While the article—First time homeowners need to be better prepared published in the Sunday Business Guardian of September 28—raises valid points about financial preparedness such as pre-approvals, budgeting discipline, and accounting for ancillary costs—I could not help but find its overall framing somewhat tone-deaf to the realities that many citizens face.
The narrative seems to suggest that first-time buyers fail primarily because of insufficient knowledge or inadequate preparation. In truth, the greater obstacle lies in structural conditions: stagnant wages, rising property values, and an ever-increasing cost of living.
For many who live paycheque to paycheque, the notion of amassing significant savings is not a matter of poor planning, but an economic impossibility.
To imply that the solution is merely to “save more” or “temper expectations” risks oversimplifying the issue and inadvertently places blame on those who are already financially overburdened. The conversation must shift beyond individual responsibility and toward systemic solutions—more accessible financing mechanisms, genuinely affordable housing initiatives and economic policies that align wages with market realities.
Those persons commenting within the article are quite evidently operate within a bubble. Their personal salaries may well permit them to secure a home with relative ease, but this insulates them from the economic hardships that ordinary citizens endure. They appear entirely oblivious to the lived struggles of the majority. My husband and I have experienced this reality firsthand, as have my sister and her husband.
To put the matter in perspective: the median cost of a home in Trinidad is approximately $1.3 million. Under the Government’s mortgage financing regime (TTMF), only individuals earning between $14,001 and $30,000 per month qualify for financing on properties up to $1.5 million at a 5 per cent interest rate.
Yet the uncomfortable truth is that most working people earn $6,000 to $10,000 per month—or less. When the entry point for a so-called “starter home” already exceeds $1 million, it is patently disingenuous to suggest that the solution lies in “better preparation” or stricter saving. The disconnect between financial reality and such advice is staggeringly gross.
Until such structural imbalances are addressed, the aspiration of homeownership will remain out of reach for far too many.
