The rising cost of living in recent years has led the younger generation to make “drastic sacrifices” to restore their financial stability or be able to own a home in the future.
Younger people are choosing to live in profitable vans and show off their small homes on TikTok to the fascination of the Internet.
Michael Alberse, a TikToker with 57,000 followers, moved into a van a year after finishing college while working at Google at the age of 22, changing his financial future “forever” and paving the way to ownership of a home.
“I chose to live in a van as a short-term sacrifice to almost guarantee my long-term financial future,” he said.
“I chose to buy a truck and build it so I could save money on rent and put those extra dollars toward investments… So it’s not my forever plan. But at least it’s a great start, so I have a solid foundation for my future.”
Rising housing costs are pushing more millennials to live in vans. Court and Nate / Youtube
Alberse named his mobile home “Ted” and lived in it for about a year before selling it after becoming “quite homesick and lonely.”
After selling the van, he moved in with his parents and fiancée.
Alberse then moved from California and bought a house in Atlanta after transferring teams 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 permanent home… and life looks a little different now, but very fulfilling, very happy,” he said.
A van-dwelling couple, Court and Nate, have amassed 2.5 million followers showcasing their lives 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 living in a van. He also said they were able to address any debt they had and recently purchased land in Southern California.
“We don’t get into a van to be on vacation abroad. “We started this journey with the purpose…to hope to one day gain some financial stability while still enjoying our lives,” Court said.
“Before we moved into our first van, we were on a path to not being able to own a home one day,” he said.
“After all this time and all the sacrifices we’ve made… there’s no way I can settle for renting it again. Because for us, that would probably mean we would never be able to buy a house.”
Court and Nate have lived in their modern, luxurious van for almost five years. van.on.a.mission / Instagram
“It is very expensive. Why is housing so expensive? she added
The median price of a newly built home in the United States is near its all-time high, which was reached during the Biden presidency.
However, based on the December 2023 reading (the latest available), the price is below its all-time high reached in October 2022.
As for the average U.S. interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, which Freddie Mac tracks weekly, the rate is near a multi-decade high, although it has fallen since the peak of the Biden years ( reached in October). 2023) during the last few weeks.
The interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is currently 6.625%.
The younger generation is realizing that “cutting back on Starbucks and Netflix isn’t enough” to create their parents’ financial future, according to Freddie Smith, a real estate agent and TikToker based in Orlando, Florida.
The median price in the United States for a newly built home is near its all-time high, but as of December 2023, the price has dropped. van.on.a.mission / Instagram
“I think that’s going to be a very popular story in the next three to five years, because people now have to make those drastic sacrifices,” he said.
The problem many younger people face when it comes to buying a home is that in the last three years or so, the average household income can no longer afford the average home, Smith said.
“The biggest problem that millennials and Generation Z have is that their income is not high enough, unfortunately, to qualify for the average home in America,” he said. “So to buy a $400,000 home, which is about the average cost in the United States, you’ll need more than $100,000 with very little debt to qualify.”
The court said she and Nate were able to save more than $70,000 in the first few years of living in a van. Court and Nate / Youtube
“As far as living in a van, this is advice that people follow,” Smith said. “I’m seeing this become tremendously popular because they’re getting rid of that $2,000 rent burden and can use that money to save for a down payment. Because the larger the down payment, the less income you will 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 most unfortunate aspects of living in a van was having to store waste in a tank that had to be emptied “about once a week.”
“It’s definitely not a fun job,” he said.
Another aspect of living in a van was the isolation.
“We definitely don’t see our family and friends as often as we would like, and we miss that feeling of community,” she said.
Will and Meebs, a vanlife couple who have 86,000 followers, reiterated the difficulties of isolation and “driving for hours in the middle of the night.”
The hard part is “not knowing anyone our age (or anyone who does the same),” as well as the “loneliness” of not seeing friends and family as often, they said.
The couple also said life in a van can be scary when it comes to extreme weather conditions.
“[During our] The first night in the van there was a big storm,” the couple said on TikTok. “[We were] “I am VERY worried about lightning and wind.”
The interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is currently 6.625%, making the case for millennials who choose to live in their van to avoid this. Court and Nate / Youtube
Another concern they had was that when they tried to hang their clothes to dry after washing them, “they would freeze.”
Another TikToker, Dylan Gray, moved into a van in 2019 to save for a house. At the time, he was $3,000 in debt and working full time.
“It was the most mentally and physically challenging year,” he said of living in a van. But a year later, he is debt-free and bought his first house.
“Life is what you make of it,” he said. “The hard work you put in is what you get out.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn