[codingcodingboy]

I don't want to be negative and it's great to see what you've accomplished, the problems you are mentioning and alluding to are unfortunately not exclusive to your country, I could share some horror stories too and I come from the "developed and rich" western europe.

The point is that the net income you get is very high for european standars, let alone Romania. With that level of income it is really weird that you cannot solve the problems you have.

The phrase "I would still need to not spend anything for a year to be able to afford a house" is bonkers.

[mathverse]

No offense but you seem very uneducated in the matter. Being self employed makes it more difficult for OP to get a loan while "good" real estate is reaching almost western european level of prices in Central & Eastern Europe.

Your post reeks of jealousy for OP's net salary but you fail to account for your accumulated wealth over time of you and your family. OP's had not been earning this wage for years while you and your family has.

OP probably uses a lot of his net salary to support his spouse and family while you dont have to do that.

[alin23]

Bonkers it is yet it’s true. The house prices are a joke right now here. I don’t know what drives such prices, 95% of Romanians will never be able to afford a €200k house with 50sqm of paved courtyard in front. Supply and demand my ass…

Believe me, I’m so sick of “calling for details” because everyone hides most useful details in the house ad, then asking if it has paperwork ready which most don’t and expect you to buy the house based on how the house looked 20 years ago before heavy renovations with the cheapest materials possible, then spending numbing hours on trains to get to see that house in real life only to see how many lies were said on the phone and how that house would never be evaluated at more than half its price…

That above is extremely common, I’ve been going through this for the past 4 years and I’m So. Sick. Of. It.

[poseva]

If you think house prices are a joke now, just wait 2-3 years.

I'm actually a structural engineer with a passion for passive houses and went into programming 8 years ago. I designed and built a lot of houses and I know what you're talking about.. the house builders chase profits disregarding any laws.

IMHO the best thing is to buy a lot and build yourself the house, this way you are sure that you get what you want.

[hiAndrewQuinn]

To my ears, supply and demand sounds like it makes a lot of sense here. Romania began as a country where most people owned their home, and still is; and it sounds like making the move from owning to renting comes with significant loss of political privileges, like healthcare, apparently. If I didn't speak English and would lose access to healthcare if I sold my house, I probably wouldn't sell it either unless it was absolutely necessary. Hence the supply is low, and when you throw corruption on top of that...

OP, consider moving to a country where renting doesn't turn you into a second class citizen if this really bothers you so much. It's counterintuitive, but you'll probably find the property markets to also be more sane there.