A six-figure income and a struggle to afford a house in a Nevada battleground county
At 31 years old, Kashmir Martin would like to move into her first home and start a family with her husband in Reno, Nevada — part of a critical swing county in a swing state that’s expected to have a central role in the upcoming presidential election.
At 31 years old, Kashmir Martin would like to move into her first home and start a family with her husband in Reno, Nevada — part of a critical swing county in a swing state that’s expected to have a central role in the upcoming presidential election.
But despite her salary doubling since the start of the pandemic and the couple now making more than $200,000 a year, Martin says she’s feeling locked out of the dream of homeownership after prices in the region have jumped nearly 50% since 2019.
It’s not for lack of trying. Martin has looked at more than 100 homes, on some weekends going to more than more than 20 open houses. But even at the top of her $550,000 budget, most of the homes she has found would require extensive repairs she can’t afford, including sinking foundations, damaged sewer lines, 20-year-old roofs, and windows from the 1960s. One house was in such disrepair the lenders weren’t willing to finance it.
After about two years of searching, Martin says she has all but given up — and put on hold plans to have a baby until she can afford to buy a home.
“Seemingly, on paper, I’m making more money, I’m doing better,” Martin said. “But I feel less financially secure than I did back in 2015 when I had just barely graduated college and was a first-year accountant.”
Rating: 5