> spend $8000 or more to remodel a car

> can never save up to the 20% down payment

something tells me those two things are connected

Well, at that rate, one could not remodel 15 cars and maybe have enough for the down payment on a studio in some markets.

Or one could remodel a car and give up on home ownership, because it seems like a losing idea atm, and they'll have pursued something they find fruitful for the time being. At least they'll have the car in common with their boomer neighbors.

    > remodel a car

What does this mean?

Restore a classic or like high performance (or other) customizations.

This truth has come up quite a lot lately in conversations. It's not just the down payment though, it's like ok first I get together $120k for the down payment, then I'm on the hook for potentially double the already obscene amount the same place would cost to rent for the mortgage payment, then utils, then repairs, taxes (almost like one would need to be a landlord to afford it). Like, pass, ~$4k+ a month is more than I'd prefer to be on the hook for, and that's just a mediocre 1 bedroom condo. Doesn't help that there are no viable jobs or enough stability to ride out any volatility now that you've drained your savings on the mortgage.

Instead, a modest trip and a few gadgets is wildly less compromising and stressful.

> then utils, then repairs, taxes

Remember you're paying for all these costs (+ landlord profit) when you rent.

Right now in many places we're in a bit of an inversion where you can rent for less than the cost to buy - because some owners have old properties with low mortgage rates, etc.

But the main deal is people are still in "appreciation mode" where they don't really care if on paper they're losing money, because the house is appreciating faster than that.

Once appreciation slows or dries up (or prices start going back down) then things will get suddenly interesting.

We pay whatever they can get away with charging or increasing it to, and often have the standard utilities rolled into the number, which generally seems favorable. I pay rent, insurance, and Internet, rhe rest is rolled into to a max 2% increase per year. If they tried something excessive we'd start looking elsewhere.