American dream of owning a home is dead, majority of renters say

https://lemmy.world/post/13031449

American dream of owning a home is dead, majority of renters say - Lemmy.World

Exclusive: most renters surveyed by Harris Poll say the areas they live in have become so unaffordable they are ‘barely livable’ The poll, conducted by the Harris Poll Thought Leadership and Future Practice, asked survey takers to identify themselves as renters or homeowners, along with other demographic information. Those polled were asked their opinion on home ownership in the United States. For many, especially renters, the outlook is bleak. Though the vast majority of renters polled said they want to own a home in the future, 61% said they are worried they will never be able to. A similar percentage believe no matter how hard they work, they’ll never be able to afford a home. “When you think about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and housing is right at that foundational level of security, the implications on consumer psyche when things feel so unaffordable is something that will impact everyone,” said Libby Rodney, chief strategy officer at Harris Poll. The American dream of owning a home “is looking more like a daydream for renters”.

Very easy to own a home. Just buy a house in the middle of nowhere, and then have a campervan

Doesn’t even need to be middle of nowhere. Just needs to be ~30 minute drive away from city core. Cheaper suburbs are still very much affordable in every city I have seen.

Sometimes you gotta go out to that 20-30 min away “next nearest” smaller town that’s right next to the big city but isn’t actually in it. It has all your amenities and plenty to live off of, but if you wanna go to the big city’s malls, theaters, concerts, etc, you gotta drive 30 min instead of walk there.

Usually you can get very decent starter homes for 250k to 300k in said places, and usually in said “one off” towns the renting industry is much more slow, so you don’t have that “you have to buy NOW” pressure. Homes stay up for sale for a bit and you have more than 3 hours to make an offer lol.

Downside is now you need a car… though often even then the smaller towns have some form of public transport to the bigger city you can use, though it can be on a rarer schedule. IE your bus may only come every 2 hours so better not miss it.

I prefer “edge of the city suburbs” over “one town over” personally. Access to public transport means I skipped buying and paying for a vehicle and skipped straight to saving up for a house.

Just needs to be ~30 minute drive away from city core.

I skipped buying and paying for a vehicle and skipped straight to saving up for a house.

It’s not just this. Everything you said is objectivity bad advice.

K