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OK boomer, sell me your house! Renting is cheaper but not necessarily for the reasons you think
- November 1, 2024: Vol. 11, Number 10

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OK boomer, sell me your house! Renting is cheaper but not necessarily for the reasons you think

by Jay Miller

Record-level interest rates have made owning a home much more expensive than renting. Meanwhile, a lack of homes for sale shuts out buyers because many homeowners with low mortgage rates chose to stay put last year. Home sales were the lowest in almost 30 years in 2023.

But another reason is homeowners’ attitudes about potential buyers — “You haven’t earned it!”

A certain segment of homeowners believes first-time homebuyers today can’t buy homes, not because of market forces, but because they haven’t put the work in. They fly around spending all their money having fun and not putting down roots. Kids today!

Who are these crotchety homeowners? They are the millions of Americans born between 1946 and 1964 surveyed by Clever Real Estate, a St. Louis-based real estate company, as reported by GlobeSt. Some did well in life and might be enjoying a leisurely retirement. Some spend part of their days doing the hard work of pointing out line cutters, nois

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