I bought my 4 bedroom home in 2010 for 71k. It's in IL and part of the metro St. Louis area. The house was built in 1921 and needed, and still needs, so much work. The wallpaper and floors were from 1968, so there was tons of orange, green, and yellow. There's only one bathroom. I was a single mom with no child support making 33k/yr. as an attorney with massive student loans. But the mortgage, including insurance and taxes, was hundreds less than rent each month. It was a solidly working class neighborhood (but declining now). I'm married now and my child is almost off to college. We have more $ and think about moving....but why? We have finally updated flooring and ripped out wallpaper. We remodeled the kitchen and bathroom on our own. We got a new roof, new driveway, and new windows throughout these 14 years. Many times we were envious of family and friends in large, sprawling homes in nice neighborhoods over in St. Louis County. But, the house will be paid off in a few years and we're not house poor. Our child has stated they want to rent or buy the house some day because it's so full of love. That made me wildly happy. It made my jealousy of pools, huge homes, and beautiful neighborhoods recede. 😀
Ageism does indeed suck--75% of pre-retirees plan to work in retirement but only 25% actually do. When it comes to housing, a lot of seniors would like to sell that 3 bedroom/2 bath in the suburbs and downsize into a smaller (probably 1 level) home that is closer to the services they use. Personally, when my husband and I are ready to 100% retire, we'd like to sell our house and rent a 1-bedroom plus den type apartment that has a grocery store, coffee shop, and fun stuff to do like a weekly farmer's market within walking distance--we won't be driving much if at all by then.
I understand totally but where I live in Clearwater, FL, those types of apartments have sky-high rents and I doubt many retirees live there. The pandemic and the high taxes and costs of living in blue states have made thousands of Californians and New Yorkers move here, driving up the rents for all of us natives. Now you'd better keep working till you drop because Social Security won't pay all your expenses...and it was never intended to. I'm in a weird boat because at 62, I'm single and disabled. My pension won't kick in until I'm 65. So I have two roommates, which can be really challenging to get along with people you don't have a close friendship with. In my case, my landlady/roomie moved in her problem child grandson and the fights began.
Lisa, I’m sorry to hear about your situation. Rents seem to be higher everywhere. The Justice Department is suing a company called RealPage over price-fixing in rentals nationwide.
Real estate and banking structures are predicated on the early post-WW2 prosperity of North America and have not changed much since then despite the changing times and inflation. This leaves a large amount of people who would desperately want to own a house not being able to do so because they cannot keep up with escalating payments.
'Yup, 'Starter Home' is kind of a silly designation. A few years ago, at 73 and 74, we built the smallest house we've ever owned with the smallest yard we've ever owned. For many, it might be considered a starter home. There are lots of young families around. For them, that may fit. We built in an area with lots of goods and services nearby and easily available. It is a very smart home and very accessible. While we're both quite fit now, we know that won't last forever. As we age and lose energy and capabilities, we built it to be able to stay in it with minimal help. I suppose you could call it our 'Ender Home'.
Moving seems like such a massive undertaking at this point, I wonder how I managed it so many times when I was younger. (I must have had more energy then...)
It’s very difficult to find smaller homes in nicer areas - this is Denver metro. Single floor living even more difficult. I think this is why a lot of folks almost are forced to retire in the Sun belt locations when there are more homes available for people who want something smaller and accessible …. AP friend last summer was outbid several times in ranch homes non55+… then retirees are competing with the singletons and first home buyers. This system is very broken in our area. I’d add that the single story ranch homes in the area typically date to an earlier era when land was not expensive - so the home may work , but then has a huge yard- great for a family , but not a retiree. My friend ended up in one of these with a large yard she really didn’t require. I’ve been fortunate enough to have cash, but one time I used the 60d limit and had to pull all out of retirement then get the mortgage after closing. I really wish developers would build more newer homes with single levels that are smaller- it would work for so many people .
Single person here. One bedroom for me, one bedroom for a dedicated guest room, and another bedroom for an office. Though in practice I actually often work from living room. But I have a REAL chair in there for when my back is bothering me! Also this house has a partially-finished basement, which I could work in. But still!
I'd kill for house #3. They just don't make small homes with big yards here and that's all I want! As a single person with a dog (who wants more dogs) I could easily settle into a small 2 bdrm with a huge yard.
I do see them in smaller towns in my province but not usually for rent. And I don't qualify for a mortgage (yet). But I always have my feelers out.
Oh, man I tried SO HARD to sell this house in the past. And then, I tried to offer it Contract for Deed to various renters. I just could not sell it, even though it’s a cute house in a nice neighborhood and my whole family still loves it. My husband and I have tentative plans to move back into it in our extreme old age. I bought it for like $80K and it’s still worth about that. My son had a funny setup when he lived there as a kid — he pushed a recliner against the window and left it open. The dogs we had back then, Sugar and Ginger, would jump onto the recliner to the window, jump out the window to the top of the flat-top dog house (which was used for no other purpose) and then onto a small bench and to the ground. They’d do their business and come back the same way. That was his genius/lazy method of getting around the problem of the fenced yard not connecting to any door of the house.
Where I live,that is the proud and ancient city of Bristol in the West Country of England(actually it's very strategically sited just where the west country and "the Midlands" meet in geographic terms or in old history on the border of Wessex and Mercia. A good location for making money which is ALWAYS what Bristol has been about "Virtue et Industria" being the city motto. But Adge Cutler had a good quip about that but I can't remember it right now. But here VAN DWELLING is a thing. And I totally get it. We've even got a van dweller move in up our road. Just the one thankfully.
But anywhere there's a tree,a van dweller will rock up. And these are not tramps or trad.gypsies. Most of them have jobs,often in the creative world. But they rightfully resent being ripped off by private landlords + there is now so little social housing,that is not an option,then paying for utilities is onerous. Even when I was much younger I always felt that an 'invisible hand' was setting your living costs so it took up so much of your weekly pay from your job ( I never had a career but to be fair I never wanted one),but it seemed to be a thing that there was never enough left over to save in any meaningful way or travel or do aspirational things like that or what was termed to me 'fancy ideas'.
Some of us- more and more of us cannot be mortgage free at 45…because we are older than that when we buy our first “starter” home. The median age of first time buyers went up nearly 6-8 yr in the past decade, after being stable for decades before. I love my home. It is 3br. It was built only 11 yr ago, and is a relatively concise 1500 sq ft. I love it. It is honestly my dream home- it was the prior three owners starter/downsize depending on stage of their lives. But for me, I have now owned it the longest- and I cannot even conceive of selling my darling dream home. I would like to remove the carpets. Change some of the finishes in the bathrooms. But it’s also perfect just as it is.
I love this article. Me and my partner recently moved into our 7th place since we got together back in 2008. The other 6 places were apartments. This one is nice 2 bedroom 2 bath home in Phoenix, Arizona. Though we don't own it as it's a community we rent from we absolutely love it. Thanks so much for sharing this insightful story. I told him the other day this is for sure the last move dude. LOl. It is such a chore and this year with the awful heat in Arizona it was downright horrid doing it all. I loved your story though Ms. Michelle. Blessings to you and your family and your new home.
Between my wife and I, we've owned 12 homes, 2 each before we met each other, and 8 since then. I was moved around a lot. That's not counting the large RV that we lived and traveled in full time for the first 14 years after we retired.
I agree with the previous posters that things were much easier several years ago. As a veteran, I bought my first home on a VA loan. The previous owner, also a veteran hadn't kept up with payments and the VA allowed me to simply assume the balance after retiring the previous owner's missed payments and giving him a few hundred dollars to walk away, a total of a little over $1,000. These days, that's not even enough for an earnest money payment.
Our son is now looking to buy his first home. The hoops he's having to jump through are quite daunting to get a loan at the current ruinous interest rates. We're able to help him with the down, but there are still some pretty stiff barriers.
My first home was a 1950s single story Rancher style slab two bedroom much like Michelle’s third. Large lot and decent neighborhood in Baton Rouge. The later houses that I describe were all two story three bedroom colonials in Bowie, MD. The Levitt houses were built in the 1960s on slabs and my present house was built in the 1980s on a full foundation with a “walk-out “ basement. Basically all Bowie neighborhoods are good but we seem to have found the best. Our son, now a PhD in physics at GSFC also, lives in a Levitt three bedroom colonial about 4 minutes from us. Our daughter, also at GSFC, lives 20 minutes away in College Park, MD.
I didn’t say, but when we left Baton Rouge in 1990, we rented our home (first house). Our experiences were similar to Michelle’s. Our renters painted the interior garish colors and cut down big, beautiful, many decades old azelias. The only plus was that we were able to rent it continuously and were able to sell it for a decent profit in the mid 1990s.
I bought my 4 bedroom home in 2010 for 71k. It's in IL and part of the metro St. Louis area. The house was built in 1921 and needed, and still needs, so much work. The wallpaper and floors were from 1968, so there was tons of orange, green, and yellow. There's only one bathroom. I was a single mom with no child support making 33k/yr. as an attorney with massive student loans. But the mortgage, including insurance and taxes, was hundreds less than rent each month. It was a solidly working class neighborhood (but declining now). I'm married now and my child is almost off to college. We have more $ and think about moving....but why? We have finally updated flooring and ripped out wallpaper. We remodeled the kitchen and bathroom on our own. We got a new roof, new driveway, and new windows throughout these 14 years. Many times we were envious of family and friends in large, sprawling homes in nice neighborhoods over in St. Louis County. But, the house will be paid off in a few years and we're not house poor. Our child has stated they want to rent or buy the house some day because it's so full of love. That made me wildly happy. It made my jealousy of pools, huge homes, and beautiful neighborhoods recede. 😀
This is a beautiful story!
Ageism does indeed suck--75% of pre-retirees plan to work in retirement but only 25% actually do. When it comes to housing, a lot of seniors would like to sell that 3 bedroom/2 bath in the suburbs and downsize into a smaller (probably 1 level) home that is closer to the services they use. Personally, when my husband and I are ready to 100% retire, we'd like to sell our house and rent a 1-bedroom plus den type apartment that has a grocery store, coffee shop, and fun stuff to do like a weekly farmer's market within walking distance--we won't be driving much if at all by then.
I understand totally but where I live in Clearwater, FL, those types of apartments have sky-high rents and I doubt many retirees live there. The pandemic and the high taxes and costs of living in blue states have made thousands of Californians and New Yorkers move here, driving up the rents for all of us natives. Now you'd better keep working till you drop because Social Security won't pay all your expenses...and it was never intended to. I'm in a weird boat because at 62, I'm single and disabled. My pension won't kick in until I'm 65. So I have two roommates, which can be really challenging to get along with people you don't have a close friendship with. In my case, my landlady/roomie moved in her problem child grandson and the fights began.
Lisa, I’m sorry to hear about your situation. Rents seem to be higher everywhere. The Justice Department is suing a company called RealPage over price-fixing in rentals nationwide.
Real estate and banking structures are predicated on the early post-WW2 prosperity of North America and have not changed much since then despite the changing times and inflation. This leaves a large amount of people who would desperately want to own a house not being able to do so because they cannot keep up with escalating payments.
Don’t leave the Victorian! Get one of those stair chair thingies!
Yes! Your dream home is the same as mine! I’ll never achieve it, though. I’ll be spending my golden years in my suburban walkout ranch.
'Yup, 'Starter Home' is kind of a silly designation. A few years ago, at 73 and 74, we built the smallest house we've ever owned with the smallest yard we've ever owned. For many, it might be considered a starter home. There are lots of young families around. For them, that may fit. We built in an area with lots of goods and services nearby and easily available. It is a very smart home and very accessible. While we're both quite fit now, we know that won't last forever. As we age and lose energy and capabilities, we built it to be able to stay in it with minimal help. I suppose you could call it our 'Ender Home'.
It’s an ideal “forever” home!
Moving seems like such a massive undertaking at this point, I wonder how I managed it so many times when I was younger. (I must have had more energy then...)
Yeah. My daughter will be moving at some point in the next few months, if all goes as planned. I’m already dreading that!
It’s very difficult to find smaller homes in nicer areas - this is Denver metro. Single floor living even more difficult. I think this is why a lot of folks almost are forced to retire in the Sun belt locations when there are more homes available for people who want something smaller and accessible …. AP friend last summer was outbid several times in ranch homes non55+… then retirees are competing with the singletons and first home buyers. This system is very broken in our area. I’d add that the single story ranch homes in the area typically date to an earlier era when land was not expensive - so the home may work , but then has a huge yard- great for a family , but not a retiree. My friend ended up in one of these with a large yard she really didn’t require. I’ve been fortunate enough to have cash, but one time I used the 60d limit and had to pull all out of retirement then get the mortgage after closing. I really wish developers would build more newer homes with single levels that are smaller- it would work for so many people .
Single person here. One bedroom for me, one bedroom for a dedicated guest room, and another bedroom for an office. Though in practice I actually often work from living room. But I have a REAL chair in there for when my back is bothering me! Also this house has a partially-finished basement, which I could work in. But still!
So true… “Ultimately, you need a house that meets your needs, however you define that. Bigger isn’t always better.” TY
I loved reading about your home ownership through the years. My story about home ownership is one you could write a book about! 😆
Maybe you should write it! You can tell your story better than anyone else.
I'd kill for house #3. They just don't make small homes with big yards here and that's all I want! As a single person with a dog (who wants more dogs) I could easily settle into a small 2 bdrm with a huge yard.
I do see them in smaller towns in my province but not usually for rent. And I don't qualify for a mortgage (yet). But I always have my feelers out.
Oh, man I tried SO HARD to sell this house in the past. And then, I tried to offer it Contract for Deed to various renters. I just could not sell it, even though it’s a cute house in a nice neighborhood and my whole family still loves it. My husband and I have tentative plans to move back into it in our extreme old age. I bought it for like $80K and it’s still worth about that. My son had a funny setup when he lived there as a kid — he pushed a recliner against the window and left it open. The dogs we had back then, Sugar and Ginger, would jump onto the recliner to the window, jump out the window to the top of the flat-top dog house (which was used for no other purpose) and then onto a small bench and to the ground. They’d do their business and come back the same way. That was his genius/lazy method of getting around the problem of the fenced yard not connecting to any door of the house.
Hahaha that's kind of genius! How weird that there was no door leading outside though. I'd have cut a hole in the wall for a dog door 😁
Where I live,that is the proud and ancient city of Bristol in the West Country of England(actually it's very strategically sited just where the west country and "the Midlands" meet in geographic terms or in old history on the border of Wessex and Mercia. A good location for making money which is ALWAYS what Bristol has been about "Virtue et Industria" being the city motto. But Adge Cutler had a good quip about that but I can't remember it right now. But here VAN DWELLING is a thing. And I totally get it. We've even got a van dweller move in up our road. Just the one thankfully.
But anywhere there's a tree,a van dweller will rock up. And these are not tramps or trad.gypsies. Most of them have jobs,often in the creative world. But they rightfully resent being ripped off by private landlords + there is now so little social housing,that is not an option,then paying for utilities is onerous. Even when I was much younger I always felt that an 'invisible hand' was setting your living costs so it took up so much of your weekly pay from your job ( I never had a career but to be fair I never wanted one),but it seemed to be a thing that there was never enough left over to save in any meaningful way or travel or do aspirational things like that or what was termed to me 'fancy ideas'.
Some of us- more and more of us cannot be mortgage free at 45…because we are older than that when we buy our first “starter” home. The median age of first time buyers went up nearly 6-8 yr in the past decade, after being stable for decades before. I love my home. It is 3br. It was built only 11 yr ago, and is a relatively concise 1500 sq ft. I love it. It is honestly my dream home- it was the prior three owners starter/downsize depending on stage of their lives. But for me, I have now owned it the longest- and I cannot even conceive of selling my darling dream home. I would like to remove the carpets. Change some of the finishes in the bathrooms. But it’s also perfect just as it is.
I love this article. Me and my partner recently moved into our 7th place since we got together back in 2008. The other 6 places were apartments. This one is nice 2 bedroom 2 bath home in Phoenix, Arizona. Though we don't own it as it's a community we rent from we absolutely love it. Thanks so much for sharing this insightful story. I told him the other day this is for sure the last move dude. LOl. It is such a chore and this year with the awful heat in Arizona it was downright horrid doing it all. I loved your story though Ms. Michelle. Blessings to you and your family and your new home.
Between my wife and I, we've owned 12 homes, 2 each before we met each other, and 8 since then. I was moved around a lot. That's not counting the large RV that we lived and traveled in full time for the first 14 years after we retired.
I agree with the previous posters that things were much easier several years ago. As a veteran, I bought my first home on a VA loan. The previous owner, also a veteran hadn't kept up with payments and the VA allowed me to simply assume the balance after retiring the previous owner's missed payments and giving him a few hundred dollars to walk away, a total of a little over $1,000. These days, that's not even enough for an earnest money payment.
Our son is now looking to buy his first home. The hoops he's having to jump through are quite daunting to get a loan at the current ruinous interest rates. We're able to help him with the down, but there are still some pretty stiff barriers.
My first home was a 1950s single story Rancher style slab two bedroom much like Michelle’s third. Large lot and decent neighborhood in Baton Rouge. The later houses that I describe were all two story three bedroom colonials in Bowie, MD. The Levitt houses were built in the 1960s on slabs and my present house was built in the 1980s on a full foundation with a “walk-out “ basement. Basically all Bowie neighborhoods are good but we seem to have found the best. Our son, now a PhD in physics at GSFC also, lives in a Levitt three bedroom colonial about 4 minutes from us. Our daughter, also at GSFC, lives 20 minutes away in College Park, MD.
I didn’t say, but when we left Baton Rouge in 1990, we rented our home (first house). Our experiences were similar to Michelle’s. Our renters painted the interior garish colors and cut down big, beautiful, many decades old azelias. The only plus was that we were able to rent it continuously and were able to sell it for a decent profit in the mid 1990s.