Just don't tell us that the market is not open to younger people, because there are actually plenty of options.
Maybe it's the kids who are the problem. Unwilling to stick their dicks out and make the move.
I took out the manufactured home criteria and found 71 properties for sale in Charlotte, NC for <$200K.
153 in Columbia, SC.
I'd agree that any absolutes that it's completely closed are obviously false. I'd say "plenty" is a kind of relative term, especially when adjusting down for low-cost housing. Obviously if the goal is just to put your name on any damn thing, that's an easier sell, but that not how it's ever been done. (And obviously we're not talking about absolutes since many thousands of these young folks are buying every year).
Perhaps it's that one generation is just more special and virtuous than the next, though that's been the story about every generation, so I'm mostly skeptical there.
And hey, I know some things about those places!
Charlotte is interesting, just because of the somewhat spread footprint. I'm seeing 43 2 bed, 2 bath, under 200k places (you had 2 bath? I'd probably put that at 1, TBH). You'll probably have to factor down some with dicy neighborhoods (though the map I'm looking at is lower on those than I would've thought), plus Zillow has some oddities like a place with a tenant already in it, the odd listed foreclosure at auction. Doesn't seem like a terribly large number, and if you want anything more than a condo, that market oddly is closed. Might be able to get there in the suburbs.
Columbia is odd because the prices there have always been depressed and tend to not appreciate much. But it's a very good town for buying a cheap house. Downside is jobs tend to pay less there across the board (and some folks don't like it much as a place). But if you want to move to a (hot) place where you can buy an affordable house, that's a good one!
