Being 24, I think I can count myself in the “young” age bracket. Just as background, I’ve lived in CA all my life, come from a very small family, and have a bachelor’s degree(have to figure out what I want to do in life before going graduate). My husband is an Irish immigrant who’s been here for 3 years. No kids yet. We have a household income around $85k (not too bad for youngfolk, right?).
We have both seriously considered moving out of California several times, and not just because of the housing market. We frequently become frustrated with the traffic, crowds, pollution, crime, school system, and cost of living. There are of course advantages to living in Cali (things to do and see, beach, mountains, lots of concerts, culture, etc.). Of course, our perspective may be slightly skewed because 1) we live in the Inland Empire 2)after spending much time in Ireland with my husband’s family, I’ve seen how great a place other than CA can really be. If the housing market doesn’t get better, and we aren’t able to afford at least a small home in a good neighborhood on what I think is a respectable income, I can say we probably will move out of CA. Providing a safe place for my future children to grow up will be my first priority.
As for younger and younger people getting into real estate, and being frustrated when they aren’t able to, I think it has a lot to do with expectations: those we have for ourselves, and those our parents have of us. I know that for me and my friends, growing up we were always told that all you needed to do was go to college and get a degree, and you’d be so successful that you’d never have to worry about money or buying a house- they would just fall into your lap. And we came to believe it. My mother still treats me that way, and can’t understand why I don’t make more money or own a home- afterall, I got a degree!
To be fair, I think times have changed. I don’t think that generations before mine had it easy. But I do think that for generations before mine, if you made middle class income you could at least buy a decent house without breaking the bank. Now if you’re middle class and you want to buy without breaking the bank, all you’ll get for your money is either a shoddy condo conversion or an old run-down shack in and area crawling with gangs.
