Ont. mayor can’t afford to buy house in township she leads
kitchener.ctvnews.ca
Waterloo Region’s red-hot housing market hits close to home for Wilmot Township Mayor Natasha Salonen.

Time to loosen zoning restrictions and say no to NIMBYs Ms. Mayor. *

Despite earning around $90,000 a year between her work as mayor, regional councillor and with the local electric utility, she says she can’t afford to buy a home in the municipality she leads.

* yeah, she’s still paying off student loans, and I don’t know what zoning restrictions are like in her community. But still.

  • EhForumUser
    8·
    11 months ago

    That is true. The value of my home doesn’t mean much to me. If it is worth $1 tomorrow, oh well? Who cares?

    But it is troubling to think what will happen when most other homeowners are underwater and their debt gets called. That is going to hurt all of us.

    • cyberpunk007@lemmy.world
      5·
      11 months ago

      Yeah homes being viewed as an investment is stupid and only came to be for those that could afford to buy lots.

      • EhForumUser
        3·
        11 months ago

        Homes became an investment when living near your workplace became a necessity. Any tool which facilities an income is going to naturally become an investment. That’s what investment is.

        The COVID thing decoupling some jobs from location has helped marginally – seeing a small decline in home values (although perhaps moving it to places where jobs were previously less commonly found) – but that can only get you so far. The vast majority of income sources are still location dependent.

    • sbv@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      HELOCs may burn some folks. They were gaining popularity while interest was low. That is going to add to the burden of those who loaded up on debt.

    • Shard@lemmy.world
      1·
      11 months ago

      I might actually be happy if my home was suddenly only worth a dollar.

      That would cut my property tax way down