Gerontopoly: Homeownership, wealth, and age

Re:Gerontopoly: Homeownership, wealth, and age by rubicon33 on Monday April 23, 2018 @07:35PM (#16908446)

Yea, this article is really not surprising to anyone who isn't a boomer. I look around and see smart, hardworking people with some of the "best" jobs in the nation (doctors, lawyers, programmers, etc.) who can't afford to buy a home. Between student debt, the cost of living, nearly 50% taxation (and rising in CA), wage stagnation, and real estate greed... it's nearly impossible even for those young people who are doing well. If you ask me, the boomer generation certainly left it (far) worse than they found it.

Thanks, boomers, for de-regulating banks, leading to financial instability that continues to this day.

Thanks, boomers, for the 2007 Great Recession.

Thanks, boomers, for buying up homes in 2008 at a discount, and selling it back to the next generation at an exorbitant price. Your "investment" is literally why we have a housing crisis.

Thanks, boomers, for the massive mismanagement of federal, and local governments.

Thanks for the wars, boomers.

Thanks, boomers, for some historical wage stagnation.

It's no surprise that people are struggling to afford a home, and waiting to start a family.

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Re:Gerontopoly: Homeownership, wealth, and age by Lionsion on Monday April 23, 2018 @07:42PM (#16908486)

> Yea, this article is really not surprising to anyone who isn't a boomer. I look around and see smart, hardworking people with some of the "best" jobs in the nation (doctors, lawyers, programmers, etc.) who can't afford to buy a home. Between student debt, the cost of living, nearly 50% taxation (and rising in CA), wage stagnation, and real estate greed... it's nearly impossible even for those young people who are doing well. If you ask me, the boomer generation certainly left it (far) worse than they found it.

Is this a national problem you're seeing, or one specific to CA/NYC/etc.? I suspect it much be a local problem, since I can't see doctors, lawyers, and programmers having a hard time affording a home outside a few very specific locations.

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Re:Gerontopoly: Homeownership, wealth, and age by rubicon33 on Monday April 23, 2018 @10:00PM (#16909271)

I think the issue of wage stagnation, student debt, and all the issues that come with the wars and poor government management are felt across the nation by young people.

That said, I think the housing "crisis" is really specific to certain areas. In CA what we're seeing is that it's very hard to afford a home in certain areas.

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Re:Gerontopoly: Homeownership, wealth, and age by woolvalley on Monday April 23, 2018 @07:47PM (#16908507)

A lot of these patterns have been in place since the 70s. I don't think it's as simple as blaming a diverse age cohort.

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Re:Gerontopoly: Homeownership, wealth, and age by awat on Monday April 23, 2018 @07:58PM (#16908578)

I think there is some truth to this for sure. But speaking from a here and now perspective it’s hard to not take this stance. My wife and I make a good bit more than the average income for our area and at 27 we aren’t going to be even close to affording the house I was born into. That house was bought by my parents at 23 with my father working part time.

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Re:Gerontopoly: Homeownership, wealth, and age by nostromo on Monday April 23, 2018 @08:18PM (#16908716)

Part of that is simply population growth.

The creation of the automobile opened up a ton of land for new, cheap housing. That lasted for a few decades, but the land is now developed and the population is much larger and evermore urban, so the gold rush is over.

There may be a chance to develop our way to cheaper housing, but you'll be getting less land and less space for more money.

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Re:Gerontopoly: Homeownership, wealth, and age by awat on Monday April 23, 2018 @08:27PM (#16908776)

Agreed, there are timeliness and environmental variables to living costs and land for sure. The fear here seems to be that being a doctor or lawyer to use the cliche won’t secure you housing and that landowner becomes a profession that trumps all in terms of income and social class. I don’t mean this to be disingenuous I realize thats always been true to a certain extent but the extent is important.

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Re:Gerontopoly: Homeownership, wealth, and age by rubicon33 on Monday April 23, 2018 @10:08PM (#16909313)

Yup, similar story here.

My wife and I hold "great" jobs right now. Some of the best in the nation. Yet we can't afford anything close to what our parents could when they were 10 years younger than we are now.

And it just pisses me off to no end when we see shit like this from the boomers:

http://money.cnn.com/2017/05/15/news/millennials-home-buying...

These people have no idea how lucky and easy they had it compared to what young people are dealing with now. The deck, is stacked.

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Re:Gerontopoly: Homeownership, wealth, and age by ethanwillis on Tuesday April 24, 2018 @02:55AM (#16910467)

Idk, I'm 26 and bought my house at 22. I also don't eat avocado toast, YMMV.

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Re:Gerontopoly: Homeownership, wealth, and age by TheSpiceIsLife on Monday April 23, 2018 @07:57PM (#16908570)

We need to be careful here.

Boomers aren’t a homogeneous whole we can point a finger at and lay blame.

Some Boomers, sure.

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