Let me pop in as a high school teacher in the US. I make decent pay, but it took me over a decade climbing the pay ladder to reach this point. It’s only been in the last five years that I’ve made enough to afford the mortgage on a house (well, prior to all of the rate hikes, but that’s another issue entirely). But there’s another problem: You’re expected to put in 10% of the value (even with first-time buyer incentives) as a down payment (I last looked with any seriousness in '22). I have yet to be able to put away 5% of the average costs in my region, much less 10%. Every time I start building back up, other costs drain most or all of that within a year or two. Unless the housing market bursts big time, I’m not likely to be able to afford a home anytime soon. Note: I would rather keep renting than take a variable-rate mortgage; the last three years have seen previously affordable mortgages with variable rates go sky-high.
FYI, it’s a long shot because there’s not much availability, but HUD homestore will give teachers half off the list price of a house in its “good neighbor program” (aka in a rougher neighborhood ) if you stay there for 3 years.
In addition, I think you need lower down payments for houses in general through HUD.
I make decent pay, but it took me over a decade climbing the pay ladder to reach this point
What do you consider decent pay?
My last job had two former teachers. Good people. They switched from teaching to like entry level software testing (not “full stack”. QA engineer) and like doubled their pay.
Let me pop in as a high school teacher in the US. I make decent pay, but it took me over a decade climbing the pay ladder to reach this point. It’s only been in the last five years that I’ve made enough to afford the mortgage on a house (well, prior to all of the rate hikes, but that’s another issue entirely). But there’s another problem: You’re expected to put in 10% of the value (even with first-time buyer incentives) as a down payment (I last looked with any seriousness in '22). I have yet to be able to put away 5% of the average costs in my region, much less 10%. Every time I start building back up, other costs drain most or all of that within a year or two. Unless the housing market bursts big time, I’m not likely to be able to afford a home anytime soon. Note: I would rather keep renting than take a variable-rate mortgage; the last three years have seen previously affordable mortgages with variable rates go sky-high.
FYI, it’s a long shot because there’s not much availability, but HUD homestore will give teachers half off the list price of a house in its “good neighbor program” (aka in a rougher neighborhood ) if you stay there for 3 years.
In addition, I think you need lower down payments for houses in general through HUD.
What do you consider decent pay?
My last job had two former teachers. Good people. They switched from teaching to like entry level software testing (not “full stack”. QA engineer) and like doubled their pay.
This was in the NYC area.