Middle Class And Minority Families

For many years, the idea that ones’ home being the largest investment was said as a complete sentence when in fact, it was only an incomplete sentence. Any duly licensed financial planner would finish that sentence by saying all investments are subject to market conditions, the value that investment could increase or decrease and other similar cautionary statements that their attorneys wrote to protect them. The American public only heard that their home was the largest investment and had never experienced, nor had their parents seen the value of their personal homes drop like they did in the past few years. They had never experienced the financial pain and although only a few years have passed, many have forgotten and are ready to jump right back into homeownership.

The simple fact that reading this article made my skin crawl, it literally got under my skill. Knowing I have a tendency to write too much and go down rabbit holes I will stick to Race and Gender. The concept of class is evolving and when we refer to middle class now a day it has yet again been divided, we have upper middle class, middle class and lower middle class. Furthermore, poverty is a real issue and our current form of taxes. That’s all I will say on that topic.

In the article “How to fix wealth inequality”, Hecht (2014) raises houseownership as a factor to minimise wealth inequality, and brings up an issue over how the poor are more affected than the rich, while listing several factors that deter poor people from getting homeownership. According to Hecht (2014), despite declining house prices and interest rates, homeownership is out of reach for low income families because they are vulnerable financially in post-recessions. Moreover, there is ongoing progress on reducing education fees so that young people could graduate without being saddled with debts which deter them from having houseownership in the future. Throughout this article, he highlighted the importance of houseownership as being an asset which can be passed from one generation to the next thus reducing the economic disparity.

FDR’s affordable housing initiative was responsible for the rapid expansion of home ownership throughout the United States (Allen and Barth, 2012). This was accomplished in part through the creation of The Federal National Mortgage Association, which provided affordable low down payment mortgages extended over a 30-year period of time. Over the past several decades the United States economic policy has been to encourage home ownership (Bluhm, Overbeck and Wagner, 2010).

Homeownership is a far in the future goal for many young American and many may never even reach it. The rising cost of living and education puts many into debt. And, the difficulty of finding a job before, during, or after college makes staying above that debt difficult. As a result, for those who want to have kids they could be putting themselves even further into financial distress. Overall, there are many factors that make obtaining a home difficult, so luck and/or hard work may not be enough to achieve the original 1950s American dream. In conclusion, the house in the American Dream seems to be fading

This article can be found on the New York Times’ website and has a publishing date of December 17th, 2015, and can also be found in the New York print edition on December 18th, 2015, under the headline “Class Divisions Growing Worse, From Cradle On.” With the headline in mind, the article has clear message about the socioeconomic division, however as a child developmental article, the article truly lacks any real new information or important revelations to contribute as the headlines may lead you to think.

One of the notable issues with the U.S housing market is the extent to which the Government failed to stimulate home ownership rates in the long run. Historical trends in the U.S home ownership rates show stagnant growth in home ownership after the early 1960’s. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review indicated that homeownership rates remained relatively constant from 1965 to 1995, despite a wide variety of government policies aimed at stimulating home ownership (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review 2006). Following 1995, the U.S home ownership rates indicated significant improvements. According to the U.S Statistical Abstract, aggregate home ownership during the period 1995 to 2005 indicated a record high for the U.S housing market (Chambers, Garriga, & Schlagenhauf 2008). Matthew Chambers, a professor for Towson University,

As American as apple pie, home ownership is a quintessential part of many American’s dream. Making this dream a reality requires hard work, perseverance, and an understanding of the housing market and loan options. It also requires a confidence in the economy and job market that many people justifiably do not have after a devastating housing crash. However, as our nation recovers from this crisis, we look ahead to new opportunities and safe loan standards for home ownership. “Like a boomerang,” a Sarasota Herald Tribune article describes “…recession-battered [boomerang buyers] are reentering the home market in droves after years of renting, nursing their credit and saving enough to buy again” (Salman). Both boomerang buyers and first time

Stability and security in life: the American dream. These virtues drive many life goals, namely, owning a home. Unfortunately, since the “Great Recession” of the early 2000s, the American dream has become that much farther from reach as millions of Americans were foreclosed upon. Now that the once plummeting economy has begun to level off, the recovering people are seeking homeownership in the near future. The problem: affordability. The ideal home takes away about a third of one’s income, leaving those transitioning from temporary housing to new home in a financial limbo.Despite the bleak situation, it is still possible to navigate through hardships into a new home.

Is it really a “dream” to own a home, if doing so means being saddled with debt and undermining one’s financial security? Perhaps, in light of the risks of homeownership, one might consider renting, instead. This point of view is articulated by one columnist, who writes, “more Americans are consciously choosing to rent over buy” (Sullivan). Even among households making over $95,000 per year, the homeownership rate “declined from 87.3% in 2000 to 80.6% in 2012” (Sullivan). This downward trend in homeownership among those who would most easily able to afford a home indicates that Americans do not perceive homeownership the same way that they did before 2008. Now that the ugly underbelly of the mortgage lending system has been exposed, the prospect of homeownership is no longer as attractive as it once was. This does not mean that homeownership is suddenly undesirable. Rather, individuals are beginning to reconsider whether or not homeownership is a financially sound decision. Having equity in property can prove to be financially beneficial, but not everyone pays off their loan and takes true ownership of their home. During the Recession of 2008, nearly seven million Americans lost their homes to foreclosure (Wheelock). Therefore, the current shift towards renting is both economic and cultural. Americans are no longer buying homes for two main reasons. Either they simply cannot afford

I have a daughter who is in 4th grade, she goes to school with lots of kids from upper middle-class families. I see examples of these parents asking for extra’s for their children in the classroom all the time. Many families in our community, are always on the go with multiple activities for their children on a daily basis. Often times I see lower class families who feel like they need to try and keep up, so that their children don’t get left behind. This is not always possible, as they may have to work longer hours than their middle-class counterparts. They depend more on extended family and the independence of the kids to get by. To me, to much structure in a child’s life can be damaging, and can leave them unable to cope with life’s

Homeownership is one of the many aspects that make up the equation of the American dream. Buying a home for the first time brings pride of success and independency from the person who has this opportunity. This American dream is something that parents dream for their children from the time that the child is conceived. Being able to buy a home for the first time is an accomplishment and a dream of a lifetime. However, this dream isn’t cheap and cannot happen in a short amount of time. When a person buys a house there is a lot that goes into it such as knowing about your credit, your budget, and the type of home that you would like to purchase.

Imagine starting off with a young family, relatively average income and a dream to own a home meant for the magazines. This dream became a reality in the new millennium when interest rates in the United States were at an all time low. Suddenly that colonial style home, with the white picket fence was just at the tips of consumers’ fingertips. Mortgages were being handed out as if they were an everyday commodity with minimal screening, therefore the American dream eventually faulted and came back down to a shaky reality.

Three out of four home owners say that their home is their biggest source of wealth. This statistic comes from the National Association of Realtors. When buying, you aren’t just buying a place to live, but also an investment in your future. It’s very easy for home owners to get in over their means. Suddenly the economy drops bringing the housing market down with it. Before you know it that long term investment has turned into a long term money black hole and you are headed towards foreclosure. Now that the economy is recovering, collective home prices are appearing and interest rates are low. Hopefully buyers can take what they have been through and make wise decisions when looking for a home. They will need to take a few actions, along with a few options they should be aware of before they even think about going all in on another mortgage. Create a savings, reestablish credit, rent-to-own or seller carry back, figure out their budget, and find a good interest rate.

During this era of economic crisis and downfall, many people are turning their backs from mortgage debt to a more affordable way of living. “Living Small” is becoming a large trend throughout the world, especially in the United States. In recent years, housing in America has been on a wild roller coaster ride that is on an increasingly unpredictable course. With the average American home almost quadrupling in size and a shift towards cheap disposable consumables, our home lives have evolved to be easy and without thought of the land around. The millennial generation have had a new form of the American Dream imposed on them, one that is laid out from start to end, with the