My entire point in this thread is you can either figure out imperfect solutions that move the ball forward or u can Yne and watch life pass you by.

I am 72 years old. I was mostly raised by a single Mom with 5 kids on a total of $300 monthly child support.

I figured out how to crawl out of that starting point.

My first house was actually a brand new house. It was a Boise Cascade, pre-fabricated house, on a decent sized lot but in an area with drainage problems and water came up through the basement floor every Spring. Spent money and labor putting in drainage and worked it out. 2 bedroom 1 ba cracker box with unfinished basement with drainage issues and very cheap construction. One step above mobile home. But, it was a starting point. Interest rates were about 7.5% back then.

I have bought many many many houses since then. Not one of them was new. They all but one townhome have had yards. Maintenance has been normal and nothing burdensome.

Thou dost protest too much.

My son born in 1992 - whatever generation that makes him - has done it differently. He has bought multiple new townhomes - lived in them for a year or so - converted them to rentals. He did the last one in late 2021 or early 2022. He did that instead of Yning about high prices and waiting for the crash. Very low down payments.

I would bore u with what his 4 siblings have done in detail, but I will just summarize. One had a decent house in S Utah. His wife insisted that they sell it. Keep their cash. Wait a year for the crash. Then buy a bigger house at foreclosure sale. Well that did not work well. They previously bought an expensive CA house at the worst time and nothing down and lost it.

The others all own one or multiple homes. They did it on their own.

Take a risk or two while still young, be patient, and hope for the best. It usually works out just fine in the long term.