“......We can look further out but then you’re looking at an hour commute each way......”
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We have been homeowners since 1986. For the math challenged that’s 38 years. Our first home had an 80 mile round trip to work. Our present home is 95 mile round trip. If you want to own a home bad enough, you will find a way. Complaining alone will not do it.
FWIW, I understand commuting. I had a nearly 1.5 hour commute to downtown Atlanta. I bought my first house in the early 90s at 27, and the mortgage, taxes and insurance was cheaper than rent. That is not the case anymore. I would not be able to rent or buy in the area my first home was. Husbands current commute is 45 minutes to 1 hour to drive 15 miles.
You mistake my post as “complaining”. We own our home and the home our son rents from us. This is not an issue for us. I do see it being an issue for young people.
I know if we were starting out now, there is no way we could buy a home further out, with a 2-3 hour commute each way especially if we wanted to have any time for family. Plus gas prices would eat us alive. 95 miles where I live would take probably 3-4 hours due to traffic. And that is with working in a suburb, not even downtown.
And my younger son, he cannot drive due to his epilepsy so he cannot live further out. The lower end apartments in the area where he works are around $2000/month for a 2 bedroom. Even with a roommate , that is close to half his take home pay. each month, and these apartments don’t let 4 young adult men rent a 2 bedroom.
The fixer uppers are pretty bad too, even the ones further out. Even a mobile home on a bit of land is ridiculously expensive. Land alone around me costs $100+ per acre
So, you may think I’m complaining, but what I am telling you is just the reality around here. The only reason my older son has a home is because we had the means to buy the fixer upper. He and his wife have saved enough to buy it from us this year, and not at these inflated prices. Not everyone can do what we are doing, I would guess that most don’t.