Millennials: the house you grew up in vs. your house now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Millennials have never grown up.

Yeah, it is becoming more and more apparent. Unfortunately now they're raising kids. Yikes. This is an accident that's happening before our very eyes.

They have kids, daycare workers, teachers and grandparents are raising them

Ah, yes, because Boomers and Gen X never had teachers or grandparents help them raise their kids... (please note the dripping sarcasm).

In my case my parents and nearly all my friends parents were First Generation Irish, German, Italian etc. None of them had zero help from family or could afford to pay for anything at all to help raise their kids.

My co-workers and nieces and nephews who are Millennials it takes an entire village to raise two kids. Like day care during school year, camps in summer, after school programs, baby sitters, in-laws covering, maid, lawn service, handimen, tutors, pre-cooked meals. All for 1-2 kids.

What does this sentence mean? Immigrant communities tend to help each other A LOT especially with child care.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in a gorgeous townhouse on Capitol Hill that my mother, single and an ED of a nonprofit, could afford alone. My old house sold for over $1mil - no way in hell could I and my husband, who make more than she did, could afford this house. We bought a cute (tiny but honestly adorable) SFH in a much lower cost of living city. I’m priced out of my hometown, which is sad.

[Anonymous]

Grew up in Rockville split level
Now live in Chevy Chase colonial

[Anonymous]

arent you inheriting your childhood house anyway?

[Anonymous]

Grew up in 10k square feet with a pool on a big lot in the south. Now live in a 3 bed split level in DC proper on about 1/3 the land.

Childhood house is about double the cost of what we’re in now but should be way more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
If you move to an area that is like the area here was when your parents bought, you can have a big house.

What a crock.

Hmm let's see what AU Park was like when my parents bought back in 1985:

Nice housing stock, check!

Great public schools, check!

Short commute downtown, check!

Low crime, check!

Walkable to grocery stores and restaurants, check!

Affordable to regular middle class people, check!

Now let's jump to 2022, where exactly can you buy that checks all those boxes? My wife and I make significantly more than my parents did, inflation adjusted, when they bought their AU Park house and we are nowhere near being able to afford a SFH in that neighborhood or any neighborhood that checks even half of those boxes.

Raleigh
Charlotte
Charleston
Knoxville
Nashville

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Millennials have never grown up.

Yeah, it is becoming more and more apparent. Unfortunately now they're raising kids. Yikes. This is an accident that's happening before our very eyes.

They have kids, daycare workers, teachers and grandparents are raising them

Ah, yes, because Boomers and Gen X never had teachers or grandparents help them raise their kids... (please note the dripping sarcasm).

Gen X raised itself.

I certainly did. Parents both had very involved careers such that from 11 on, one was home to an empty house everyday. Definitely much much much more feral than my kids. Got my own jobs and got to and from them by myself. Learned to cook and clean and take care of pets. Folks just thought I could handle it so I did.

Grew up in a 3000 sq foot house on a nice lot on a great street in the Midwest. Now live in a 5000 square foot house on a 20k lot in NW DC. I think it’s one of the best residential streets in town.

[Anonymous]

Everyone will have their own story. Generalizing is wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do they compare? I am struggling coming to terms with the fact that our likely forever home is older, smaller by 1k sq ft (more for DH), and in a less desirable neighborhood than the home I grew up in. We make way more than either set of parents ever did and they were in this area as well, but of course housing prices have rapidly outpaced income so comparable homes to those we grew up in are hundreds of thousands out of reach for us. What about you?

Home I grew up in: parents still live there. 5 BR, 3 BA. 2700 sq ft. 1 car garage. Great yard. Interior not really updated. Zillow is at 610k. Now in undesirable schools, at least past ES. Built early 70s

My home now: 5 BR, 5 BA. 4500 sq ft. 2 car garage. Decent yard, needs a little upkeep. Not as big as parents yard. Interior molding, better interior, mostly brand new master bath remodel. Zillow is at 585k. Schools above average, not amazing. Built 2009.

[Anonymous]

Grew up in a lakefront ranch built in the 70s, took weekend trips on the boat, big backyard. Everything in the house was new and high-quality.
Now I have a 100 year old bungalow. We've done a lot of work and I find it charming but it's a tiny house. When I sit in my sunroom and look at the kids playing in the yard I can see two dozen other houses. I wish I could plop my house somewhere else. My furniture is all either junk from Ikea or antiques from my parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My house is probably the same square footage but it’s a tall skinny townhouse with no yard versus a single story house on a quarter acre. It’s impossible to compare but I think we did ok. Eventually I would love a yard but I'm happy with this is my 30s.

I went from a townhouse to a SFH with a small yard last year (a pandemic purchase so we would have outdoors space for our kids). I have to say, so far with toddlers, the yard is overrated. It's just something to mow and weed. Still, I love the house and deck and patio, so I'm happy overall, but I could do without so much yard.

For us: A nearby park >>> big lawn. We got a row house with a big deck and patio near a park. We did a yard once, never again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in a SFH that is was about 1,000 sq ft larger than the TH where I live. Childhood home was in a planned community with nice parks/rec amenities and a mix of SFH, TH, condos, and apartments. It was suburban with a mix of housing, and has become extremely high cost in the time after my family moved away. Housing there is so much worse than here. I look sometimes and come away feeling so grateful for what I have here. Here, I have a TH in a walkable neighborhood but for the same budget today there it would be a condo 500 sq ft smaller than the TH I have here.

Same here. Brand new SFH in 1995 that was 3000 Sq ft with 4 beds on almost half an acre lot for $180k that is now worth $800k. We are in a townhouse with 500 less Sq ft that we bought for $500k. It’s pretty crazy out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My house is probably the same square footage but it’s a tall skinny townhouse with no yard versus a single story house on a quarter acre. It’s impossible to compare but I think we did ok. Eventually I would love a yard but I'm happy with this is my 30s.

I went from a townhouse to a SFH with a small yard last year (a pandemic purchase so we would have outdoors space for our kids). I have to say, so far with toddlers, the yard is overrated. It's just something to mow and weed. Still, I love the house and deck and patio, so I'm happy overall, but I could do without so much yard.

For us: A nearby park >>> big lawn. We got a row house with a big deck and patio near a park. We did a yard once, never again.

+1

People get oversold on the big yard thing until they realize it’s more work on the adults than it is for the kids to play. They will go to their friends house or stay inside, not play out in the backyard. You’ll use that yard a few times a year. No thanks.

[Anonymous]

I'd say it's a comparable trade off.

Grew up: 3bd/2ba 1800sqft fantastic location walkable to everything- shops, restaurants, public transportation

Current: 5bd/2ba 3200sqft 35 mins out in the suburbs not walkable to much except a park

[Anonymous]

I grew up in a 70s modern ranch on the West Coast. Huge windows with tons of sunlight. I now live in a 1920s traditional colonial but thankfully not dark and depressing. I could not afford a modern house in DC. I think the best thing to do is not compare houses. I’m thankful to have a roof over my head. I was also lucky enough to buy at the bottom of the market. I have friends that still rent in the Bay Area. Focus on what you have, OP.