HOUSING: Paradise lost

As to the rising cost of homes: I heard a financial adviser say that large real estate investment firms are running algorithms that search homes for sale in so-called “desirable markets,” which seem to be every town in the Northwest, and buying them sight unseen, thus driving up the price of homes dramatically.

However, this is causing serious repercussions. Young locals are moving to the Midwest where homes and rents are affordable. Locally, jobs are going unfilled. The elderly have lost their caregivers. In Idaho, 200 day cares closed during COVID.

The business owner quoted in The Press said, “he doesn’t know what is the matter with people” that they aren’t grabbing his $8 and $10 jobs. Well, reality would be one reason. Try paying rent on an $8 or $10 job (even with the tips one gets anywhere but the top restaurants) and one can see why these jobs are going unfilled.

Rents are $1,000 and up and child care can cost $1,600 a month, if a mother can find a spot for her kids.

The prize that we Northwesterners always got for enduring the long, cold winters was the beautiful summers. Those are gone. The beautiful summer days are now filled with smoke. That’s a reason why these large investment firms may have invested unwisely. The Northwest is no longer the paradise it once was.

DONNA HARVEY

Hayden