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Middle-class buyers are increasingly springing for homes they can barely afford (www.nbcnews.com)

submitted 3 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

75 comments fedilink hide all child comments

One in 4 middle-income new homeowners — twice as many as a decade before — are buying into cost-burdened situations.

The share of middle-class Americans who are buying wallet-squeezing homes has more than doubled in the previous 10 years.

Almost 30% of middle-class homeowners bought homes with monthly payments costing more than 30% of their income in 2022, an NBC News analysis of Census Bureau data found. That’s more than twice the share from 2013, with experts warning it leaves many households with less money for groceries and emergencies and less able to get ahead in the future.

That “cost-burdened” benchmark — in which a household devotes over 30% of income to housing costs — is a widely used measure of affordability for both homeownership and renting. The Census Bureau measures housing costs against it, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development has used it for decades.

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[–] [email protected] -5 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Rent, where someone else is held responsible for maintenance and plumbing/electrical work and landscaping? Maintenance ain't cheap.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 3 weeks ago

My landlord doesn’t fix shit

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

It can be, especially if you have steady tenants.

I know ex landlords of mine that barely had to pay out anything over the course of years, while they made 5 figures/year.

Even as a home owner, you can have a string of luck. I have relatives with 20 year old water heaters going strong.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago

My HVAC is 25 years old and going strong. Only quirks it has is the airflow sensor needs to be blown (haha) once in the winter. Only maintenance outside of the usual I've done is replace the fan capacitor.

My water heater is about 10 years old but one of the perks of my gas utility is a water heater warranty so when it comes time to replace or repair part of the cost will be covered.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Condos are a happy in-between, where the COA handles anything outside of your studs, including the roof and landscaping. My condo even has free water and the pipes and tank are maintained by the COA. Free heat too. All I need to worry about is the electrical.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

That's no different than paying for home maintenance as you're just paying monthly into a pool of money to be used for repairs which is then handled by the condo board. This can also have drawbacks as that money can be mismanaged or wildly underfunded.

In Miami, they've passed a law saying all condo buildings need a structural inspections and repairs after a building collapsed recently. Many of these condo owners are getting massive 5 or 6 figure bills when structural damage is discovered. This is a really bad spot to be in since you likely can't sell the condo if the new buyer discovers that they'll need to fork over $100k on top of the purchase price and if you don't have the money you can be foreclosed on by the COA.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

That's a very valid point. It's crucial to do due diligence before buying into a condo, especially in an older building.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

Yeah, but don’t kid yourself thinking that shit is free.