes with more ammenities in near perfect condition….and the lack of willingness to do your own repairs ….. and a willingness to buy ‘wants’ and not just ‘needs’ may be why ‘no one’ can afford a house now.

What we need is housing reform. We need to hold the people buying up homes and renting them out as Air B & Bs instead of housing people and families. We need to build more affordable/mixed income housing (how many luxury condos does one city need?). Hopefully, if interest rates keep coming down, housing prices will start coming back down to Earth. In a perfect world, rent and mortgage prices wouldn’t cost more than 30% of people’s monthly income. But if we can turn the housing crisis around, that would be a good start.

There are only two kinds of Americans these days, the truly needy and the truly greedy!

To ‘The Powers That Be’: What do you think will happen if you keep making it harder for the risk generation to accomplish anything in their lives?

I wonder exactly what kind of work Roger does that he can afford a home and three kids? I know Andy has an English degree, and does some free-lance writing, but she’s mostly shown as a stay-at-home mom to the three kids.

Don’t forget your future college loan debt, Peter.

Too real Bill lmao

My old family home, first bought in Los Gatos, California, in 1958 for $15,000 just sold, last year, for a cool $2million. Single level ranch with direct access to green space through the backyard. It was a wonderful place to grow up. For several generations worth of us.

Clint Eastwood said it best in Magnum Force, “a man has to know his limitations”. This applies to housing also, quit looking at things you can’t afford and accept that you’ll be much happier in a lower priced house that doesn’t stress you out with every payment.

Welcome to the real world kid!

Yes, the prices are hard to believe. But there is another problem: So many people today think they can move into a nice house they buy right away on entering the job marked. In my ancient world we expected to live in apartments and rented houses for years before we could even think about buying a house. We have been sold a pile of unfortunate expectations, with the real estate business making loads of money off of people.

Most young people I know do not have full-time jobs. The boss won’t give them a 40-hour week so the boss doesn’t have to provide the benefits of a full-time job. Some only get 20 hours a week for any one job.

Along with “Real Estate” listings, have a gander at the local Property Taxes as well.