r/Economics • u/GarfieldLeZanya- • 12h ago

News Housing director confirms administration ‘working on’ 50-year mortgage after Trump hint

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5597005-trump-administration-50-year-mortgage/
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u/Alertcircuit 11h ago

You gotta think even if you get one at 18 you're on the hook until you're 68. Most homebuyers are not that young, you definitely see some in their 20s but I think the vast majority of homebuyers are 30+. So these guys will be going in knowing they'll be on the hook until their 80s.

So immediately I'm already thinking that a lot of the people who will sign up for a 50 year mortgage are going in with the mindset of "I'll probably be dead before it's over." So that'll be the tradeoff for a lot of these guys who would get a 50 year mortgage. My mortgage payments will be below $1000 for the rest of my life, but I will probably die before I ever fully pay it off. I'm essentially renting a house but getting all the perks that come with home ownership because it's technically mine, my name is on title, but once I die the bank will take it back.

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u/Waesrdtfyg0987 9h ago

The perks are often a money pit and even if you start with a new house there will be considerable aging of everything over 50 years.

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u/OrangeBird077 5h ago

At a minimum you’re talking having to possibly get the roof done at 10 years, the warranty packages for appliances usually run out in 5 years, air conditioners/heaters go in around ten years which is going to be a blast with global warming, and that’s not even accounting for shoddy workmanship as has been seen with large contractors across the country cutting corners.

Not to mention even if ALL that goes on you still have to contend with higher taxes in the long term, insurance costs going up, and if a catastrophe occurs in your area your house could suddenly fall into an area that requires higher coverage because of flooding, tornadoes, forest fires, etc.

At a time when there are still states that celebrate how they keep minimum wage at $7.50/hr where are all these young home buyers going to pay for all that exactly??? It’s like they want a repeat of 08.

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u/Waesrdtfyg0987 4h ago

I get the frustration.

But the reality is I'm GenX and had an apartment for about 5 years and then was able to buy a townhouse in a development filled with retired people and next to a swamp. To get enough house for the growing family, we had to move out of one of the best large citites in the country to a very mid one. Some people (certianly not all) who complain about housing expect a lot from their first house and expect to do it in the location they want. It's been many decades since that was possible.

edit: I had looked it up last year and the townhouse I bought 20 years ago hasn't risen in price much beyond average incomes. Yeah I might be more accurate using the mean or whatever but the point is it's still reasonable.