Homeownership in Dallas area falls as millennials balk at buying (Fort Worth: 2013, crime rates)

[NoClueWho]

Originally Posted by aznkobee

i see too many of these articles trying to measure millennials by boomer's standard of material success. Yes maybe the huge student loan, bad job prospects and the insanely low ROI of a degree today compared to 30 yrs ago has something to do it. Some of them don't want to buy a house because they would love to stay at parents house playing video games forever. But majority simply don't give crap about owning a house in which the boomers are so prideful about. They rather take the low paying dream job that they feel they are making a difference. They dream of traveling the world, learn different cultures, end world hunger, live green and free than dream about the white picket fence dream house in the suburb and living a life of keeping up with the joneses.

This pretty much nails it.

[happycrow]

Originally Posted by synchronicity

^^^ThisX2 This thread reinforces that A) income skews WAY high on this forum relative to the norm, and 2) many people seemingly have no clue what the "average" person is really at.

Absolutely nailed it.
Also couldn't afford a house until early 30s, couldn't make the down-payment then so took on boarders and then paid like mad to kill off the mortgage in fifteen rather than thirty. But for a long stretch of that we didn't have kids yet, and for those who want to spawn at an appropriate age rather than playing roulette with their chances of having a family, the "boarders" thing is much harder.

[Ishad]

Home ownership had also been traditionally pushed as a 100% safe investment "Why throw your money away on rent when you could be building equity?" After the housing market crash and a relatively weak econonmy where people without years of experience may have to move to stay employed, is it really any wonder they are balking at taking on a possible anchor and questionable investment?

[numberfive]

Originally Posted by bencronin04

Yes that was exactly my point. I now drive a used pick up truck, live in an 1950's 2 bed 1 bath house. I've grown up in that aspect of my life, thanks it part to children and my grounded wife.

Nice! Your sentence about millionaires unlikely driving Civics is what threw me off, but I hear ya now.

[Berrie143]

Originally Posted by happycrow

My wife and I, over-educated academics, didn't crest 100k on *both* incomes until our early 40s.
The housing market looks a lot different from down here. A lot more like California and a lot less like "let's try to retire here."

I can say, with absolute conviction and certainty, that the DFW area is NOTHING like California in respect to housing. A lot of you really have no idea how lucky you are to live in a place, like the DFW metroplex and its surrounding suburbs, that has nice homes with good schools that are AFFORDABLE. Yes, AFFORDABLE.

The median household income level where I live in So Cal is 61K.
The median house price where I live in So Cal is 429K.

For DFW, the median household income is 58K.
For DFW, the median house price is $188K.

See any discrepancies with those figures? ^^^

Of course there are areas in DFW that are very, very expensive and are out of reach for a lot of people. The thing is, a lot more of you actually have a chance at home ownership by purchasing a nice home for a good price and that you can most likely afford. For us out here in So Cal, it's literally impossible, especially with the influx of foreigners (mostly Asians- we're having issues with what the newspapers are calling "anchor babies" being born here) coming here and dropping cash and driving prices up to ridiculous highs.

Just to give you perspective: my brother and his wife gross about 140K a year and they purchased a 485K home a few years ago. Their mortgage is $3500 a month. Think about writing a check like that just to live in good old So Cal. It's honestly ridiculous how some people exhaust CA as a "paradise" that they will never leave- but those are the people who live by the beach and can afford to do it. Those are the top 1% of the income pool. The rest of us regular folk are grasping at straws just trying to stay afloat.

My DH had his interview with the Dallas office of his company just this morning. We'll know by the end of next week if we're going to be moving to the DFW area. While it's going to be VERY hard to leave our families and friends behind if we move, the idea of buying a nice home for less than $175K and putting our children in good schools and actually having some financial freedom is exhilarating. Not to mention being in a place that generally has a friendlier population and more self-respect.

[stephwin]

Originally Posted by Berrie143

the idea of buying a nice home for less than $175K and putting our children in good schools and actually having some financial freedom is exhilarating.

I'm not sure if you've posted here before, but a nice house (depends on your definition) + $175k + good schools = incredibly difficult to find, even in "cheap" DFW. A lot of people are making DFW out to be the Promised Land when it is most definitely not.

[stargirl007]

Originally Posted by stephwin

I'm not sure if you've posted here before, but a nice house (depends on your definition) + $175k + good schools = incredibly difficult to find, even in "cheap" DFW. A lot of people are making DFW out to be the Promised Land when it is most definitely not.

Agree with the above. I'm not sure what the definition of "good schools" are for you, but in contrast -- my 1500 sq ft house in Plano (probably well regarded as one of the best school districts in the DFW area) was close to 200K last year. We had to pay over listing price and our home had 8 offers in 24 hours, every single one was above listing price. Looking at comps in our neighborhood, our home would probably list for around 215K considering updates today, and would very likely sell above that.

[serger]

Originally Posted by Berrie143

I can say, with absolute conviction and certainty, that the DFW area is NOTHING like California in respect to housing. A lot of you really have no idea how lucky you are to live in a place, like the DFW metroplex and its surrounding suburbs, that has nice homes with good schools that are AFFORDABLE. Yes, AFFORDABLE.

The median household income level where I live in So Cal is 61K.
The median house price where I live in So Cal is 429K.

For DFW, the median household income is 58K.
For DFW, the median house price is $188K.

See any discrepancies with those figures? ^^^

Of course there are areas in DFW that are very, very expensive and are out of reach for a lot of people. The thing is, a lot more of you actually have a chance at home ownership by purchasing a nice home for a good price and that you can most likely afford. For us out here in So Cal, it's literally impossible, especially with the influx of foreigners (mostly Asians- we're having issues with what the newspapers are calling "anchor babies" being born here) coming here and dropping cash and driving prices up to ridiculous highs.

Just to give you perspective: my brother and his wife gross about 140K a year and they purchased a 485K home a few years ago. Their mortgage is $3500 a month. Think about writing a check like that just to live in good old So Cal. It's honestly ridiculous how some people exhaust CA as a "paradise" that they will never leave- but those are the people who live by the beach and can afford to do it. Those are the top 1% of the income pool. The rest of us regular folk are grasping at straws just trying to stay afloat.

My DH had his interview with the Dallas office of his company just this morning. We'll know by the end of next week if we're going to be moving to the DFW area. While it's going to be VERY hard to leave our families and friends behind if we move, the idea of buying a nice home for less than $175K and putting our children in good schools and actually having some financial freedom is exhilarating. Not to mention being in a place that generally has a friendlier population and more self-respect.

You really need to define your area in So cal and what exactly you mean by DFW metro and good schools. So it can be apples to apples.

Quick check gives median on SF home in Plano around $400k, Dallas $450k, Frisco $450k or somewhat more

[Berrie143]

Originally Posted by stargirl007

Agree with the above. I'm not sure what the definition of "good schools" are for you, but in contrast -- my 1500 sq ft house in Plano (probably well regarded as one of the best school districts in the DFW area) was close to 200K last year. We had to pay over listing price and our home had 8 offers in 24 hours, every single one was above listing price. Looking at comps in our neighborhood, our home would probably list for around 215K considering updates today, and would very likely sell above that.

A "good school" for us is a score of 8 or above and steady records of improvements, etc. While the number of homes in the price range of 200K or less that have those kinds of schools assigned to them has gone down dramatically since we first started looking 2 years ago, we are still finding homes that we can afford in the DFW area. Will we have to fight for one? More than likely. I can tell you, though, we've been fortunate to gain a large savings and have no debts so our buying power is slightly better than some.

DFW may not be "the promise land" but I can tell you that the probability of home ownership is a lot easier than where I currently live. DH and I have been trying actively to buy a home for 4 years now and less actively for another 3.

[aggie972]

This thread is refreshing to read. I feel like most places where Gen X and boomers gather to talk about millennials, its always "They're lazy/entitled/godless/listen to that damned rap music. When I was in school, I paid for it all with my summer job as a painter. I didn't need no stinking debt."