Are people in your area having a tough time finding housing?

[MICKIMINI]

... which makes sense.. retirement baby boomers have cash and assets and no student loans... and afraid of debt... once baby boomers disappear and their children waste away those inheritance.. market will settle down... and who knows when that will happen...so this homeless/assets poor generation will have to get on the Oregon trail philosophy and move to a culture and lifestyle less desirable.. and that is sad... but it's been done many times in history

Respectfully, I disagree. I'm a baby boomer and yes, I will eventually disappear, however I will hang around as long as possible! DH and I had a small business and both worked up to two jobs as well. Nothing came easy for us despite what some believe. It is just not true. I remember driving a 30 year old pick up truck that got stuck in reverse at the bank and then died on the side of a mountain road in the snow (not far from where we live now ironically). This was prior to cell phones.

No one felt bad for us when we were just married and struggling...we just worked harder and didn't complain. 40 years ago, we found a zero down program and jumped at a 12% interest rate. Our 50K new home then sold for 90K in 10 years, after we put in a lot of sweat equity. We used our equity to buy up again. Rinse and repeat. We gave up quite a few luxuries, but not a solid home, advanced education for our son (12 years) or vacations most years. Little eating out and being frugal helped us build our life while our friends and neighbors had pools, boats and other expensive toys.

I encourage people to research housing programs for first time buyers in their area. Make an appointment to meet with someone who has the power to help. Dress for success. Waiting for a generation to die is not a good strategy. Getting in soon and building equity while we boomers die off is a far better way to go. You can laugh all the way to the bank when we are gone. Understand home buying and keep digging until you find a way. There is always a way. Best of luck.

 

[easyas123]

I encourage people to research housing programs for first time buyers in their area. Make an appointment to meet with someone who has the power to help. Dress for success. Waiting for a generation to die is not a good strategy.

Agreed.

 

[barkley]

I paid $105,000 for my home in 1987, and you can;t find anything less than $900k now. And this is inland!

I bet you were paying high interest back then-it was still in the double digits for a home loan when we bought a few years later.

40 years ago, we found a zero down program and jumped at a 12% interest rate.

we were SO THRILLED when rates dropped and we were able to score one in the 9's and icing on the cake was values had gone up just a smidge enough that we did'nt have to pay PMI.

 

[tvguy]

a friend posted on FB the other day a rent receipt from his first apartment back in '85 (gotta love going through old file cabinets ). it was a very small shared 1 bedroom-HIS share was $325 so $650 a month 40 years ago. I remember paying $700 for a small one bedroom apartment ('no laundry facilities or parking' read the ad) in '89 in the same region. I was curious to see what those small 1 bedroom (500'ish sq feet) no amenities to speak of places rent for these days ...can't touch them for under $2300 but mid to high 2's are more common then I dug a little deeper and looked at the studio apartments that several friends opted for back in the day (and still frequently shared with a roommate). not sure how much they were paying back then but today you can get an 'expansive 300-350 square feet of open concept living/1 tenant maximum occupancy dream studio' all for only $1800 to $2200 per month

We rented a brand new, 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo with inside laundry area, 1,100 square feet in 1982 for $508.50. $500 was rent, $8.50 was for HBO. No cable here in 1982, just a microwave TV company that only carried HBO. Rents for $2,300 now.
They were trying to sell it but mortgage rates at the time were 16% so they had to rent them. They were asking $75,000. Today it is valued at $273,300.

 

[Mle8308]

I am in Boston (MA resident, too @LuvOrlando, I lived in Orlando for over 15 years while at Disney) and the rents here are crazy and inventory low. Partially due to the influx of immigrants (not a political statement, just a fact) who have housing vouchers from the state for quite a bit of money (up to $5300 for monthly rent for an apartment Cambridge, it varies by location). And the lack of housing, well, there's not a lot of land left to build on. MA residents or a lot of people looking to move to MA can't compete. I am in HR and we have trouble hiring people due to the cost of housing in the area. We pay well, but once applicants from outside of MA start to look for housing, they often rescind their employment agreement either due to the cost of housing or lack of it.

 

[MICKIMINI]

I am in Boston (MA resident, too @LuvOrlando, I lived in Orlando for over 15 years while at Disney) and the rents here are crazy and inventory low. Partially due to the influx of immigrants (not a political statement, just a fact) who have housing vouchers from the state for quite a bit of money (up to $5300 for monthly rent for an apartment Cambridge, it varies by location). And the lack of housing, there's not a lot of land left to build on. MA residents or a lot of people looking to move to MA can't compete. I am in HR and we have trouble hiring people due to the cost of housing in the area. We pay well, but once applicants from outside of MA start to look for housing, they often rescind their employment agreement either due to the cost of housing or lack of it.

Which is why so many people who work in MA live in NH. It is a long commute, but housing is more affordable though scarce here too.

 

[China Expat]

I bet you were paying high interest back then-it was still in the double digits for a home loan when we bought a few years later.



we were SO THRILLED when rates dropped and we were able to score one in the 9's and icing on the cake was values had gone up just a smidge enough that we did'nt have to pay PMI.

I bet you were paying high interest back then-it was still in the double digits for a home loan when we bought a few years later.



we were SO THRILLED when rates dropped and we were able to score one in the 9's and icing on the cake was values had gone up just a smidge enough that we did'nt have to pay PMI.

We did not pay sky high rates at all. After a year or so they exploded.

 

[Mle8308]

Which is why so many people who work in MA live in NH. It is a long commute, but housing is more affordable though scarce here too.

Agree! I know many people who have moved to NH, it may be a future consideration for me!

 

[barkley]

We rented a brand new, 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo with inside laundry area, 1,100 square feet in 1982 for $508.50. $500 was rent, $8.50 was for HBO. No cable here in 1982, just a microwave TV company that only carried HBO. Rents for $2,300 now.
They were trying to sell it but mortgage rates at the time were 16% so they had to rent them. They were asking $75,000. Today it is valued at $273,300.

if I wanted to take a walk down memory lane I could visit my hometown and stay at my first apartment-it's been converted into a 'boutique hotel'. from what I can tell from the online photos-i can spend a night in one of the 3 individual 'luxury suites' that my little apartment was chopped into-and what a bargain, only $575 a night

I am in HR and we have trouble hiring people due to the cost of housing in the area. We pay well, but once applicants from outside of MA start to look for housing, they often rescind their employment agreement either due to the cost of housing or lack of it.

it got to a point when my former job was hiring that they would inquire if potential candidates they were considering from out of the area had researched housing before they scheduled an interview. the pay for our civil service classification was the highest in the state but too many people failed to research how psycho housing/rent prices were and ended up accepting then bailing out when faced with the reality. there was a reason most of us were commuting at least an hour each way.

 

[tvguy]

if I wanted to take a walk down memory lane I could visit my hometown and stay at my first apartment-it's been converted into a 'boutique hotel'. from what I can tell from the online photos-i can spend a night in one of the 3 individual 'luxury suites' that my little apartment was chopped into-and what a bargain, only $575 a night

My parents bought a house (really more of a shack) on 5 acres in 1950 for $2,500. Over 10 years they added onto the shack until if was a three bedroom two bath home and in 1960 sold it for $50,000. The new owners sold off the back 3 acres and a subdivision was built there.
Fast forward to 2017 and Lord knows how many times the property had been sold before then, but it was up for sale again.......and I e-mailed the listing to my half brother (same dad). Asking price $2,750,000!! My brother calls me all in a tither. Well, he didn't read the listing carefully. The house had been torn down, and a 6 bedroom, 7 bath 6,000 square foot hospice built on the remaining two acres.

 

[MICKIMINI]

Agree! I know many people who have moved to NH, it may be a future consideration for me!

Choose your town wisely!! We pay 1/3 the tax many other towns pay on our property. There are lists of the low tax, desirable towns where properties are always in demand. There is a sweet spot on that list...

Our newly built home (18 months) has doubled in value already and doesn't even take into consideration all the finishing touches we've put in so far... A smaller house by the same builder went on the market last week at twice what they paid for it. They will likely get it! NH is the place to be if you do your research LOL!

 

[Mle8308]

G

Choose your town wisely!! We pay 1/3 the tax many other towns pay on our property. There are lists of the low tax, desirable towns where properties are always in demand. There is a sweet spot on that list...

Our newly built home (18 months) has doubled in value already and doesn't even take into consideration all the finishing touches we've put in so far... A smaller house by the same builder went on the market last week at twice what they paid for it. They will likely get it! NH is the place to be if you do your research LOL!

Another great tip! I have friends who live in Windham and their taxes are pretty high! I was rather surprised. And congrats on the house value, nice investment! I would definitely look into tax rates as I don't want to pay Windham rates!

 

[mistysue]

Respectfully, I disagree. I'm a baby boomer and yes, I will eventually disappear, however I will hang around as long as possible! DH and I had a small business and both worked up to two jobs as well. Nothing came easy for us despite what some believe. It is just not true. I remember driving a 30 year old pick up truck that got stuck in reverse at the bank and then died on the side of a mountain road in the snow (not far from where we live now ironically). This was prior to cell phones.

No one felt bad for us when we were just married and struggling...we just worked harder and didn't complain. 40 years ago, we found a zero down program and jumped at a 12% interest rate. Our 50K new home then sold for 90K in 10 years, after we put in a lot of sweat equity. We used our equity to buy up again. Rinse and repeat. We gave up quite a few luxuries, but not a solid home, advanced education for our son (12 years) or vacations most years. Little eating out and being frugal helped us build our life while our friends and neighbors had pools, boats and other expensive toys.

I encourage people to research housing programs for first time buyers in their area. Make an appointment to meet with someone who has the power to help. Dress for success. Waiting for a generation to die is not a good strategy. Getting in soon and building equity while we boomers die off is a far better way to go. You can laugh all the way to the bank when we are gone. Understand home buying and keep digging until you find a way. There is always a way. Best of luck.

That's the catch with any discussion about privilege with generational differences- it's not that you didn't have struggles. You had struggles that in today's terms would be considered good fortune.

You nearly doubled your home value in 10 years, after being allowed to buy a house for $0 down, in a world where the general cost of living was significantly lower. (due to things that today are necessities but then didn't even exist yet) Your mortgage at 12% on a 50K house would be around $514, plus maybe $100 for tax and insurance. Today that new POS house that needed sweat equity would cost $300,000 at 6.86% (and they want a good $30-60K down) with a monthly payment of $1,965 plus tax/insurance of likely a solid $500/month more. So money is worth 3x what it was 40 years ago, but housing costs 5x what it did. Then we're all buying a household full of new appliances every 5-10 years instead of every 10-20 because they make them to break now.

Back then you COULD have a 30 year old car and it wasn't even that crazy. Now most cars are completely broken to the point of being nonfunctional and not safe at all (not even counting random breakdowns which happen either way) after maybe 15 years max. And that car that breaks after 15 years? Cost twice as much in the first place even after accounting for inflation.

This isn't coming from me trying to defend my own situation, it's not personal. I bought my house over 20 years ago. I am simply reflective enough to see what is going on and acknowledge that what kids looking now are going through is less accessible and far less realistic, the same way what they previous generation experienced was FAR more advantageous than what I lived through. My parents bought a NEW house in the early 80's for $30K and sold it for over $300K 20 years later. It went up in value TEN TIMES what the original amount was. I bought my old broken down house, doubled it in size through additions, upgraded every darn thing in this place and only up about 74% in the same length of time theirs was up 1,000%. I'm still more fortunate than kids trying to break into the market today because it hadn't yet gotten to where there is virtually no breaking in if you don't have someone giving you an outside advantage, no matter how hard you are working. My daughter makes about what I made at the same age, and where I could get a home loan, she needs her income to at least double to qualify for a loan toward a starter home 20 years later. But 20 years before I got my home I needed far less than half my income to qualify on a NEW starter home.

"work harder, bootstrap, dress well" - these things are all cute to say, but it's so completely tone deaf to act like success of the Boomer generation was all due to merit and hard work as if every other group of humans are inferior.

 

[MICKIMINI]

I've mentored dozens of young people. I find anger isn't conducive to success. No one knows what another person has been through and you would be surprised what I have overcome, but that is not the point. Every generation has challenges.

Blessings and good health.

 

[tvguy]

Back then you COULD have a 30 year old car and it wasn't even that crazy. Now most cars are completely broken to the point of being nonfunctional and not safe at all (not even counting random breakdowns which happen either way) after maybe 15 years max. And that car that breaks after 15 years? Cost twice as much in the first place even after accounting for inflation.

Not sure that is the case. In the 1950's and 60's you were lucky to get 3 to 5 years out of a car. Even into the 1970's. If you ever have a chance to read Iacocca by Lee Iacocca about that. Now, with upkeep, 30 years should be within reach. Mind you I own a 1965. The quality of nowhere near as good as our 2018 or 2020.

 

[mistysue]

I've mentored dozens of young people. I find anger isn't conducive to success. No one knows what another person has been through and you would be surprised what I have overcome, but that is not the point. Every generation has challenges.

Blessings and good health.

I'm not angry. Yes, every generation has challenges. The point, which it seems you still don't consider, is that boomers compared to gen Z getting into the market is not an apples to apples comparison. The cost of basic living is currently completely out of line with where it was.
The financial barriers now are far higher for a young person or couple now than they were in the 80's. That doesn't mean you did not also feel those barriers were a struggle.

 

[TippyThomas]

Yes, yes they are.