fromtheheart wrote:
Laws should be made that outlaw corporate ownership of homes and flipping of homes since they both seriously drive up inflation without contributing the the general welfare of the nation. Homes are meant for families.
Not quite.
There is some level of corporate homeownership that is good. As our society is currently constructed, we need corporate ownership to provide housing for rent to people who are unable to afford the purchase a home or possibly unwilling to deal with the issues related to homeownership. Some families move around a lot and owning a house for only 1-2 years might not make financial sense. Multiple options are good for the market.
Additional laws or regulations that discourage non-primary residence homeownership that add tax revenues that could be used to subsidize building additional affordable low income units or assist in providing additional transitory housing to reduce homelessness would likely be a net societal positive. Low income housing in cities would also benefit from additional stock of 2/3 bedroom units for families. Much of the big city real estate development has focused on luxury properties as a place to safely park large sums of cash with a somewhat stable and safe return on investment.
As for the original poster, you are a lot closer to being able to afford owning a home than you think. Go talk to a realtor, it shouldn't cost you anything to have a preliminary discussion about buying a house and what might be available in the area in your price range. A good realtor will have a network of contacts that might know of off the market properties and have ideas to find you a property that works for your financial situation. Something with a walk out basement might be good to get a renter that would offset some of the additional expense. Also you can deduct your interest paid on your mortgage as well as state and local taxes which further reduces your monthly costs. I was in my early 30s with 2 incomes both larger than yours but living in an expensive city and realized how much more affordable owning a home was than I expected.
