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Just fifty years ago you could buy a home by swinging a hammer for a few years. No degree needed. So it was a thing. When you made it you would pay taxes, giv

• bombcar 2y ago
  That's still possible (and in some cases, plumber/carpenter/contractor is perhaps the best option still available). What we're seeing is at least partially the result of everyone going to college for something like a few decades. Deciding to be apprentice to a plumber at 17 is much different than having to do the same at 21/23 because the degree you went into debt for isn't panning out the way you wanted. You're 4+ years behind, you're some amount of debt in the hole, and you're having to work hard. (Average student loan debt is something like $37k, which isn't the cost of a house, but is certainly close to a down payment.)
  • mixmastamyk 2y ago
    You're right, my nephew bought a shack to fix up in Montana a few years back. But, I don't think that's what most people think of when they say the dream is alive.
  • scarface_74 2y ago
    You can still get an FHA loan and put 3.5% down.
• nyarlathotep_ 2y ago
  > Just fifty years ago you could buy a home by swinging a hammer for a few years. No degree needed. So it was a thing. Not even that far back. I can't even match the standard of living my parents (and friends' parents) raised us in in the 90s/2000s. Exactly 0 of the people I'm thinking of were "professionals" or had any high-quality rigorous education at all. All had condos/SFH with (gasp) a garage very close to where I still live. Many of the wives didn't work at all, other than perhaps retail type jobs once we were old enough to be self-sufficient.