The rising cost of living in recent years has pushed younger generations to make “drastic sacrifices” to re-establish their financial stability or afford future home ownership.
Young people choose to live in cost-effective vans and show off their tiny abodes on TikTok to catch the attention of the internet.
Michael Alberse, a TikToker with 57,000 followers, moved into a van one year out of college while working at Google at age 22, which changed his financial future “forever” and paved the way to home ownership.
“I chose to live in a van as a short-term sacrifice to almost secure my long-term financial future,” he said.
“I chose to buy a van and build it so I could save money on rent and put the extra money into investments… So it wasn’t my plan forever. But at least it’s a great start, so I have a solid foundation for my future.”
Rising housing costs are driving more millennials to live in vans. Court and Nate / Youtube
Alberse called his motor home “Ted,” and lived in it for about a year before selling it after being “very homesick and lonely.”
After selling the van, he moved in with his parents with his fiance.
Alberse later moved from California and bought a house in Atlanta after relocating the team at Google, he said.
Michael Alberse says he now owns a home after saving enough money by living in a van. @alberseabundance / Tiktok
“I have a house that doesn’t move… and life looks a little different now, but very fulfilling, very happy,” he said.
A married couple, Court and Nate, have amassed 2.5 million followers showcasing their life on the road for nearly five years.
Court, 36, said they were able to save more than $70,000 in the first few years of the van’s life. He also said they were able to pay off any debt they had and recently bought land in Southern California.
“We don’t take a van to go on holiday outside. We very much embarked on this journey with the goal… to hopefully one day gain financial stability while enjoying our lives,” said Court.
“Before we moved into our first van, we were on track to never own a house one day,” he said.
“After all this time and all the sacrifices we’ve made… there’s no way I’ll be able to pay back the rental house. Because for us, that might mean we won’t be able to buy a house.”
Court and Nate have been living out of their luxury modern van for almost five years. van.on.a.mission / Instagram
“It is very expensive. Why are houses so expensive?” he added
The US median price for newly built homes is near an all-time high, achieved under President Biden.
Although, as of the December 2023 reading (latest available), prices are down from the all-time highs reached in October 2022.
As for the average US interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, tracked weekly by Freddie Mac, the rate is near multi-decade highs, although it has fallen from its Biden-year peak (reached in October 2023) in recent weeks.
The interest rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage is currently at 6.625%.
The younger generation is realizing that “cutting Starbucks and Netflix isn’t enough” to create their parents’ financial future, according to Orlando, Florida-based realtor and TikToker Freddie Smith.
The US median price of a newly built home is near an all-time high, but in December 2023 — the price is falling. van.on.a.mission / Instagram
“I think that will be a very popular story in the next three to five years, because people now have to make those drastic sacrifices,” he said.
The issue many young people face when buying a home is that since about the last three years, the median household income can no longer afford the median home, said Smith.
“The biggest problem facing millennials and Gen Z is that their income is not high enough, unfortunately, to qualify for a normal home in America,” he said. “So to buy a $400,000 house, which is about the average cost in America, you would need more than $100,000 with very little debt to qualify.”
Court said she and Nate were able to save over $70,000 in the first few years of the van’s life. Court and Nate / Youtube
“As far as staying in the van, this is the advice that people are taking,” Smith said. “I see this becoming very popular because they get rid of that $2,000 rent burden, and they can use that money to save for a down payment. Because the bigger the down payment, the less income you need to qualify.”
TikToker Summer Ginther saved enough for a down payment after living on the road for three years with her partner.
He explained that one of the more unfortunate aspects of van life is having to store waste in a tank that needs to be emptied “about once a week.”
“It’s definitely not a fun job,” he said.
Another aspect of van life is isolation.
“We certainly don’t get to see family and friends as often as we’d like, and we miss that sense of community,” he said.
The “vanlife” couple, Will and Meebs, who have 86,000 followers, reiterated the difficulties of isolation and “driving for hours in the middle of the night.”
What was difficult was “not meeting other people our age (or anyone doing the same thing)” as well as “loneliness” from not seeing friends and family often, they said.
The couple also said that life in the van can be scary when it comes to extreme weather.
“[During our] the first night in the van there was a big storm,” the couple said on TikTok. “[We were] so worried about lightning and wind.”
Interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are currently at 6.625%, as this makes the case for millennials who choose to live in their vans to avoid this. Court and Nate / Youtube
Another concern they face is that when they try to hang their clothes to dry after washing them, “they freeze.”
Another TikToker, Dylan Gray, moved into a van in 2019 to keep house. At the time, he was $3,000 in debt and working full time.
“It was the most challenging year mentally and physically,” he says of living in the van. But a year later, he was debt free and bought his first house.
“Life is what you make it,” he said. “The hard work you put in is what you get.”
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
