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·
    1 year 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·
      1 year 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·
        1 year 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·
      1 year 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·
      1 year ago

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

      That would cut my property tax way down