"The dwelling costs $50k but the folks living there need to retire which costs $500k, so the home 'lists' for $550k"
quotingOne of the reasons for the rise in housing prices around the world, aside from inflation, is mortgages.
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Everyone competes for the same houses; whoever manages to pay more money gets it.
When the bank gave you a 10-year mortgage you could pay X for the house; when the bank started giving 20-year mortgages, house prices doubled to 2X; now they’re already offering 50-year mortgages.
Stop playing that perverse game of debt, accept defeat. Don’t try to buy something you can’t; move to where you can buy it without going into debt.
The same applies to vehicles, and any crap you take out a loan for—do like my grandparents: if you have the money, buy it; if you don’t have the money, don’t buy it.
It’s better to drive an old car than a borrowed one.