“Our parents bought homes at our age. It may sound crass, but we deserved a nice home. We did what we had to do to get one.”
This is his problem right here...and this is the problem with a gazillion Americans today.
They base financial decisions on what they feel they “deserve” - or on what their parents had at whatever age.
I’m willing to bet this guy’s parents were better prepared for home ownership - that they didn’t overextend themselves - and that they probably put more thought into how they spent their money.
Anyone who makes a life changing financial decision like this cannot ASSUME that life will continue to go on unchanged!
There will always be expansions/recessions - bubbles and bursts.
People really need to quit telling themselves they “deserve” this or that.
Heck - all of us “deserve” alot of things! But we can’t afford it!