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I grew up in a white immigrant family. I was born in an ethnic enclave, but my family moved out of to the suburbs when I was still very young. ...(snip)... I did my own research through police departments and found that they were not areas with violent crime. That being said, why are affluent people as a whole likely to have this type of mentality?
So you went from an ethnic enclave to a place where White upper class people live. Quite the shock, I'm sure. Mildly surprised you need to ask the question, after living that experience?
I grew up in an upper middle class area, in a stable family with a reasonably-successful wage earner (my dad), and went to school with 1% types. Some decades later, today, by the numbers I'm a 3-percenter and might have insight into the mentality.
Yes, I maintain my yard with a landscaping service. Yes, the neighbor had a little "chat" with me when I first moved in because I'd tossed a little paper into the street (advertisements) one too many times, sullying the whole area (in his mind). Yes, we don't park junk cars all over the street (suburbs) or raise hell in the evenings, or have gangstas idling around on the corners. And yes, we are protective of our enclave of civilization. Here's why:
In a nutshell, people either born into or who earned their way into that income bracket chose deliberately to live in areas with (generally) low crime, good schools, neighbors who don't collect trash cars, and an overall "gentile" lifestyle. Which includes presentation and professionalism, excellence in delivery, all-day/every-day. It is really that simple. The trust fund babies living on huge estates are another click up the food chain and live in yet another world, one most of us will never see.
When you've truly earned what you have, through hard work and shrewd investment, believe me: there isn't a lot of time or sympathy for low-class behavior. Your Realtor is indicating as much, without necessarily explaining in-detail. Why should she, it's self-evident.
$200K neighborhoods in greater Seattle metro are the ghetto. The nicest start at $1M, "decent" about $500K. Depends on your definition of "success," I suppose, and location. Not knocking any other areas; in fact perhaps the opposite: high prices in my area are a barrier to upward mobility for many middle-class, and those aspiring to be.
Let's just say hanging around on the porch, loud music, drug use, gangsters and other idlers, vagrancy, frequent "contact" with the police, and similar are all strongly correlated with both lack of education and poverty. If you don't "have" to tolerate low class, dangerous behavior, believe me: you won't want to. And after awhile, one becomes rather militant and protectionist about it, too.
I worked my way from middle to upper roots, became a poor wandering bum college student (with a safety net, however), to relatively poor but happy professional just starting out, to successful professional, to senior professional, and (perhaps) executive manager before I retire. The previous is a multi-decade process, there are few-to-no shortcuts in life regardless of what blonde bimbos on the TV would have us believe (lottery winners, sports stars, other anomalies aside).
I am not "better" than anyone else, but consciously choose to live in a nice part of town for the peace-of-mind and investment growth. And I vigorously protect it. That's all there is to it.
Last edited by Blondebaerde; 01-30-2014 at 02:12 PM..
I don't know about affluent but for me the reason I am picky is because it's my money that pays for the place so yeah I am gonna be picky. It's. I different than anything else I'm buying. I'm gonna buy the house that meets most if not all my needs. Why should I settle for something if it's not what I want
Affluent people are so picky about Real Estate because it more likely to be an investment rather then a place to live.
Just like the saying that there's a difference between a house and a home, there are attributes in investing in Real Estate that will ensure that your investment will be attractive when it comes time to sell.
Location , location, location is one of them along with a long list of what people want in a house when they buy.
Another attribute is called the bread and butter house which means that a large majority of the people who are in the market to buy will have these wants on a list. 3 bedrooms , 2 baths, 2 car garage, and a remodeled modern kitchen are at the top of the list.
Just to clarify, I myself am not an immigrant. My parents are. I was born in nyc in the ethnic enclave I mentioned earlier. I never lived in one of those neighborhoods myself, as my family is now only marginally more wealthy than when it first started out. But living in suburban towns across 3 states has exposed plenty me to plenty of people in this category. I hung out with plenty of friends whose parents fit into this category. I think those people are annoying, they don't know how to mind their own business, they waste time on pointless nonsense like turning their yard into a work of art, and they care way to much about what other people think of them. I met one of my good friends in college. He lived in Staten island till his early teens and he constantly jokes about how "tighty whitey" the people in his affluent neighborhood of 500k+ are. Lol a few of you in the beginning said that it sounded like I don't like that group of people much. I'm not denying that I don't, and the reasons just listed are why. I am not saying that all people are this way, but a good number of them are. And remember, I have been in several suburbs across 3 states (yes, where the numerical price of affluence fluctuates).
I grew up in a white immigrant family. I was born in an ethnic enclave, but my family moved out of to the suburbs when I was still very young. As I was growing up, I noticed that upper class white people are a breed of their own. They are very alarmist over little things, they are obsessed with "what the neighbors think" and all of that BS suburban gossip, and they nitpick over the dumbest things. The whole image thing plays into them being religious about keeping their front yards looking like something from a magazine cover, even it it takes hours of work each week. With regards to houses, I have seen people like that be like overly sensitive smoke detectors when it comes to classifying an area as unsafe. As the title of the thread asks, why is this group of people so finicky with its requirements? I have one realtor I'm working with now who fits this category perfectly, she is an upper class white woman who writes off neighborhoods so easily. When visiting houses with me, she would sometimes get uncomfortable because the neighborhood was not an place with 200k homes that have curb appeal. These were not ghetto neighborhoods, as I have no desire to live in a stoners paradise. I did my own research through police departments and found that they were not areas with violent crime. That being said, why are affluent people as a whole likely to have this type of mentality?
It sounds like you came to the home buying experience with your own bias so it's not logical that you'd be looking in those areas - your prerogative.
By the way, don't pull out that immigrant card, my husband (who immigrated here at age 27)...decided he wanted to live in the smallest house in the most expensive zip code suburb of Philly in X amount of time, and pulled it off. With hard work. WHILE putting himself through an Ivy League university paying for it himself and getting a second masters and PhD.
That being said...
Is this your first home buying experience?
The reason I ask is you may understand people being "picky with real estate" somewhat better after you're a homeowner for awhile.
Especially when your neighborhood deteriorates and you're stuck with a depreciating asset facing you, being underwater on your mortgage and living among a bunch of renters who disrespect the neighborhood.
Which exactly describes what happened to MANY MANY MANY neighborhoods that had nothing to do with race, ethnicity or income after the 2008 real estate crash.
Violent crime is the least of your worries buying a home. It's a GIVEN that nobody is going to spend money in a "violent area" unless it's "home" to them.
As far as real estate agents go, you should be working with one who is an expert in the area YOU WANT TO LIVE.
I think those people are annoying, they don't know how to mind their own business, they waste time on pointless nonsense like turning their yard into a work of art, and they care way to much about what other people think of them.
People have different value systems. You have yours. They have theirs. The US is a large place with plenty of places for people of differing values to live. I mean really, will the world end in nuclear war because sometime likes their lawn to look like a work of art? If that is the worst thing that happens in the world, then that is a good thing. Go find your place and stop focusing on people that are different than you. Kind of the point of living in the US...to each his own.
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$200K neighborhoods in greater Seattle metro are the ghetto. The nicest start at $1M, "decent" about $500K. Depends on your definition of "success," I suppose, and location. Not knocking any other areas; in fact perhaps the opposite: high prices in my area are a barrier to upward mobility for many middle-class, and those aspiring to be.
