[Article] - Sick and tired of chasing dreams of finding a home

I am not quite a Gen Y and not sure I "blame" baby boomers either - but much of this article resonates with me. Especially bits I have highlighted in bold. Surely there must be a way to achieve a balance between investments and housing affordability ( a limit on number of investment properties can negatively gear per person perhaps?). Property can still be an investment even if no negative gearing.

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Sick and tired of chasing dreams of finding a home
Date April 5, 2013

Tom Whitty
Frustrated, outraged and saddened: Generation Y is blaming baby boomers for their housing market woes.

'I'm tired of the weekends spent travelling from one underquoted property to the next, only to be left feeling like and idiot when an auction opens above what would have been our final limit.'
Oh man, I'm tired. I'm tired of the endless emails from my ever-optimistic girlfriend. The ones with links to real estate listings of rundown, two-bedroom, inner-city dives that neither of us really want to live in and, together, we can't actually afford.

I'm tired of the weekends spent travelling from one underquoted property to the next, only to be left feeling like an idiot when an auction opens above what would have been our final limit. I'm tired of the car trips back to our rented home, with my hopeful girlfriend talking about how the next property might be the one where we can raise some kids together.

I'm tired of explaining to my peers how negative gearing works, and then explaining why allowing investors to speculate on the housing market is to the detriment of our generation. I'm tired of the politicians who have consistently avoided addressing Australia's housing affordability issue over the past decade.

I'm frustrated by the affordability studies commissioned by the government that recommend an adjustment or cessation of negative gearing, only for the same politicians who commissioned the report to ignore these recommendations.

I'm bemused by the existence of the Foreign Investment Review Board, and the government's argument that ''foreign investment in residential real estate should increase Australia's housing stock''. I understand our politicians' motivation for not wanting to improve affordability, but it doesn't make it any easier to accept.

On the one hand, you have young first home buyers who are somewhat naive, attempting to enter the housing market with huge mortgages without questioning why owning a modest home is near impossible in this city. On the other, you have an ageing population that needs to retire. If the value of their biggest asset goes up when they sell it to downsize, they have more dollars to fund their retirement.

These baby boomers are also likely to be investors, and taking away the tax breaks that come along with speculating on the housing market would inevitably lead to backlash on election day. You have to ask, if those being duped are too naive to complain, and those profiteering are too valuable to upset, is housing affordability a problem for our politicians, or a gift?

I'm tired of the subsequent lack of enforcement of regulation in the real estate industry. I'm tired of the sharks and the spruikers and the snake oil salesmen. I'm tired of the media coverage of this issue that consistently goes to these same people for ''expert comment'', and I'm sick of reading about how the market is about to ''pick up'' and that ''now is the time to buy''.

I'm outraged when I read the occasional report that goes so far as to make the argument that those of us that belong to Generation Y (the renting generation) are too greedy and lazy to know what's good for us. The irony of such a statement is not lost on me.

I'm saddened that both my girlfriend and I will have no choice but to work well into our 30s so we can squirrel together a deposit for that two-bedroom dive she's so sure is just around the corner.

I'm saddened we are being made to delay starting a family, when it's all she wants. And I'm saddened that so many people who are approaching retirement will react to this with a ''cry me a river'' statement, when they know full well they never had it this tough.

I'm tired, and I want to rest my head on a pillow on a bed in a home my optimistic girlfriend and I can call our own.

I'm tired. And we haven't even had kids yet.

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I'm tired of gen y hipsters who think they must live inner city therefore driving demand and therefore prices sky high.

Want a house? Try looking in the outer suburbs.

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I'm saddened we are being made to delay starting a family, when it's all she wants. And I'm saddened that so many people who are approaching retirement will react to this with a ''cry me a river'' statement, when they know full well they never had it this tough.

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I'm not entirely sure how he claims to know how tough those heading for retirement have had it actually. As I look around my district, there are plenty of retirees who face their twilight years in rented accommodation because they never did reach the dream of being able to own a house - because they had huge families and one very low income to raise their families on. Now they struggle to pay rent on a measly pension.

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I'm saddened that both my girlfriend and I will have no choice but to work well into our 30s so we can squirrel together a deposit for that two-bedroom dive she's so sure is just around the corner.

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?????

I am really tired of this sense of entitlement poor me crap.

I do agree that it'll be tough for our kids to buy houses... That's why DH and I plan to end up with three investment properties, so we can give one to each of our kids.

That's the plan, anyway!

But I don't see why they (the couple in the article) are being prevented from starting a family by housing unaffordability? Plenty of people have kids in rentals.

I am tired of the assumption that everyone who wants to live in inner city is a hipster - I am about as unhip as you can get. Why do I want to live 12km from city - so I can get to work on public transport or a bike and so both DH and I can work. Because I dont believe is good for the country the belief in much of town planning that families shouldnt be catered for near public transport. I believe in higher density housing near public transport but not solely for the benefit of investors which is what the majority of new two and one bed apartments go to.

You misunderstand me WYSIWYG. Not everyone who wants to live in the inner city is a hipster but there is a definite "breed" of the 'young and funky' who would be aghast at the thought of living further than 15km out.

I live 35km out and we have public transport! There are thousands of people who commute into the city for work. Thousands! I did it for years and years. I now work in an inner city suburb and I drive.

I don't really get it. Why can't you have a family and rent? Sometimes you just can't have it all. I grew up in rented homes before my parents were able to buy a house when I was in year 9 (only about 10yrs ago now when they were 40ish). They now have a couple of investment properties inner city and with my brother due to move out soon are looking at downgrading closer. Starting late hasn't seemed to disadvantage them and it never impacted me, getting a new room was fun if anything plus learning how to pack has been a useful life skill lol. We rent, no real choice at the moment but are comfortable enough with it despite moving 3 times in the last 2years being a bit of an inconvenience it hasn't been a big deal, it is what we can afford to do so we do it. After being gifted children unexpectedly I've realised there is no prize for doing things in the "right" order, the best reward possible is being happy which isn't a mythical pot of gold at the end of the school - uni - marry - house - kids rainbow, it can be found in all sorts of packages of life - I definitely have a lion's share in mine however unconventional. I feel people expect their first house to be their perfect forever home and to be secured much earlier in life instead of working their way up the market or just waiting to enter it a bit longer.

The frustrations of the article resonate with me: my parents bought houses worth three times their annual income, ours is closer to six times. Under quoting is a shocking problem in Melbourne, and when we were looking houses sold almost every time for twenty percent above quoted price.

Renting is the only option in most inner city suburbs because there isn't the housing stock for purchasers who have less than a million dollars unless it needs total renovation and these are hotly contested.

I suggest the author looks at units and apartments. The big family home is not available for most people in the inner city.

Real estate sucks!

I agree under quoting is a massive problem. They say you should automatically add 20% to the upper limit asking price as an indication of the true starting price. It is wrong, wrong, wrong.

N2L - you are right there is - but there also are those who are not - and every time anything is mentioned about affordability that is always the focus and nothing goes beyond it- you can move out you can drive, there is PT etc etc. But surely there must be other people who think like me that environmentally this is not the way to go. We couldn't live further out and both work for example, even with PT.

The overall tone of the article has been written to be inflammatory in my opinion but there are some facts in there. Even buying a flat is hard due to investor market and fact many are now built to suit shared occupancy and not families or couples.

Genuine question....why couldn't you both work if you lived further out?

At 12k out we can only just make childcare pick up and drop off a longer travel time we wouldnt make the six oclock pick up.

I don't agree that older generations never had it this tough.

Both sets of grandparents, my parents and my inlaws had it real tough. They saved hard, and my Papa has told stories of only owning one bike, only buying seconds and specials on market days and having a kind aunt who would cook for them once a week. They made sacrifices, and bought what they could afford, where they could afford. My other Nana still lives in the same simple home she first purchased with my Grandad, they didn't feel a need for more bedrooms, more cars, bigger and better stuff. Same happened with my inlaws and parents. Inlaws are now debt free with one home because they worked hard and smart. My parents still have their home and mortgage, they're certainly not investing and driving up prices.

Then there's DH & I. He bought his first home, on his own, aged 21. We're now 28 & 29 and we have a home and an investment property. How can we do it when it's now tougher than ever, but the older generations in our families couldn't when it was easier? Easy. We bought small in the country. There are jobs out here, there is a good lifestyle, and we're still close to the city. We have public transport if you do want to work in the city, but there's really no need. We have everything here without the crowds and higher costs.

My brother and girlfriend are a little different, they do want the city. They're renting and they've been saving a while, and by the end of this year they'll have enough for a decent 2 bed home near where they are now. They just don't go out every single night, they cook at home and they're smart with their money. Honestly, they haven't found it that hard and they're only 25.

In addition, I think it's smart to fund your retirement yourself. The pension will not be around when I retire, and I need to invest now to make sure I can live comfortably later. Yes, there's super, and there's shares, but why not invest in something I can pass on to my kids? There comes a point when it's really not about negative gearing. Especially for retirees, what income do they have to offset anyway?

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At 12k out we can only just make childcare pick up and drop off a longer travel time we wouldnt make the six oclock pick up.

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I can't make the 6pm pickup but my DP can at the moment. Although many places out here have 6.30-7pm pickup.

Interesting points - we are lucky to have been able to take advantage of the recent boom by buying in the 90's, renovating and moving on. However we have worked hard and put off alot of things. We had old cars, little or no holidays for a long time. I work parttime and for a while full time to keep things going. We still keep our overheads as low as possible with pretty old mobiles/low cost plans etc and certainly don't have the latest and greatest stuff - no ipad or big screen tvs.
This one hits a nerve with me as I have siblings who will not adjust their expectations in terms of where they want to live and how they live and then lament at how 'lucky' we are to have our own place. Granted we are lucky but we've also made compromises along the way, both in terms of where we wanted to be, the house and all the rest that goes with it.
Also see it alot with workmates trying to buy, if people are paying above what you are unfortunately you will need to compromise, be it area, type of property etc. Sure the underquoting a pain but the prices are dictated by those who buy.

I believe they have CC in outer suburbs and in the city.

People can get into the property market with investment properties. It's possible to buy a small unit in a cheaper suburb and rent it out to get your foot on the ladder and work it from there. You don't need to live in your first home and it doesn't need to have a home theatre either. Lots of our parents generation started out in the kind of dodgy unit that the writer is so scornful of.
And TBH if he's sick of being underquoted then why doesn't he just do the math and figure out the correct figure?

ETA - I am feeling very bitter about anything to do with housing at the moment because I am moving in a week and moving freaks me out and when I freak out I get irrationally grumpy.

Maybe part of the problem is having so many jobs in the one place. I don't even know how far we live from the city because we go so infrequently, somewhere between 20-30mins without traffic. My partner walks to work (about half hour away) because he is a local butcher apprentice.

We are environmentally conscious and can understand big single person per car commutes are far from ideal but why not invest in more public transport, bikeways and enticing businesses out of the city?

In Sydney lots of businesses (big and small) are moving to the 'burbs so whilst there is still a high level of centralisation that is being eroded.