Vocabulary

 

 
 
 
 
 

Video

 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

 

For generations, owning a home has been central to achieving the American dream. But as Jo Ling Kent tells us, for many, that dream may be slipping away.

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Jenny Wrangle, Mother: “I did everything I was supposed to do: I went I was in the military. I went to college. I worked.

And we can’t buy a home.

What did I do wrong?”

Jenny Wrangle feels stuck. The mom of five in Chandler, Arizona, tells us she can’t catch a break.

Jenny Wrangle, Nurse: “I’m a nurse and I love it. I love it. It’s great.”
Reporter: “And what does your husband do?”
Jenny Wrangle, Nurse: “He’s a manufacturing tech at Intel. So, we have we have pretty good jobs, decent jobs.”
Journalist: “Do you feel like those jobs are enough to cover your living expenses?”
Jenny Wrangle, Nurse: “And not even close. We pay about three grand in rent. We have all of the utilities. We have car payments, car insurance, um mouths to feed, and gas.

Maybe we have enough left over for groceries and toiletries and household stuff.

Why are we struggling?”

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Wrangle and her husband KC are both in their forties, and have never owned a home.

They’re part of a growing number of Millennials who see themselves as “forever renters” because they can’t afford to buy.

This home I’m renting goes for $600,000. We can’t afford a $600,000 home. You know, with our income . . . maybe $300,000.”

Journalist: “And what would that get you around here?”
Jenny Wrangle: “It’s not going to be a lot.”

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Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, home prices across the country have soared nearly 50%. Today’s median price, $416,000.

Danielle Hale, Economist: “We are also looking at high mortgage rates, which means it’s expensive to borrow money to buy a home.”

And that’s if you can find a home in your price range. Danielle Hale is chief economist at realtor.com.

Danielle Hale, Economist: “One of the reasons is that we haven’t had enough building over the last decade. And when you have a shortage of supply and a steady amount of demand, the way the market solves that is by pushing prices higher.”

Reporter: “How short are we?”
Danielle Hale, Economist: “The estimates vary. At realtor.com, we estimate that we’re four million homes short.”
Reporter: “Home prices have gone up 300% since 1990. How have incomes kept up?”
Danielle Hale, Economist: “Incomes have gone up as well, but by roughly half that amount.”

Journalist: “If the prices of homes have tripled and incomes have not kept pace, does this just automatically take a large population out of the running?”
Danielle Hale, Economist: “Well, I don’t think it totally shuts people out because home ownership is such a central part of the American dream.”

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A realtor.com survey found that 75% of Americans believe in that dream. And it can be done . . .

But it might require pulling up roots and heading to the heartland.

Ad: “Come visit Topeka. Give us one day!!!”

Yes, Topeka, Kansas. As in, there’s no place like home.

Bob Ross, Choose Topeka: “This is a city where the American dream is still possible.”

Bob Ross is one of the leaders behind Choose Topeka, a program offering people a relocation incentive of up to $15,000 to move to town.

Journalist: “Who is the typical participant who applies and gets into this program?

Bob Ross, Choose Topeka: “They’re coming from over 37 states, and they recognize that the cost of living that they can get here is so much more meaningful to them.”

Choose Topeka is funded by a half-cent county sales tax. More than two-hundred families have moved to the capital city of Kansas since it launched in 2020.

And Ross says 90% of them have stayed.

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Allison Reynolds, New Resident: “This feels like what I’ve always envisioned my family home to be.”

Less than two years ago, Allison and Jacob Reynolds were living in Northern California with a newborn.

On average, where we lived, a two bed, one bath house would be $500,000. That’s like kind of a fixer upper. So, it would have been unfeasible for us financially without support from someone else.”

Turns out Allison, a high school teacher expecting baby number two, is a Topeka native. The couple took advantage of the choose Topeka Boomerang incentive, which offers past residents $5,000 to move home.

Allison Reynolds, Returnee: “The grant incentive that we applied for and received completely covered our moving expenses.”

Journalist: “Would you have made the move without the grant?”
Jacob Reynolds, Newcomer: “I think we might have, but it would have definitely left a hole in our pocket. Yeah.”
Allison Reynolds, Returnee: “Would have needed some help.”
Jacob Reynolds: “Yeah. So, that down payment on the house kind of emptied us out.”

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They purchased their four-bedroom home for $179,000; their monthly mortgage in Topeka, $1,300, compared to $1,800 a month for rent in California — 500 bucks of savings they put towards child care.

The Reynolds bought in their early 30s, beating today’s average 40-year-old first time home buyer. And that gives them a head start.
Danielle Hale, Economist: “If you can buy a home closer to age 30 versus age 40, that means you have a $100,000 additional net worth boost by the time you turn 50.”

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Back in Arizona, 41-year-old Jenny Wrangle is still chasing the dream.

Jenny Wrangle, Nurse and Mother: “I’m not going to give up. The goal is to buy a home in three years. If I have to get a second job as a nurse, then so be it.”
Journalist: “You will do that?”
Jenny Wrangle, Nurse and Mother: “I’m going to do it because I’m going to give my kids something to be proud of.”

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Questions

 

California. Describe the “American Dream”. Does everyone attain the “American Dream”?

Texas. Are Jenny Wrangle and her husband listless, unmotivated, unambitious, undisciplined, disorganized, and irresponsible?

Florida. Mrs. Wrangle and her husband are both in their forties, and have never owned a home. Why is that?

New York. Is Danielle Hale a social worker? What does she say about supply and demand, regarding the housing market in the US?

Pennsylvania. Have most Americans given up on the American Dream? According to the report, is the solution to move to big cities with lots of apartment buildings like New York City and Chicago?

Illinois. Local residents of Topeka, Kansas are Rednecks and dislike outsiders. Is this right or wrong?

Ohio. Nobody wants to relocate to Kansas, Nebraska, and other parts of the Great Plains. Is this correct or incorrect? Have millions flocked there?

Georgia. Does Allison work as a hedge fund manager or CEO?

New Jersey. What will Jenny Wrangle do? Will she move to Topeka, Kansas?
 
 
 
North Carolina. Are homes in your town, city, region or country inexpensive, affordable, medium-priced, expensive, very expensive, or it depends?

Michigan. Have thing changed over the years, decades, generations?

Virginia. How do people deal or cope with housing?

Massachusetts. What might happen in the future

Washington. What could or should people do?