There are only four big cities in the U.S. where buying a house makes more economic sense than renting. Detroit, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Houston. Everywhere else, investing in a home is way out of reach for just about everyone who doesn’t make most of their money from surfing the stock market.
I’ve been planning an episode devoted to the affordable housing problem since I began this podcast, but I couldn’t figure out a new angle. There are plenty of people working on the problem, of course. Here in Polk County, we have Outreach, which has built four rental homes in Green Creek, and there’s a new 70-unit affordable apartment building going up at the junction of the 74 and 108. Meanwhile, the Housing Assistance non-profit corporation of Henderson County has just expanded to serve Polk County. There are good stories there, I’m sure. But I wanted to talk about the bigger picture.
It may seem a little odd for a real estate agent, whose income is directly proportional to the value of the deals they broker, to be promoting affordable housing. But if you know Amy Wood, and we’ve been friends for the better part of two decades, it’s not really all that surprising. And if you stick around for the next 40 minutes, you’ll find out why. We talked on her porch in Saluda.
Further reading:
High cost of housing nationwide:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/real-estate-cheaper-to-buy-than-rent-four-cities-home-prices-mortgage-rates/
Housing Assistance Corp.
https://www.housing-assistance.com
