"Starter Homes" ??

[antmaril]

My "starter" home is 32 years old this month. 1,400 square foot brick ranch, three bedrooms, 1.5 baths, attached garage and a finished basement. My late husband and I bought this home new in 1978. We had one child (adopted in 1987) and it has always been the right size for us. Oh, there were many times over the years that I longed for a huge master bedroom suite or a gourmet kitchen, but I have to say that after losing my husband to cancer two years ago, I am very happy we never moved from this house. The mortgage was paid off several years ago and the taxes are $200 per month.

I won't be going anywhere for a while. How can I live cheaper than that?

 

[tvguy]

Our started home is our finisher home too. We were married just under a year when we bought it, no kids then, 2 now. Been here almost 28 years. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1750 square feet, 2 car garage. Looked seriously at moving when space got tight about 15 years ago. Wanted another bedroom, and a three car garage, about 25% more home than we had. But 25% more home was going to cost us 50% more money. We added a bedroom and 1/2 bath, gave up on the three car garage, now the same house is 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths and 2010 square feet.

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

I'm in a starter home! The mortgage is $400 less than my old rent. With taxes and insurance and extra fees associated it probably is the same. It is too small for a family, but my husband and I are newlyweds, so it made sense to get a place while the market was in our favor and we could afford it, instead of paying the same amount for rent.

 

[okeydokey]

Our first home was about 1000 square feet which was great for DH and I. Two kids and a couple of dogs later it was a bit tight. However, we kept the house for enough years that we were able to put a decent amount down on our current home, about 2000 square feet. I could live here forever.

I feel the same way about that show. The first time homeowners want 4 bedrooms, three baths and granite counter tops, large yards etc. Pretty unrealistic for most folks.

 

[overlyspoiled4sure]

Our first home is also our starter & retirement home. We purchased it 18 years ago shortly after our 2nd child graduated high school. We never had the $$ before.

It's small but great for either empty nesters or newlyweds. It's a small ranch, 3 bedrooms 1 3/4 bathrooms, partly finished basement, 2 car garage & a deck. Yard isn't too big but works for us.

We were glad we were here when a much-needed bad divorce forced DD & her 2 kids back home; at least we had some space for them but it was rather crowded as they grew into their teen years.

DD has her own place now & we're retired. When we move it'll be either to our final place or a nursing home (perish the thought!).

 

[Nolcrest]

We're still in our starter home 25 years later. If I had known we would always be in this house I would have chosen a different one. This one is a ranch style and I love cape cods.

We thought we would be in this for maybe 5 years before we would possibly buy land & build. Then the housing market went crazy in the 90's.

We put a small addition on to accommodate 2 children and then we just have so much equity in the house now that we don't want to buy another home.

Kids are out of the house now and it is just the right size. I guess we've gone full circle.

My parents are still in the home they bought in the 50's. So apparently we're not a moving sort of family.

 

[disneylover1959]

We lived in our first home for 12 years, and did not have any intentions of selling until we had our third child. It's amazing the stuff you can accumulate over the years. Our next home was a four bedroom house, which allowed each child to have their own room. Otherwise, I don't know if we would have ever moved.

 

[disykat]

We bought a "starter home" that could have gone either way. It had 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and about 1800 sq ft. If finances had required, we could have stayed in it.

However, it was an older home so the kitchen would have needed a remodel to include a dishwasher and we wanted more than the one car garage we had.

Our kids were about to start school, so we upgraded to a neighborhood with better schools, and got the dishwasher and two car garage when we did. We didn't gain much square footage, additional bedrooms, or anything like that. It was mainly the schools.

We liked the neighborhood, so if we hadn't had children, I think dh and I would have stayed there and enjoyed being mortgage free a few years earlier. I'm guessing we would have remodeled the kitchen, and just turned the garage into a workshop and added a carport.

My parents are still in their starter home. At the point they started discussing whether moving for more space was necessary, they turned the garage into a family room and added a car port. They've lived with it being larger than needed a lot longer than they were crowded while we were still at home.

At the time we bought, it was definitely worth our while to do a "starter" first. We wouldn't have been able to afford the neighborhood we're in now, but building equity through some home improvements and updating, paying extra principle, plus plain appreciation helped us do so.

 

[Buckalew11]

We're on our 4th home.

Our first cost about 42,000 which was a lot to us! It was small, no heat and air, on the historical register. We sold it about 2 years after we were married (bought it about 1 yr. before). We lived in the 2nd house for 6 months! It was a good house but DH got a new job one town over and as a FF HAD to live within the city limits.

The 3rd house we stayed in for about 20 years. I could have lived in it forever. It was a decent house but DH wanted to build.

We're in that house now, about 3000 sq. ft. of awesomeness, lol. Way too big for us (there's just three of us). I have 4 bedrooms and 3 baths, a huge den, LR, DR, K, a shop, 1 attached garage and a 3 car garage detached.
This house will make a wonderful house for a big family someday when we're ready to sell. We built at a most wonderful time--people wanted to work and a home supply place was going out of business. I have a lot of house for the money I spent.

We could not afford much house for our "starter" house but back in the mid 80's you could just go to the bank and say I want X amount of dollars for this house and they'd give you the money so it was wise for use to buy. Times have changed. This go around the bank was super picky about everything.

 

[Pixiedust34]

We bought our 1st home, the starter home, in 1995. We're still here. We decided that we'll be staying for the long haul. Financially, it makes much more sense for us to stay put than to upgrade and move.

 

[LBIJim]

I feel the same way about that show. The first time homeowners want 4 bedrooms, three baths and granite counter tops, large yards etc. Pretty unrealistic for most folks.

Yeah, many Property Virgin couples meet up with Sandra in a "Grand Floridian" neighborhood when they have a Pop Century budget.

I'm still in the starter home I bought 21 years ago, although there has been many improvements and an expansion. Recently, however, I've been thinking of relocating. Getting tired of and bored with my area. It's also dead here in the off-season and increasingly depressing. Looking for a beach town that stays somewhat alive year round, like Ocean City.

Jim

 

[cepmom]

we're still in our "starter home"...we bought 14 years ago and we had planned on moving up at some point, but have since decided our payment is comfortable, we like to travel, have one kid in college right now with 2 more to go and hopefully I'll be a full time college student next year. It's a small house (1600 sq ft) but we have no intentions on raising our payment at this point so we make do and enjoy our lifestyle.

 

[Angelhalo]

It is a good time to be a first time buyer. Because of the market, we saw no need to buy a tiny starter home and work our way up. We were able to just buy what we wanted. There are only 2 of us and we were able to purchase a very new home, 2700 square feet, 4 bedroom, plus an office, plus a game room, with a 2 car garage, a formal dining room, plus an eat in kitchen with 3 bathrooms and 2 living rooms. We have no kids but we're using every single room in the house. BUT, if we do have children all we neeed to do is re-purpose the rooms rather than having to pack up and move elsewhere.

 

[HeatherH]

we're still in our "starter home"...we bought 14 years ago and we had planned on moving up at some point, but have since decided our payment is comfortable, we like to travel, have one kid in college right now with 2 more to go and hopefully I'll be a full time college student next year. It's a small house (1600 sq ft) but we have no intentions on raising our payment at this point so we make do and enjoy our lifestyle.

Very similar story here, we've been in our "starter home" for 19 years and although at one point we thought we would move up, the real estate market didn't cooperate. And I'm perfectly fine with that, it eventually DID cooperate, we have plenty of equity, we love to travel, our payment is NOTHING compared to those buying in the market now, we have college expenses coming too, and will be empty nesters in the next year or so...I can live with my "starter home" just fine.

 

[mtemm]

we bought our first house (a townhouse) when we found out we were pg with our first, and yeah, we did look on it as a starter house. but we also planned several moves due to dh's job, so that had something to do with it. in fact, we ended up moving 4x in 5 years! hadn't quite expected that one. in the end we were only in our townhouse for 8 months when dh got a promotion that meant a move to a different state.

our 2nd house we loved and could have lived in forever, but we weren't as crazy about the area it was in. we were moved again less than a year later to an area we loved, and a house I liked well enough, but not sure I felt like it was my forever house. although that might have something to do with the fact that I was exhausted from having newborn twins and a toddler running around and I didn't really have a lot of time/energy/money to put into making it the house it could have been.

the 4th move was almost 5 years ago and we are still here. the scary thing is I didn't expect this to be our forever house at all...I really looked at it/decided to buy it with a 2 year plan in mind. again, had to do with dh's career and the moves necessary to accomodate it. but the market tanked both house-wise and job wise, and we are a bit stuck, to be honest.

we are still here, and I do like my house, and I like the area, but I might have looked at it/chosen differently had I known we would be here (possibly) indefinitely.

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

38 years later my parents are still in their starter home!

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

We're still in the same 1200 sq ft, 2 bedroom bungalow DH bought around '97, and we have no intention of moving. No, we're not in a perfect neighborhood. Yes, the schools aren't great. Yes, our house is small and often feels crowded. We can't have more than a couple people over at a time and we have to get creative in our use of space.

But this is home. We know our neighbors. We've built up a great community of friends who all live within a few blocks of us. We've already started to get involved with the local schools, even though DS is only 2. We're investing in our neighborhood to try and improve it and make a difference here.

We make the best with what we have. And we'll have our mortgage paid off sooner than the folks around us who have tried to get bigger and better, and be able to travel with DS and invest in retirement and college. It's a trade off...yes, there are many times that I dream of more room and a nicer bathroom and kitchen...and someday we'll get both of those renovated....but I'm happy with taking what we have and improving it and staying here.

 

[barkley]

we bought our first home in '91. it was a nice older neighborhood, the houses were 30 years old then and the bulk of the neighbors were original owners

the downside of this was that the original owners were aging up, and as they began to pass away their adult kids were opting to use the homes as rental properties, and they were not selective about tenants or interested in keeping the homes up. the area was starting to take a bad turn

we sold in '99, and lived in our second home till '06. we had talked of moving out of state, and i just got a gut feeling in the fall of '05 that we needed to sell it as soon as spring hit. good thing we did-the market tanked within a month of our sale.

we are in our "forever house" now-it's where we intend to stay for the duration.

 

[Katy Belle]

Our first home was a starter. It was 1000 sq ft, 3 bedrooms. We bought it knowing it wouldn't last forever, and hoping that DH would eventually get relocated to a different town, with his job.

We will move into our 6th house tomorrow! All have been with a company relocation. DHs company always pays all closing costs, inspections, etc. If we have to sell a house at a loss, they take the loss.

We are hoping to stay in this house until all 3 of our kiddos graduate from High School. I don't see us retiring in it though, it's too big for two people.

 

[indimom]

Well we are in our second home, but we never considered our first home a starter home. We built for keeps and then ended up hating the country and the school district. So we moved into town and this time it's for keeps. Love this house, neighborhood, all of it.

My BIL/SIL have been married 15 years just like my hubby and I. I did a count last year, and they have lived in 8-10 different homes in that time. (I can't even keep track well enough to know the exact number.) Not apartments, houses. It boggles the mind!!!! I can't figure out how they do it. They were recently talking about building again.