Anonymous wrote:I don't think current elevated home prices are sustainable.

There is no way we could even afford to buy in our own neighborhood where we purchased in 2016. If some of our elderly neighbors sold, they still could barely buy a decent condo in this general area for the same price.

A bigger issue are the houses standing empty because the heirs don't want to sell them, for whatever reason.

Anonymous wrote:My parents sold their 4/3.5 house in the DC suburbs, and moved to SC. My mom says she “downsized” because she now has 3/3.5, but after all the “must have” upgrades, she only saved about $40k in purchase price. In rural SC. It blows my mind.

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Anonymous wrote:This is why boomers are annoying to so many of us.

You’re so entitled.

Entitled to the things they earned?

"Entitled" to an exponential increase in home values? "Earned" that?

I look forward to capturing my home appreciation too but I'm not going to complain about timing the market so I can extract the maximum debt on the backs of a young family.

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Anonymous wrote:I see a lot of boomers aging in place in these 2 story 3500 square foot homes and it doesn’t seem very economical to me—Paying taxes on, cooling, heating, and cleaning all that? Some rooms even sit empty.

My mom is one of those. She is willing to downsize but only if it’s a newish, SFH with a yard large enough for a garden. No shared walls. And it can’t be too big.

Houses new enough to require less maintenance than her current house either aren’t SFH or they are bigger than her current 3000 sq ft house but crammed onto a 5000 sq ft lot with neighbors 5’ away and barely any yard. She has deemed that unacceptable, and also refuses the idea of a condo, apartment, or row house because she says she should not have to listen to neighbors after 50 years of sfh living.

People aren’t really building cute new cottages on medium-size lots these days so she’s stuck.

55+ communities that have little sfh. Lots of those communities popping up, so they are new builds.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see a lot of boomers aging in place in these 2 story 3500 square foot homes and it doesn’t seem very economical to me—Paying taxes on, cooling, heating, and cleaning all that? Some rooms even sit empty.

My mom is one of those. She is willing to downsize but only if it’s a newish, SFH with a yard large enough for a garden. No shared walls. And it can’t be too big.

Houses new enough to require less maintenance than her current house either aren’t SFH or they are bigger than her current 3000 sq ft house but crammed onto a 5000 sq ft lot with neighbors 5’ away and barely any yard. She has deemed that unacceptable, and also refuses the idea of a condo, apartment, or row house because she says she should not have to listen to neighbors after 50 years of sfh living.

People aren’t really building cute new cottages on medium-size lots these days so she’s stuck.

55+ communities that have little sfh. Lots of those communities popping up, so they are new builds.

Anonymous wrote:Not in this economy. I'm Gen X, and praying we don't have to move anytime soon. I don't want to give up that sweet home loan interest rate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see a lot of boomers aging in place in these 2 story 3500 square foot homes and it doesn’t seem very economical to me—Paying taxes on, cooling, heating, and cleaning all that? Some rooms even sit empty.

My mom is one of those. She is willing to downsize but only if it’s a newish, SFH with a yard large enough for a garden. No shared walls. And it can’t be too big.

Houses new enough to require less maintenance than her current house either aren’t SFH or they are bigger than her current 3000 sq ft house but crammed onto a 5000 sq ft lot with neighbors 5’ away and barely any yard. She has deemed that unacceptable, and also refuses the idea of a condo, apartment, or row house because she says she should not have to listen to neighbors after 50 years of sfh living.

People aren’t really building cute new cottages on medium-size lots these days so she’s stuck.

Anonymous wrote:I live in an expensive in-city neighborhood on the west coast. What we’re finding out here is that boomers who are not downsizing in price and downsizing minimally in size are the ones who are buying. Our neighborhood has traditionally been university professors and medical professionals, and recently has been dominated by tech workers with young children. While many families want to move here because of the housing stock and ok school, plus a few neighborhood amenities that are rare in our area, the few houses that are selling are ALL going to 70-80 year olds who are relocating to be near their adult children. The adult children all live in slightly less nice nearby neighborhoods. The boomers who are relocating and buying may be downsizing because they’re buying 2000-3500 sq ft houses after living in 4000 sq ft houses on the east coast, but they’re clearly paying cash and are probably not paying any less than what they sold for. Our zoned elementary is shrinking fast and soon there will be rezoning to pull in kids from crowded, more affordable areas

Our newest neighbors just moved here from northern VA and they’re 1 of 4 older couples in our 10-block area who have done that. And nothing else is really going on the market because the existing boomers have nowhere to go, so our neighborhood feels like a 55+ community.

Anonymous wrote:I see a lot of boomers aging in place in these 2 story 3500 square foot homes and it doesn’t seem very economical to me—Paying taxes on, cooling, heating, and cleaning all that? Some rooms even sit empty.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Find a house or condo on a lake in Michigan or Kentucky. Nice view, lower prices.

Nope. Great Lakes-adjacent prices are at all-time highs since COVID.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in an expensive in-city neighborhood on the west coast. What we’re finding out here is that boomers who are not downsizing in price and downsizing minimally in size are the ones who are buying. Our neighborhood has traditionally been university professors and medical professionals, and recently has been dominated by tech workers with young children. While many families want to move here because of the housing stock and ok school, plus a few neighborhood amenities that are rare in our area, the few houses that are selling are ALL going to 70-80 year olds who are relocating to be near their adult children. The adult children all live in slightly less nice nearby neighborhoods. The boomers who are relocating and buying may be downsizing because they’re buying 2000-3500 sq ft houses after living in 4000 sq ft houses on the east coast, but they’re clearly paying cash and are probably not paying any less than what they sold for. Our zoned elementary is shrinking fast and soon there will be rezoning to pull in kids from crowded, more affordable areas

Our newest neighbors just moved here from northern VA and they’re 1 of 4 older couples in our 10-block area who have done that. And nothing else is really going on the market because the existing boomers have nowhere to go, so our neighborhood feels like a 55+ community.

If they are 70-80, in ten years, they will probably not be able to stay in those homes and their children will upsize or they will sell and the younger families will purchase the homes.

Anonymous wrote:It seems like people don’t downsize until they are forced to. Once people hit their 80s, things can fall apart rapidly. If you are wheelchair bound or demented or disabled, it doesn’t really matter that you will lose money selling your house. You just have no choice. (Unless you can afford full time aides or dally help).