Avocado toast, hard seltzers, and Instagrammable vacations are not the reasons millennials and our Gen Z compatriots have failed to scrimp, save and budget our way into home ownership.

I've long been an ardent defender of renting and I stand behind the sentiment that it doesn’t equate to throwing your money away. Still, the chaotic rental market of recent years has made buying seem like the practical move, even in cities with a high cost of living, at least from a logistics and emotional turmoil perspective. The problem is that prospective homebuyers across the country are facing a housing shortage, are frequently boxed out in bidding wars, and have watched their purchasing power erode as mortgage rates surge.

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Millennials, Keep Your Avocado Toast and Ditch the Dream House