Author Topic: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"  (Read 15418 times)

pmac

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"63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« on: March 01, 2019, 08:06:04 AM »
I remember when the articles were saying that not enough millennials were buying home. Now it looks like they're regretting their purchase because they didn't factor in how much it costs to maintain the home.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/28/63-percent-of-millennial-homebuyers-have-regrets-heres-why.html

Philociraptor

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #1 on: March 01, 2019, 08:14:36 AM »
As a Millennial who bought a home early (at age 22), I was definitely feeling the regrets last weekend. Not necessarily about costs, but upkeep. We bought too much house (2,200 sqft, when we'd be more comfortable in about 1,200 sqft). We need to mow our lawn and our lawn mower won't start. We have lots of work ahead of us to get our yard ready for spring, including cutting down a bunch of bushes, destroying the roots, and clearing out the beds so the grass can cover. We have a "sun room" that we never use and has somehow developed a leak from somewhere (found pooled water in it). We've had to drop about $10k on foundation issues and associated issues. So much upkeep. Even with all the costs the house probably costs us less than renting, but only just. Add in all the extra time we spend on upkeep and it's definitely a suck. Transaction costs are so damn high we're reluctant to sell though. Figure we'll stay here unless we decide to move to a different part of the country.

trollwithamustache

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #2 on: March 01, 2019, 08:17:02 AM »
I'm surprised its that low. I think the number was much higher for previous generations!

brandon1827

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #3 on: March 01, 2019, 08:25:59 AM »
As a Millennial who bought a home early (at age 22), I was definitely feeling the regrets last weekend. Not necessarily about costs, but upkeep. We bought too much house (2,200 sqft, when we'd be more comfortable in about 1,200 sqft). We need to mow our lawn and our lawn mower won't start. We have lots of work ahead of us to get our yard ready for spring, including cutting down a bunch of bushes, destroying the roots, and clearing out the beds so the grass can cover. We have a "sun room" that we never use and has somehow developed a leak from somewhere (found pooled water in it). We've had to drop about $10k on foundation issues and associated issues. So much upkeep. Even with all the costs the house probably costs us less than renting, but only just. Add in all the extra time we spend on upkeep and it's definitely a suck. Transaction costs are so damn high we're reluctant to sell though. Figure we'll stay here unless we decide to move to a different part of the country.

How long have you owned the home? I would assume something as costly and as serious as foundation issues should have been spotted during an inspection prior to closing. I mean, that's why you pay to have the inspection done. If they missed it, that's pretty terrible. Costs of ownership are always going to be a thing, but hopefully if most are buying solid homes and inspectors are doing their jobs, those costs are minimal (at least short-term). I built a house in 2016, so the only thing I've had to deal with so far are nail pops in the drywall from settling. The yard is what it is...but you should be able find a nice, well-built push mower at Lowe's or Home depot for around $150. I bought a John Deere push mower at Lowe's when we purchased our first home in 2005 and it still works fine. Regardless, I hope things turn out well for you guys. 

Philociraptor

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #4 on: March 01, 2019, 08:30:31 AM »
How long have you owned the home? I would assume something as costly and as serious as foundation issues should have been spotted during an inspection prior to closing. I mean, that's why you pay to have the inspection done. If they missed it, that's pretty terrible.

Going on 7 years. The issues got bad around year 4, the area had gone through a multi-year drought followed by an insanely wet couple seasons, leading to a very fast shift in the clay. The house had actually already had piers installed on about half of the outer walls, and those piers are insured. Unfortunately, it was the parts of the house not previously worked on that moved. At this point it should be damn stable, since there are piers under 80% of the perimeter and inside the house in some areas. It didn't help that all the shifting busted a fitting on our sewage line, so we had to pay to have that repaired once the foundation was fixed.

StarBright

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #5 on: March 01, 2019, 08:39:54 AM »
As a Millennial who bought a home early (at age 22), I was definitely feeling the regrets last weekend. Not necessarily about costs, but upkeep. We bought too much house (2,200 sqft, when we'd be more comfortable in about 1,200 sqft). We need to mow our lawn and our lawn mower won't start. We have lots of work ahead of us to get our yard ready for spring, including cutting down a bunch of bushes, destroying the roots, and clearing out the beds so the grass can cover. We have a "sun room" that we never use and has somehow developed a leak from somewhere (found pooled water in it). We've had to drop about $10k on foundation issues and associated issues. So much upkeep. Even with all the costs the house probably costs us less than renting, but only just. Add in all the extra time we spend on upkeep and it's definitely a suck. Transaction costs are so damn high we're reluctant to sell though. Figure we'll stay here unless we decide to move to a different part of the country.

^ this makes a lot of sense to me. We are oldest millennials and are still glad we own rather than rent (the rental market in our area is terrible and we save a lot by having a mortgage), but upkeep is hard and time a precious commodity.

I've been thinking a lot about the millennial burnout article on buzzfeed and the Atlantic "workism" article this week and suspect that millennial house regret falls under the same umbrella. The millennials I know that seem happy with home ownership definitely tend to be blue collar with clear dileniation between home and work. The people who seem overwhelmed by their homeownership (us included) tend to be knowledge workers who are expected to be on the clock more.

big_slacker

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #6 on: March 01, 2019, 08:48:42 AM »
At least you didn't buy in '06 right before the crash in the hardest hit market in the nation.

#askmehowiknow #270kto80k :D

brandon1827

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #7 on: March 01, 2019, 08:50:39 AM »

Going on 7 years. The issues got bad around year 4, the area had gone through a multi-year drought followed by an insanely wet couple seasons, leading to a very fast shift in the clay. The house had actually already had piers installed on about half of the outer walls, and those piers are insured. Unfortunately, it was the parts of the house not previously worked on that moved. At this point it should be damn stable, since there are piers under 80% of the perimeter and inside the house in some areas. It didn't help that all the shifting busted a fitting on our sewage line, so we had to pay to have that repaired once the foundation was fixed.

I'm sorry to hear that...sound like you guys did everything right and still got the shaft from mother nature. Since you have so much invested at this point, do you plan to just ride it out and pay it off? If you're 7 years in, I assume you're most likely well on the way to having your mortgage paid down a significant amount. I guess if you have enough equity and are just ready to be done with it, you could sell, hope to make a nice profit, and start fresh somewhere else.

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #8 on: March 01, 2019, 08:53:30 AM »
At least you didn't buy in '06 right before the crash in the hardest hit market in the nation.

#askmehowiknow #270kto80k :D

We bought in 2008, which was slightly better... #195kto100k

Philociraptor

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #9 on: March 01, 2019, 08:56:18 AM »
this makes a lot of sense to me. We are oldest millennials and are still glad we own rather than rent (the rental market in our area is terrible and we save a lot by having a mortgage), but upkeep is hard and time a precious commodity.

I've been thinking a lot about the millennial burnout article on buzzfeed and the Atlantic "workism" article this week and suspect that millennial house regret falls under the same umbrella. The millennials I know that seem happy with home ownership definitely tend to be blue collar with clear dileniation between home and work. The people who seem overwhelmed by their homeownership (us included) tend to be knowledge workers who are expected to be on the clock more.

*fistbump*

Since you have so much invested at this point, do you plan to just ride it out and pay it off? If you're 7 years in, I assume you're most likely well on the way to having your mortgage paid down a significant amount. I guess if you have enough equity and are just ready to be done with it, you could sell, hope to make a nice profit, and start fresh somewhere else.

Suck cost fallacy aside, as this point there's still more pros than cons, so we're staying put. The largest pro is that our immediate families reside in the same city we do. We still owe $98k of the $110k purchase price (yay amortization schedule). However, the tax value is up to $180k and the Zestimate is up to $220k, so we have some decent equity, especially if we put in a few thousand to fix the cosmetic issues. We have a 30 year 7/1 ARM that will adjust in 2020 so we need to make a firm decision by then; refinance or move.

FIRE@50

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #10 on: March 01, 2019, 08:57:19 AM »
I'm not a millennial, and I do try to mostly live my life without regrets. I'm still not surprised that most people in any generation would have some regrets about buying a house. You could almost always find a better house or a better price or a better mortgage rate or a better location.

We bought our townhouse at the end of 2008. The market had already tanked. It continued to tank in 2009. Our home is still worth less than we paid for it. Do I regret that decision? I guess but I have no way of knowing what other decisions we would have made and what other potential regret they would have led to. You have to believe that you made the best decision with the information you had available at that time and enjoy what you have. AND, hopefully we break even on the town home in the next couple years.......

zolotiyeruki

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #11 on: March 01, 2019, 09:06:44 AM »
We bought our townhouse at the end of 2008. The market had already tanked. It continued to tank in 2009. Our home is still worth less than we paid for it. Do I regret that decision? I guess but I have no way of knowing what other decisions we would have made and what other potential regret they would have led to. You have to believe that you made the best decision with the information you had available at that time and enjoy what you have. AND, hopefully we break even on the town home in the next couple years.......
As they say, "hindsight is 20/20."  I've noticed that the older I get, the dumber I was.  It doesn't mean I'm wise now, just less foolish :)  There are days when I have a twinge of regret over our house--there are parts that are inefficiently laid out, and the taxes are stupidly expensive.  But when we saw it, it was exactly what we wanted at the time, and I have to be careful not to fall into the trap of Tiny Details Exaggeration Syndrome.  It's easy to focus on the negatives and forget all the good things that came with that choice (e.g. our kids love watching the geese on the pond behind our house).

OtherJen

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #12 on: March 01, 2019, 09:08:17 AM »
We bought in 2003. #100kto#20k

We were young dumb newlyweds, and literally every trusted older adult in our lives was telling us that we’d be crazy not to buy, renting was throwing our money away, etc. I’m just glad we had enough of a clue to insist on a 30-year fixed mortgage with payments that we could afford on our own, rather than taking the heavily pushed ARM and help from parents so that we could buy something bigger and fancier.

When we needed the flexibility to move for work in late 2011/2012, the local job market was still so depressed that we couldn’t even count on renters that would pay enough to cover our mortgage. We weren’t able to take advantage of low interest rate refinancing because we were too far underwater. We’re finally at the point where between the market partly recovering and several more years of mortgage payments, we owe less than the estimated house value.

We’re late Gen-X but yeah, we have major regrets. I try not to think about the down payment, all the replaced appliances, the replaced bathroom and kitchen (nothing fancy but necessary for code), and how much money that would be now if we’d invested it instead and kept renting. It makes me a little ill.

big_slacker

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #13 on: March 01, 2019, 09:12:48 AM »
I'm not a millennial, and I do try to mostly live my life without regrets. I'm still not surprised that most people in any generation would have some regrets about buying a house. You could almost always find a better house or a better price or a better mortgage rate or a better location.

We bought our townhouse at the end of 2008. The market had already tanked. It continued to tank in 2009. Our home is still worth less than we paid for it. Do I regret that decision? I guess but I have no way of knowing what other decisions we would have made and what other potential regret they would have led to. You have to believe that you made the best decision with the information you had available at that time and enjoy what you have. AND, hopefully we break even on the town home in the next couple years.......

Our situation was almost comedic looking back on it. We bought, then quickly became ridiculously underwater on the place. Then the neighborhood took a turn due to the ridiculously low house values (squatters, slumlord style low class renters, etc.) and finally the airport changed it's flight patterns and now aircraft noise literally every 2-5 minutes from 6am on past bedtime. 

But even being trapped for a while and eventually getting out I don't really regret it. It was a really good life lesson about market fundamentals and timing. We did a lot more analysis and chose a much better place for a second go round at home ownership.

Regrets because of home expenses I just don't get. That's like regretting having a baby because you don't get any sleep the first year or have to change diapers. It's part of the game (maybe I'm assuming too much?) that everyone knows about.

brandon1827

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #14 on: March 01, 2019, 09:13:54 AM »
I think we all fall prey to TDES at times, but I'm with you. My son absolutely loves to run and play on the land. We were lucky and my wife's mother had a couple hundred acres of land given to her by her father. She deeded us 20 to build our house; which is why we were able to do it at all. Sometimes when I look at the mortgage I get discouraged, but overall there's not much I would change. We've been in the house for 3 years...so ask me in another 7 or so and I might be singing a different tune.

I guess there is also quite a trade-off in purchasing new (and not having to deal with major renovations) versus the potential lower purchase price of something a little older that you know you're eventually going to have to sink money into. I think had we gone that route, I would most likely also have regrets.

Slow2FIRE

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #15 on: March 01, 2019, 10:46:34 AM »
Some things I don't like about homeownership, but more things I despise about renting.

We would have rented in our current location, but nobody in the Triangle (NC) area (in our desired home size / price point) would accept the mix of animals we have (dog and cat).  Didn't even look at apartments though (absolutely not suitable since we work from home -> tried it in condos/apts before and it was a nightmare every time).

Younger Gen Xer though, not a millenial.

jps

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #16 on: March 01, 2019, 10:55:13 AM »
I just bought a house, and I don't regret it yet.

It has been a little bit of work so far, but each time something breaks I think of it as an opportunity to grow my badassity muscle and learn how to repair something new.

Totally a lifestyle choice. We love having a house and the space to be able to entertain or host groups of people.

undercover

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #17 on: March 01, 2019, 11:00:17 AM »
In general I think it's beneficial for someone in their twenties to early thirties to stay fairly single and keep as few ties as possible so that they can move for better opportunities without too much worry of leaving others behind and find the place that really suits them before settling down. I recognize much of this is personality driven so YMMV. Long term I'd always rather buy rather than rent but renting is the way to go in your twenties IMO.

I'm 28 and have owned a home for ~4 years and the only reason I did it is because it didn't tie me down geographically or financially. But there's still something mentally about it tying me down so I can't say it was absolutely the right choice. I don't necessarily regret it because I made a move which is better than doing nothing and I have learned a lot. I learned that I actually don't want to deal with house issues, but having the ability to do what you want and feel like it's "yours" (as long as it's better off financially) outweighs the aggravation. I'd probably never buy a condo/apartment. The numbers never looked favorable. I don't ever want pets or kids though so long-term apartment renting in cities while maximizing career sounds appealing to me.

I mean there's also something to be said about hunkering down and committing to something and that may be the way to go for a lot of people. I just like viewing the country as my home for now, not necessarily just one specific city or place.

mm1970

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #18 on: March 01, 2019, 11:25:44 AM »
At least you didn't buy in '06 right before the crash in the hardest hit market in the nation.

#askmehowiknow #270kto80k :D
Ouch.  We bought in 2004, so a tiny bit better.  #800kto500k

But my neighbors? #860kto575k  (foreclosure in there)

HPstache

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #19 on: March 01, 2019, 11:29:45 AM »
I have regrets about buying a home, but I don't regret buying a home.  I wish we would have gotten a house with a true two-car garage.  I wish we would have gotten an arborist to look at our trees before putting in offer.  Wish we would have thought about future kids before buying a house with a flowing water feature.  On the other hand, the value of our house has gone up about $100K since we bought it and it's been nice to be able to do what we want to our home.  So I guess I'd buy a house all over again, but maybe pick a different one?

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #20 on: March 01, 2019, 11:35:48 AM »
At least you didn't buy in '06 right before the crash in the hardest hit market in the nation.

#askmehowiknow #270kto80k :D

We bought in 2008, which was slightly better... #195kto100k

Commiseration! Also bought in 2008. #126kto75k. And then again in 2011, when we assumed the market had bottomed out #135kto100k.

But we did better on our purchase in 2017...so far. Bought at $280k, currently appraised for $330k. We have a ways to go to make up for the losses, though!

MrThatsDifferent

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #21 on: March 01, 2019, 12:54:48 PM »
This isn’t surprising. Owning a home isn’t a good investment and it’s not a great way to build wealth but the concept is sold as such and as a sign of adulting and security. I’m just happy that I live in a HCOL place that makes buying such an exercise to seem almost impossible and discovering index investing. Rent and invest is less sexy and showy than owning a house, but shit tons easier.

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #22 on: March 01, 2019, 12:57:56 PM »
This isn’t surprising. Owning a home isn’t a good investment and it’s not a great way to build wealth but the concept is sold as such and as a sign of adulting and security. I’m just happy that I live in a HCOL place that makes buying such an exercise to seem almost impossible and discovering index investing. Rent and invest is less sexy and showy than owning a house, but shit tons easier.

Totally agree. I own a house because I prefer the lifestyle that it affords - not because I think it's easier or that it's a good investment.

brandon1827

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #23 on: March 01, 2019, 01:05:38 PM »
This isn’t surprising. Owning a home isn’t a good investment and it’s not a great way to build wealth but the concept is sold as such and as a sign of adulting and security. I’m just happy that I live in a HCOL place that makes buying such an exercise to seem almost impossible and discovering index investing. Rent and invest is less sexy and showy than owning a house, but shit tons easier.

Totally agree. I own a house because I prefer the lifestyle that it affords - not because I think it's easier or that it's a good investment.

Same here...and since I have 20 acres of property to go with the house, it will be an inheritance for my son

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #24 on: March 01, 2019, 01:25:43 PM »
This isn’t surprising. Owning a home isn’t a good investment and it’s not a great way to build wealth but the concept is sold as such and as a sign of adulting and security. I’m just happy that I live in a HCOL place that makes buying such an exercise to seem almost impossible and discovering index investing. Rent and invest is less sexy and showy than owning a house, but shit tons easier.

Totally agree. I own a house because I prefer the lifestyle that it affords - not because I think it's easier or that it's a good investment.

Same here...and since I have 20 acres of property to go with the house, it will be an inheritance for my son

Nice. We have 8 acres. I wanted to buy a house with 40, but my wife wanted more house and less land, so we compromised.

HBFIRE

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #25 on: March 01, 2019, 01:29:01 PM »
We've been happy attaining FI as renters.  More flexibility and not having to worry about maintenance costs.  Also restricts how much crap we can consume due to limited space.

That said, we're thinking of buying something in the next couple yrs.  Finally settle some roots.  Goal was always to attain FI first, then think about buying a home as a lifestyle upgrade.
« Last Edit: March 01, 2019, 01:31:55 PM by dustinst22 »

soccerluvof4

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #26 on: March 01, 2019, 02:33:14 PM »
This isn’t surprising. Owning a home isn’t a good investment and it’s not a great way to build wealth but the concept is sold as such and as a sign of adulting and security. I’m just happy that I live in a HCOL place that makes buying such an exercise to seem almost impossible and discovering index investing. Rent and invest is less sexy and showy than owning a house, but shit tons easier.

Totally agree. I own a house because I prefer the lifestyle that it affords - not because I think it's easier or that it's a good investment.

+1



+2 but now were thinking how nice it would be to have the freedom that a house takes from us. Maintenance etc..as we get older

Much Fishing to Do

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #27 on: March 01, 2019, 02:33:59 PM »
You can rent all kinds of places and buy all kinds of places.  I think more rentals turn out to be nightmares, but the purchase nightmares are much more expensive nightmares.  There's a ton of downsides and upsides to both. 

I rented till I was 33 and then bought one home which I've now lived in for 15 years.  The main advantage to buying for most of society throughout time I think was mainly just the natural forced savings of homeownership for those that would buy a regular mortgage and not move often and not refinance. The forced savings is of course only a benefit to those who need to be forced to save, and its much more common in the last couple decades I think to not let that forced savings grow or stay there (and I don't mean its pulled out to invest like folks on this site would do, it gets spent)

You can do most whatever you want to a place you own, but that also means you can sink and even waste as much money as you want.  Remodeling and buying huge homes sometimes seems like a way for those in the upper middle class to figure out how to spend all that money as the potential costs are unlimited.

There is only one real advantage to buying that I've found, which is if I like it here nobody can make me move.   And I do so I wont.
« Last Edit: March 01, 2019, 02:36:00 PM by Much Fishing to Do »

GuitarStv

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #28 on: March 01, 2019, 02:40:19 PM »



I like owning my home, and buying it was a great financial decision.

englishteacheralex

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #29 on: March 01, 2019, 02:54:57 PM »
All hail the humble condo, a wonderful best-of-both-worlds solution if you find the right deal in the right building. Lots of people have horror stories of unreasonable HOAs and other disasters, but the lack of maintenance is glorious.

Just for the record:

We live in metro Honolulu, a notoriously expensive housing market. There are a number of aging and unimpressive condos that do appreciate fairly well due to the unusual market conditions here. Our building is straight out of Soviet-era architecture; cement blocks, high rise, sort of resembles a college dorm but not as fancy. Neighbors are working class and if anybody makes too much noise or behaves inappropriately they get fined. We've found it to be almost completely noise-proof except for traffic. The finances are done well and we like our building manager. We've lived there three years and have two toddlers. So far it has exceeded our expectations in just about every possible way, and financially has been much better than renting the equivalent property would have been over the same time period.

YMMV with condos. I just think they're underrated and underappreciated.

HBFIRE

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #30 on: March 01, 2019, 03:17:48 PM »
Funny.  Condos to me combine the downsides of apartment living (noisy neighbors, smaller space) with some of the downsides of owning (still have to pay for much of your maintenance, locked into a loan unless you sell, locking up some of your cash).  I'd rather just rent an apartment.

The upsides of owning to me would be to have a nice backyard, privacy and quiet, and not having to worry about sharing a wall or ceiling.  And of course the nice inflation hedge.
« Last Edit: March 01, 2019, 03:19:33 PM by dustinst22 »

chasesfish

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #31 on: March 01, 2019, 03:25:40 PM »
I feel regret...

I'm on home #4, made money on #1, lost a ton on #2, some on #3, and staring at some uncertainty on #4.

Yeah, home ownership for millennials can be rough

englishteacheralex

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #32 on: March 01, 2019, 03:27:52 PM »
These are the stereotypes of condos, and they can indeed be true. But in this market, they can be a good alternative. Most SFHs in Honolulu are built right next to the neighbors because of the value of the land. When we rented an apartment in a house we were up all night because of barking dogs and giant house parties. The condo is totally regulated--barking dogs and noisy neighbors are fined immediately. And yes, you pay for maintenance, but that cost is shared among many owners. And I don't have to DO any of the maintenance!

J Boogie

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #33 on: March 01, 2019, 03:38:53 PM »
I'm 33, bought in 2016 when I was 30 roughly.

Bought a fixer upper 1890 SFH turned duplex for $230k in a MCOL area (A+ St. Paul MN neighborhood, but busy street)

It would probably sell for 290-350 today, fair market rent for both units would probably be 2500/mo.

It's been a ton of work, much of it unpleasant. But I've got a foothold and a great investment property because of it.


MoseyingAlong

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #34 on: March 01, 2019, 03:46:44 PM »
Funny.  Condos to me combine the downsides of apartment living (noisy neighbors, smaller space) with some of the downsides of owning (still have to pay for much of your maintenance, locked into a loan unless you sell, locking up some of your cash).  I'd rather just rent an apartment.

The upsides of owning to me would be to have a nice backyard, privacy and quiet, and not having to worry about sharing a wall or ceiling.  And of course the nice inflation hedge.

Some of what you consider downsides, I consider benefits and some of your upsides, drawbacks.
Smaller space = great, less to clean/maintain, more time for things I enjoy
"Nice" backyard = yardwork that has to be done and in California, things grow and grow and grow some more (much prefer my nice patio and going to the nearby park)
Sharing a wall/ceiling = less utilities - for 2 summers in Arizona, I haven't used my AC for me (a few times for an elderly dog).

I've owned 2 condos. No inside neighbor noise in either, did/do hear dogs barking outside but I heard those in a stand alone too.

So like most things, it all depends on what you're looking for.

Parizade

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #35 on: March 01, 2019, 03:57:18 PM »
I suspect some of it has to do with millennial HGTV addiction. They binge watch shows like Property Brothers or Fixer Upper and think they have to do all these expensive renovations with "high end finishes" that have very little ROI in real life. Its a recipe for regret.

HBFIRE

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #36 on: March 01, 2019, 04:03:55 PM »

Sharing a wall/ceiling = less utilities - for 2 summers in Arizona, I haven't used my AC for me (a few times for an elderly dog).


Ah yes, I lived in AZ for a bit -- BRUTAL.  I could definitely see that advantage.  Here, we never use AC or heat so no advantage to shared walls.  But i do get to frequently complain about my noisy neighbors upstairs and next door :).  It's not so bad, I'm probably just having a "grass is greener" moment and want to own a quiet place.  One thing about apartment living that Ive learned -- most couples fight a lot more than you realize.  It shocks me.
« Last Edit: March 01, 2019, 04:06:51 PM by dustinst22 »

ysette9

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #37 on: March 01, 2019, 04:10:39 PM »
I regret my first two purchases: the first quite a bit and the second somewhat. In each case we took too little time to really truly carefully consider all aspects of the decision. I definitely was brainwashed into thinking that buying sooner and buying more was the right decision, and that isn’t necessarily the case. We took much more time and deliberation on our current house and so far I am pretty content. I love that I could insulate absolutely everything including all interior walls. That said, even though we are in our late 30s (gasp!) it feels like we aren’t settled the way our parents were growing up, and that things could still change and compel us to move again. Maybe it is the tyranny of choice?

use2betrix

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #38 on: March 01, 2019, 04:25:45 PM »
Here’s now I look at regret with purchases.

It’s easy to look back on a decision you made 5 years ago and think “that sure was stupid.” Granted, you are 5 years older, 5 years wiser, and you’ve known exactly what happened in your life over those 5 years.

When you made the decision, at that given time, you likely evaluated all your options, used the intelligence you had at that point in your life, and made the best choice you could.

I’m a millennial and my wife and I lived for nearly 5 years in a 5th wheel trailer. A year or so in, I realized (after living in the trailer a year) that I could have made a better choice in trailer. Mine had a 12’ garage (toy hauler) so we only had 30’x8’ of living space, with a lot of storage. I should’ve got a regular 40’ trailer with a separate 5x8 enclosed trailer for storage.

I would hesitate greatly to use the word “regret” in that purchase, because of my mindset from the earlier paragraph I wrote. When I bought the trailer I didn’t know my gf of less than a year would become my wife, and would thus be able to tow a separate trailer for storage when we traveled/moved. I also realized going from an apartment into a trailer full time I had a lot of “stuff” I needed to store, plain and simple. Yeah - 5 year older me could easily look back and say “hey, I should’ve done that,” but at the time, I certainly made the best choice for me.


MaaS

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #39 on: March 01, 2019, 04:46:27 PM »
Not surprising. Most home buyers don't go through this process rationally. It tends to go something like this:

Step 1 - Contact bank for pre-approval limit

Step 2 - Pre-approval limit is the budget. Buy something in this range.

Step 3 - Wait a few years.

Step 4 - Serious regrets.

Paul der Krake

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #40 on: March 01, 2019, 04:50:58 PM »
Not gonna waste my precious first-time homebuyer federal help on today's prices.

I'm litterally cool renting until I die.

kaizen soze

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #41 on: March 01, 2019, 05:03:58 PM »
I rented until 34, then owned a home for 8 years, and now back to renting (by choice). Overall I'd say I'm happier renting, especially with the amount of travel we do. I can't say I regret owning because it all turned out ok in the end. But advice to my younger self would be if you're renting and happy with it, just stick with it for now.

geekette

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #42 on: March 01, 2019, 06:44:09 PM »
First place was a townhouse.  Rented it out when we did a temporary relocation.  The first tenants were dismal.  The second set were decent and their rent eventually paid for the townhouse (they were there 17 years!)  When they finally moved out, we sold it and are DONE being landlords. Hated being a landlord. 

Second place - we've been here 26 years.  With small modifications over time, everything, inside and out, is about as low maintenance as it can be and suits us very well.  I joke I won't leave unless I'm in a body bag.  A good financial and emotional decision for us.

ender

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #43 on: March 01, 2019, 06:58:08 PM »
I don't really regret buying a house when we did (bought it just after turning 28).

exterous

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #44 on: March 01, 2019, 07:12:34 PM »
I think a declining desire to DIY plays into this. And if you don't DIY, home repairs or renovations are getting more and more expensive. Personally I'd much rather own a home but that's because we don't mind doing the work ourselves. And it's not like you need any existing experience since YouTube is a thing. For our last house my first ever real project was to build a workbench. Being satisfied with those results I decided to partly finish the basement. Then we tackled light fixtures, back splash, toilets etc etc. Hell I rented a boom lift to repaint the exterior wood trim. Got a paint quote: "Wait you want how much?" Found a place to rent the lift and learned how to use it. Bought our first house at $150k. Sold it for $220k a few years later. Sure some was market appreciation but a lot was from the work we did. Not that we're into it for the ROI but if you do the work yourself it doesn't take much to add value. I'll throw the caveat that for both our first house and this house we looked for a house of slightly below average value in the neighborhood with solid construction but bland to terrible finishing touches. And an unfinished basement I can finish. I may be slow but my labor is cheap and my work is good.

Also its hard to find places to rent that have an unmustacian home theater room in them. I have a weakness...

Imma

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #45 on: March 02, 2019, 03:52:11 AM »
Seems I'm one of the few very happy buyers here. We dealt with lots of crappy landlords before and I'm not planning on dealing with landlords again. Of course, not all landlords are like that: there is a market for high end rentals, but you have to pay a lot for the privilege of renting a decent place to live in. The income limits those type of companies set mean that I'd never qualify even if I wanted to. There's nothing theoretically wrong with renting, if I was able to live somewhere with a non-broken rental market I would certainly consider it. I've just never lived anywhere with a decent rental market. Seems like the rental market is a disaster in most places.

We bought a simple 800 square foot 3 bedroom home with a small garden. It needed some cosmetic work but was well maintained. Our mortgage payment is €300 while we used to pay €800 in rent for a very crappy apartment with holes in the roof and walls. We saved money from the very first month and I love doing the maintenance: even if we outsource, I can be sure it gets done. I'll never again have no heating in winter. We bought a few years back when homes were cheaper, but at current price levels the mortgage payment on a home like this would still only be about €550, while similar homes rent out for €1200.

I was 24 when we bought and I don't regret buying at a young age either. We live in an area with a good job market and good transport links and due to family connections to this area I wasn't going to live in a different area anyway. Having significantly lower bills than our renting friends gives us a lot of freedom and because we have a spare bedroom, several friends have stayed with us temporarily.

MMMarbleheader

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #46 on: March 02, 2019, 05:36:08 AM »
Living in New England the only reason I own is to lock in a school district for the kids. There are so few rentals I would hate for our lease to not get renewed then have to move towns which means moving schools too as everything is town based as there are no counties

MrThatsDifferent

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #47 on: March 02, 2019, 07:27:08 AM »
Seems I'm one of the few very happy buyers here. We dealt with lots of crappy landlords before and I'm not planning on dealing with landlords again. Of course, not all landlords are like that: there is a market for high end rentals, but you have to pay a lot for the privilege of renting a decent place to live in. The income limits those type of companies set mean that I'd never qualify even if I wanted to. There's nothing theoretically wrong with renting, if I was able to live somewhere with a non-broken rental market I would certainly consider it. I've just never lived anywhere with a decent rental market. Seems like the rental market is a disaster in most places.

We bought a simple 800 square foot 3 bedroom home with a small garden. It needed some cosmetic work but was well maintained. Our mortgage payment is €300 while we used to pay €800 in rent for a very crappy apartment with holes in the roof and walls. We saved money from the very first month and I love doing the maintenance: even if we outsource, I can be sure it gets done. I'll never again have no heating in winter. We bought a few years back when homes were cheaper, but at current price levels the mortgage payment on a home like this would still only be about €550, while similar homes rent out for €1200.

I was 24 when we bought and I don't regret buying at a young age either. We live in an area with a good job market and good transport links and due to family connections to this area I wasn't going to live in a different area anyway. Having significantly lower bills than our renting friends gives us a lot of freedom and because we have a spare bedroom, several friends have stayed with us temporarily.

Well, you just fall into the 37% without regrets ;-)

LWYRUP

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #48 on: March 02, 2019, 07:44:11 AM »
I spent $785k on an old (but reasonably well-built) split level near DC.  Then we needed to pour in over $50k on deferred maintenance (mostly nuts and bolts stuff, like roof, HVAC, insulation, etc.).  We did get a mortgage at 3.5% fixed, no points, so we locked in for the long haul. 

I just chalked this up as going cost of getting a stable place to raise my family near one of the largest agglomeration of knowledge jobs in the country.  (Other places have jobs too, but here my wife and I can network and job hop at will while staying put in one place for 25 years).  Raising three kids while renting a two bedroom apartment didn't seem fun, and high quality apartment aren't that much cheaper around here. 

We could cut our housing costs dramatically by moving elsewhere -- our downpayment could have gotten us a townhouse in a lot of places.  So essentially it was a roll of the dice that location / job market / networking would win out over the long haul.  So I suppose the point of this is that it depends on your motivations -- for us, we didn't just purchase shelter but location stability and access to high-paying, interesting work opportunities.   

Of course if you are really racing for FIRE you would run the analysis differently, as the "long-haul" would involve not working. 
« Last Edit: March 02, 2019, 08:11:49 AM by blinx7 »

Metalcat

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Re: "63% of millennials who bought homes have regrets"
« Reply #49 on: March 02, 2019, 07:48:05 AM »
Funny.  Condos to me combine the downsides of apartment living (noisy neighbors, smaller space) with some of the downsides of owning (still have to pay for much of your maintenance, locked into a loan unless you sell, locking up some of your cash).  I'd rather just rent an apartment.

The upsides of owning to me would be to have a nice backyard, privacy and quiet, and not having to worry about sharing a wall or ceiling.  And of course the nice inflation hedge.

Some of what you consider downsides, I consider benefits and some of your upsides, drawbacks.
Smaller space = great, less to clean/maintain, more time for things I enjoy
"Nice" backyard = yardwork that has to be done and in California, things grow and grow and grow some more (much prefer my nice patio and going to the nearby park)
Sharing a wall/ceiling = less utilities - for 2 summers in Arizona, I haven't used my AC for me (a few times for an elderly dog).

I've owned 2 condos. No inside neighbor noise in either, did/do hear dogs barking outside but I heard those in a stand alone too.

So like most things, it all depends on what you're looking for.

Same here, I just bought a second condo in a high-rise and I'm very excited to get back to being a sky-dweller. Both of my condos are older buildings with very good soundproofing. My current townhouse shares a wall with a musician and I can hear the bass of his music, but not very clearly.

I have no love for having a lawn, no desire for significant renos, and hate being responsible for my own snow removal, so I would never buy a detached home.
Too much work, plus no indoor pool ;)

It really does depend on your priorities and the rent vs buy calculations. Renting here is relatively expensive, and my neighborhood is rapidly gentrifying, so it makes far more sense to own, otherwise I would be fine renting indefinitely.

For some of us, condos really are the best of both worlds.