Community Stories

“I have been forced to live with my parents for the last 3 years. I got married over 4 years ago and after moving often for work. My wife and I thought we had enough saved up to purchase a home. After shopping for homes and picking one we wanted we talked to the preferred lender with the builders and because I had claimed so little on my personal taxes after working a sales job I was refused to purchase a home. I didn't have the capital to bring the loan amount down any further. A 20% down pay...”

Kurtt Foster

Riverton, UT

“I feel that I cannot own a home unless I move out of the state of Utah.”

Talon Antonino Gaoiran

Provo, UT

“As I stand on the precipice of college graduation, a daunting realization weighs heavily on my mind: the dream of homeownership feels almost unattainable. I wholeheartedly believe in the power of owning a home, of building equity rather than simply "throwing money away" on rent. Yet, I already know that after I get married, my spouse and I will likely be living with family for far longer than we'd ever anticipated. Buying a home right out of the gate simply isn't a realistic option for us. My...”

Ashton Larson

Riverton, UT

“Years ago I started investing in stocks because that's what I could afford to do as a teenager to build equity to one day own a home. Over the years, I feel dread that no matter my returns, the price of a home keeps going up, and that even if I sold my stocks, it would not bring me to a competitive down payment.”

Esteban Duran

Orem, UT

“I have lived in Utah my entire life, and going to graduate from UVU soon. I have considered getting a job in a different state with lower housing costs. I personally want to own real estate, yet my quickest path to do so would begin in a different state. The way I see it, I can move to Texas and own real estate within a year, or stay in Utah and save up money for a few years before I finally am able to afford a home here. I would like to end up in Utah, but I consider if my quickest path to r...”

Caden Johanson

Highland, UT

“As a REALTOR of over 10 years i have seen how pricing has affected many of my clients. I also own a property management company and have seen tenant after tenant who desperately want to put their roots down and be home owners but their income and the cost of housing has priced them out. I have several buyers right now that qualify for 400k. Naturally one would think that is a great range for a starter home. But sadly no. Though a few homes have come on the market in this price range the...”

Adam Tripp

Logan, UT

“I have been wanting to get a new home for many years. It gets challenging when you have to have 20% down to make a payment seem some what affordable. When you look at the price of getting a house the last few years with the interest rates and the amount of down payment required how can anyone really "afford it"”

Amber S

Farmington, UT

“As a mortgage loan officer in Utah, I work closely with hardworking people every day who are doing everything right. I review their numbers, their budgets, their goals. They have stable jobs, they pay their bills, and they save what they can. And yet many of them still cannot qualify for a home in the market they grew up in. What I see now is very different than ten years ago. Buyers are often approved at numbers that leave no breathing room, or worse, they fall just short of what entry-level...”

Lori Davis

Layton, UT

“I want to buy a house but it’s so expensive so I feel like I will have to get married before i can do that. I have tried to save every penny and I am in my career but it is not enough. They only way to do it is to live in it and rent it out”

Katy McClean

Provo, UT

“My name is Angie Fleming. I am 37 years old and currently living in my parents’ home. I am a professional barber, I work full time, and my mother is a realtor—yet I still cannot afford a place of my own. This reality has taken a heavy toll on me. Dating feels nearly impossible when I have to bring someone back to my parents’ house. I worry about my future and whether having a family is still within reach as time keeps moving forward. These are questions that weigh on me every single day. De...”

Angie Fleming

Riverdale, UT

“We often speak about the strength of our housing market and the opportunities it provides. I believe in that vision—but I also feel compelled to share a few real experiences that have caused me deep concern and, frankly, heartbreak as we navigate this new housing reality. Today’s young buyers no longer have the luxury of peace of mind. In order to qualify for a home at all, many are forced to push their finances to the absolute limit. If they qualify for $400,000, they are often asking their...”

Lori Fleming Golden Spike Realty

Ogden, UT

“I’m a real estate agent in Cache County, and I currently have a two-bedroom condo listed at $267,500—on paper, that sounds affordable. But in practice, it hasn’t been. The condo carries a $270 monthly HOA fee, and it’s located on the third floor with no elevator. Those two factors significantly impact both monthly affordability and accessibility. As a result, many buyers—especially first-time buyers, seniors, and anyone with mobility concerns—aren’t even willing to tour the property. This e...”

Celeste Huss

Hyrum, UT

“Feels like wishful thinking. I either need income in the top 1%, or learn how to live house poor with immense stress and 0 discretionary purchases.”

Charley Davis

Provo, UT

“I'm a student on the cusp of graduating from UVU. As I look toward my future outside of school I have naturally started setting goals for myself. One of those goals is to own a home. I have enjoyed living in shared housing for the past 5 years to help me get by while in school and working. As I look to start saving for a home, it can feel a little bleak but making long-term goals has helped. It may not be in the next couple of years as I would have hoped but somewhere down the line I know it ...”

Sam Zebley

American Fork, UT

“Housing seems to be unobtainable unless you are making 6 figures and have extreme discipline in your spending.”

Christian Clark

Salt Lake City, UT

“My name is Greg Cronin. I’m 55 years old, married to my wife Kimberly, and together we’ve raised four hardworking children. Like many parents, we believed that if we lived responsibly, worked hard, got educated, and contributed to our communities, our children would have a fair shot at the American dream—especially homeownership. We moved to Utah six years ago, just before COVID. Since then, the housing market has completely outpaced reality. My adult children—college-educated, skilled, empl...”

Greg K Cronin

Provo, UT

“Hi. I’m a real estate agent in cache valley (Logan Utah) I started in 2007! So yes I lived through the “crash” the short sales and bank owned. The foreclosures etc. BUT if you were a first time homebuyer it was a great time to buy. !! Now the market has come to the other extreme. I have four kids. I helped my oldest Tyler barely afford his first home in 2015. I helped my second child shaylee buy her first home in 2021. My third child Bethany is ready to buy. She has been married to a few ...”

Mindi schiffman

Logan, UT

“I'm about to graduate college. My dream has always been to buy a house and contribute to the community. However I can hardly get by on rent. I'm getting married this summer, and to be able to have enough to finish school and survive it's looking like we're going to have to live in my parents basement. We can hardly afford rent, let alone buy a house. Even after we graduate and start earning more than 30k a year there's no way we'll be able to afford a house for years. Tough spot.”

Josh Wittwer

Orem, UT

“I am currently in school, and I want to be able to provide my family with a place to call our own. I want a place where we can mark the doorframe as my kids grow taller, but as I have looked at hundreds of homes, I could not find one home that would not require us to overextend ourselves in order to live there. I believe that home ownership is a part of the American Dream. That dream feels far away because of home prices and interest rates.”

Spencer Howells

Provo, UT

“I've been looking to purchase a home recently, both for myself and to boost my financial real estate life. With the current price of homes, it makes it almost impossible to buy one. If I can even find a home that's relatively in my price range, they end up being in super bad condition for a massive amount of money, which, in my opinion, isn't worth it. It's even worse where my parents live in Midway, Utah; a smaller starter home there is in the range of $900,000 to $1 million, which isn't eve...”

Jake Stettler

Orem, UT

“I currently rent a room in a shared house as a single young adult. I’m working toward buying my first home, but based on today’s prices and what I can realistically save, it will likely take me another 3–5 years to put together a down payment for a basic starter home. What makes this feel discouraging is watching home prices rise year after year. Even when I’m making steady progress, it feels like the finish line keeps moving and homeownership becomes less attainable. I’m not looking for a ...”

Marshall Brock

Orem, UT

“My wife and I got married in August of 2024. We’ve been married a little over a year now, and one of the hardest parts of starting our life together has honestly been finding a place to live. Before we even got married, we spent months searching for housing in Provo. At the time, we were both full-time students trying to balance school, work, and preparing for marriage while also hunting for a place we could actually afford. We were trying to stay close to campus and our jobs and still stay ...”

Jacob Paul Dodd

Springville, UT

“I am a 21-year-old living in Provo, UT. I was attending school and working full-time at three jobs but have since stopped attending school so I can earn money to go back. I would love to own my own home in my 20s, and I'm trying to figure out exactly how I can do that while going to school and paying for all the other things in life. I have friends around me who have full-time jobs saving up but still live with roommates, and sometimes it seems like a far-fetched dream to own my own home this...”

Melanie Lee

Provo, UT

“We have been in and out of the Utah housing market over the last 20 years. We have left for job opportunities and come back for family and lifestyle. Each time we have come back we have been amazed at how much more difficult it has been to find housing. Now as my children are looking for places to live in the 20s and 30s it is nearly impossible for them. One has been a school teacher and gave up on owning g a home. Another works for a tech company and struggles to see how he will ever get ...”

Jim Holm

Bluffdale, UT

“My children invested in education, but their incomes don't give them any hope of homeownership. My son, a schoolteacher, would love to live in the same community as the families he serves. Another son, in fintech, would like his wife to be able to stay home with their children. Our daughter would love to be able to afford a second bedroom so she can get the crib out of the living room. We would love to have them live in the same state so we can help with childcare. We hope our children will r...”

Deborah Holm

Bluffdale, UT

“My fiance and I live together in a small basement apartment in santaquin Utah. There are very very few options within a budget for us as I am self employed running a cosmetology business and he is in the process of getting hired on with a fire station. We save and save more and more money and it’s never enough. We budget beyond belief just to afford a place to live and be able to eat. Our budgeting and saving is something we do in hopes that we will be able to afford a home that will fit ...”

Emma Cox

Santaquin, UT

“When I turned 19, I moved into a two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment in Orem. The rent was $1,050 a month, which was manageable at the time. However, with today's prices, living there would mean barely scraping by, certainly not saving enough to ever move beyond renting. That realization led my wife and me to a difficult decision: we moved back in with my parents. It’s far from ideal. Sharing appliances and navigating a multi-generational household comes with its own set of challenges. We're...”

Dillan

Springville, UT

“My fiancée and I are getting married in January 2026. We’re determined to build our own life together, not move into either of our parents’ basements, but we also want to stay close to our family. Springville is where I grew up, where I went to high school, and Mapleton is home for her. The problem is, everything close by is financially out of reach. Buying a home together for us and our future family is a major goal we have. But is nearly impossible with how much houses are, especially when ...”

Tanner Mayer

Springville, UT

“A Practitioner’s Perspective from Utah County I work closely with a large aviation employer in Provo that recruits aircraft mechanics from across the country, particularly from the Midwest. These are skilled, stable workers—people with steady employment, families, and a desire to put down roots. Yet many of them encounter immediate housing barriers when relocating to Utah. In many cases, these families are moving for the husband’s job. The wife may not yet be employed when they arrive, whic...”

Stephanie Summers

Lehi, UT

“Affordability has become one of the biggest challenges facing today’s homebuyers, especially first-time buyers who are entering the market without existing home equity. While purchase prices are a major factor, rising interest rates have created an even greater barrier to homeownership. Just a few years ago, mortgage rates were typically 2–4% lower than they are today, which has caused the interest portion of a monthly mortgage payment to increase dramatically. Since 2020, the average home p...”

Erin Mehler

Lehi, UT

“Life in Utah has become expensive enough that is has become nearly impossible for my family to save for any kind of down payment, let alone be able to purchase land or a home in any shape. No matter the housing type I am unable to afford the payment. I have a professional degree from a local University and a high level position at my company, but the only option I see towards affordability is moving to a more affordable area.”

Wesley Romeril

Orem, UT

“Me and my wife got married in 2022. We moved into an very small 600 ish sqft apartment for $850. After a year at the apartment they wanted to renovate and charge $1200. The renovations included white walls, white walls, white countertops, white cupboards. We decided we needed to move so we went to a much nicer and slightly larger 1 bed 1 bath apartment. This was $1200 but significantly nicer. However with an apartment management company there was a mandatory $100 media package, a $50 dog fee,...”

Taelor Wright

Orem, UT

Owning a Home Feels Impossible…
Let’s change that!

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Community Stories

Owning a Home Feels Impossible…Let’s change that!

Real Stories, Real Impact

Now it’s Your turn

Why Your Story Matters

Your Privacy & Control

Owning a Home Feels Impossible…
Let’s change that!