Buyers can't have it both ways

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Houses in our area are selling like hotcakes. These are 1980-2000 built homes, most have been updated or at least cleaned up/staged to look as neutral as possible, and going off the market immediately since the spring. Our offer was super competitive (e.g. no contingencies offered with 12 hr deadline before open house) and accepted. The last house that sold was under similar circumstances (they haven't closed yet but our neighbors are friend with the sellers and loooove to talk). HOWEVER there is a house that has been on the market for four weeks, has had one price drop, and no one has bit. Why? Because the owners have done nothing to update it/make it appealing to millennials - it has granny furniture, granny colors (dark red accent wall, hunter green dining room, anyone?), brass fixtures, old carpet, you name it (the kitchen is actually pretty nice - white cabs, gray counters, stainless appliances). It's at a great price now, but no one wants to touch it because it would require maybe $25,000 worth of work to get up to date (really just paint and replace carpets and fixtures). I just don't get it - you can't have it both ways, folks? Can't complain there are no houses on the market, but then not buy a house that's a great deal!

That's 25k in cash and most people are very cash poor immediately after a home purchase

This is it. Most of us are already spending more than we want to just to get the house.

Actually lots of millennials just add $25k to the mortgage. I know millennials who have done this.

You can add $25K to a mortgage and get cash back? What?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Millennials here are proving my point, y’all are lazy!!

Anyone can take down wallpaper and re-paint. That’s not bad, just time-consuming. You can also learn a lot about relatively minor stuff from YouTube videos, like installing a new kitchen faucet. But are you going to do your entire kitchen renovation yourself? Are you going to demo, hang those cabinets, take the right accurate measurements to get the granite guys to cut you the right size counter top, and while you’re at it demo your current flooring and then install your new floors? Are you going to rip out and then install a brand new toilet in your half bath to replace the one the previous owners hadn’t touched in 30 years?? It’s not “lazy,” it’s just being stretched financially to where you can’t afford to make hire contractors to make big repairs right away.

+1. I am a millennial, we bought a house that needed absolutely everything last May.

Let me walk you through our timeline for just the kitchen -
Closed in May - husband and I went back to work after very generous parental leave with our first at this point so things got hairy for a few weeks
Ordered cabinets in early June
Ordered appliances in July
Appliances arrived in August, but oops, the wrong dishwasher got sent
Hardwood floors refinished in mid-August because of scheduling issues on his end
Correct appliances arrived in September
Cabinets showed up first week of October
GC came by mid October to throw the cabinets in - one was broken upon delivery
Ordered countertops mid October, installed early November
Had our second kid May of '23
Broken cabinet replacement showed up June of '23 (yes, 8.5 months later)
GC came back out in July to install the kickplates, cabinet pulls, and final cabinet

This is also with my dad being a GC so we were using his contacts - paying a fair price but at least the people showed up when they said they would. The cost of labor has gone up astronomically in the last few years. We blew the ballpark budget, even with being more Home Depot people than like, Restoration Hardware. And, we lived with my parents during this entire process and paid them a friends & family rate for living there, ha. Where are people living during a gut reno?

I cannot begrudge anyone for not wanting to take this on. That is just one project. We've also moved walls, reno'd one of the bathrooms, had to replace the boiler, upgrade the electric, re-insulated the house, replaced the roof, had chimney repairs, had to replace the front stairs, etc. This is before we did things we want to do, like fix the landscaping, get a new couch, and all the other crap you need to buy that comes with living in a new space.

With 2 kids, 2 "big jobs", and everything else that you need to do, like getting the car fixed it is a LOT. My husband is handy and spends a lot of time around the house, but we also now have 2 under 2 so it's like, what gives?

Anyone seriously arguing that millenials are lazy for not wanting your grandma's house is out to lunch.

We're arguing that nobody needs a gut reno like yours, with new cabinets, new appliances, moving walls, and a bathroom reno right out of the gate, like you did. Nice for you that you swung hiring people to do this, and props for the humblebrag.

But the millennials who can't afford to do this--yeah, they should stop complaining about grandma's house. As long as grandma's house has good bones, they should learn to pick up a paintbrush and take the long view.

The house was falling apart. If I could show you the listing pictures without doxing myself, I would. The house needed most of the above outlined work to be habitable. Maybe not the wall moving, but yeah, everything else needed to make the house livable - and again, this is Home Depot grade stuff, not the La Cornue range. Are you expecting my husband to get his plumbing and electrical licenses so that we don't have to hire people?

What you're saying is that with your "big job" money you were able to buy a fixer-upper and pay somebody else to fix it up. But now you're bitter the sellers didn't do that for you, specifically to your taste. And you want our sympathy? Maybe you should have just taken your "big job" money and bought a different house so we wouldn't have to listen to you whine here.

We're talking about the unwashed millennial masses who lack your "big job" money and should give grandma's house another look. They're whining about something completely different: namely, they can't afford your massive gut reno and have to settle for grandma's house, but they're blaming grandma for not fixing it up and still selling it for a fixer-upper price. Agree that the roof and electrical system are priorities, so these impoverished millennials would need to do those stat. But an outdated kitchen and brown furniture that will be moved out, give me a break. Oh, and pick up a paintbrush.

-- boomer with a fantastic house

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there are people for whom the idea of painting by themselves or waiting 4-6 weeks to get carpet installers or plumbers in is just impossibly daunting.

A lot of us who grew up in the 70s and 80s were used to living in houses that still looked like 60s and 70s time capsules, so it’s normal for a house not to be perfectly updated at all times. I heard a thing yesterday on NPR about how younger buyers want turnkey. If you’re working all the time or have only seen Instagram houses, I can see how some brass and a red wall would be a lot.

Your real estate agent should be able to get painters, carpet installers in a week and plumbers in a day. My clients got three estimates from painters on Wednesday, and one is starting tomorrow morning and will be finished by next Wednesday. No carpet needed, but I scheduled carpet cleaners, window washers, power washer, and deep cleaners for next Thursday. These are phone calls -- nothing more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Millennials here are proving my point, y’all are lazy!!

Anyone can take down wallpaper and re-paint. That’s not bad, just time-consuming. You can also learn a lot about relatively minor stuff from YouTube videos, like installing a new kitchen faucet. But are you going to do your entire kitchen renovation yourself? Are you going to demo, hang those cabinets, take the right accurate measurements to get the granite guys to cut you the right size counter top, and while you’re at it demo your current flooring and then install your new floors? Are you going to rip out and then install a brand new toilet in your half bath to replace the one the previous owners hadn’t touched in 30 years?? It’s not “lazy,” it’s just being stretched financially to where you can’t afford to make hire contractors to make big repairs right away.

+1. I am a millennial, we bought a house that needed absolutely everything last May.

Let me walk you through our timeline for just the kitchen -
Closed in May - husband and I went back to work after very generous parental leave with our first at this point so things got hairy for a few weeks
Ordered cabinets in early June
Ordered appliances in July
Appliances arrived in August, but oops, the wrong dishwasher got sent
Hardwood floors refinished in mid-August because of scheduling issues on his end
Correct appliances arrived in September
Cabinets showed up first week of October
GC came by mid October to throw the cabinets in - one was broken upon delivery
Ordered countertops mid October, installed early November
Had our second kid May of '23
Broken cabinet replacement showed up June of '23 (yes, 8.5 months later)
GC came back out in July to install the kickplates, cabinet pulls, and final cabinet

This is also with my dad being a GC so we were using his contacts - paying a fair price but at least the people showed up when they said they would. The cost of labor has gone up astronomically in the last few years. We blew the ballpark budget, even with being more Home Depot people than like, Restoration Hardware. And, we lived with my parents during this entire process and paid them a friends & family rate for living there, ha. Where are people living during a gut reno?

I cannot begrudge anyone for not wanting to take this on. That is just one project. We've also moved walls, reno'd one of the bathrooms, had to replace the boiler, upgrade the electric, re-insulated the house, replaced the roof, had chimney repairs, had to replace the front stairs, etc. This is before we did things we want to do, like fix the landscaping, get a new couch, and all the other crap you need to buy that comes with living in a new space.

With 2 kids, 2 "big jobs", and everything else that you need to do, like getting the car fixed it is a LOT. My husband is handy and spends a lot of time around the house, but we also now have 2 under 2 so it's like, what gives?

Anyone seriously arguing that millenials are lazy for not wanting your grandma's house is out to lunch.

We're arguing that nobody needs a gut reno like yours, with new cabinets, new appliances, moving walls, and a bathroom reno right out of the gate, like you did. Nice for you that you swung hiring people to do this, and props for the humblebrag.

But the millennials who can't afford to do this--yeah, they should stop complaining about grandma's house. As long as grandma's house has good bones, they should learn to pick up a paintbrush and take the long view.

The house was falling apart. If I could show you the listing pictures without doxing myself, I would. The house needed most of the above outlined work to be habitable. Maybe not the wall moving, but yeah, everything else needed to make the house livable - and again, this is Home Depot grade stuff, not the La Cornue range. Are you expecting my husband to get his plumbing and electrical licenses so that we don't have to hire people?

What you're saying is that with your "big job" money you were able to buy a fixer-upper and pay somebody else to fix it up. But now you're bitter the sellers didn't do that for you, specifically to your taste. And you want our sympathy? Maybe you should have just taken your "big job" money and bought a different house so we wouldn't have to listen to you whine here.

We're talking about the unwashed millennial masses who lack your "big job" money and should give grandma's house another look. They're whining about something completely different: namely, they can't afford your massive gut reno and have to settle for grandma's house, but they're blaming grandma for not fixing it up and still selling it for a fixer-upper price. Agree that the roof and electrical system are priorities, so these impoverished millennials would need to do those stat. But an outdated kitchen and brown furniture that will be moved out, give me a break. Oh, and pick up a paintbrush.

-- boomer with a fantastic house

I'm not bitter/whining. Where did you get that?
Read my posts again, it was factual and lighthearted, not angry at all. I'm explaining why people don't want to take on a house that needs projects. You are seemingly taking it as a personal affront.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure it’s just cosmetic upgrades that need to be done?

+1000. First it looked like just a bit of old paint, and suddenly you realize your kids are sleeping inside a giant box of mold with sprinkles of lead and asbestos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure it’s just cosmetic upgrades that need to be done?

See that's the thing - when someone hasn't kept up a house - there are usually other issues. At least that's my experience in looking at homes that "need a little work".

OP here. We went to an open house and the house appears to be well maintained - the HVAC and water heater were less than 10 years old, kitchen appliances and cabinets, counters have clearly been upgraded.

Just because an older couple hasn’t updated their paint and furniture doesn’t mean they haven’t maintained the house!!

Yeah, I second this. My parents are incredibly meticulous about maintenance and spend a lot on “systems” but their decor is straight out of 1990. I don’t think there is much correlation. I see a lot of cosmetically updated houses with problems.

Some of it is that younger homeowners just don’t know that much about repairs and home maintenance—in the previous generation I feel like there were more white collar guys who had a woodworking shop in the basement or had grown up with a dad who was a plumber and knew a lot.

Totally agree - the previous owners of our home were meticulous about home maintenance. We did have to repaint, change out the lights and hardware, and replace flooring though. The flooring was very expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Millennials here are proving my point, y’all are lazy!!

Anyone can take down wallpaper and re-paint. That’s not bad, just time-consuming. You can also learn a lot about relatively minor stuff from YouTube videos, like installing a new kitchen faucet. But are you going to do your entire kitchen renovation yourself? Are you going to demo, hang those cabinets, take the right accurate measurements to get the granite guys to cut you the right size counter top, and while you’re at it demo your current flooring and then install your new floors? Are you going to rip out and then install a brand new toilet in your half bath to replace the one the previous owners hadn’t touched in 30 years?? It’s not “lazy,” it’s just being stretched financially to where you can’t afford to make hire contractors to make big repairs right away.

+1. I am a millennial, we bought a house that needed absolutely everything last May.

Let me walk you through our timeline for just the kitchen -
Closed in May - husband and I went back to work after very generous parental leave with our first at this point so things got hairy for a few weeks
Ordered cabinets in early June
Ordered appliances in July
Appliances arrived in August, but oops, the wrong dishwasher got sent
Hardwood floors refinished in mid-August because of scheduling issues on his end
Correct appliances arrived in September
Cabinets showed up first week of October
GC came by mid October to throw the cabinets in - one was broken upon delivery
Ordered countertops mid October, installed early November
Had our second kid May of '23
Broken cabinet replacement showed up June of '23 (yes, 8.5 months later)
GC came back out in July to install the kickplates, cabinet pulls, and final cabinet

This is also with my dad being a GC so we were using his contacts - paying a fair price but at least the people showed up when they said they would. The cost of labor has gone up astronomically in the last few years. We blew the ballpark budget, even with being more Home Depot people than like, Restoration Hardware. And, we lived with my parents during this entire process and paid them a friends & family rate for living there, ha. Where are people living during a gut reno?

I cannot begrudge anyone for not wanting to take this on. That is just one project. We've also moved walls, reno'd one of the bathrooms, had to replace the boiler, upgrade the electric, re-insulated the house, replaced the roof, had chimney repairs, had to replace the front stairs, etc. This is before we did things we want to do, like fix the landscaping, get a new couch, and all the other crap you need to buy that comes with living in a new space.

With 2 kids, 2 "big jobs", and everything else that you need to do, like getting the car fixed it is a LOT. My husband is handy and spends a lot of time around the house, but we also now have 2 under 2 so it's like, what gives?

Anyone seriously arguing that millenials are lazy for not wanting your grandma's house is out to lunch.

We're arguing that nobody needs a gut reno like yours, with new cabinets, new appliances, moving walls, and a bathroom reno right out of the gate, like you did. Nice for you that you swung hiring people to do this, and props for the humblebrag.

But the millennials who can't afford to do this--yeah, they should stop complaining about grandma's house. As long as grandma's house has good bones, they should learn to pick up a paintbrush and take the long view.

The house was falling apart. If I could show you the listing pictures without doxing myself, I would. The house needed most of the above outlined work to be habitable. Maybe not the wall moving, but yeah, everything else needed to make the house livable - and again, this is Home Depot grade stuff, not the La Cornue range. Are you expecting my husband to get his plumbing and electrical licenses so that we don't have to hire people?

What you're saying is that with your "big job" money you were able to buy a fixer-upper and pay somebody else to fix it up. But now you're bitter the sellers didn't do that for you, specifically to your taste. And you want our sympathy? Maybe you should have just taken your "big job" money and bought a different house so we wouldn't have to listen to you whine here.

We're talking about the unwashed millennial masses who lack your "big job" money and should give grandma's house another look. They're whining about something completely different: namely, they can't afford your massive gut reno and have to settle for grandma's house, but they're blaming grandma for not fixing it up and still selling it for a fixer-upper price. Agree that the roof and electrical system are priorities, so these impoverished millennials would need to do those stat. But an outdated kitchen and brown furniture that will be moved out, give me a break. Oh, and pick up a paintbrush.

-- boomer with a fantastic house

I'm not bitter/whining. Where did you get that?
Read my posts again, it was factual and lighthearted, not angry at all. I'm explaining why people don't want to take on a house that needs projects. You are seemingly taking it as a personal affront.

Nobody asked for your example of a gut reno that you financed with your "big job" money. Complaining that you had to hire people to do it instead of having it all turnkey is whining by definition.

Can we move past you and your issues, and ask why millennials who don't have "big job" money shouldn't give grandma's house another look? Or do you just want to keep spamming the thread with more tales about your gut reno?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure it’s just cosmetic upgrades that need to be done?

+1000. First it looked like just a bit of old paint, and suddenly you realize your kids are sleeping inside a giant box of mold with sprinkles of lead and asbestos.

Just give yourself 2-3 years and you'll discover where your flipper cut corners. Good luck. LOL!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Millennials here are proving my point, y’all are lazy!!

Anyone can take down wallpaper and re-paint. That’s not bad, just time-consuming. You can also learn a lot about relatively minor stuff from YouTube videos, like installing a new kitchen faucet. But are you going to do your entire kitchen renovation yourself? Are you going to demo, hang those cabinets, take the right accurate measurements to get the granite guys to cut you the right size counter top, and while you’re at it demo your current flooring and then install your new floors? Are you going to rip out and then install a brand new toilet in your half bath to replace the one the previous owners hadn’t touched in 30 years?? It’s not “lazy,” it’s just being stretched financially to where you can’t afford to make hire contractors to make big repairs right away.

+1. I am a millennial, we bought a house that needed absolutely everything last May.

Let me walk you through our timeline for just the kitchen -
Closed in May - husband and I went back to work after very generous parental leave with our first at this point so things got hairy for a few weeks
Ordered cabinets in early June
Ordered appliances in July
Appliances arrived in August, but oops, the wrong dishwasher got sent
Hardwood floors refinished in mid-August because of scheduling issues on his end
Correct appliances arrived in September
Cabinets showed up first week of October
GC came by mid October to throw the cabinets in - one was broken upon delivery
Ordered countertops mid October, installed early November
Had our second kid May of '23
Broken cabinet replacement showed up June of '23 (yes, 8.5 months later)
GC came back out in July to install the kickplates, cabinet pulls, and final cabinet

This is also with my dad being a GC so we were using his contacts - paying a fair price but at least the people showed up when they said they would. The cost of labor has gone up astronomically in the last few years. We blew the ballpark budget, even with being more Home Depot people than like, Restoration Hardware. And, we lived with my parents during this entire process and paid them a friends & family rate for living there, ha. Where are people living during a gut reno?

I cannot begrudge anyone for not wanting to take this on. That is just one project. We've also moved walls, reno'd one of the bathrooms, had to replace the boiler, upgrade the electric, re-insulated the house, replaced the roof, had chimney repairs, had to replace the front stairs, etc. This is before we did things we want to do, like fix the landscaping, get a new couch, and all the other crap you need to buy that comes with living in a new space.

With 2 kids, 2 "big jobs", and everything else that you need to do, like getting the car fixed it is a LOT. My husband is handy and spends a lot of time around the house, but we also now have 2 under 2 so it's like, what gives?

Anyone seriously arguing that millenials are lazy for not wanting your grandma's house is out to lunch.

We're arguing that nobody needs a gut reno like yours, with new cabinets, new appliances, moving walls, and a bathroom reno right out of the gate, like you did. Nice for you that you swung hiring people to do this, and props for the humblebrag.

But the millennials who can't afford to do this--yeah, they should stop complaining about grandma's house. As long as grandma's house has good bones, they should learn to pick up a paintbrush and take the long view.

The house was falling apart. If I could show you the listing pictures without doxing myself, I would. The house needed most of the above outlined work to be habitable. Maybe not the wall moving, but yeah, everything else needed to make the house livable - and again, this is Home Depot grade stuff, not the La Cornue range. Are you expecting my husband to get his plumbing and electrical licenses so that we don't have to hire people?

What you're saying is that with your "big job" money you were able to buy a fixer-upper and pay somebody else to fix it up. But now you're bitter the sellers didn't do that for you, specifically to your taste. And you want our sympathy? Maybe you should have just taken your "big job" money and bought a different house so we wouldn't have to listen to you whine here.

We're talking about the unwashed millennial masses who lack your "big job" money and should give grandma's house another look. They're whining about something completely different: namely, they can't afford your massive gut reno and have to settle for grandma's house, but they're blaming grandma for not fixing it up and still selling it for a fixer-upper price. Agree that the roof and electrical system are priorities, so these impoverished millennials would need to do those stat. But an outdated kitchen and brown furniture that will be moved out, give me a break. Oh, and pick up a paintbrush.

-- boomer with a fantastic house

I'm not bitter/whining. Where did you get that?
Read my posts again, it was factual and lighthearted, not angry at all. I'm explaining why people don't want to take on a house that needs projects. You are seemingly taking it as a personal affront.

Nobody asked for your example of a gut reno that you financed with your "big job" money. Complaining that you had to hire people to do it instead of having it all turnkey is whining by definition.

Can we move past you and your issues, and ask why millennials who don't have "big job" money shouldn't give grandma's house another look? Or do you just want to keep spamming the thread with more tales about your gut reno?

Your tone is inappropriate and unwarranted. I was explaining why people don’t want to take on dilapidated houses with lots of seen (and unseen) deferred maintenance, with the perspective of someone who is living it. No whining in my posts. My first post in this thread was my timeline. You may want to unpack why you’re so angry with someone who’s sharing their lived experience. If anything, you’re the one disrupting the flow of the thread with your off topic rants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there are people for whom the idea of painting by themselves or waiting 4-6 weeks to get carpet installers or plumbers in is just impossibly daunting.

A lot of us who grew up in the 70s and 80s were used to living in houses that still looked like 60s and 70s time capsules, so it’s normal for a house not to be perfectly updated at all times. I heard a thing yesterday on NPR about how younger buyers want turnkey. If you’re working all the time or have only seen Instagram houses, I can see how some brass and a red wall would be a lot.

Your real estate agent should be able to get painters, carpet installers in a week and plumbers in a day. My clients got three estimates from painters on Wednesday, and one is starting tomorrow morning and will be finished by next Wednesday. No carpet needed, but I scheduled carpet cleaners, window washers, power washer, and deep cleaners for next Thursday. These are phone calls -- nothing more.

Gen X buyer here - we had a three week closing. Three weeks was plenty of time to find everyone we needed to get work done in the 3-4 days after we closed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Sorry, but I doubt any neighborhood in the DC area is "selling like hotcakes" in September 2023.

And if the market was truly as hot as you describe, then any house in any condition would sell, to developers, for instance, who will raze properties and build new.

So I don't dispute that un-renovated homes sell more slowly (DUH!), but I do dispute your description of your neighborhood.

You would be wrong abut that. My close-in Bethesda neighborhood is incredibly hot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure it’s just cosmetic upgrades that need to be done?

See that's the thing - when someone hasn't kept up a house - there are usually other issues. At least that's my experience in looking at homes that "need a little work".

Same here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Millennials here are proving my point, y’all are lazy!!

Anyone can take down wallpaper and re-paint. That’s not bad, just time-consuming. You can also learn a lot about relatively minor stuff from YouTube videos, like installing a new kitchen faucet. But are you going to do your entire kitchen renovation yourself? Are you going to demo, hang those cabinets, take the right accurate measurements to get the granite guys to cut you the right size counter top, and while you’re at it demo your current flooring and then install your new floors? Are you going to rip out and then install a brand new toilet in your half bath to replace the one the previous owners hadn’t touched in 30 years?? It’s not “lazy,” it’s just being stretched financially to where you can’t afford to make hire contractors to make big repairs right away.

+1. I am a millennial, we bought a house that needed absolutely everything last May.

Let me walk you through our timeline for just the kitchen -
Closed in May - husband and I went back to work after very generous parental leave with our first at this point so things got hairy for a few weeks
Ordered cabinets in early June
Ordered appliances in July
Appliances arrived in August, but oops, the wrong dishwasher got sent
Hardwood floors refinished in mid-August because of scheduling issues on his end
Correct appliances arrived in September
Cabinets showed up first week of October
GC came by mid October to throw the cabinets in - one was broken upon delivery
Ordered countertops mid October, installed early November
Had our second kid May of '23
Broken cabinet replacement showed up June of '23 (yes, 8.5 months later)
GC came back out in July to install the kickplates, cabinet pulls, and final cabinet

This is also with my dad being a GC so we were using his contacts - paying a fair price but at least the people showed up when they said they would. The cost of labor has gone up astronomically in the last few years. We blew the ballpark budget, even with being more Home Depot people than like, Restoration Hardware. And, we lived with my parents during this entire process and paid them a friends & family rate for living there, ha. Where are people living during a gut reno?

I cannot begrudge anyone for not wanting to take this on. That is just one project. We've also moved walls, reno'd one of the bathrooms, had to replace the boiler, upgrade the electric, re-insulated the house, replaced the roof, had chimney repairs, had to replace the front stairs, etc. This is before we did things we want to do, like fix the landscaping, get a new couch, and all the other crap you need to buy that comes with living in a new space.

With 2 kids, 2 "big jobs", and everything else that you need to do, like getting the car fixed it is a LOT. My husband is handy and spends a lot of time around the house, but we also now have 2 under 2 so it's like, what gives?

Anyone seriously arguing that millenials are lazy for not wanting your grandma's house is out to lunch.

We're arguing that nobody needs a gut reno like yours, with new cabinets, new appliances, moving walls, and a bathroom reno right out of the gate, like you did. Nice for you that you swung hiring people to do this, and props for the humblebrag.

But the millennials who can't afford to do this--yeah, they should stop complaining about grandma's house. As long as grandma's house has good bones, they should learn to pick up a paintbrush and take the long view.

The house was falling apart. If I could show you the listing pictures without doxing myself, I would. The house needed most of the above outlined work to be habitable. Maybe not the wall moving, but yeah, everything else needed to make the house livable - and again, this is Home Depot grade stuff, not the La Cornue range. Are you expecting my husband to get his plumbing and electrical licenses so that we don't have to hire people?

What you're saying is that with your "big job" money you were able to buy a fixer-upper and pay somebody else to fix it up. But now you're bitter the sellers didn't do that for you, specifically to your taste. And you want our sympathy? Maybe you should have just taken your "big job" money and bought a different house so we wouldn't have to listen to you whine here.

We're talking about the unwashed millennial masses who lack your "big job" money and should give grandma's house another look. They're whining about something completely different: namely, they can't afford your massive gut reno and have to settle for grandma's house, but they're blaming grandma for not fixing it up and still selling it for a fixer-upper price. Agree that the roof and electrical system are priorities, so these impoverished millennials would need to do those stat. But an outdated kitchen and brown furniture that will be moved out, give me a break. Oh, and pick up a paintbrush.

-- boomer with a fantastic house

I'm not bitter/whining. Where did you get that?
Read my posts again, it was factual and lighthearted, not angry at all. I'm explaining why people don't want to take on a house that needs projects. You are seemingly taking it as a personal affront.

Nobody asked for your example of a gut reno that you financed with your "big job" money. Complaining that you had to hire people to do it instead of having it all turnkey is whining by definition.

Can we move past you and your issues, and ask why millennials who don't have "big job" money shouldn't give grandma's house another look? Or do you just want to keep spamming the thread with more tales about your gut reno?

DP (and Gen Xer), what is your obsession with forcing millennials to purchase grandma’s old house and paint it themselves? It’s bizarre. If they don’t want grandma’s house with her floral wallpaper and outdated bathrooms and kitchen, then they keep looking. They are not obligated to put in offers for full listing price on a house they don’t like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Millennials here are proving my point, y’all are lazy!!

Anyone can take down wallpaper and re-paint. That’s not bad, just time-consuming. You can also learn a lot about relatively minor stuff from YouTube videos, like installing a new kitchen faucet. But are you going to do your entire kitchen renovation yourself? Are you going to demo, hang those cabinets, take the right accurate measurements to get the granite guys to cut you the right size counter top, and while you’re at it demo your current flooring and then install your new floors? Are you going to rip out and then install a brand new toilet in your half bath to replace the one the previous owners hadn’t touched in 30 years?? It’s not “lazy,” it’s just being stretched financially to where you can’t afford to make hire contractors to make big repairs right away.

+1. I am a millennial, we bought a house that needed absolutely everything last May.

Let me walk you through our timeline for just the kitchen -
Closed in May - husband and I went back to work after very generous parental leave with our first at this point so things got hairy for a few weeks
Ordered cabinets in early June
Ordered appliances in July
Appliances arrived in August, but oops, the wrong dishwasher got sent
Hardwood floors refinished in mid-August because of scheduling issues on his end
Correct appliances arrived in September
Cabinets showed up first week of October
GC came by mid October to throw the cabinets in - one was broken upon delivery
Ordered countertops mid October, installed early November
Had our second kid May of '23
Broken cabinet replacement showed up June of '23 (yes, 8.5 months later)
GC came back out in July to install the kickplates, cabinet pulls, and final cabinet

This is also with my dad being a GC so we were using his contacts - paying a fair price but at least the people showed up when they said they would. The cost of labor has gone up astronomically in the last few years. We blew the ballpark budget, even with being more Home Depot people than like, Restoration Hardware. And, we lived with my parents during this entire process and paid them a friends & family rate for living there, ha. Where are people living during a gut reno?

I cannot begrudge anyone for not wanting to take this on. That is just one project. We've also moved walls, reno'd one of the bathrooms, had to replace the boiler, upgrade the electric, re-insulated the house, replaced the roof, had chimney repairs, had to replace the front stairs, etc. This is before we did things we want to do, like fix the landscaping, get a new couch, and all the other crap you need to buy that comes with living in a new space.

With 2 kids, 2 "big jobs", and everything else that you need to do, like getting the car fixed it is a LOT. My husband is handy and spends a lot of time around the house, but we also now have 2 under 2 so it's like, what gives?

Anyone seriously arguing that millenials are lazy for not wanting your grandma's house is out to lunch.

We're arguing that nobody needs a gut reno like yours, with new cabinets, new appliances, moving walls, and a bathroom reno right out of the gate, like you did. Nice for you that you swung hiring people to do this, and props for the humblebrag.

But the millennials who can't afford to do this--yeah, they should stop complaining about grandma's house. As long as grandma's house has good bones, they should learn to pick up a paintbrush and take the long view.

The house was falling apart. If I could show you the listing pictures without doxing myself, I would. The house needed most of the above outlined work to be habitable. Maybe not the wall moving, but yeah, everything else needed to make the house livable - and again, this is Home Depot grade stuff, not the La Cornue range. Are you expecting my husband to get his plumbing and electrical licenses so that we don't have to hire people?

What you're saying is that with your "big job" money you were able to buy a fixer-upper and pay somebody else to fix it up. But now you're bitter the sellers didn't do that for you, specifically to your taste. And you want our sympathy? Maybe you should have just taken your "big job" money and bought a different house so we wouldn't have to listen to you whine here.

We're talking about the unwashed millennial masses who lack your "big job" money and should give grandma's house another look. They're whining about something completely different: namely, they can't afford your massive gut reno and have to settle for grandma's house, but they're blaming grandma for not fixing it up and still selling it for a fixer-upper price. Agree that the roof and electrical system are priorities, so these impoverished millennials would need to do those stat. But an outdated kitchen and brown furniture that will be moved out, give me a break. Oh, and pick up a paintbrush.

-- boomer with a fantastic house

I'm not bitter/whining. Where did you get that?
Read my posts again, it was factual and lighthearted, not angry at all. I'm explaining why people don't want to take on a house that needs projects. You are seemingly taking it as a personal affront.

Nobody asked for your example of a gut reno that you financed with your "big job" money. Complaining that you had to hire people to do it instead of having it all turnkey is whining by definition.

Can we move past you and your issues, and ask why millennials who don't have "big job" money shouldn't give grandma's house another look? Or do you just want to keep spamming the thread with more tales about your gut reno?

DP (and Gen Xer), what is your obsession with forcing millennials to purchase grandma’s old house and paint it themselves? It’s bizarre. If they don’t want grandma’s house with her floral wallpaper and outdated bathrooms and kitchen, then they keep looking. They are not obligated to put in offers for full listing price on a house they don’t like.

Calling it granny’s house is just a cute way of saying it’s a fixer-upper. Nobody is forcing you to buy a fixer-upper, don’t be histrionic.

What we’re saying is that you can’t have it all. If you can’t afford a turnkey with the gorgeous kitchen all ready and waiting for you, then it’s time to settle for the fixer-upper like every generation before you has done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Millennials here are proving my point, y’all are lazy!!

Anyone can take down wallpaper and re-paint. That’s not bad, just time-consuming. You can also learn a lot about relatively minor stuff from YouTube videos, like installing a new kitchen faucet. But are you going to do your entire kitchen renovation yourself? Are you going to demo, hang those cabinets, take the right accurate measurements to get the granite guys to cut you the right size counter top, and while you’re at it demo your current flooring and then install your new floors? Are you going to rip out and then install a brand new toilet in your half bath to replace the one the previous owners hadn’t touched in 30 years?? It’s not “lazy,” it’s just being stretched financially to where you can’t afford to make hire contractors to make big repairs right away.

+1. I am a millennial, we bought a house that needed absolutely everything last May.

Let me walk you through our timeline for just the kitchen -
Closed in May - husband and I went back to work after very generous parental leave with our first at this point so things got hairy for a few weeks
Ordered cabinets in early June
Ordered appliances in July
Appliances arrived in August, but oops, the wrong dishwasher got sent
Hardwood floors refinished in mid-August because of scheduling issues on his end
Correct appliances arrived in September
Cabinets showed up first week of October
GC came by mid October to throw the cabinets in - one was broken upon delivery
Ordered countertops mid October, installed early November
Had our second kid May of '23
Broken cabinet replacement showed up June of '23 (yes, 8.5 months later)
GC came back out in July to install the kickplates, cabinet pulls, and final cabinet

This is also with my dad being a GC so we were using his contacts - paying a fair price but at least the people showed up when they said they would. The cost of labor has gone up astronomically in the last few years. We blew the ballpark budget, even with being more Home Depot people than like, Restoration Hardware. And, we lived with my parents during this entire process and paid them a friends & family rate for living there, ha. Where are people living during a gut reno?

I cannot begrudge anyone for not wanting to take this on. That is just one project. We've also moved walls, reno'd one of the bathrooms, had to replace the boiler, upgrade the electric, re-insulated the house, replaced the roof, had chimney repairs, had to replace the front stairs, etc. This is before we did things we want to do, like fix the landscaping, get a new couch, and all the other crap you need to buy that comes with living in a new space.

With 2 kids, 2 "big jobs", and everything else that you need to do, like getting the car fixed it is a LOT. My husband is handy and spends a lot of time around the house, but we also now have 2 under 2 so it's like, what gives?

Anyone seriously arguing that millenials are lazy for not wanting your grandma's house is out to lunch.

We're arguing that nobody needs a gut reno like yours, with new cabinets, new appliances, moving walls, and a bathroom reno right out of the gate, like you did. Nice for you that you swung hiring people to do this, and props for the humblebrag.

But the millennials who can't afford to do this--yeah, they should stop complaining about grandma's house. As long as grandma's house has good bones, they should learn to pick up a paintbrush and take the long view.

The house was falling apart. If I could show you the listing pictures without doxing myself, I would. The house needed most of the above outlined work to be habitable. Maybe not the wall moving, but yeah, everything else needed to make the house livable - and again, this is Home Depot grade stuff, not the La Cornue range. Are you expecting my husband to get his plumbing and electrical licenses so that we don't have to hire people?

What you're saying is that with your "big job" money you were able to buy a fixer-upper and pay somebody else to fix it up. But now you're bitter the sellers didn't do that for you, specifically to your taste. And you want our sympathy? Maybe you should have just taken your "big job" money and bought a different house so we wouldn't have to listen to you whine here.

We're talking about the unwashed millennial masses who lack your "big job" money and should give grandma's house another look. They're whining about something completely different: namely, they can't afford your massive gut reno and have to settle for grandma's house, but they're blaming grandma for not fixing it up and still selling it for a fixer-upper price. Agree that the roof and electrical system are priorities, so these impoverished millennials would need to do those stat. But an outdated kitchen and brown furniture that will be moved out, give me a break. Oh, and pick up a paintbrush.

-- boomer with a fantastic house

I'm not bitter/whining. Where did you get that?
Read my posts again, it was factual and lighthearted, not angry at all. I'm explaining why people don't want to take on a house that needs projects. You are seemingly taking it as a personal affront.

Nobody asked for your example of a gut reno that you financed with your "big job" money. Complaining that you had to hire people to do it instead of having it all turnkey is whining by definition.

Can we move past you and your issues, and ask why millennials who don't have "big job" money shouldn't give grandma's house another look? Or do you just want to keep spamming the thread with more tales about your gut reno?

DP (and Gen Xer), what is your obsession with forcing millennials to purchase grandma’s old house and paint it themselves? It’s bizarre. If they don’t want grandma’s house with her floral wallpaper and outdated bathrooms and kitchen, then they keep looking. They are not obligated to put in offers for full listing price on a house they don’t like.

Calling it granny’s house is just a cute way of saying it’s a fixer-upper. Nobody is forcing you to buy a fixer-upper, don’t be histrionic.

What we’re saying is that you can’t have it all. If you can’t afford a turnkey with the gorgeous kitchen all ready and waiting for you, then it’s time to settle for the fixer-upper like every generation before you has done.

Plenty of millenials / Gen Z can have it all. The house at the end of my street sold for $1.9 this summer to two 28 year olds in tech. What point are you proving here, exactly? Are you just jealous?