MA Spring RE will start early & be flooded with inventory (Newton: to buy, college)

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by traffic_lover

This is where I'm puzzled. I understand the kids in school cycle creates the april-June rush. But this is only a piece of the inventory puzzle. What I'm wondering: where is the retiring empty nest baby boom seller? These folks own a significant portion of housing stock. With demand and prices maxed out I'd think it would pull these folks out of woodwork. Are they really staying put to live with high taxes & COL, snow & ice ?

To be quite honest, I'm sure a lot of them were death and/or old-age home related. I don't think there is a season for that really. many of those houses were in need of serious updates as well. But I got the vibe that families were clearing out belongings and the house was being sold to split the inheritance.


I've settled into my new neighborhood and most of my neighbors are 80+. Houses are paid off, they don't want to go anywhere. My neighbor across the street (ex-Pats player from the 60's) owns a home here and in FL. He's down enjoying the sun right now. Next to them is a couple in their 80's. Grandkids and family are always over and the guy still snow-blows his driveway on his own. I'd help him but he's always done before I can get out there. Next to me is a woman in her late 90's. She lives there all alone in a 3 BR house. No desire to leave, and I've never met her.


Now, right there are three houses that if these folks retired and moved, would be available. But they stay put...and enjoy it. House is maintained, lawn is cared for and perhaps it keeps them going?


If it was me, I'd sell the house, buy a cheaper condo and invest the equity and add it to my retirement portfolio.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

Now, right there are three houses that if these folks retired and moved, would be available. But they stay put...and enjoy it. House is maintained, lawn is cared for and perhaps it keeps them going?


If it was me, I'd sell the house, buy a cheaper condo and invest the equity and add it to my retirement portfolio.

My immediate neighbors are pretty much the same. On one side of me, the woman has owned the house since the early 1960's. Across my little private lane, her sister and brother-in-law own that home, are retired, and have lawn OCD. They all have family in town. "Children" a few years younger than me with young grandchildren. On the other side, the mother just died in her late-90's. The daughter who has also been living there for many years is in her late 60's and is spending a slice of her half of a large-ish inheritance remodeling a house that hasn't seen much updating in 75 years. Roof. New paint job. Plumbing & electrical. I was afraid it was going to be sold, torn down, and some monster built staring at my house. Crisis avoided. Over my back fence is an older school teacher who just remarried. I doubt she's going anywhere.

If you were born in town and lived there your entire life, why would you sell out and move to cheap housing in the Carolinas or Florida if you don't have to? 1%er corporate execs who move every half-dozen years might have that attitude but not people who have all those decades of roots. I did the opposite. After living "away" my entire adult life, I bought a place in my home town. It's very comforting to have that kind of grounding.

I used to live up on the hill in Winchester in the 90's. I shared my driveway with a BankBoston exec. All my neighbors were corporate execs. They were nice enough but we didn't have anything in common beyond sharing a property line. It was a convenient place to live but it was never home. If I'd stayed there, I would have sold the moment I retired.

[BostonMike7]

Good point. I guess I my case, I need to wait and see what happens to the neighborhood in the next decade or so. I love the fact that people are grounded there and take pride in their home, but the reality is they are in their 80's and 90's and at some point there will be a new influx of people into the neighborhood.

[life4orce]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

My experience has been that this is a much larger factor in the Brookline/Boston/Cambridge condo market than it is in the 'burbs. However, it happens in the 'burbs as well. Just to a much smaller degree. I was talking to an agent maybe last year who told me she sold a house in Wellesley to a Chinese investor for $1.8M. He showed up to the closing with cash . . . literally a suitcase full of cash.

Some these types of sales, you'll find, are concentrated near good Colleges and Universities. They are buying the property as an investment but also a place for their children to live while going to school. Babson is a very popular business school with those overseas.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by life4orce

Some these types of sales, you'll find, are concentrated near good Colleges and Universities. They are buying the property as an investment but also a place for their children to live while going to school. Babson is a very popular business school with those overseas.

My parents actually live in a townhouse community in Newton and the unit a couple doors down used to be owned by a Kuwaiti who's son was living there while he was in school. After the 1st year, he decided he didn't like living there but they kept the unit for when the parents came to town for a visit. I think they paid $1M+ for it. Plus, the condo fee was probably close to $2K a month. Must be nice.

[robr2]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

My immediate neighbors are pretty much the same. On one side of me, the woman has owned the house since the early 1960's. Across my little private lane, her sister and brother-in-law own that home, are retired, and have lawn OCD. They all have family in town. "Children" a few years younger than me with young grandchildren. On the other side, the mother just died in her late-90's. The daughter who has also been living there for many years is in her late 60's and is spending a slice of her half of a large-ish inheritance remodeling a house that hasn't seen much updating in 75 years. Roof. New paint job. Plumbing & electrical. I was afraid it was going to be sold, torn down, and some monster built staring at my house. Crisis avoided. Over my back fence is an older school teacher who just remarried. I doubt she's going anywhere.

My neighborhood is the same way. I've been here for 22 years and my neighbors still call it the Smalley House. Damn it, it's my house. Of the 25 houses on my street, it breaks down something like this:

5 are couples/widows that are retired and have lived on the street longer than me
5 are empty nest couples/widower that still work and have lived on the street longer than me
2 are older working families with an adult special needs child and have lived on the street longer than me
5 are multi generational and have lived on the street longer than me
7 are in my age range with kids in high school or college and have lived here 15+ years
1 has a newborn and moved in about 18 months ago.

10 of the houses should have sold if the occupants followed the "normal" life cycle. But as of right now they've all decided to stay put. They maintain their homes and seem happy to stay put. One of the retirees (about 15 years now) just widened his driveway to double car width. I joked with him that I would have done it 45 years ago.

[Whatsnext75]

'where is the retiring empty nest baby boom seller? These folks own a significant portion of housing stock. With demand and prices maxed out I'd think it would pull these folks out of woodwork. Are they really staying put to live with high taxes & COL, snow & ice ?'

Well if their families are still here particularly kids and grandkids why would they move? My husbands mom did actually move to AZ but now she is in the process of moving back here because she misses her kids and grandkids...she moved because her dr said the warm dry weather would be better for her health issues. I'm honestly not sure how happy she will be once she moves back here. Cost of living is much higher now than when she moved 10 yrs ago, weather hasnt changed...but she's hell bent on wanting to be back here.

So these are some of the reasons why baby boomers aren't moving. I can't say I blame them. Who wants to be alone and far away from people you love as you're aging? If anything its young people who are more likely to move but given that boston is so wonderful job wise and education wise they aren't moving either.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by robr2

10 of the houses should have sold if the occupants followed the "normal" life cycle. But as of right now they've all decided to stay put. They maintain their homes and seem happy to stay put. One of the retirees (about 15 years now) just widened his driveway to double car width. I joked with him that I would have done it 45 years ago.

I guess I don't see what is normal about selling and moving away. Seems really abnormal. My mother has been in her place since 71. Where is she moving to? Away from friends? Away from her parish? It doesn't seem to be normal to uproot and have all that change to relax.

[MrLinderman]

My mother has been in the same house for most of her life. Her parents bought it in '57 I think, and inherited it from my grandmother.

She's in her mid 60s, a widow, and lives alone in a 3 bedroom house. The house needs a lot of work, and even though she can't keep up with it anymore, it's taken me over 5 years to convince her to finally sell it.

If anyone wants a fixer-upper (I mean "A handyman's dream!!!!") on the South Shore, let me know

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by MrLinderman

My mother has been in the same house for most of her life. Her parents bought it in '57 I think, and inherited it from my grandmother.

She's in her mid 60s, a widow, and lives alone in a 3 bedroom house. The house needs a lot of work, and even though she can't keep up with it anymore, it's taken me over 5 years to convince her to finally sell it.

If anyone wants a fixer-upper (I mean "A handyman's dream!!!!") on the South Shore, let me know

I like to say "this house offers you the opportunity to add your own special touches."

If the house was in Metrowest, I'd have 100 people waiting to buy it.