Reply to The median Boomer has a housing cost of $612. That includes taxes and insurance.

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Some, not all, millennials want that perfect, large house right out of the gate. The kitchen is dated? Lazy boomers! Also, hard pass.

More realistic is to start small (condo or starter house) and move up the property ladder.

Then find a forever home that’s a fixer-upper and fix up the necessary things but don’t buy into all the marketing and real estate bs about how you need the perfect kitchen before you move in.

We fixed up a house with two small kids and both of us working full time. Now we have an objectively “nice” house with lots of memories. I’m not going to downsize into a more expensive, smaller place just because OP is afraid of a little elbow grease. [/quote]

Tale end of the Boomer generation here.  Lived in a one bedroom, basement apartment in crummy neighborhood with 2 roommates right out of college for several years to save money to go to grad school.

After grad school, DH and I saved until we could afford to buy into a tenancy in common that we then converted to 2 condos with our co-owners.  Took a huge risk on a charming but very dated flat in a supposedly up and coming neighborhood. Interest rate for mortgage was 8%. When sold, made strong profit thanks to the fact that a condo was more valuable than a TIC.

Moved to 2000 square foot, 4 bedroom house in a very desirable neighborhood that needed significant work. Lived in house for almost 20 years before replacing old kitchen with an Ikea kitchen.  Bathrooms still need to be remodeled.   Raised 3 kids in the house who are now out of college. House, or more precisely, the lot the house is on, is now worth at least 3 times what we paid for it.

Meanwhile I watch my nieces and nephews in their late 20s, as well as my own children to a certain extent, complain about how they will never be able to afford a house.  Yet they rent in expensive neighborhoods, generally don't have roommates, eat dinner out almost every night, take expensive vacations, buy expensive clothes and yes, drink those $$$ lattes.

Sorry OP but DH and I took took risks and sacrificed all these years to reach the point and we have no plans to downsize. [/quote]
This is our story, too. We really did it with not a great amount of income and high mortgage rates. I don't get all the whining . [/quote]

Its so crazy to me how everyone is willfully ignoring that home prices have risen significantly faster than incomes have. Your income and savings back when you bought your home worked, but if you were born 12 years ago, it wouldnt. Maybe your point is - that sucks, move even further out. But a lot of millenials dont want to live out in deep in the suburbs and commute 1+ hour a day. And yes people spend money on toast and lattes- and that is $20. In a year thats like $1200. Its not exactly needle moving. Why is that so hard to understand? [/quote]

So, to summarize:
1) millennials don’t want to sacrifice the way their parents and grandparents did;
2) millennials want to own nice houses in close-in neighborhoods AND eat cake, well toast, too; and,
3) millennials don’t understand why their parents and grandparents don’t understand.

[/quote]
I don't think it's nearly as straightforward as this.  It is a combination of factors:
1) Housing DOES cost more relative to wages than it did 40 years ago
2) Younger Millennials/Gen Z DON'T want to live in the kind of crummy housing that Boomers/GenX lived in at the beginning of their career.  Think shared dilapidated group house/aparment in a crummy neighborhood with no AC/laundry/dishwasher.
3) The expectation of what they want in a house has risen -- think newer construction, updated, walkable neighborhood, easy commute.
As others have pointed out, there is still some somewhat affordable housing in the DMV, it just might not be in the condition or location that is desired.  [/quote]

1) Housing DOES cost more relative to wages than it did 40 years ago

Accurate. There is plenty of economic data to back this up.

2) Younger Millennials/Gen Z DON'T want to live in the kind of crummy housing that Boomers/GenX lived in at the beginning of their career.  Think shared dilapidated group house/aparment in a crummy neighborhood with no AC/laundry/dishwasher.

See #1 above. Housing costs more relative to income than it used to. That dilapidated group house now takes up an even huger percentage of your income than it used to, so yeah people are going to complain that they’re spending 4-5x their annual income to buy a dump vs 2x their annual income to buy a dump (leaving some $ leftover to fix it up or save up to move). Also, it’s depressing to go to grad school and get a decent job and your options are are old, expensive dumps that used to be workforce housing for people with HS degrees. Again, see #1. And it trickles down so the people today with just a HS degree are renting dumps with no hope of buying and moving their way up.

I know this b/c my parents had only HS degrees and were able to eventually move up to the nice new construction home while having a SAHP, which just isn’t happening in today’s economy.

3) The expectation of what they want in a house has risen -- think newer construction, updated, walkable neighborhood, easy commute.
As others have pointed out, there is still some somewhat affordable housing in the DMV, it just might not be in the condition or location that is desired.

Yeah this is admittedly part of it. Tastes change. Boomers built up car dependent sprawl and that just isn’t desirable today. Gas prices are higher and we’re realizing how unhealthy the long haul commuter lifestyle is. Also, commuting was easier with the ability to have one parent SAH. So the rise in dual income families makes that non-walkable, long commute neighborhood a greater hardship than it was when it was shiny and new to the boomers (not to mention more expensive, see #1 above).[/quote]

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