Where y'all finding houses for 500/month with a 25k downpayment?

Seems cheap af. If you only did a 25k downpayment the mortgage would certainly be more expensive than rent where I'm at.

The deposit is not to prove you can make the repayments.

Housing markets do, occasionally, go backwards in value.

If you have a loan for a house which is more than the value of the house you would have an incentive to just stop paying.

Thats why the bank needs a buffer, in the form of a deposit. Its not really nefarious.

I hate to break it to you, but mortgage payments are not cheaper then rent anymore. Obviously depends on your mortgage and money down and all that, but if you expect to pay half as much for mortgage payments as you did for rent, you're going to have a very bad time.

People don't want to twerk anymore!

To be the devil's advocate here. Rental payments vs mortgage payments is not an accurate comparison of the true financial burdens.

With many rentals some if not all utilities are included in the price of rent, whereas homeowners must pay the full cost of utilities. There is also the additional cost of home insurance and property taxes. Most rentals have the majority of their maintaince covered whereas the homeowner is responsible for lawn cutting, gutter cleanings etc. The cost of repairs and maintaince is not negligible. While renting if the heat quits or an appliance breaks, the landlord is supposed to cover the cost but owning means you must take that full cost.

In the posted example, having double the mortage payment in rent payment is probably adequate to cover the additonal costs but the comparison of renting vs owning is not black and white. Several financial managers have even studied that depending on your needs and income, you can actually be getting ahead financially by renting if you don't actually need the full benefits of owning and are able to maintain a store of wealth through other investments. This is especially true if you are in a rent controlled unit.

good news, theyre counting rent and utilities payment as a way to build credit now! link

Yeah saving the money to buy a house is terrible.

Suppose I was the bank...
Guy1) Hey bank I want to sell my house for $1,000,000.00. Here is the deed, I owe $999,999.00 bank2.

Bank1) OK I'll take the house, here is $1.00 and $999,999.00 for bank2. Did you fuck up the house or burn it down to the point I can't sell it?

Guy1) yup to the ground I burnt it all.

Assessor) I'll charge Bank 1 $300 to go asses the price. Yeah currently this property can be sold for $300,546.00.

Bank 1) OK Guy1, you owe Bank2 $699,454.00 but here's your $1.00.

Guy1) your honor I need to file for chapter 11. I have no money

Guy2) Bank 1, I would like to buy this property.

Bank1) Sure that'll be $1,000,000.00.