Genz and millennials don't want your small starter homes want forever homes now

[Anonymous]

In some areas older homes are historical (lots of it in DC) and you cannot demolish them to build new. You are also limited to what you do with the facade, but you can gut renovate them. Are you saying this small homes are universally undesirable too, or you are referring to mid century utilitarian brick boxes? Those can be renovated with additions and completely changed too, and in areas where new homes go for over 3 mil (common in inter burbs of DC) or even above 4 mil, these older homes are indeed starter homes sold for the price of the land.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IME the "starter homes" our friends had were condos, not moldy SFHs

Depends where. Starter homes in my circles were condos in big cities, tract homes in cheaper COL states or moldy old SFHs in HCOL suburbs that they remodeled and sold for profit or upgraded later or even remained living in because they liked the area and couldn’t afford anything better, but could afford to make changes to their property. Buying an old home and later building a new one or gut renovating/adding on is hardly unusual in HCOL area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IME the "starter homes" our friends had were condos, not moldy SFHs

Condos are a scam. If you don’t own the land under your house you ate throwing away money.

Both owning your home (condo or single family) and being a renter involve "throwing money away". The question is how much money are you spending vs how much equity are you building up vs how much money are you saving. And do you like where you live? Our friends had some nice condos.

Condos don’t appreciate. They lose value after adjusting for inflation. SFHs tend to hold their value after adjusting for inflation or appreciate. Generally, condos make you poorer, and you are better off renting rather than buying a condo. HOA fees (for condos) also tend to increase much faster than inflation due to misaligned incentives that discourage HOAs from adequately maintaining shared structures.
Here are some inflation-adjusted examples of why condos are a terrible investment
https://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/1201-E-West-Hwy-20910/unit-335/home/12330282 (2013->2025 17% decline in value)
https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/326-8th-St-NE-20002/unit-402/home/10190022 (2004->2025 29% decline in value)
https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/1205-N-Garfield-St-22201/unit-609/home/11281068 (2010->2025 9% decline in value)
https://www.redfin.com/VA/McLean/1511-Lincoln-Way-22102/unit-201B/home/9838476 (2003->2025 17% decline in value)

DP. It all depends on what you want in life. Condos are infinitely less maintenance than SFHs and there is a value for people’s time. We lived in a condo in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor. And it was, all in, about 1,000 per month cheaper than when we rented in the same neighborhood and didn’t have random fees for owning a dog or other random things. Agree that HOAs fees tend to go up over time but so do rents.

Now we live in a nice SFH but there’s just so much time that goes into everything. Getting multiple quotes for any work done, doing yard work (or finding someone to do it), etc. The appreciation is way better but so is the aggravation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Despite all the btching, millennials are the richest generation in history. And they don't give a fck about having kids, so that expense is out of the way. They want big houses and nice cars. Millennials are just Boomers 2.0.

Only a small percentage of millennials are wealthy though bc the income gap is the greatest it’s ever been w this generation.

PP, and I agree. And they're demanding big houses. For all the supposed hate between the millennials and boomers, history is definitely rhyming with their extravagant tastes and puerile entitlement.

I guess my point was that the majority of millennials cannot afford even a starter home because of this extreme income inequality and the ones in this generation who are “demanding” and “entitled” are a very small percentage of millennials. Also, millennials are ages 29-44 now and most are struggling financially even though they’ve been out of college and working for many years at this point. They are Not just starting out their adult lives—that would be gen z.

Tell them to get off their phones and get a better job and a second job. Save, live frugally and they can buy a house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Despite all the btching, millennials are the richest generation in history. And they don't give a fck about having kids, so that expense is out of the way. They want big houses and nice cars. Millennials are just Boomers 2.0.

Only a small percentage of millennials are wealthy though bc the income gap is the greatest it’s ever been w this generation.

PP, and I agree. And they're demanding big houses. For all the supposed hate between the millennials and boomers, history is definitely rhyming with their extravagant tastes and puerile entitlement.

I guess my point was that the majority of millennials cannot afford even a starter home because of this extreme income inequality and the ones in this generation who are “demanding” and “entitled” are a very small percentage of millennials. Also, millennials are ages 29-44 now and most are struggling financially even though they’ve been out of college and working for many years at this point. They are Not just starting out their adult lives—that would be gen z.

Tell them to get off their phones and get a better job and a second job. Save, live frugally and they can buy a house.

Oh yes Grandpa, that $2.50 a day they will save giving up coffee will surely make up the $1,500,000 difference in price between when you bought your house and now...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IME the "starter homes" our friends had were condos, not moldy SFHs

Depends where. Starter homes in my circles were condos in big cities, tract homes in cheaper COL states or moldy old SFHs in HCOL suburbs that they remodeled and sold for profit or upgraded later or even remained living in because they liked the area and couldn’t afford anything better, but could afford to make changes to their property. Buying an old home and later building a new one or gut renovating/adding on is hardly unusual in HCOL area.

This is my path. Started with a dump that I fixed up and climbed the ladder and landed on one of the best streets in the best parts of DC. Took some serious patience, hard work and the help of bank products that no longer exists to get it done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Despite all the btching, millennials are the richest generation in history. And they don't give a fck about having kids, so that expense is out of the way. They want big houses and nice cars. Millennials are just Boomers 2.0.

Only a small percentage of millennials are wealthy though bc the income gap is the greatest it’s ever been w this generation.

PP, and I agree. And they're demanding big houses. For all the supposed hate between the millennials and boomers, history is definitely rhyming with their extravagant tastes and puerile entitlement.

I guess my point was that the majority of millennials cannot afford even a starter home because of this extreme income inequality and the ones in this generation who are “demanding” and “entitled” are a very small percentage of millennials. Also, millennials are ages 29-44 now and most are struggling financially even though they’ve been out of college and working for many years at this point. They are Not just starting out their adult lives—that would be gen z.

Tell them to get off their phones and get a better job and a second job. Save, live frugally and they can buy a house.

Oh yes Grandpa, that $2.50 a day they will save giving up coffee will surely make up the $1,500,000 difference in price between when you bought your house and now...

First off, get a better attitude. You give off the pungent odor of defeatism and it stinks.

Secondly, the S&P is up 630/230/77% since 2010,15, and 2020. Salaries are way up across that time too. You have to be a tool or a lummox not to be able to get paid in this area so get paid, invest and hunt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Despite all the btching, millennials are the richest generation in history. And they don't give a fck about having kids, so that expense is out of the way. They want big houses and nice cars. Millennials are just Boomers 2.0.

Only a small percentage of millennials are wealthy though bc the income gap is the greatest it’s ever been w this generation.

PP, and I agree. And they're demanding big houses. For all the supposed hate between the millennials and boomers, history is definitely rhyming with their extravagant tastes and puerile entitlement.

I guess my point was that the majority of millennials cannot afford even a starter home because of this extreme income inequality and the ones in this generation who are “demanding” and “entitled” are a very small percentage of millennials. Also, millennials are ages 29-44 now and most are struggling financially even though they’ve been out of college and working for many years at this point. They are Not just starting out their adult lives—that would be gen z.

Tell them to get off their phones and get a better job and a second job. Save, live frugally and they can buy a house.

Oh yes Grandpa, that $2.50 a day they will save giving up coffee will surely make up the $1,500,000 difference in price between when you bought your house and now...

My cousin and her friends spend $30 a day or more on coffee, breakfast and lunch. Could easily add up to $900 in a month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Despite all the btching, millennials are the richest generation in history. And they don't give a fck about having kids, so that expense is out of the way. They want big houses and nice cars. Millennials are just Boomers 2.0.

Only a small percentage of millennials are wealthy though bc the income gap is the greatest it’s ever been w this generation.

PP, and I agree. And they're demanding big houses. For all the supposed hate between the millennials and boomers, history is definitely rhyming with their extravagant tastes and puerile entitlement.

I guess my point was that the majority of millennials cannot afford even a starter home because of this extreme income inequality and the ones in this generation who are “demanding” and “entitled” are a very small percentage of millennials. Also, millennials are ages 29-44 now and most are struggling financially even though they’ve been out of college and working for many years at this point. They are Not just starting out their adult lives—that would be gen z.

Tell them to get off their phones and get a better job and a second job. Save, live frugally and they can buy a house.

Oh yes Grandpa, that $2.50 a day they will save giving up coffee will surely make up the $1,500,000 difference in price between when you bought your house and now...

My cousin and her friends spend $30 a day or more on coffee, breakfast and lunch. Could easily add up to $900 in a month.

Wow, your cousin and her friends do it, that means all millenials must also, right?

And even if your one-off unsourced example did happen to be true for all millennials, $900/mo equals about $140,000 at current mortgage rates. Care to show me a DC area property you'd be OK living in that costs $140,000?

[Anonymous]

Lol, I'd love to be able to afford a "small starter home". We are two working professionals in NW DC and those homes start at $1.5M.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Despite all the btching, millennials are the richest generation in history. And they don't give a fck about having kids, so that expense is out of the way. They want big houses and nice cars. Millennials are just Boomers 2.0.

Only a small percentage of millennials are wealthy though bc the income gap is the greatest it’s ever been w this generation.

PP, and I agree. And they're demanding big houses. For all the supposed hate between the millennials and boomers, history is definitely rhyming with their extravagant tastes and puerile entitlement.

I guess my point was that the majority of millennials cannot afford even a starter home because of this extreme income inequality and the ones in this generation who are “demanding” and “entitled” are a very small percentage of millennials. Also, millennials are ages 29-44 now and most are struggling financially even though they’ve been out of college and working for many years at this point. They are Not just starting out their adult lives—that would be gen z.

Tell them to get off their phones and get a better job and a second job. Save, live frugally and they can buy a house.

Oh yes Grandpa, that $2.50 a day they will save giving up coffee will surely make up the $1,500,000 difference in price between when you bought your house and now...

My cousin and her friends spend $30 a day or more on coffee, breakfast and lunch. Could easily add up to $900 in a month.

Wow, your cousin and her friends do it, that means all millenials must also, right?

And even if your one-off unsourced example did happen to be true for all millennials, $900/mo equals about $140,000 at current mortgage rates. Care to show me a DC area property you'd be OK living in that costs $140,000?

It’s all a piece of the puzzle. That, plus their current rent, plus the income of a spouse/partner, would be enough to buy a condo or small townhouse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lol, I'd love to be able to afford a "small starter home". We are two working professionals in NW DC and those homes start at $1.5M.

Lol. "Starter homes" don't exist anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lol, I'd love to be able to afford a "small starter home". We are two working professionals in NW DC and those homes start at $1.5M.

Only two jobs? Get more jobs. As far back as the 1980s my cousins, she worked at PepsiCo and he in IT as a newlwed couple lived in a tiny run down dump in a shady nieghborhood in Queens over a store with trains flying by apartment all day to save for a house. She also was a coat check girl at a nearby catering hall on weekends, and for parties and he was a waiter bartender there. They worked 7 days a week for like 5-7 years to afford a house.

DC has only got expensive now. And a lot of homes near DC were pretty afffordable up to five years ago and very affordable 12-15 years ago after 2008 Real Estate Crash.

I work with people ages 35-45 who complain about home prices. The 45 year old people homes were cheap to buy from 21-40 for them. Why did they not buy sooner. I know a 36 year old married to a 38 year old with two kids in a luxury apartment. A prima donna who wanted to skip buying a condo or starter home. But prices got away from her. They are married 12 years. If they just bought a tiny run down shoe box in poor shape in 2012 they would be able to sell that now for a ton and buy their dream home.

I am ok with renting, but dont rent a large luxury apt for a decade and complain about home prices. Thats a new thing. Apts in NYC back 40 years ago were dumps that landlord barely maintained and goal was to get out. Maybe that was a good thing.

[Anonymous]

Three starter homes for sale in Rockville for $499,000 near metro. There are starter homes. Just not in Georgetown or McLean


https://www.redfin.com/MD/Rockville/1221-Highwood-Rd-20851/home/10512952

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rather than climb the ladder we will wait for the forever big home. Sorry please tear down those little homes and ensure you provide recently renovated or new larger homes

https://www.newsweek.com/gen-z-millennials-dont-want-buy-starter-homes-2069778

I don’t know why anyone thinks older owners should be spending their money to tear down or completely rebuild their home when they’re ready to sell. Whatever the buyer chooses to do is up to them. But expecting older people to forego their proceeds and likely money they need for their next phase is ridiculous.