Mortgage and refinancing was very fortuitous, and that even if rates creep lower, they may not be back where they were for a LONG time.

My point is, when we missed out on buying in 2010, even though we still ended up having a great buying opportunity in 2017, we literally paid double what we would have paid seven years previous. You claim that I am being dismissive of interest rates, which maybe I am a bit. But you are being very dismissive of the fact that I literally had to pay double 7 years later. It meant twice the amount for a down payment and a bigger mortgage payment each month. But we were committed and still made it work. Fast-forward another seven years to today and between interest rates creeping higher and home prices moving up another 60% or so, it feels like you have missed out again. The point is, you don’t know what the market will bring. If you really want to be in a certain area, you have to make a game plan to make it work and just keep saving and be creative. Spindash and Jtm talk about some of those solutions above.

We’ll see what either the economy brings, what policies Trump implements, or if we have a recession at some point. There will be a better chance to buy at some point. We saved and saved for ten years until we had that chance. But it will come.

And while I did go to BYU, since you bring up subsidized tuition, I also went to Dartmouth for my MBA program, which at the time was the most expensive program in the country. I didn’t get a dime of tuition aid either, unfortunately. I really debated whether or not it was even wise to do this. I was sick to my stomach my second year when my internship fell through. We had two kids at the time, and I had left the workforce for two years. I graduated with about $170k in debt. Ultimately, it ended up being worth it and it allowed me to get a nice job promotion with a much better salary. But it was a huge risk.

Listen, I agree with most of your points. It is an extremely frustrating mortgage market today. I have lots of friends who are locked out and who have been saving for years who are incredibly frustrated. My point is, at some point, something will give, and it will be a better opportunity to buy a house. You just have to be ready for it. It may not happen immediately, but it will happen.