What's up with the twenty somethings??

[lulu]

I've been watching a lot of House Hunters for inspiration because we're building a new house in Florida and I can still change things.
I think I have to give it up because of the twenty something couples who are driving me crazy with their demands for granite and hardwood floors and stainless steel appliances in their first homes.

My first home was a starter with harvest gold appliances that I never changed because they worked.And I'm not even mentioning the crazy apartments I lived in first! (one came with a cat) Several houses later I can afford upgrades. But because we always lived on a budget we have two homes and I was able to retire at 52. Everyone complains about the economy, but this mindset is a big problem.

Our kids bought starters, put in sweat equity and moved up.

So my question is, is this happening in real life or does the show just like to create drama?

 

[kenny]

It's a TV show.

Shocking stuff gets more eyeballs, so they make more money on advertising.

 

[lulu]

You're probably right, Kenny. My 29 year old niece and her boyfriend just bought a house that's a little bit of a fixer.

 

[packrat]

Agreed. Tho, personally, that kinda crap drives me up the wall too. I love house shows, and would much rather watch ones about *normal* people. It's funny sometimes, listening to them when they're like "We want 5 bedrooms, 5 baths, walk in closets, hardwood floors, granite counters, stainless appliances, full finished basement, fully landscaped yard, a bonus room, 3 car garage, great schools, close to shopping and great food, but yet out away from everyone, on a cul de sac, facing the East, aaaaand we have $50,000 to spend"

 

[SB621]

You can never lump everyone into a category. While you saved your money and retired early perhaps some 20's something like to spend their money and work till 65 plus? FWIW none of my friends bought starter homes. The mind set was when you work hard you don't want to come home to a house that needs work too. However we do know people that love buying starter homes and fixing them up.

So to answer you question does the show represent my generation. No not fully but obviously there is a group out there where this is the norm.

 

[packrat]

Damn. We did it wrong then. We bought a relatively cheap starter/fixer upper and will *still* have to work until 65+.

 

[lulu]

Actually, packrat, your house thread led to this one. What an amazing transformation!

 

[packrat]

haha thank you lulu! Amazing what you can do w/a little elbow grease...and dirt and flowers and plants. That's why these former twenty somethings, late thirty somethings never have any money.

 

[KaeKae]

Lulu, we definitely saw what you are describing, when we had our last house up for sale six years ago. Some background: it was our 4th home, in a "less expensive" neighborhood of a very desirable community. The home was 10 years old at most, but didn't have granite, etc., I suspect because it wasn't quite "in" yet when the house was built, and HGTV, among other reasons hadn't quite made it's impression yet.
Although we hadn't changed anything major in the kitchen or baths, we had a fully finished basement, which included a full bathroom, neutral interior and had upgraded the first floor flooring to hardwood, within the last few years. (It was like new and not something all the homes had.) The only feedback we got from our (admittedly lousy) realtor was that we didn't have granite in the kitchen. But, the real kicker was from the man who put in a lowball offer, then refused to negotiate when we counter offered. His reason was "what do we do if the appliances break down?" I think somebody wasn't ready for home ownership.

 

[momhappy]

While it may be just for tv, I've actually seen a similar mentality in my line of work (hubby and I run a business). When my husband first started in the industry, he went out into the field and actually earned his business and thats' what was expected of him. Now days, we hire young folks and they expect work/accounts to be handed to them. I suppose that it's the same sort of thing in other areas of life. They have expectations that seem higher and even unrealistic in some circumstances.

 

[packrat]

Wow, KaeKae. Shoulda told him the house came w/a lifetime warranty and 4 live in staff to take care of his every whim.

People have no vision, I swear.

 

[iLander]

Damn. We did it wrong then. We bought a relatively cheap starter/fixer upper and will *still* have to work until 65+.

High five, packrat, you and me both.

 

[lulu]

As Kenny says, people vary. When my parents sold their house in the 90s the deal fell through because the buyers assumed the furniture was included.

I'm so tired of hearing about stainless steel appliances that I'm going with black in the new house. I have stainless in Michigan and I think they're a pit to keep clean.

 

[iLander]

I think it's because they're spoiled as children. We were raised by the WWII generation (well, at least I was) and they impressed upon us the need for hard work, the possibility of hard times and the importance of saving.

We, apparently, did not manage to do that for our kids (at least I didn't). They grew up with granite counters, a generous allowance, and never even had to mow the lawn.

My son and his wife have a 2 bedroom (why? it's just the 2 of them!) apartment with granite and lovely hardwood in a gated community. They pay big money. I have told them to save for a house, get a smaller place, etc., but they just don't want that.

Whenever we tell the kids about how DH and I started out with a dive apartment with roaches and bums sleeping out back, they're horrified. But it was all we could afford and we were happy to find it. A big day was spending $5 at the McDonalds. We scrimped and saved and our business made $8000 the first year. That was well below the poverty line even back then. But we pushed on, working until 3 am then getting up at 7 and working some more. It took about 5 years for us to make the kind of money a normal working couple would make. Our kids say they "would never do that".

But somehow, they want to afford the same lifestyle that we earned over many years.

I hope they don't have a rude awakening . . .

 

[iLander]

Can't leave on the thirteenth post, so here is the fourteenth . . .

 

[ksinger]

I think it's because they're spoiled as children. We were raised by the WWII generation (well, at least I was) and they impressed upon us the need for hard work, the possibility of hard times and the importance of saving.

We, apparently, did not manage to do that for our kids (at least I didn't). They grew up with granite counters, a generous allowance, and never even had to mow the lawn.

My son and his wife have a 2 bedroom (why? it's just the 2 of them!) apartment with granite and lovely hardwood in a gated community. They pay big money. I have told them to save for a house, get a smaller place, etc., but they just don't want that.

Whenever we tell the kids about how DH and I started out with a dive apartment with roaches and bums sleeping out back, they're horrified. But it was all we could afford and we were happy to find it. A big day was spending $5 at the McDonalds. We scrimped and saved and our business made $8000 the first year. That was well below the poverty line even back then. But we pushed on, working until 3 am then getting up at 7 and working some more. It took about 5 years for us to make the kind of money a normal working couple would make. Our kids say they "would never do that".

But somehow, they want to afford the same lifestyle that we earned over many years.

I hope they don't have a rude awakening . . .

I remember watching House Hunters episodes back before the housing bust, and seeing these really young couples who would say, "Well, we're going to have to really go low, because our budget is only 450,000." I was thinking, holy mother of sweet good grief, what kind of jobs do you children HAVE???????" Of course after the bust I realized they did NOT have fab jobs making wads of money, they were just getting some pretty dicey loans that were way beyond their means to repay.

Our house is only 1100 square feet, but it's a mere year from payoff, I have my remodeled kitchen and a newly remodeled bathroom. What more could a person need? Do I want more? At times. Do I NEED more? No, not really.

I'm glad I was raised by that depression/WWII generation too iLander. It was drilled into us that hard times are always possible, and you have to be ready and able to hunker down and live lean if necessary. And why did our generation do such a crap job (in general) of teaching kids how to earn their way? WE were not raised like that, but as a generation, we seem to have gone off the rails. It's weird and I don't know that I'll ever understand it.

 

[lulu]

Yep. My parents grew up during the depression and my dad saw combat in WWII. They saved and made do and taught us to do the same.
They were awfully poor as kids and compared to them we were spoiled. But we had chores. I was ironing before I was 9.

My grandkids are not expected to do anything and I think it's a big mistake. They complain about emptying the dishwasher. I was the dishwasher.

 

[Niel]

Ill comment as I bought my first home last year in my early 20s.

It is in a nice family neighborhood, but definitely lower- middle to middle class. A little bit of both. We picked it because we knew our starter home would be quite a while, and we cared primarily about the school district and the neighborhood. Our house was built in the 50s. A lot of houses in our neighborhood where built in the same time, and they all are extremely similar. living room, galley kitchen, hallway with 1 bath and 3 bedrooms.

Ours was flipped a few years back, so they added on another family room and they refinished the basement, so added a master bedroom suite with another bath and a walk in.

We have hardwood floors in a few of our rooms because thats natural to the period. We did not demand them, it just happened that way. Our kitchen has vinyl flooring, and those old doors from the 50's (you know, im not good at decor terminology but they are plain, just wood doors, nothing fancy on the front.)

has a nice deck and on a half acre. detached garage.

Now, with that said, i would bet my house cost in the lower 10% of homes on pricescope.... Home prices in michigan or low, for a handful of reasons. Ive seen people come here a handful of times with a ring budget that was more than half the price of my house! and often i see rings that are 1/4.

The house needs a little work but not a whole lot, and does not have granite or stainless steal or a pool, and a few of the bedrooms are snug....

it is a starter home. And most of the people I know that are my age with homes get starter homes as well.

 

[JewelFreak]

Our 1st apartment was a rental, one bedroom, weeny kitchen with plywood counters painted black. I loved it because it was always sunny & it didn't have roaches.

We bought a condo in Amsterdam, 1st one we owned, at the height of a boom market, dumb, with a big mortgage. It was nice but not grand. 5 yrs later when we moved back to the U.S. we couldn't GIVE it away -- complete real estate bust! We rented it out; one period of 9 months with no tenant was a nail-biter. It was 15 YEARS before we could sell it at a modest profit. In the meantime we could not afford to buy a house here -- but never expected the gov't or anybody else to bail us out. It was our responsibility. We paid cash for our current house & I LOVE not having a mortgage -- worth every minute of saving up.

It is true, though, that younger people want it all, now. Yes, iLander, they will have a comeuppance; some already have. The sad part is that they often blame somebody else: the bank, the gov't, when nobody held a gun & forced them to sign a crazy loan. By refusing to take responsibility for your mistakes, you will repeat them.


--- Laurie

 

[lulu]

Thanks, Niel. The show is probably pumping up the drama. I wish they had a show called Senior House Hunters. Of course when I was still working I lobbied clothing stores for a chubby executive department.

 

[ChristineRose]

Most twenty-somethings have zero chance of buying their own home. This is contrast to the World War II generation where a high school dropout working at the local grocery store could buy a house at age 17, but only if Dad co-signed because 17 year-olds don't sign contracts. (The story is true, based on someone I know.) Granted said house would not have had a dishwasher and the appliances would have been white and crummy.

Try to remember the richest, most spoiled people you knew when you were a twenty-something. When I was college there was a couple with his-and-her Aston Martins. (Seriously.) I have no idea whether these two eventually married or if they are still a couple. But I can imagine them house-hunting.

Those shows do not pick normal people, they pick people who can generate drama. Furthermore they edit them so that they only show what's "on story." If I don't know what the background of this couple is, but in my mind they got into Dad's alma mater and will be working at Dad's firm despite having cheated their way through the obligatory math class. They film hundreds of hours and pick out three that fit the constructed storylines the best. Frequently the producers instruct them about what to say. If they say some reasonable things, they cut it. Always.

I hate reality shows because they do this, and because the people that they make into stars are either unbalanced or more likely just willing to act stupid to get attention. I prefer my faux stupid to be classics, like King Lear's fool.

 

[lulu]

Our 1st apartment was a rental, one bedroom, weeny kitchen with plywood counters painted black. I loved it because it was always sunny & it didn't have roaches.

We bought a condo in Amsterdam, 1st one we owned, at the height of a boom market, dumb, with a big mortgage. It was nice but not grand. 5 yrs later when we moved back to the U.S. we couldn't GIVE it away -- complete real estate bust! We rented it out; one period of 9 months with no tenant was a nail-biter. It was 15 YEARS before we could sell it at a modest profit. In the meantime we could not afford to buy a house here -- but never expected the gov't or anybody else to bail us out. It was our responsibility. We paid cash for our current house & I LOVE not having a mortgage -- worth every minute of saving up.

It is true, though, that younger people want it all, now. Yes, iLander, they will have a comeuppance; some already have. The sad part is that they often blame somebody else: the bank, the gov't, when nobody held a gun & forced them to sign a crazy loan. By refusing to take responsibility for your mistakes, you will repeat them.

House Hunters is fake -- I suspect they tell them what to say in general. The people have to have bought a place before they can be even considered for the show. They film "tours" of 2 other ones -- I've read 2 articles where the couples said they used houses of friends as the prospective ones.

--- Laurie

You're right, JF. Who really buys a house after looking at only three.

 

[luv2sparkle]

Lulu, that bugs me too! I just said to hubby today, "what would you have said to me if I demanded a 'move in ready' house for our first one! I was thrilled just to be able to own our own house! When I watch that show, I always think some of the people are just spoiled brats. Since when does everything have to be perfect for it to be good? What the heck.

 

[JewelFreak]

House Hunters is fake -- I suspect they tell them what to say in general. The people have to have already bought a place before they can be even considered for the show. They film "tours" of 2 other ones -- I've read 2 articles where the couples said they used houses of friends as the prospective ones.

--- Laurie

 

[Niel]

House Hunters is fake -- I suspect they tell them what to say in general. The people have to have already bought a place before they can be even considered for the show. They film "tours" of 2 other ones -- I've read 2 articles where the couples said they used houses of friends as the prospective ones.

--- Laurie

yeah ive heard its fake too.

 

[OreoRosies86]

I have been glued go HGTV since saving up a decent downpayment for a starter house, and I don't get it either. Some of these couples are nuts! "The house is $50,000 under our budget, has a huge backyard, amazing hardwood floors.... Ohhhhh but wait. Pink bathroom. I hate pink, NEXT."

None of them ever seem to see possibility, or they go for a house that's way over budget because it has the right color appliances

 

[justginger]

This is a very serious issue in the area I live - these shows are not drama for me to watch, they are reality.

I have 20 something coworkers and friends, lots of them. I AM (just barely!) a 20 something. Myself, and one other coworker, are the anomalies in the sense that we bought "starter houses." My house is average as. A 3 bed, 1 bath in a dreaded eastern suburb (since Perth sits on the west coast, the suburbs west sprawl an hour+ north and south of the city - people will sacrifice HOURS of their days to commute, so they can be within 15 minutes of the beach).

DH and I watch it happen. Kids whose parents had bought them properties before the huge boom in 2006, who can't bear to stay in the 3x1 nearly FREE property - nope, sell it off, get into the minimum requirement of a 4x2 with a pool, mortgaged to the hilt, and THEN start the extreme home makeover isht. Granite this, marble that, double headed showers are mandatory, custom splash backs, who can live without a jacuzzi tub?! Waterfall countertops, glass pool fencing, custom light fittings, don't forget the jarrah floorboards at $20,000 PER ROOM! Or, more commonly, they buy shoebox sized blocks, and then build houses as large as possible, EVERYTHING shiny and brand new. You can't put old furniture in a new house, can you?

I did the math. DH and I will have our modest place, which we've hardly maintained let alone renovated, paid off in 11 years total. Our double mortgage repayments are less than their minimum repayments as well, so we're enjoying the holidays these 20-somethings are always whinging about wishing they could have. At the end of 11 years, if we continue to set aside the same amount we are paying in mortgage payments, for the extra 19 years these kids will be paying on the places, we will have a MILLION dollars in cash. And a paid off house. Staggering.

There is no such thing as delayed gratification here anymore. No one wants to keep up with the Jones, they want to keep up with the Kardashians.

 

[SB621]

As Kenny says, people vary. When my parents sold their house in the 90s the deal fell through because the buyers assumed the furniture was included.

I'm so tired of hearing about stainless steel appliances that I'm going with black in the new house. I have stainless in Michigan and I think they're a pit to keep clean.

Preach on sister. I hate stainless...if I have to clean handprints off them 24/7. Doing black applicances for the rest of my life!

 

[sonnyjane]

I might be odd, but I have a different take on this. I live in Southern California where housing prices are astronomical. We currently rent a 2 bed/1bath townhouse built in the 70's with nothing "modern" about it. We pay $1800 a month but similar units come up for sale occasionally in our neighborhood for $375,000. A single family home in a safe neighborhood within a 30 minute commute of work would be $600,000 minimum. I'm only 29 so I'm not raking in the dough exactly. I've used every "rent vs own" calculator that they have and for owning to make more sense than renting, I'd have to live there for at least 7 years before I break even. Just for fun I've looked at things we CAN afford and to be honest, they are total dumps. I'm not looking for stainless steel and hardwood floors, but wood paneling, teal bathrooms, and yellow cabinetry is a little more than I want to work on in my spare time. For now I'd prefer to just not own than to own something that I hated simply for the sake of owning. When I do decide to purchase, I want to get a place that's move-in ready. Until that happens, I'm fine staying put.

What I will agree with you on is that "20-somethings" shopping for homes have very unrealistic expectations for their budgets. There's nothing wrong with wanting stainless steel appliances, steam showers, and wood floors, but you also need to understand that you aren't going to get those things for cheap!

 

[lulu]

sonnyjane, Southern California real estate prices boggle my mind. That's a whole different ball of wax. Ditto NYC. I'm astonished by how little you get for a half million dollars. Unless my family lived there the price would force me to move.