The Real Estate Market Doesn’t Have an Affordability Crisis — It Has a Priority Crisis

by Bill Gillane

I hear it all the time: “I can’t afford to buy a house right now.”
Then, a week later, that same person rolls up with a $950/month car payment and photos from their $8,000 vacation.

Here’s the truth nobody wants to say out loud — it’s not really about the money.
It’s about priorities.

The same people who say a mortgage is “too expensive” are often the ones financing a brand-new truck that loses $15,000 in value the second it leaves the lot. They’ll spend $38,000 on a one-day wedding but won’t invest $30,000 toward a down payment that builds equity for 30 years. They’ll pay $2,400 a month in rent and call it “freedom,” not realizing their landlord is using that rent to pay a $1,800 mortgage — and building wealth in the process.

The math isn’t the problem. The mindset is.

And as agents, we’re the ones who take the heat for it.
We get accused of “pushing people into debt” or “overpricing homes,” when in reality, we’re the only ones trying to help people stop lighting their money on fire. We’re offering a path to ownership — to stability, to equity, to generational wealth.

Every year they wait, prices rise. Every rent check they send is money they’ll never get back. Waiting to buy isn’t being responsible — it’s being stuck.

Because let’s be honest: the $12,000 Disney cruise, the new truck, the constant upgrades — that’s not affordability. That’s distraction. The real cost isn’t the mortgage they’re avoiding — it’s the equity they’re losing while they wait.

At the end of the day, the real estate market doesn’t have an affordability crisis.
It has a priority crisis.

Ready to Re-Prioritize?

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Reach out today, and let’s turn your monthly payment into progress.