Nick Tsueda

Nick is a young professional working in data sciences. He lives in the Springhurst area with his wife and has tried unsuccessfully to find a home for two years.

Tell us about your experience finding housing in Louisville.

Neither of my parents-- divorced-- own homes. I went to UofL while working full-time after graduating from South Oldham High School with Honors. I started my first full time job making $14/hr in skilled labor. I later transitioned to low level office work and have climbed the ladder. I have an 800 credit score and a favorable debt to income ratio (student loans and one vehicle loan). I have lived on my own (without family assistance) since I was 18, so paying rent, school, debts, and auto expenses made it impossible to save money until very recently. I am now married; my wife has never owned a home either. Combined our income is over 125% of median income for Louisville. There are no homes available in the places we want to live that we could comfortably afford. We started looking in 2021 and have browsed since with no luck. We have a real estate agent. At first low inventory and soaring prices were the problem. Now add soaring interest rates into the low inventory and soaring price mix. On the couple of condo's we could afford, one did not allow dogs while the other was not FHA approved. I have looked into housing programs, and there is nothing available to my wife and I except FHA or USDA (Louisville does not qualify for USDA).