How to cope with insanely high house prices and interest rates
Skyrocketing home prices and high mortgage rates make purchasing property feel unviable and depressing even with a down payment, trapping prospective buyers in endless renting. Without a way to buy, people lose out on gaining equity in an asset they use daily while struggling to find alternative investments that build value over time.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1continuing to rent and investing surplus savings
- 2moving to a more affordable region or out of state
- 3buying a less desirable home or a property in a cheaper adjacent town
- 4waiting until later in life to purchase
- 5Investing in traditional index funds or retirement accounts instead of real estate
- 6Renting and investing the cost savings into alternative wealth-building vehicles
- 7Focusing entirely on paying down existing credit card debt before building long-term investments
- 8Keep living in parents' house for two more years to see what happens with career
- 9Upskill in other IT areas to gain job security
- 10Consider buying a house in a preferred location without factoring in nearby job opportunities
- 11Invest a small portion of savings in medium-risk stocks
- 12Searching for alternative living spaces or accepting higher costs.
- 13relying on parents to buy a house in cash
- 14moving to other cities that are more affordable
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Starter homes are suposed to be the small, cheap ones you buy first and grow out of, Now every listing called a starter home is half a million dolars for two bedrooms and a yard the size of a parking spot”source ↗
“if the entry point is 500k, what exactly are people starting with”source ↗
“I'm asking this cuz the housing search is so tortuous (and of course expensive) and I'd take tiny, clean, and boring over large, comfortable, and unique any day of the week.”source ↗
“At this point, I'm old enough that buying doesn't seem like a viable alternative to renting, unless there is some catastrophic meltdown of the housing market in the future I just won't be able to buy, I can't even afford mortgage payments at the current rates.”source ↗
“If I can't buy property, I don't have a way to gain equity in something that I also use every day (housing) and there do not seem to be any real alternatives here.”source ↗
“I don't know of any good investment options that both meet a daily or regular need and gain value over time.”source ↗
“My dad passed and I inherited his house, it’s not in an area I’d like to live so I’m going to sell it. I realized I’d have a ton of money for a down payment but after looking at what is available in the price range or even above it just doesn’t even feel good to buy.”source ↗
“Nearly a million for an average sized ranch in decent but not extremely coveted towns. They almost doubled since 2020.”source ↗
“How have others particularly those in MA where it’s outrageous coped?”source ↗
“I want to buy a house, but I am scared; what would you do in my situation?”source ↗
“Housing in these two cities is very expensive; we are talking about around 250k for a one-bedroom apartment or 350k for a decent two-bedroom house. I am afraid of not being able to afford the housing soon.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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