A minimum-wage worker needs 2.5 full-time jobs to afford a one-bedroom apartment in most of the US (judgment, credit score)

[TaxPhd]

Originally Posted by freemkt

How do you explain problem alcoholics and gamblers? Is the utility thing working out for them?

A five minute study on "utility" in the context of economics would help to prevent you from asking such silly questions in the future.

[jm1982]

Originally Posted by Cloudy Dayz

Obviously if they had the money, they wouldn't be renting to begin with.

Plenty of people rent even though they can afford to buy .

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by jm1982

If they pay a premium ... then why rent ?

Many people complain about high rents and greedy landlords but they could move elsewhere and own .

They are paying for a service use of someone else’s property for a certain period of time .
Landlords aren’t forcing people to rent their places .

Why rent? Maybe because a 20% downpayment is out of reach for most renters

[jm1982]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

Why rent? Maybe because a 20% downpayment is out of reach for most renters

Ever heard of FHA .. 3.5% down payment ?

There are even all kinds of programs to help with down payment assistance as well .

https://www.bankrate.com/finance/mor...payment-1.aspx

[freemkt]

Originally Posted by jm1982

If they pay a premium ... then why rent ?

Many people complain about high rents and greedy landlords but they could move elsewhere and own .

They are paying for a service use of someone else’s property for a certain period of time .
Landlords aren’t forcing people to rent their places .

Sometimes there are reasons to choose to rent.

In most cases, people rent because buying is not an option available to them.

[freemkt]

Originally Posted by jm1982

Ever heard of FHA .. 3.5% down payment ?

There are even all kinds of programs to help with down payment assistance as well .

https://www.bankrate.com/finance/mor...payment-1.aspx

Some people have credit issues they cannot resolve and their down payment is irrelevant.

[jm1982]

Originally Posted by freemkt

Some people have credit issues they cannot resolve and their down payment is irrelevant.

Credit issues due to their poor choices with credit . Credit can be fixed .

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by jm1982

Ever heard of FHA .. 3.5% down payment ?

There are even all kinds of programs to help with down payment assistance as well .

https://www.bankrate.com/finance/mor...payment-1.aspx

A 3.5% down payment on a $400,000 house is $14,000. That is still unattainable by large number of renters
The only no down loans are for for Veterans and USDA loans for rural and suburban areas. The USDA loans while being zero down require a 1-3.5 non refundable fee to be paid up front, and .35% - .50% annual fees. And there is a maximum loan amount, for 2018 in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, the loan limit was $198, 441 . It might be hard to find an empty lot for under $200,000 in either county, dontcha think?

There's no such thing as a free lunch jm and many renters struggle to make it from month to month and pay for car repairs and their kids orthodontist bills, home ownership for them is something to dream about but it's not something that will happen any time soon.

[freemkt]

Originally Posted by jm1982

Credit issues due to their poor choices with credit . Credit can be fixed .

Credit cannot be fixed on a subsistence income.

[KaraG]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

A 3.5% down payment on a $400,000 house is $14,000. That is still unattainable by large number of renters
The only no down loans are for for Veterans and USDA loans for rural and suburban areas. The USDA loans while being zero down require a 1-3.5 non refundable fee to be paid up front, and .35% - .50% annual fees. And there is a maximum loan amount, for 2018 in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, the loan limit was $198, 441 . It might be hard to find an empty lot for under $200,000 in either county, dontcha think?

There's no such thing as a free lunch jm and many renters struggle to make it from month to month and pay for car repairs and their kids orthodontist bills, home ownership for them is something to dream about but it's not something that will happen any time soon.

Or, it's $3500 down to buy a nice, good condition 3/2 house in the midwest. We have one for sale right now, it's actually priced a little high at $100,000, many similar models are around $90,000. Good school district, can walk to shops, on the bus route. It's just small town USA.