The government has failed in luring Millenials into mortgage debt, so they switched tactics and lured them into student loan debt. Same result. Disaster.
Kids of boomers are smarter about housing
Echo boomers still want a home, but only when they’re ready
By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch
CHICAGO (MarketWatch)—Here’s a benefit of the housing bust: It has created a generation of young Americans who are more knowledgeable about homeownership than their baby boomer parents were at their age.
At least that’s what the kids think.
Those between the ages of 18 and 35 still want to own a home, and view homeownership as an indicator of success, according to a survey released Monday by Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate. But they’ll buy only when they’re sure they’re ready for the responsibility—a sign of maturity from a group that often is stereotyped as being fiscally irresponsible and maintaining a less-than-stellar work ethic.
Moreover, 69% of the 1,001 18- to 35-year-olds surveyed also said the recent housing downturn has made them more knowledgeable about owning a home than their parents were at their age, the results found. And 77% think they’ve gained much of this knowledge because of the large amount of media coverage about the real-estate industry over the past six years.
“They’re not going to end up getting into a situation that they’ve seen… where they can’t keep the house” because they can no longer afford it, said Matt Rand, managing partner of Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty, a brokerage of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate based in New York and New Jersey.
Still, this survey suggests they haven’t given up on homeownership—even though other statistics and stories indicate people this age group would rather remain renters, he said.
While favorable home prices and low mortgage rates are tempting, people in this age group also are not going to buy until they’re ready for the responsibility, according to the survey. Sixty-nine percent said they will buy not only when can they afford it, but also when owning won’t disrupt their lifestyles.
It was only after saving up down-payment money, coming up to the end of his M.B.A. studies and getting a new and better job that 31-year-old Brandon Savisky bought his $224,000 home in Houston.
“It was more of my personal circumstances than market-driven,” he said of his purchase.
The survey also found that 75% of people in this age group think that owning a nice home is a key indicator of success, more so than taking extravagant vacations, owning an expensive car or having designer clothes. Forty percent said they’d take on a second job to save for a home and 23% said they’d move in with their parents to make it happen.
Members of “Gen Y are living at home with their parents, but this [survey] suggests they’re being strategic in living at home—not because they’re slacking,” Rand said
Eddie says:
Well, they are Civics by the Straus and Howe definition….that creates certain expectations of how they might behave.
From Millenials Rising: The next Great Generation, Strauss and Howe c. 2000
“Currently, the generational power structure has Boomers in charge of most American institutions, and they are the generation most inclined to use military force. In a crisis, Generation X will serve as excellent managers and engineers, but it is the loyal and compliant Millenials who must serve as the foot soldiers during the crisis.
Analyzing recurring generational trends, Howe and Strauss predict that some time in the middle oh-ohs, the social mood will change as it has in America every twenty years or so. After this change occurs, the next crisis will likely thrust Millenials into the role of a Hero Generation.”
The defining commonality of my own Millenial children seems to be be their ability to follow their own chosen paths in the face of ever increasing challenges, and to live life in the present rather than the future, which is perhaps understandable…since the future holds so many scary and unfathomable eventualities.
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22nd October 2012 at 11:59 am
ThePessimisticChemist says:
Going to look at another house this evening, and it looks like a keeper. If I get scooped like I did on the last one I’m going to get very very drunk and sit out back in my underwear bitching about the good old days.
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22nd October 2012 at 12:05 pm
Eddie says:
Very best of luck. I continue to search on the internet at least once a week. The inner city market, which is where I want to buy, is still very hot here…I could find something, but I’m picky…and the Mrs. is worse.
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22nd October 2012 at 12:23 pm
ThePessimisticChemist says:
@Eddie – We really aren’t that picky, and truth be told we don’t need to be. This area is a perfect example of a buyer’s market, and there are a lot of “get rich quick” fucks around here who do nothing but buy/sell houses for a living and they make sure the good ones are grabbed up quickly.
If it will cost to much to flip it, they just rent it. These slum lords are all over the damned town, and their rental rates are always high enough to guarantee quick renter turnover, but their rental quality is so low that no decent person will bother with it.
I’m not paying $900 in rent for a house you bought foreclosed for $35k just two weeks ago.
My wife’s mother has a friend who does this, and is always bragging about all of these great deals he’s getting and all the money he’s making. We asked if he had any for sale and that was the deal he offered us. $850 a month (he knocked off 50 for being friends) and that was it.
I wasn’t there for the exchange, or else this story would have a more entertaining ending than “and we didn’t take the deal.”
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22nd October 2012 at 12:51 pm
Kill Bill says:
If it will cost to much to flip it, they just rent it. These slum lords are all over the damned town, -TPC
Have those here as well. Some have figured they can go Section 8 and make more money by getting a guranteed check every month. Of coure the neighbors hate as it lowers property values for people around that house.
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22nd October 2012 at 3:22 pm
Administrator says:
KB
SECTION 8 IS DOING GREAT
Mike & Joyce
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22nd October 2012 at 3:31 pm
Kepi says:
I’m a cusper… Got mine in ’08 because my landlord wanted to raise my rent by a couple hundred dollars and every other rental was looking for more than that… So I bought. Luckily the place never landed under water and I chose wisely. Everybody thought I was crazy, but it’s worked out well.
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22nd October 2012 at 8:01 pm
Novista says:
I wish y’all good luck in buying houses.
TPC ” … for a house you bought foreclosed for $35k just two weeks ago.” Yeah but probably doesn’t own in and doesn’t know it.
I hope Mary Malone’s good work does not go unheeded and you know the right questions to ask about the title. Caveat emptor.
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22nd October 2012 at 11:50 pm
TeresaE says:
The kid made a “wise” choice by getting an MBA and going $224k in debt while still in debt with college loans?
How fucked up our value system is.
That “smart” kid in the next downturn (and watch the mass layoff announcements after 11-7, they are going to SKYROCKET) may find out that his mortgage payment can’t be made on unemployment benefits.
What in the hell is wrong with people? Used to be you went forth and bought a STARTER home when you were first starting out. Something BELOW the national/area mean. Not AT mean.
Reality is going to bite hard this next go round. I’m just praying that the next time isn’t the last time.
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22nd October 2012 at 11:32 am
Understanding the Housing Affordability Index | Sustainable Engineering Systems says:
[...] Millenials Learning From Boomer Mistakes? (theburningplatform.com) [...]
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22nd October 2012 at 5:53 pm