Dear USA Today, There is a much bigger picture here. Best, Retiring Guy

Here's the kind of nonsense that's going on in today's housing market.

70-year-old, overpriced fixer-upper in The Meadows neighborhood of Middleton WI.  Not to mention a dubious square footage assessment.

This is a starter home.

Photo by Retiring Guy

Buying a new house may now be easier for millennials as more starter homes get built.  (USA Today, 1/10/2020)

Word check:

• parents = 0
• mom = 0
• dad = 0
• co-sign = 0

Filling in the blanks

MarketWatch, 8/11/2019

1. Millennials largely depend on the “Bank of Mom & Dad”: That is, they rely on their parents to help provide capital for the down payment and sometimes even ongoing mortgage payments. This trend is more pronounced among our customers on the West Coast. Over 50% of first-time buyers in California and Washington purchased their home with a co-signer. 

“I see parents co-signing all the time for their kids,” says Carese Busby, a loan consultant with Caliber Home Loans in Seattle. “With housing prices the way they are in Seattle, it’s hard for many first-time buyers to get a down payment together. Borrowers can’t save fast enough to keep up with the rate of appreciation, so their parents provide gift funds toward down payment and co-sign their loans to help them qualify.”