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A "starter home" is now a 2-bedroom, 2-bath condo if you want something built after 1980.
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Originally Posted by RamenAddict
I see newer condos/apartments that are not very big but something like 1/2 of a relatively small floor space is taken up with a kitchen/bathroom while there is no room for bedrooms, living space, etc. Older homes would have had more space focused on the living areas and less on the kitchen and bathrooms.
I don't agree about the kitchens - even many small 1950s-era homes had decent-sized kitchens - but huge bathrooms, yes, and closets. Some closets in new homes are bigger than the bedrooms in my 1920s home.
Supply and demand . In L.A what one might consider a starter home is around 550k or so .
That’s a modest home in not the best area .
You don’t even really see any fixers on the market anymore as they are being bought off market or they get listed and go pending in a day getting sold to a cash/hard money buyer that is going to flip it .
They say there is a housing crisis or housing shortage but of course one can find a home especially if they have cash and buying at the higher price points .
Too many people are buying them up and turning them into rental properties. Greed sucks!
Not sure if I’d consider that greed . Owning rentals isn’t a get rich quick scheme . After mortgage , taxes, insurance etc and all other expenses there isn’t a ton of money left over.
We have the same problem where I live. During the crash a few years ago investors came in and bought many of the foreclosed or short sale properties. Then they put a little bit of work into them (or sometimes none at all), rented them for a few years and then when the market improved sold them at a huge profit. Also in my area it is hard to find a starter home due to investors snapping them up with cash before anybody else who needs a mortgage can do so. Rumors around here were that investors would cozy up to the realtors to find out what houses were coming on the market so they could buy them first. It makes it hard for the average person or couple to try and buy a starter home.
The condo development I was living in before buying my own starter home had 60% of the condos purchased by one guy at prices under $50K during the meltdown and he now rents a 2 bedroom for $1200. A neighbor bought her 3 bedroom for $55K in 2014, they are now priced around $175K.
I was lucky that I was able to buy my late aunt's home or I probably never would have been able to get into my own place.
I also agree with the poster who said today's young people aren't willing to accept the type of starter home that couples did in the 40's, 50's and 60's. Like was said every kid has to have their own bedroom now where this was not the norm until the last 20-30 years. People watch too much HGTV and expect to find the perfect place for their first home.
If you look at the kind of homes built in the post-war baby boom, you will notice that they. Were. Tiny! There was a development near St. Louis that built and sold two and three bedrooms and one bath houses to Catholic families. Someone I know grew in one of them in a family of seven and said that they would knock out closets and have bunkbeds. When they saved enough money, they finished their basement, and some people sometimes even converted the garage into living space.
A four bedroom three bath house is not a starter home. You also don’t need a brand new house for your first home. The problem is that new houses are often 2000-3000 square feet; developers aren’t building attainable, affordable houses. What will the housing market be like in 20, 30, 40 years? There won’t be any reasonably priced houses in decent shape.
My grandmother has a 3BR/2BA ~1,250 sq. ft tri-level. The layout is not what people want these days. The laundry is in the basement. The basement has a small, finished bonus room. The kitchen has no room for a dishwasher, is small, and the table can only comfortably fit four in the dining area. The living is also on the main level.
All of the bedrooms and bathrooms are upstairs. She's 82 and just had her knee replaced, and is staying with my aunt now in her one level townhome.
I'm a stocky guy. 5'7 230 or so - potbelly but muscular. If I sit down on the toilet in the master suite, one shoulder rubs the vanity, the other rubs the wall. That master bath has a shower that is actually raised up slightly above the floor, not level with it. The hall bath is much larger. The house has a new heat pump, roof, and good bones, but needs some cosmetic updating.
The bottom line is that this is a starter home today, but not in a layout most modern buyers would like.
This is a typical style of home in my hometown, at a typical and typical price.
When you can rent a 1BR new apartment for $600-$700 that's really pretty nice, buying a project house like this is a tough sell.
My grandmother has a 3BR/2BA ~1,250 sq. ft tri-level. The layout is not what people want these days. The laundry is in the basement. The basement has a small, finished bonus room. The kitchen has no room for a dishwasher, is small, and the table can only comfortably fit four in the dining area. The living is also on the main level.
All of the bedrooms and bathrooms are upstairs. She's 82 and just had her knee replaced, and is staying with my aunt now in her one level townhome.
I'm a stocky guy. 5'7 230 or so - potbelly but muscular. If I sit down on the toilet in the master suite, one shoulder rubs the vanity, the other rubs the wall. That master bath has a shower that is actually raised up slightly above the floor, not level with it. The hall bath is much larger. The house has a new heat pump, roof, and good bones, but needs some cosmetic updating.
The bottom line is that this is a starter home today, but not in a layout most modern buyers would like.
This is a typical style of home in my hometown, at a typical and typical price.
When you can rent a 1BR new apartment for $600-$700 that's really pretty nice, buying a project house like this is a tough sell.
I'm probably an oddball regarding this but I'd much rather buy that house than pay $700 a month for an apartment. To my eyes, that's a nice house almost move-in ready. It looks well maintained, has a nice fenced yard, clean basement, storage building. I'm not sure what more I would want. Why would I want to rent an apartment with people on all sides of me, no yard when I could live in a house like this for not much more money? Sure there's going to be some maintenance but you also get a tax break and build equity. Remodeling a home like this isn't necessary, it's optional if you want to do it.
. Rumors around here were that investors would cozy up to the realtors to find out what houses were coming on the market so they could buy them first. It makes it hard for the average person or couple to try and buy a starter home.
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it's not a rumor. I was looking at starter homes and my realtor told me 2 and a half years ago that the market was tight and that investors were buying up properties. Investors can use realtors too, my RE agent said he has investors looking for homes and I knew he was not going to make much commission at my price point so I told him that while taking me out looking for homes he may see one that is not right for me or would not qualify for FHA that one of his investors may want. Investors are just people who can ask any RE agent to help them find houses.
Luckily an investor did not buy the house I got. First of all the renter had music equipment and speakers in both spare bedrooms and in the shed. Oversize furniture in the living room. He also said he would not sell below his asking price, investors want to bargain and offer cash for a discount.
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