You must have lived at a time when everyone could have bought their house for cash. That must have been great--going for a loan when you had the entire amount in your bank account.
and in the world I grew up in the loan application would have been rejected. Once upon a time you could only get a loan if you didn't need it....banks stayed solvent that way.
In 1970 we bought a house for $17,500. At the time I was earning $5.00 @ hr and my new wife worked part time. We did need a co-signer. It was a long time ago but I think the payment was $125.00 a month.
Today that house is worth around $300,000 and someone in my trade would be earning about $25.00 an hr. No way a working class person can afford that house. Prices of houses sky rocketed but their pay did not.
Our monthly payment was 15% of my gross earnings. Today 15% of gross earnings of today's earnings is barely enough to by a car.
There was a time when I was building houses for the working class. Today only the effluent can afford to build.