Your anecdote doesn't disprove the fact that homebuying is more unaffordable than ever. I made a comment about this earlier today, but I've got enough cash for a 20% down-payment on a modest house in my area but still can't get a loan because ~55% of my monthly income is obligated towards rent. You've escaped the rat race, congratulations, but quite a bit has changed between 2021 and 2024, even if it doesn't feel like it was that long ago.
Jesus fucking Christ dude your situation is exceptional because you make a fuck-ton more money than most people, it's not a difficult reality to accept.
In 2000 we did a zero down, 8% first on 80% and 9.5% second on 20%, at 2.5x our combined salary. Terrible loans and it was really really hard, but it was what we had to do to buy - network tv, one picked-up pizza per week, vacations were driving the kids to see their grandparents, constantly scrambled to pay taxes and insurance, and we just prayed that nothing broke. We know that we were really lucky.
Sure, no problem. Zero down at 7.125% on a home that now costs $350k, but only cost $150k about 5 years ago. I'm sure that's affordable for a family right now.
I had zero savings when I bought my house. My parents backed the loan which was good enough for the bank. Also I set the budget first and then looked what I could get with that. Well it turns out not much but not nothing either. My house is old and ridiculously small on modern standards but it's a house nevertheless and comes with a nice yard too. I paid 105k€ for it. It's 10km from the city centre on a quiet suburban area within 50 meters from a bus stop and it's a 20min trip to the city with a bus or 12minutes with a car.
