• chakan2@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Which brings me back to the 20k trailer…it’s dirt fucking cheap. If you don’t think housing is an investment, you can easily afford rent or payments on 20k over 10 years with a minimum wage job.

    However…I don’t see a lot of people scrambling for the “affordable” housing.

    If you really want to socialize living space, there acres and acres of really empty, really cheap land in the fly over states. Grab an acre of land somewhere and you can house 100s of people on it.

    Something tells me none of those options are appealing to you.

    • Adulated_Aspersion@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      You have forgotten to factor in many things.

      What will these differently-housed individuals do for income? Where will they work?

      If they are in the middle nowhere as you claim, how will they physically get to their job? If they have to drive significant distances to get to these civic centers, then you have grossly underestimated the percentage of their income that would be slated for transportation.

      Let’s do some math! Your fantasy $20k trailer with your parameters, with an estimated $1000 initial cost for service connections would wind up being a bit more than $27k after APR adjustments. Calculator That winds up being $222 per month. What a steal!

      Federal minimum wage is $7.25. Taxes are a thing, so $7.25 turns into $6.52. An individual would have to work a bit more than 34 hours to afford just the dwelling.

      We are assuming that this person is healthy, with nothing to prevent the individual from working.

      Will this person have electricity? $122 or 18.7 hours Will this person have clean water? $18 or 2.76 hours Will this person require clothing? Will this person have healthcare?
      Will this person take any prescription medication? Will this person have a dental plan? Will this person pay for transportation (the vehicle, insurance, wear and tear, gas, and incidentals)? Will this person support additional family members who are unable to work (children, elderly, injured, disabled)? Will there be air conditioning and heating in this $20k trailer?

      What will this person eat?

      Going beyond the absolute basics: What will this person do for entertainment? One cannot honestly expect a human to live without some form of stress relief. Will this person have access to the internet? That is required for resume submission for almost every job. What will this person save for retirement?

      • chakan2@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        An individual would have to work a bit more than 34 hours to afford just the dwelling.

        That’s reasonable…that’s around 1/4 of their income which is typically the guideline for housing if you want a savings account as well.

        For reference, that’s roughly what I put in to afford my mortgage.

        The rest of it is fluff “what ifs” and kind of out of context. We could’ve had universal income and health but people keep going with the safe choices on votes instead of the things we really need.

        • Adulated_Aspersion@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          A quarter of their income for housing…for a fictitious $20k used manufactured home. Mind you, we never included the taxes or the rental or owned land.

          And the other items are not fluff. One has to be fed and clothed.

          And since you opened the door, what do you pay for your mortgage?

          • chakan2@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            And the other items are not fluff. One has to be fed and clothed.

            They are indeed fluff and out of scope for house prices. They have no impact on the house prices at all…and again…if you want to go down that road…I can get a full wardrobe for 100-150$ if I’m thrifty. Way less if I’m in a temperate climate. Food is also dirt cheap if you know how to cook.

            As for what I pay on my mortgage…enough. It’s not a mansion, but a nice upper middle class home.

            I also spent 2 years of my life dirt ass poor…rice and beans, and missing car payments poor. I can make due on pennies if I have to…but boy does it suck.

            What’s your end game? Do you just want houses to be free? A 20k house trailer is as affordable as it gets.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Where do you live that trailers are only 20k? I live in a small Indiana city and the cheapest trailers here are over 30k.