Americans need to be richer than ever to buy their first home • Hacker News Board

Re: Americans need to be richer than ever to buy their first home

#11

Post by howlin » Sat, Mar 04, 2023, 5:37 PM UTC

tayo42 wrote: post #10

This is something I hope the government can step in and help with. Maybe really low/no interest loans for first time home buyers so they can at least get into the market. Maybe that exists? Income limits need to account for up to date salaries. I'm not rich or wealthy just because I had a couple years of making 250k. I still have loans and im still burning up cash on renting. Taxes take away a ton of that income. Som…

> Maybe really low/no interest loans for first time home buyers so they can at least get into the market.

One big reason homes are priced so high in places like the USA is because home loans are already government subsidized. When people think of what they can afford, they look at their net monthly mortgage payment less the income tax break. And prices seem to rise to meet whatever monthly payment buyers can afford.

Re: Americans need to be richer than ever to buy their first home

#12

Post by legitster » Sat, Mar 04, 2023, 5:37 PM UTC

I think this is only half of the story. There are still lots of affordable houses - in parts of the country that no one wants to live anymore. The value of my sibling's property in Illinois has barely kept up with inflation.

So I think some of the national statistics about house prices vs number of units are a bit misleading. We're increasingly paying a premium because we are increasingly concentrating where we want to/need to live.

Re: Americans need to be richer than ever to buy their first home

#13

Post by tayo42 » Sat, Mar 04, 2023, 5:39 PM UTC

howlin wrote: post #11

tayo42 wrote: post #10

This is something I hope the government can step in and help with. Maybe really low/no interest loans for first time home buyers so they can at least get into the market. Maybe that exists? Income limits need to account for up to date salaries. I'm not rich or wealthy just because I had a couple years of making 250k. I still have loans and im still burning up cash on renting. Taxes take away a ton of that income. Som…

> Maybe really low/no interest loans for first time home buyers so they can at least get into the market. One big reason homes are priced so high in places like the USA is because home loans are already government subsidized. When people think of what they can afford, they look at their net monthly mortgage payment less the income tax break. And prices seem to rise to meet whatever monthly payment buyers can afford.

> because home loans are already government subsidized.

Are they? Maybe Im more ignorant then I thought? Im still stuck looking at high intrest loans as a first time buyer who works in tech though?

Re: Americans need to be richer than ever to buy their first home

#14

Post by fleventynine » Sat, Mar 04, 2023, 5:41 PM UTC

tayo42 wrote: post #10

This is something I hope the government can step in and help with. Maybe really low/no interest loans for first time home buyers so they can at least get into the market. Maybe that exists? Income limits need to account for up to date salaries. I'm not rich or wealthy just because I had a couple years of making 250k. I still have loans and im still burning up cash on renting. Taxes take away a ton of that income. Som…

If we don't expand the housing supply dramatically, additional subsidies to home buyers will lead to even more inflated housing prices, and transferring even more money from the working class (who pay taxes and want to buy houses) to old rich people (who own most of the desirable property).

If we were to expand the housing supply by 20% over the next 5 years I would expect to see house prices and rent crash to a more sustainable level.

Re: Americans need to be richer than ever to buy their first home

#15

Post by legitster » Sat, Mar 04, 2023, 5:42 PM UTC

tayo42 wrote: post #10

This is something I hope the government can step in and help with. Maybe really low/no interest loans for first time home buyers so they can at least get into the market. Maybe that exists? Income limits need to account for up to date salaries. I'm not rich or wealthy just because I had a couple years of making 250k. I still have loans and im still burning up cash on renting. Taxes take away a ton of that income. Som…

> Maybe really low/no interest loans for first time home buyers so they can at least get into the market.

These already exist. There are downpayment assistance programs that go as low as 0% down. We ourselves took advantage of FHA loans twice to buy homes.

If anything, they exacerbate the problem by throwing cheap money at a supply problem.

Re: Americans need to be richer than ever to buy their first home

#16

Post by Mountain_Skies » Sat, Mar 04, 2023, 5:45 PM UTC

tayo42 wrote: post #13

howlin wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Maybe really low/no interest loans for first time home buyers so they can at least get into the market. One big reason homes are priced so high in places like the USA is because home loans are already government subsidized. When people think of what they can afford, they look at their net monthly mortgage payment less the income tax break. And prices seem to rise to meet whatever monthly payment buyers can afford.

> because home loans are already government subsidized. Are they? Maybe Im more ignorant then I thought? Im still stuck looking at high intrest loans as a first time buyer who works in tech though?

Do you itemize your taxes? If so, your mortgage is being subsidized by the government.

Re: Americans need to be richer than ever to buy their first home

#17

Post by xwdv » Sat, Mar 04, 2023, 5:45 PM UTC

SinjonSuarez wrote: post #6

xwdv wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would they willing cause a housing crisis? All that will do is flood the market with cheap inventory that will be quickly snapped up by everyone waiting on the sidelines for the next 2008 so they can get rich in the next boom cycle of real estate investing. Then prices will start rising and BlackRock will find itself trying to buy back inventory again or get left out. If houses get very cheap again I know for sur…

It’s almost as if the incentive structures were meant to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. If houses get cheap I know for sure I still won’t be able to afford even 1

Some people are so trapped in poverty mentalities that they can’t even imagine buying a house when it’s cheap, they’ll just imagine they’ll be even poorer.

Re: Americans need to be richer than ever to buy their first home

#18

Post by tayo42 » Sat, Mar 04, 2023, 5:46 PM UTC

legitster wrote: post #15

tayo42 wrote: post #10

This is something I hope the government can step in and help with. Maybe really low/no interest loans for first time home buyers so they can at least get into the market. Maybe that exists? Income limits need to account for up to date salaries. I'm not rich or wealthy just because I had a couple years of making 250k. I still have loans and im still burning up cash on renting. Taxes take away a ton of that income. Som…

> Maybe really low/no interest loans for first time home buyers so they can at least get into the market. These already exist. There are downpayment assistance programs that go as low as 0% down. We ourselves took advantage of FHA loans twice to buy homes. If anything, they exacerbate the problem by throwing cheap money at a supply problem.

> downpayment assistance programs that go as low as 0% down.

I never understood these, you still have to make payments on the total loan though? 0% on a million dollar loan at 6% is a ton of money to pay every month. on top of taxes and expenses of owning a home.

Re: Americans need to be richer than ever to buy their first home

#19

Post by s1artibartfast » Sat, Mar 04, 2023, 5:46 PM UTC

tayo42 wrote: post #10

This is something I hope the government can step in and help with. Maybe really low/no interest loans for first time home buyers so they can at least get into the market. Maybe that exists? Income limits need to account for up to date salaries. I'm not rich or wealthy just because I had a couple years of making 250k. I still have loans and im still burning up cash on renting. Taxes take away a ton of that income. Som…

Banging your head against an over-constrained problem is a exercise in futility. I found it easy to fall into the Trap of stubbornly doing it myself. If housing is a top priority for you like it was for me, I recommend doing exactly what you're considering. Move somewhere where you can get what you want. I moved off the peninsula and haven't regretted it for a minute

Re: Americans need to be richer than ever to buy their first home

#20

Post by emptysongglass » Sat, Mar 04, 2023, 5:48 PM UTC

legitster wrote: post #9

blue039 wrote: post #2

[flagged]

This is such a common misconception that Blackrock has a webpage on their website dedicated to clearing it up: https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/newsroom/setting-the-rec...

I don't see how this helps the narrative. You'd expect they would. This is like cigarette companies putting out memos defending cigarettes as less-harmful.