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Foreigners are the least of your concerns right about now. Blackrock Corporation and/or their proxies are buying up home after home.
but ... if you remove, say 4MM illegal households, then all those places would need new tenants. And they're not likely "luxury apartments" that run credit checks, etc.
They are gobbling up houses, paying cash, adding to the bidding wars ...
Some of the houses in my area are for sale but "cash only" buyers only.
Another house has it's list price almost triple the going rate and the going rate doubled from about 6 months go.
Rents have skyrocketed. And it's not an issue of well, just work more. If the area is a working class area, and your rent doubles just because, the opportunity to make more money isn't there. It isn't that people are lazy, they are being legit forced out.
Sounds kind of like a mr. potter from its a wonderful life philosophy. I lived in a mobile home, now own a custom built home on 25 acres, but still feel that people, especially the working and middle class should be able to find a decent affordable homes.
I lived in a mobile home for a couple of years. Last year I built my own house, very affordable. I didn't sit around crying that I can't afford a house in this area. We don't disagree really. I just feel many people aren't actually putting the effort in. Nice houses pair well with decent jobs. Don't expect one if you don't have the other.
Also what is a nice house? Some real dumps here would be nice in other places.half the people complaining wouldn't have the experience e to actually take care of a nice place.
The title says it all. The apartment I had in 2009ish was just a few years old and had basic builder grade stuff like cheap particle board countertops coated in laminate, white appliances, basic carpet. The rent was pretty affordable for that reason. It was safe but affordable for someone trying to pay for college.
Nowadays all new apartments are labeled as "luxury" and include stuff like a pool, valet trash, exercise room, granite countertops, and stainless appliances. I guess builders and landlords learned that for a little bit extra investment, they can call the apartment "luxury" and charge a lot more in rent.
Unfortunately, even older apartments are undergoing a makeover. A dumpy 1980s complex near me got laminate floors, new appliances, and a fresh coat of paint and rent prices went from $950 for a 1br to $1250.
Then when you look at the buying market, you realize that something similar is happening. I don't see any smaller starter homes being built anymore. Everything is a McMansion that's at least 2500sqft. I guess there just isn't much money to be made building smaller homes.
For a DINK couple who wants a smaller home, you are either stuck buying an older one, having something custom built on your own land, or buying a townhouse/condo. Where is the new version of the 1950s craftsman home that is so popular in older suburbs across the US?
What can we do to get more affordable housing? I don't mean something for people on assistance programs, but housing for people who are blue collar?
What happened was, the Fed pumped trillions of $$ into the system to prop up our government and created huge asset bubbles. The rich got richer via the stock market and poorer people now pay the price.
It's happening everywhere. My friend lives in Raleigh, NC and it's the same deal there. Same in Nashville.
It really doesn't have anything to do with DFW or me personally because it's happening all over the country. Even a place like Chattanooga where no one wanted to live for a while is now booming.
Except it is not happening all over the country. Rent has actually declined in certain markets:
From December 2021:
“Of the nation’s 100 largest cities, 53 saw month-over-month rent declines, and this is the fourth straight month of slowed growth following the July 2.7% growth peak. …
Locally, rent declines continue to plague larger coastal markets like San Francisco, Boston and Seattle. Rents dropped 2.7% MoM in San Francisco, and Minneapolis, Boston, Seattle and Arlington, Va., also saw rent declines in consecutive months. Since March 2020, San Francisco is down 14%, while neighbor Oakland is down 10%.”
Certain states like Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina, Florida, and Idaho have been booming for a while. The pandemic and its associate ability to work from home has only facilitated moves to new “hot spots.” So yes, rent is up nationally overall, it is much worse in cities that are booming, including Vegas, Tampa, Austin, Fort Worth, etc. This is partly about migration:
“Austin, Texas, which serves as a major base for companies like Dell, Whole Foods, SolarWinds and Oracle, had the most new arrivals between April 2020 and October 2020, while Hartford, Connecticut, New York City and San Francisco's Bay Area lost the most residents, according to LinkedIn's December Workforce Report, which tracks migration trends across the US.”
Except it is not happening all over the country. Rent has actually declined in certain markets:
From December 2021:
“Of the nation’s 100 largest cities, 53 saw month-over-month rent declines, and this is the fourth straight month of slowed growth following the July 2.7% growth peak. …
Locally, rent declines continue to plague larger coastal markets like San Francisco, Boston and Seattle. Rents dropped 2.7% MoM in San Francisco, and Minneapolis, Boston, Seattle and Arlington, Va., also saw rent declines in consecutive months. Since March 2020, San Francisco is down 14%, while neighbor Oakland is down 10%.”
Certain states like Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina, Florida, and Idaho have been booming for a while. The pandemic and its associate ability to work from home has only facilitated moves to new “hot spots.” So yes, rent is up nationally overall, it is much worse in cities that are booming, including Vegas, Tampa, Austin, Fort Worth, etc. This is partly about migration:
“Austin, Texas, which serves as a major base for companies like Dell, Whole Foods, SolarWinds and Oracle, had the most new arrivals between April 2020 and October 2020, while Hartford, Connecticut, New York City and San Francisco's Bay Area lost the most residents, according to LinkedIn's December Workforce Report, which tracks migration trends across the US.”
It's because those are high priced cities and people realized that with working remotely, they can live somewhere more affordable.
And a 2.7% rent decrease in San Francisco is a total joke, especially when you factor in inflation. So now your rent on a 1br is $2820 instead of $2900. What a savings...
SF, Seattle, and Boston are cities where normal people are never able to afford houses. Even a dumpy shack costs $750K. That's the complete opposite of affordability and a perfect example of what I'm talking about.
That's my point of the entire post. A single person who works full time at a non-minimum wage job cannot afford a home in most of America. It doesn't matter whether it's renting or buying. It's the same deal.
My grandpa was able to afford a home on his working class salary and also could afford for my grandma to stay home and watch after the kids. My dad worked as a manager at Home Depot and my mom was a technician in the medical field (not very high paying). They also were able to afford a nice home.
I just don't think that's possible in America anymore unless you buy a house in the sticks, far away from most employers.
People in this thread have been saying that you don't have the privilege of living anywhere you want and I agree with that. Working class people aren't asking to live in the Hamptons or on a beachfront property in Miami. They just want to be able to afford something in a city like Greenville, SC.
My parents live in a small town in the Appalachian mountains. They paid less than $200K for their house and a few acres of land about 20yr ago. Now the same property is worth over $500K. They wouldn't be able to afford to live in their own house in 2022 if they were on the market now. That's a huge problem.
per the bolds ...
You cannot say "most of America". Most of America lies outside the metro centers. Right now, there are 118 homes in Greenville SC for a $1,000/mo mortgage payment. I'm sure some/many are under contract, but that means over the last 60 days there have been at least 118.
Why do your parents need to afford their current home 20 years after they bought it? Are they paying their mortgage, or paid it off? What they have is what is called a nice "nest egg".
That's my point of the entire post. A single person who works full time at a non-minimum wage job cannot afford a home in most of America. It doesn't matter whether it's renting or buying. It's the same deal.
My grandpa was able to afford a home on his working class salary and also could afford for my grandma to stay home and watch after the kids. My dad worked as a manager at Home Depot and my mom was a technician in the medical field (not very high paying). They also were able to afford a nice home.
I just don't think that's possible in America anymore unless you buy a house in the sticks, far away from most employers.
People in this thread have been saying that you don't have the privilege of living anywhere you want and I agree with that. Working class people aren't asking to live in the Hamptons or on a beachfront property in Miami. They just want to be able to afford something in a city like Greenville, SC.
My parents live in a small town in the Appalachian mountains. They paid less than $200K for their house and a few acres of land about 20yr ago. Now the same property is worth over $500K. They wouldn't be able to afford to live in their own house in 2022 if they were on the market now. That's a huge problem.
That's a good idea, but even those are becoming unaffordable.
Exactly. No one is saying someone flipping burgers (although there is nothing wrong with flipping burgers) should be able to buy a SFH. But a single schoolteacher in my county would not be able to buy a house in today's market on a starting teacher salary.
In fact, he or she would even be hard-pressed to find a rental in the area, since three times that salary per month would leave 1319.00 for rent which would not be enough in this area.
The same would apply to a nurse (RN).
Again, I refer to starting salaries and single family incomes.
It's because those are high priced cities and people realized that with working remotely, they can live somewhere more affordable.
And a 2.7% rent decrease in San Francisco is a total joke, especially when you factor in inflation. So now your rent on a 1br is $2820 instead of $2900. What a savings...
SF, Seattle, and Boston are cities where normal people are never able to afford houses. Even a dumpy shack costs $750K. That's the complete opposite of affordability and a perfect example of what I'm talking about.
So people moved, creating higher demand, driving prices up, and now you feel pissy about it. It’s supply and demand.
We’ve owned our home more or less consistently since we were 23 years old. We started out in something small and old, fixed it up, and continuously traded up. Remember “sweat equity”? It wasn’t always easy. We spent our weekends painting and laying tile and stripping wallpaper and landscaping. We didn’t buy new cars, didn’t go out to eat all the time, etc.
Why didn’t you do that 6 years ago? You’ve been on the DFW boards for a long time; you knew what was happening.
It's happening everywhere. My friend lives in Raleigh, NC and it's the same deal there. Same in Nashville.
It really doesn't have anything to do with DFW or me personally because it's happening all over the country. Even a place like Chattanooga where no one wanted to live for a while is now booming.
Raleigh & Nashville have been booming - in population and economic growth -for 20 years or more though.
For whatever reason, Chattanooga is on some top 10 Places to Live list. Maybe something with its "Gig City" moniker, which started 9 years ago.
But there's still 240 homes for sale for $1,000/mo right now.
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