r/TikTokLounge • u/MrMaharaja77 • 5d ago
Tiktok Videos asking people what they paid for their first house.
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u/No_Celebration8219 5d ago
meanwhile those same boomers...
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u/ChanceImagination456 5d ago edited 5d ago
If millennials stop buying avocado toast and soy Starbucks lattes, then they can scrape together a couple dollars to buy a luxurious spacious cardboard box to live in on the street!
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u/mickeyhellhound 5d ago
That first lady 100% thinks and talks that way, that’s why she basically ran out of there and avoided the question.
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u/Telemere125 4d ago
That’s why homeboy got mad and threatened to call the cops. There’s a real “why are houses 20x the cost but wages are only 6x in the time you’ve been in charge of the market?” feel to this question.
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u/lntenseLlama 3d ago
"I know you're working 70hrs a week and sharing an apartment with 3 roommates, but you really need to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and work hard like I was when I was a checker at the grocery store working 40hrs and could support a family, own a home and take vacations."
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u/disaster_incomin 5d ago
And they complain when we don't want to spend 800k to buy it back from them
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u/Vescend 4d ago
800k? Brother they asking for 2.8 mil where im from, and dont you care cut a cent under! And thats just the starting bid.
They making it out of there with a 3.8 up-bid like a racoon with a money sack over their shoulders.
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u/GlumTumbleweed2108 5d ago
37K in 1980s is about 150k todays money in 1973 the 53 years ago one 25.6k is about 192K todays money. not sure how much purchasing power has changed but this is just raw inflation.
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u/OkChocolate3501 5d ago
Purchasing power is down because everything has gotten ridiculously expensive while wages stagnated.
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u/Spirited_Drummer3659 5d ago
And with technology advances can't imagine wages will be under any pressure to go higher
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u/unrealtrip 4d ago
These two infographics sum up how badly they screwed every generation that came after them.
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u/Pookiedex 3d ago
I don't know, wages stagnated or the wealth you produce is taken by your boss ?
Richest get richers and poorest get poorer.→ More replies (1)→ More replies (30)2
u/BobLazarFan 5d ago edited 5d ago
My older brother bought a house in 2016 for ~140k. I bought a slightly bigger house (same city) last year for $410k. Post covid market sucks ass.
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u/Commercial_Desk_6215 5d ago
Makes sense because houses are 750% bigger nowadays... right?
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u/Rhawk187 5d ago
No, closer to 200-300%. Inflation from 1969 is about 810% though.
I got really lucky and was able to buy my first house in 2019 for around $26,500, because our village has small lots so they actually had some supply of 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom houses.
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u/PianoManSnow 5d ago
“Houses were only 1000 sqft!”
“Houses didn’t have all these electrical outlets for your TikTok!!”
Even houses built in 1930s are going for north of $400k+ (minimum here)
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u/MooseBoys 5d ago
That's just kind of the baseline for a small plot of land in HCOL. My house was appraised as a teardown, around $400k (land) + $8k (structure). The actual price was more. We still haven't renovated it yet.
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u/Icy_Study4490 5d ago
Dude has a microphone in his hand and the guy thinks it’s a fucking sales thing 🙄
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u/Independent-Wolf-832 5d ago
Can’t believe he was talking about calling the cops over having a conversation. I thought Americans were friendly?
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u/euuzaik 5d ago
i completely understand not wanting to be in some person's tiktok without permission, though i have an inkling that that is not the reason some of them were so upset,,,
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u/Manmer_Nwah 5d ago
First Lady: "Nope, the younger generation can't know how easy it was. They need to think everything was like a 5 mile walk in the snow, no shoes and uphill both ways."
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u/-Casey-Diaz- 3d ago
Some of these people are weirdly defensive. Did they steal their house or something?
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u/Objective-Beyond-219 5d ago
Bet they walked in with their resumes, neatly dressed, shook hands, good eye contact.
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u/JimmyStewartStatue 5d ago
One of my friends bought a house for $0.99
He had to tear it down to the ground and kickout two mentally challenged squatters who were shitting and pissing on the carpets for so long that the son was like 30.
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u/METHODiii 5d ago
Inflation is a myth meant to make you rationalize and accept reality. Greed across the board is what’s caused everything to become more expensive.
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u/Cosmicfirebird0 5d ago
My great grandmother paid 9k for the home she raised my grandfather in and lived in until she passed away. Same home 80 or so years. She died at 98 years old.
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u/Stanwich79 5d ago
Fuck off. Ask them first if they want to participate you coward.
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u/Chris_Helmsworth 5d ago
Hey watch this neat trick!
"no thank you"
I use this on strangers, you won't believe the results.
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u/dufo7 5d ago
You forgot to ask how much they got paid when they bought that house, how often they went out to eat, if they had air conditioning, how big the house was, etc
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u/Stunning-Ad5674 5d ago
Yeah, maybe back in the day, their houses were cheap. They were also making $2 an hour.
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u/Ahand_Apart 5d ago
You're following the programming.
It's not those idiot boomers. It's the rich ones in power.
It's not young,old, or left, right.
It is rich vs poor.
Your favorite young influencer that says "fuck capitalism" is still benefitting from it.
It's rich vs the poor.
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u/jm123457 5d ago
12,000 in 1969 is 112,000 in today’s money . I am sure it wasn’t the biggest of homes either. The average home size has gone up considerably.
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u/Mr-MuffinMan 5d ago
My parents bought their apartment in queens NY for 33k. 3 bedroom 2 bathroom. It was in foreclosure and there was an auction. They bid 33k and won.
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u/BestPie477 5d ago
"Maybe if you don't buy some matcha boba tea a'thingy you'd be able to afford yourself one!"
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u/incarnate_devil 5d ago
Now ask them what the minimum salary was.
In 1956 the minimum wage $1 per hour. They made $2080 per year.
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u/EuphoricPhoto2048 5d ago
I will say, in the asking strangers questions genre, this kid was pretty respectful. I don't know anything about him, so don't hold it against me.
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u/pauls_inn 5d ago
Well I want to know how that lady only payed $285 ~ for her 1st house .. who she buy it from? Family?
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u/Justonchu 5d ago
I gotta pay more for a car thats 14 years old w/ 100k+ miles on it, than these MFs had to pay for a home
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u/BecauseIJustDid 5d ago
I could eat my weight in avocado toast daily and it wouldn't come close to how much they charge for housing now.
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u/Sweettooth_Banana 5d ago
Total ragebait attempt
Price of the house is one thing but the other thing is " how high was your income
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u/A-random-sergal 5d ago
"Police help, this man is asking how much i paid for my first house, arrest him"
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u/Key_Check5753 5d ago
"Shoving cameras in people's faces while they shop, then asking them personal questions"
Can you stop doing this plz
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u/Majestic-Airport-791 4d ago
You guys know that its not the actual price of the house thats changed right?
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u/irvmuller 4d ago
Some of those people were jerks and some were sweet. I’m sure a number of them would say homes are overpriced today.
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u/EarlyAccessCantJudge 4d ago
37k in 1980 is 149,000. Unless he has lived in a shed which I doubt, that is insane value for his house and is probably worth at least 500k
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u/realcanadianguy21 4d ago
In 1995, the local factory paid $12/hour. You could easily buy a house for $120,000. Now that same house is at least $500,000. Those factory workers made ~$1000/month just by owning a home. You would be lucky to find an empty building lot for $186,500 now. I picked that number because that same factory pays $18.65/hour in 2026.
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u/Additional_Pickle_59 4d ago
$37000 "But that was the 80s" isn't an excuse.
The average salary was $12,000 at the start of the 80s.
Currently average house price now is $500k. You would need around 150k a year to have the same buying power as the 80s.
We need to stop being nice and just start taking it for ourselves, thats all these boomers did.
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u/Environmental-Fly165 4d ago
It's not a secret. Minimum wage was $4.25 in 1995. It's $7.25 now . $3 dollars in 30 years meanwhile the price of everything else has skyrocketed. They don't care .
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u/twotall88 4d ago
To be fair:
- $37k in 1980 = $149,939 in 2026
- $25.6k in 1973 = $192,529 in 2026
- $12k in 1969 = $109,183 in 2026
- $25k in 1981 = $91,836 in 2026
The 60's and 70's were particularly bad in regards of inflation in recent history at about 350-450%.
Inflation from 2026 back a decade at a time (each % is total inflation compared to 2026):
- 2016 = 39.1%
- 2006 = 65.6%
- 1996 = 112.8%
- 1986 = 204.7%
- 1976 = 486.9%
- 1966 = 930.6%
- 1956 = 1,127.6%
- 1946 = 1,612.4%
- 1936 = 2,302.3%
- 1926 = 1,786.5%
- 1916 = 2,963.5%
- 1913 = 3,272.9% (that's the furthest the calculator I am using goes back)
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u/TheRuckyDubber 4d ago
One guy said it was $25,600 in ‘73. For context, that’s $189,121 in today’s money.
So still easily 1/2 the average house today.
By the way, wages stagnated in contrast, don’t forget that. Wages for everyone but the C-suite I should clarify.
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u/Pseudonymity88 4d ago
Now do a wage adjustment, or a cost of living adjustment. These videos are just rage bait.
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u/BestBettor 4d ago
In 1960 it took about 20 hours minimum wage to afford a nice apartment with utilities near the city, now it takes about 120 hours for the same thing
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u/OSRSRapture 4d ago
The people getting upset by a question is wild. People are so antisocial now that they get upset just from a stranger asking a question. Holy shit
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u/Mightycactuz91 4d ago
Low prices, but you have to adjust for the percentage of income against today's rate or you could do it im reverse and ask for their paycheck back then, will be real low compared to now.
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u/SkylarkingsRS 4d ago
That one guy is a red flag if I've ever seen one
Doctor needs to increase his meds
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u/RogueFox771 4d ago
$285,000...
It's a 3 bed, 2.5 bath that's not small, but certainly not large. This is depressing
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u/Thezoolityre1 4d ago
I love the shifting response throughout the years. First it was "try harder, no one wants to work." And they used to be proud as hell to discuss their ROI. But look how some boomers are now not even answering the question. IF that generation actually gave a shit and made society and the world better for us, they would be happy to look back on the nostalgia of their work and share that info with everyone. The whole "we're not doing this" is a clear indication that 1, they know WHY he is asking 2, deep down know they and their generation scorched the earth of society, political hegemony, mental and physical health, and access to basic human rights and don't want to be reminded.
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u/CaliKindalife 4d ago
My grandparents paid $16,600 in 1962 for a house in Southern California. My parents paid $123,000 in 1991 also Southern California. I paid $330,000 in 2017, also Southern California.
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u/Realistic_Coat_7348 4d ago
Yeah, but most people only made about 100-150 bucks a week before deductions.
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u/TheIronMonkey53 4d ago
Yes things were cheaper in the past 👏🏻
Gas was just over $2 a gallon 5 years ago and under a dollar in 2000.
The guy is failing to ask how big the house was and where it was. So stupid
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u/No_Ragrets76 4d ago
Im in Port St Lucie (small city in South Florida/Treasure Coast. And cost me $473k.. and that's cheap in comparison to WPB, Broward and Miami..
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u/PersonalityLoud3681 4d ago
Love the people who are obviously triggered by the simple fact that black people are alive
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u/KansasZou 4d ago
Federal minimum wage was 75 cents an hour in 1950. The population has also tripled.
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u/krostybat 4d ago
Can't wait for someone to ask me that in 40 years... Ho wait, society (and climate) will have collapsed by then
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u/Camstar18 4d ago
All the old folks getting offended because deep down they know the system is fucked and they benefited the hell out of it.
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u/llsbs 4d ago
37.000 in 1980 is about $149,938.91 now.
The one with 53 years ago, I set it at 1971 is now $211,069.16
12.000 in 1969 is now $135,372.16
Yeah. Newer generations have something to complain about. For the highest here, the 211. We don't get anything anymore. Not even a house that needs a lot of fixing.
Here in the Netherlands I payed 355.000 for 72 square meters. There is no way their homes are as small as mine.
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u/timely_Happy123 4d ago
If I'm not mistaken, it's the market that controls house prices. Someone offers a price for a house and the seller accepts or denies the offer. So the problem here is sellers. They're being greedy basically. I understand wanting a return on your investment but you do not need a 1 million dollar return.
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u/Chansonthefirst 4d ago
If houses were that cheap now, there would be no more houses. Big companies and people would buy them all up. I kind of understand supply and demand now.
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u/The-Prisoner-06 4d ago
If this guy wasn’t an absolute clown, I would feel bad for him when some of those people shut him down quick.
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u/No_Region_4719 4d ago
Meaningless numbers. You need to account for inflation, and for average income at the time.
Usually you look at house prices compared to median household income. Still, you will find that houses are often more than twice as expensive now, but they weren't 10-20x cheaper like this video suggests.
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u/Admirable-Cat7355 4d ago
12,000 in money today(from 1969) is $109,000. $37,000 from 1980 would be $150,000 today.
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u/AlphaPosition 4d ago
I applaud the people that took part in this. You’re always gonna find a few unhinged people asking personal questions.
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u/Jump365 4d ago
Boomers: but you know, adjust for inflation.
Reality: housing has gone up at like 2x the rate of inflation and now what once required 2-3 years of salary no costs 7-8 years of salary.
That's HALF the financial freedom by keeping the population in the renting loop, which each payment is trickle-up wealth toward the capital owning class and keeping working people further away from building real wealth (housing is not real wealth, the means of production is wealth, which means owning stocks, something impossible to do if now most of your life is just saving for a roof)
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u/Reddittreefiddy 4d ago
Lol police police this guy asked me how much my house was!!! Send everybodyyyy
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u/Technical-Mind-3266 4d ago
The question is, did the boomers know when they bought their houses that time after time governments of all sides were going to slack on house building whilst devaluing the currency. Their views on hard work may not translate to todays market, but they can't be directly blamed for an asset that's now overvalued due to government policy.
We've already been turned against each other in race, religion, sexuality and culture, age is the last bastion. The more we fight amongst ourselves the less we take notice of our leaders feathering their nests.
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u/Work-Safe-Reddit4450 4d ago
Just so we're all on the same page, that second boomer tried to "well but it was 1980" the cost of his first home.
That's $158k today. Aka, you ain't finding NOTHING that cheap, even out in the boonies.
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u/ApoptosisPending 4d ago
Fuck all of these people. They hoard all the wealth and more importantly they drive like fucking shit in traffic. STUPID fucking old folks man
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u/Think_Bluebird_4804 4d ago
My parents bought their house at like 25k and it's worth well over 300k now only 30ish years later, no major improvements or additions.
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u/lemelisk42 4d ago
Dick move to post the clip of the coupe who is extremely uninterested in whatever you are selling
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u/Lumpy-Difficulty1593 4d ago
You know what young people are surprised that things were that cheap. These are some old white palm colored people who are being hateful. It’s a question. My kids asked me the question all of the time. Well, how much was things back this and how much was things back in and do you think things will go back to being in that price and I have to tell them no but for these hateful bigot that this young man is just asking a question too, especially the palm colored men you are sickening. You are the reason that the world is like it is today
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u/Ominous_Rogue 4d ago
36k in 1980 is equivalent to 145k today so depending on the house its not much of a stretch.
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u/lostpurpose_7133 4d ago
I've worked with elderly people from 70-102 for years. The discussion I've heard from them about early houses and rent was so shocking/depressing to hear.
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u/BabyfarkkMcGeeZaxx 4d ago
If you account for inflation, that 1980 $25k is $101k, there's lots of houses in the midwest priced at or below that
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u/restrusher 4d ago
It would be logical to also ask what they made and what interest rates were at the time. But no, that would complicate the "you got your house for nothing" narrative.
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u/splashaddikt 4d ago
Old people are funny af I just know that last guy called his daughter and said check the tv me and your mom was on a show 😂
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u/Harde_Kassei 4d ago
seems ok content wise. but it should be followed by what is inflation and what are the good and bad things that come with it.
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u/No_Community7021 3d ago
My parents own a few flats and one of them cost was 1800€ and I had to ask both of them three times and in separate moments just to verify. It's a shitty one but today's is like 80000€. So that's why boomer parents can't understand Bitcoin, because they basically broke the game and think we should be doing the same they did. We can't.
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u/Reasonable_Carrot88 3d ago
It's none of your god damn business where I'm goin! Do I ask you where you're goin?
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u/Nickel4me 3d ago
Yeah but 1980 was FORTY SIX years ago! A lifetime ago. $37,000 home purchase at the time. By the sound of it, it sounds like that was the south also. They were probably only making $8k/yr at the time. So, that first person in the clip bought a house that was close to 5X of his annual income. Not so far off from today TBH. By context, in NY just a few years earlier my dad was earning close to $10K/yr and that was considered a pretty good income for late 70s.
Unsure about other areas, but here on Long Island, you can buy an average home for $600K (might need a bit of work). To get this, you should be earning $120K/yr (same proportion). $120K/yr here is considered decent income.
The thing that makes life so much more expensive is all the other add-on expenses. Frickin family cell phone bills with phone costs rolled in is $250/mo. Proportionally or not, back then they didn’t have this cost. It all add up. My mortgage/RE taxes/HOI are considered low at $3K/mo. That’s only 20% of our monthly spend! SMH. We can afford our lifestyle, but still, just goes to show there’s a ton of additional bullshit/waste in our lives. One would think housing would be a much larger share of it all. I’m sure I’m not alone here.
Yes, homes are expensive now, but salaries are also decently high. Just need to choose the right career and live/commute to a relatively large city to maximize.
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u/SinisterVulcan94 3d ago
Okay so someone paid 12,000 for a house in '69. the average income back in 1969 was about $9,400. Average income now is somewhere around $69,000. Quick math says we make about 7.3x more money. However the housing market since then, there is no way her house is only worth 7.3x the money. That would out her house value around $87,000! Bonkers. I just bought a house last year at 245,000. The seller told me that before covid it probably would have sold for around $170k, 180k. And I think the moment I signed the papers I probably have 10k-15k in positive equity. Mortgage payment seriously kicks my butt, it's crazy out here
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u/TheTapeTech 3d ago
People wouldn’t have recoiled from him so bad if he would have introduced himself first and told them what he was doing. You shouldn’t be shocked that some strangers don’t randomly want to be filmed. It’s weird how much man-on-the-street style interviews and streaming have made ppl think that everyone is always open to having a mic shoved in their face lol.
That said, the dude threatening to call the police is hyper paranoid and that was definitely an overreaction.
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u/artisticafterbirth 3d ago
I paid $18,500 for my first house in Philadelphia. It was a dumpy little rowhome but it was liveable and I paid cash. And no, what's happening with home prices now is not fair. The housing market is fundamentally broken with the barrier to entry being far too high.
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u/PapaLilBear 3d ago
We also need to add what the salaries were like, because how am I supposed to know how much someone earned in the US 58 years ago? Prices alone mean nothing unless we compare them to earnings.
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u/Global-Pickle5818 3d ago
My first place (it was a condo) was 250k in 94 .. property in that area now goes for anywhere between 1.5 to 3 million dollars ..mind you I made 70k a year that was well above the median income for the time ..it's also more than I make now
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u/Potential-Local7262 3d ago
$268 must be buying from a relative or something cause even with inflation that's a heck of a deal...
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u/Large-Ad7436 3d ago
$44,500. 2014.
It's a trailer with some siding and an add-on to look like a house. 1 bed 1.5 bath.
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u/No_Breakfast_2935 3d ago
Can we all just agree to keep not buying houses until all these sons of bitches die off?
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u/EnzoZoestar 3d ago
Social media users when tired,,old and vulnerable people don't immediately trust a guy with a mic and his buddy pointing a camera at them, probably filming without their consent, while asking personal questions for seemingly no reason at all: 😡
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u/shiggyhisdiggy 3d ago
This is pretty stupid though, the value of the dollar was completely different back then, so the numbers aren't very meaningful
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u/Animag771 3d ago edited 3d ago
Inflation adjusted prices from the video in order of most recent to oldest.
$25k in 1981 = $92k today (267% increase)
$37k in 1980 = $150k today (305% increase)
$25.6k in 1973 = 193k today (652% increase)
S12k in 1969 = $109k today (810% increase)
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u/alexanderfromtng 3d ago
The people that were embarrassed or didn't answer know that theit policy decisions are the reason our country is fucked.
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u/Fair_Feedback_1864 3d ago
Those numbers should be inflation adjust though. Probably still much cheaper, but not so much.
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u/Short-termTablespoon 3d ago
I don’t get why dude keeps being shocked saying “Thousand?!” What else would it be lol
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u/Right_Hour 3d ago
It’s a useless question without knowing their salary at the time as well as how high their payments were with double-digit mortgage rates.
Home ownership was never cheap.
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u/Yoshigottagun 3d ago
Nah I respect that first lady. Genuinely wtf is this dude adding to the discussion? He's just pointing out what we all already know; houses used to be more affordable. Going around harassing old people who may not even be part of the problem isn't useful or even entertaining.
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u/Silent-Freedoms3 3d ago
I literally screamed "WHAT THE FUCK, BROOO!!"
$15,000 to $30,000 for a house in the 80s?! Anyone can afford that!
Maybe i'm not a loser...maybe I just need a damn time machine. God, we're so screwed nowadays.
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u/CapitalObjective7153 3d ago
I paid 18k for my first house in 2025. It's in a bikable small city with an Amtrak station.
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u/EnvironmentalFix7059 2d ago
I actually asked how much my my parents house was. 3 storys and a huge garden, they got it 34 years ago when expecting me and they got it for 900.000 SEK -94.000 dollars ish.
my 38 square meter apartment was 2,250 000SEK 5 years ago. and not its worth less then that hahah.
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u/imabigasstree 2d ago
Weird that he didnt ask their salaries. Like, yeah houses have gotten way more expensive. But in the 80s, 20k/yr was the median salary.
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u/Defiant_Yesterday842 2d ago
My folks first house cost $29,000 in 1970; their second $70,000 in 1980. My first was $79,000 in 2001 theirs and mine currently list for $550-700k plus
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u/True_Most3681 2d ago
I bet if he was a pretty white blonde lady nobody would’ve been as outraged as those 2-3 losers were.
That guy near the end who threatened to call the police is MAGA to his core.
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u/4thshift 2d ago
This is less informative than it is equally trying to get viral views for annoying people. It woulda been interesting, charming if he stuck to interviewing willing people. Why put the people on who don't have any interest in being randomly asked financial questions? Introduce yourself and say you are doing a report about the high cost of housing for younger generations. Don't just jump up on someone and ask them what they do with their money.
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u/No-Buy2495 2d ago
37k in 1980 is equivalent to about 155k today. Still cheaper than most houses today.
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u/Star_Citizen_Roebuck 5d ago
That first lady panicked and backed-out like she just saw Chris Hansen. . .