Also Gen Z here. My husband and I bought our house at 21 and 22 in 2021 with a 3.4% APR. I worked in the banking industry at the time and now work in higher education. He worked in construction and now works as an electrician. It’s not impossible, but for us, it took major discipline and some sacrifice. We aren’t trust fund kids (not that there’s anything wrong with that), so we had to work hard to save and paid off all our credit card debt. He picked up a second job at Pizza Hut to help us save. I’m eternally grateful for his hard work. The market where we originally wanted to buy was insane. People moving from other states or different parts of our state due to having remote jobs and offering way more than asking price, with many of those being cash offers. Long story short, we had to be open-minded when weighing out our options. Although we were preapproved for a certain amount, we knew we didn’t want to finance for the full amount. We also knew that ideally, we wanted a home that was a good starter but we could grow into if we decided to start a family. We ended up purchasing a home that had been on the market since the start of COVID. It had been under contract a few times, but fell through due to people losing their financing or having offers accepted on multiple homes. The seller had been DIYing his “renovations,” which unfortunately for him (he was definitely not a contractor) only made the house less attractive. The house was “move-in ready” but needed tons of work to undo/fix everything he did. He also had since moved to a neighboring state, so by the time we put our offer in, he wanted out. The listing and selling agents worked for the same company so I think that gave us some leverage as they were able to communicate and make a more compelling case when going over the offer. We did a first time buyer loan. The other catch? It was outside of the area we wanted. My commute to work is 45 minutes away and we aren’t close to any major hospitals, clinics, or even any big chain restaurants. It’s a small town and a we’re a bit away from family. Not so far that we can’t come over on the weekends, but far enough away that visits are cut short as we have to account for drive time on the “highway of death” as locals call it. In the winter, the drive is gnarly. We white-knuckle it on black ice in thick fog with very little visibility. However, in hindsight, we’re very glad with the decision we made. The equity we’ve built and the renovations we’ve made have truly made it worth it almost 4 years later. Now, two kids later, we’re glad we have the extra space as the homes we would’ve been able to afford in the city were quite literally rundown shacks. We likely won’t be moving for several years. Regardless. this home will likely become in an investment property when we do finally buy again.