Arksansas - Where it's a crime to not pay rent.

[dfrecore]

Yeah, the whole scenario is nuts.

And just an FYI, my daughter's 17yo friend just got a job here at In-N-Out Burger working the cash register, she's going to be making $14/hr. She could easily make $16,000, save up every penny (lives with her parents since she's still in HS), do that all the way through college and save $72k. That's a pretty nice down payment for a college student. I think she could afford a house in CA or just about anywhere with that kind of cash. So obviously it's not impossible to buy a house here. And this scenario is similar to the one you used - she'd be on welfare (parents paying living expenses and college), have "roommates" (sibling and parents) and do it for 4 1/2 years or so.

I'm still not going to recommend that she move to Arkansas and buy a house after she saves up that first $16k though.