Boston Real Estate for Sale
A third of Americans say their personal budget is in worse shape now than they were 12 months ago, and not many are confident with their level of debt, according to a new Bankrate.com survey.

I figured you would be interested, since you need savings — absent lots of downpayment assistance from other sources — to buy a Boston condo (from yours truly).

Last week I spoke with an echo boomer at Harvard Gardens. This echo boomer, which includes everyone in their 20s, claimed she is in no financial shape to buy a Boston condo — and might be uninterested even when/if savings improve.

That sparked an interesting conversation, with another patron at the bar saying she and her siblings are also echo boomers and have very different perspectives on homeownership: “My one sister & I see real estate as an investment if done properly & my other two sisters see it as a ball & chain to the Boston area.”

One of the interesting side points in our conversation is that many echo boomers would rather spend their money on post-baccalaureate higher education than housing, seeing advanced schooling as an investment in themselves that will pay off. It just so happens that PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel is making a controversial argument that higher education is the new bubble, now that housing has gone bust.

All of which makes me wonder: What do you see as the highest and best use of your money — and where does Boston real estate play into it? Is small and cheap (owned or rented) your idea of a good housing situation? Spacious and gracious? Somewhere in between?

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