# Millennials don't want to buy baby boomers' sprawling, multi-bedroom homes



## RadishRose (Mar 28, 2019)

and it's creating a major problem in the real-estate market....Millennials aren't buying the large, elaborate houses built by boomers in Sunbelt states like Arizona, Florida, and the Carolinas, The Wall Street Journal reported.    

These houses end up sitting on the market and selling at massive price cuts.

"Homes built before 2012 are selling at steep discounts — sometimes  almost 50%, and many owners end up selling for less than they paid to  build their homes," Candace Taylor wrote in The Wall Street Journal.

Younger buyers are also uninterested in outdated interior design.
  "Design trends have shifted radically in the past decade," Taylor wrote  in The Journal. "That means a home with crown moldings, ornate details  and Mediterranean or Tuscan-style architecture can be a hard sell, while  properties with clean lines and open floor plans get snapped up."


Millennials are often seen as a generation of renters, but many of them  want to buy homes — it's just much harder for them to do so.

So, I'm thinking those of you with large homes might want to sell while you can get some profit.


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## C'est Moi (Mar 28, 2019)

I don't want to sell my home, so it will be my millennials' (kids) problem when I kick the bucket.   It's been mortgage-free for years so whatever they can get for it will be gravy for them.   None of them live in this area so they won't want it either.


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## RadishRose (Mar 28, 2019)

Mortgage free and like your location? I'd stay, too.


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## Uptosnuff (Mar 28, 2019)

On the flip side, if you are looking to move or buy a second home, these might be worth a look.


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## RadishRose (Mar 28, 2019)

Uptosnuff said:


> On the flip side, if you are looking to move or buy a second home, these might be worth a look.



Good thinking!


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## Floridatennisplayer (Mar 30, 2019)

We love our main home where we live.....the dot. Our daughter/son in law and our two grandkids live in the cul de sac behind us.  As you can see we are on a golf course. A wonderful park for the kids and the school to our right. I’m on those tennis courts every day in the summer. The little town square is just to the right of the school with lots of shops and restaurants.


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## Floridatennisplayer (Mar 30, 2019)

Oops, wrong pic. Trying to figure out how to delete.


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## retiredtraveler (Mar 30, 2019)

We have a small, mid 50's house on a few acres. We intend to sell in a few years and go into an apartment. We were concerned about selling the home in the past, but around here, there is a good market for less expensive homes, and we have that. As stated, fewer and fewer people can afford the $250,000 - $300,000 houses that are down the street from us, on standard lots. We'll go for a lot less.
  Home buying is very neighborhood-centric. Impossible to generalize  across the country.


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## WhatInThe (Apr 1, 2019)

There's the cost factor and fear of responsibility. Home ownership means they, not the landlord has to complete and/or pay for repairs. 

On one hand it's good that many seem to be living a minimalist's life but at the same time they've become unable to take care of themselves other than throwing money at a problem which is delegating. Yeah materialism can lead to things like hoarding but alot of stuff has an actual purpose like tools, cookware, stationary, etc. Excessive decor or trinkets with no purpose is an issue. But this is another generation which can't even change a flat tire themselves. Some can't cook, swing a hammer,clean without mass marketed chemical products, make a bed or troubleshoot their own computer or tv problems. Sad but many just exist with the same routine and look to media ie the internet or tv for entertainment. At this point I bet there are many that would have trouble reading from a paper book-if it's not a tablet or computer uh oh.


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## debbie in seattle (Apr 1, 2019)

I thought they just wanted to move in with the parents and live off of them.


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## WhatInThe (Apr 1, 2019)

debbie in seattle said:


> I thought they just wanted to move in with the parents and live off of them.



Spending money on those dull mundane necessities like electric and water just doesn't cut it silly. Their entire life is built around joy. Why bother to fix or even learn to fix a leaky faucet when they could be binge watching the latest hipster tv show.

One of the things I notice that there have been several generations that have been exposed to pop culture psyco babble including take a job doing something you'll love and you'll never work a day in your life. But life is not a platitude. There are things like priorities and necessity. The next party, dvd release, latest fashion and optional accessory filled tech is not. Many can't even endure the time it takes to push a broom in their own kitchen. Cleaning a waste and for fanatics silly.


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## Trade (Apr 1, 2019)

Too many boomers have their houses overpriced. Good on the Millennials for giving them a dose of reality.


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## OneEyedDiva (Apr 6, 2019)

Floridatennisplayer said:


> Oops, wrong pic. Trying to figure out how to delete.


If that's still the picture you want to delete..click on Edit Post on the bottom right of the where your reply is, highlight the photo...it will look obscured in blue, then hit delete.


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## OneEyedDiva (Apr 7, 2019)

Many of todays Millennials want to be mortgage free as evidenced by shows like Tiny House, Luxury Tiny Homes and a British production How To Live Mortgage Free. These young people, as well as people from other generations, are doing very creative things to avoid buying standard homes or renting and paying exorbitant amounts for mortgages and rent. Many of the Millennials I have seen on these shows cite the desire to be free from debt, to be able to travel as much as they please and not be saddled to a full time job. Some have careers in the arts and/or are self employed and can work from whatever location they choose to be in.


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## StarSong (Apr 20, 2019)

I agree with RetiredTraveler ^^^.  It's impossible to generalize.  

In the suburbs of Los Angeles where I live, somewhat larger homes (meaning 4 BR and 2+ BA) still sell very well.  Let's face it, Millennials with two kids want a 4 BR house because they want a guest room, home office, media room, or gym.  

I can't comment about the salability of 6 BR. 5,000 SF McMansions in retiree areas, which is what the article addresses, but 1900-3000 SF homes in areas with good paying jobs remain in high demand.


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## Aneeda72 (Apr 20, 2019)

In our area, houses sell extremely fast.  My daughter just sold her half updated plenty of unfinished projects left to do 1950’s house for 180,000.  It sold in three days.  She bought it 3 years ago for 89,000.  Three years ago we sold our 1950’s house which we paid 35,000 for35 years ago.

The house was a money pit.  We improved it a great deal, but it’s still a money pit.  We sold it for 130,000.  6 months later it sold for 160,000. Three years later, now, it would sell for 210,000 to 220,000.

We bought our current house for 250,000.  By fall it should sell for 350,000. As soon as it can sell for this, we will sell.  It’s a sellers market.  Yay.


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## fmdog44 (Apr 21, 2019)

My dad bought our houe in 1954 @ $25,000 and sold it in 1071 for the same amount!! This after many many renovations.


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## StarSong (Apr 22, 2019)

Good grief, fmdog.  Talk about a lousy return on his investment.  

My mother bought her house in 1970 for $65,000 and we sold it in 2015 for $1.6 mil.  My in-laws bought their house for $8900 in 1953.  Now worth a little over $600K.


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## WhatInThe (Apr 26, 2019)

A lot has to do with changing/shifting demographics like many moving to warmer weather or lower tax states. Also population increases in many areas. And investors are buying a lot of lower priced inventory(house flipping back to pre boom levels). Here house flippers are keeping prices high by sucking up older less renovated homes among the foreclosures. Just enough to inflate prices, if were the same company I'd have them investigated for price fixing or market manipulation because many are upfront saying they want so many houses per area which just happens to be pretty close the average foreclosure auctions.


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## fmdog44 (Apr 28, 2019)

"I want it all and I want it now." The ballad of the millennials.


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## bernyj (May 5, 2019)

I agree, half my neighbors kids are leaving with them, when they should be out on their own, back when I was younger, I couldn't wait to get my own place. 





debbie in seattle said:


> I thought they just wanted to move in with the parents and live off of them.


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## Butterfly (May 5, 2019)

bernyj said:


> I agree, half my neighbors kids are leaving with them, when they should be out on their own, back when I was younger, I couldn't wait to get my own place.



Me, either.  The minute I graduated (had a job waiting) I moved into this funky little apartment -- it wasn't much but it was MINE!


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## Jamie cat (Jun 18, 2019)

Our agent (Chicago based but does northern 'burbs, too) said few want to move to suburbia anymore - only customers he gets are people who grew up there and want to re-create their childhood for their kids now.
I'd like to move to a cute little 2 bedroom cottage so I could have a garden, small patio, koi pond, etc but I don't want to be out in the boonies.  Something with a little elbow room from your neighbors, for sure!


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## KingsX (Jun 18, 2019)

.

When I was a child [1963] my parents bought a nice new 1150 sq ft,  three bedrooms, one and a half bath,  brick house in a nice Dallas suburb for around $12,000 [and no HOA.]

Today,  I  would love to buy a brand new house like that... but there aren't any nice new small single-family houses being built around here at any price.


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## Shalimar (Jun 18, 2019)

OneEyedDiva said:


> Many of todays Millennials want to be mortgage free as evidenced by shows like Tiny House, Luxury Tiny Homes and a British production How To Live Mortgage Free. These young people, as well as people from other generations, are doing very creative things to avoid buying standard homes or renting and paying exorbitant amounts for mortgages and rent. Many of the Millennials I have seen on these shows cite the desire to be free from debt, to be able to travel as much as they please and not be saddled to a full time job. Some have careers in the arts and/or are self employed and can work from whatever location they choose to be in.


Absolutely.


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## Ken N Tx (Jun 18, 2019)

Skoolies revisited...
.
https://www.seniorforums.com/showthread.php/40066-Skoolies
.*We’ve all heard of motor homes and travel trailers. I’ve even seen converted school buses before. But, never anything like this.*[FONT=&quot]_Skoolie life is built on the idea that happiness and desk jobs are like oil and water. A fast-growing branch of the van life community, many of them millennial parents, is trading its homes and jobs to live in school buses in rebuff of the so-called American dream. Skoolies believe in a life free of picket fences, 401Ks, and 30-year mortgages—all the securities their baby boomer parents coveted. “We knew early on we wanted a different life than our parents,” says Amanda Smith, who lives on the Giant White Bussalo with her family of five. “Our parents just worked nonstop every day. We didn’t want to do the ‘you get married, buy a house, have babies, and pay off your debt the rest of your life.’”_[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]*I just wonder where they get the money to live on.*[/FONT]


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## Shalimar (Jun 18, 2019)

Ken N Tx said:


> Skoolies revisited...
> .
> https://www.seniorforums.com/showthread.php/40066-Skoolies
> .*We’ve all heard of motor homes and travel trailers. I’ve even seen converted school buses before. But, never anything like this.*_Skoolie life is built on the idea that happiness and desk jobs are like oil and water. A fast-growing branch of the van life community, many of them millennial parents, is trading its homes and jobs to live in school buses in rebuff of the so-called American dream. Skoolies believe in a life free of picket fences, 401Ks, and 30-year mortgages—all the securities their baby boomer parents coveted. “We knew early on we wanted a different life than our parents,” says Amanda Smith, who lives on the Giant White Bussalo with her family of five. “Our parents just worked nonstop every day. We didn’t want to do the ‘you get married, buy a house, have babies, and pay off your debt the rest of your life.’”_
> *I just wonder where they get the money to live on.*


Many of them work from home using their computer.


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## C'est Moi (Jun 18, 2019)

Ken N Tx said:


> Skoolies revisited...
> .
> https://www.seniorforums.com/showthread.php/40066-Skoolies
> .*We’ve all heard of motor homes and travel trailers. I’ve even seen converted school buses before. But, never anything like this.*_Skoolie life is built on the idea that happiness and desk jobs are like oil and water. A fast-growing branch of the van life community, many of them millennial parents, is trading its homes and jobs to live in school buses in rebuff of the so-called American dream. Skoolies believe in a life free of picket fences, 401Ks, and 30-year mortgages—all the securities their baby boomer parents coveted. “We knew early on we wanted a different life than our parents,” says Amanda Smith, who lives on the Giant White Bussalo with her family of five. “Our parents just worked nonstop every day. We didn’t want to do the ‘you get married, buy a house, have babies, and pay off your debt the rest of your life.’”_
> *I just wonder where they get the money to live on.*



Probably from their hard-working parents.   nthego:


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## Ronni (Jun 19, 2019)

All my kids are Milennials except for my oldest, who falls under the Gen X category.

They are not stereotypical Milennials.  My daughter and her husband (also a Millennial) own their own large, 4 bedroom home.  Sons #3 and 4 are working hard at well paying jobs, saving for a home purchase....#4 should be able to start looking next year, having built up a hefty down payment.   Son # 2 is the addict in recovery, and he's slowly rebuilding his life and also saving like crazy in order to purchase a home a little further out with some land.  

~~~~~~~~~

There is a trend here in Nashville which is really pissing off the natives!  Because Nashville is such a swiftly growing area, with homes doubling in price in the last few years, builders are swarming in and buying up single family homes on large lots, paying a premium for them, BUT are then demolishing the home and building two, three or 4 homes on the lot, and really raking in the cash!


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## StarSong (Jun 19, 2019)

Denser housing appears to be the wave of the future.  With an ever-increasing population due to planetary birth rates, global migration and longer life spans, the style of post WWII suburbia is on its way out, just as the housing landscape from 70 years earlier (1880) looked a lot different than 1950.  

In 70 year snapshots - US population in 1880 was 50 million, in 1950 it was 150 million, in 2018 it's 330 million.  

I hope the young Skoolies, full-time RVers, and other alternatively housed are saving some serious dollars and plugging retirement accounts as they go along, particularly if they work partly as a barter, or as 1099 contractors in the gig economy, or for cash (so no corporate 401Ks and minimal contributions to SS).  Retirement will arrive faster than they think.       

On the other hand, the WWII generation wrung their hands over Baby Boomers who "dropped out" to live in communes.  Most eventually dropped back in.  I have every confidence that Millennials will find their way, just as we did.  Future housing is theirs to define.


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## WhatInThe (Jun 19, 2019)

A lot of variables. I'm starting to see more reports of millennials getting into the housing game later in life some with much more saved up for a down payment. Also several generations now starting with the yuppies of the 90s lead not selfish but self centered life styles which means delayed family and quite frankly not growing up. It became all about 'lifestyle'.

The thing is in the privacy on one's own home one could do what ever they wanted with things like extra rooms and basement. You can even see the apartment renter life creep into apartment rentals with many advertising storage and closet space. If one looked at apartment 40 years ago it was closer to a small house with a coat and bedroom closet now there are like 3-4 closets for a one or two bedroom. Also walk-in multiple closets take up what used to be space because many are trying to lead lives one can do in an house which requires stuff and clothing.


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## fuzzybuddy (Jul 7, 2019)

My ex bought, years ago, a home in one of those developments, which were started in the 1980s-90s. They have a owners association. The kids have all moved away and now, most of the owners want to turn the community into a retirement village. Sounds good, until it comes to selling one of the homes. What newly retired couple wants to buy a two story, 3-4 bedroom, 3 bath, with a finished rec room in the cellar type home? The association has a no kids rule. Nobody can unload their homes- no one wants them. DUH!!!!!!!
Today, generation after generation does not live in the same house. There's no longer a "family" home. When grandparents leave , the home gets sold. So we no longer are rooted to one area, thousands of miles away.


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## fuzzybuddy (Sep 13, 2019)

I double posted. Sorry.


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## StarSong (Sep 13, 2019)

fuzzybuddy said:


> My ex bought a home in a "community" with a Home Owner's Assoc. The place was built and was sold roughly all at the same time. Everybody had kids about the same time, and the kids moved away about the same time. Most of the owners are seniors. They want the HOA to restrict the sale off the homes to retirees. But that creates a problem. How many retirees want a 2 story 2-3 bath, 3-4 bedroom home??????



HOA rules and covenants are voted on by the stakeholders, i.e., the owners.  Current owners - or their heirs - may reconsider the wisdom of age restriction when it becomes difficult to sell their homes.


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## Judycat (Sep 13, 2019)

My sons are millenials, they work a trade and have their own homes and families. They fix what breaks themselves and help me out with repairs too.


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## treeguy64 (Sep 13, 2019)

Everyone hustles to buy houses, here in Austin. It doesn't matter their size or style. The market has been, is, and will be, booming!  I just sold three houses in less than a week. Exactly why this town thrives, its hustle, its energy, its terrible traffic, air and horrendous weather, is why I'm preparing to leave. Selling my rental properties is the first step.


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## Ken N Tx (Sep 13, 2019)

Judycat said:


> My sons are millenials, they work a trade and have their own homes and families. They fix what breaks themselves and help me out with repairs too.


Ditto..


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## RadishRose (Sep 13, 2019)

The OP was from the Wall St. Journal. I don't think it said that millennials aren't buying houses.

_It said,  Millennials aren't buying the large, elaborate houses built by boomers in Sunbelt states like Arizona, Florida, and the Carolinas, The Wall Street Journal reported.     
_
It was more about the styles of homes.

I feel sorry for those millennials who are so strapped with student loans it takes so long for them to buy homes.


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## Olivia (Sep 13, 2019)

Neighborhood is already changing. It is single family homes, but it is becoming a boarding house type housing area--as much as it is illegal. But what can you do when it's a small island with already too many people and cars and too many would-be homeless. I would say be happy too visit here but don't try to live here unless you bought about three decades ago, and even then it was already expensive for most people. And now the elderly couple from next door are gone--renting in the meantime, and the widow from the other next door is in a nursing home--relatives fixing it up but not decided on whether to rent or sell. Costing $5,000 a month for her.  The back neighbor fixing up or selling--can't tell. So after decades--all new people. Have to say here, even though this house can be sold for definitely close to a million but still can't sell and still live here. So, going to stay here in this house. If need be, maybe get a reverse mortgage for elderly living ( not elderly now! ). So we all no matter where and how we live--have our challenges, if not now, then in the future.


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## Patio Life (Sep 14, 2019)

Interesting thread. 
Remembering when I was young, with a simple job in retail, life was easy. Paid the rent and utilities, had fun with friends, no parents to tell you when to go to bed. We left our jobs at the job. This was a life of joy. 

Now, house is paid off, kids are raised and although there isn't a ton of money, life is easy again.

Maybe the younger generation saw how horrible life could be during the last economic crash and decided they weren't playing the game. Maybe they saw what their parents gave up to have the big house and the new cars. Why the fancy furniture to impress the neighbors while dinner was hamburger helper? Why scraping by to have all the toys? Why the stress only to retire and be unable to afford to travel, or be too ill to enjoy life? Where is the joy in working 60 hr weeks and spending the weekends cleaning the 4000 sq ft house?


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## Liberty (Sep 14, 2019)

treeguy64 said:


> Everyone hustles to buy houses, here in Austin. It doesn't matter their size or style. The market has been, is, and will be, booming!  I just sold three houses in less than a week. Exactly why this town thrives, its hustle, its energy, its terrible traffic, air and horrendous weather, is why I'm preparing to leave. Selling my rental properties is the first step.


Do you know where you want to move to?


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## Islandgypsy (Dec 11, 2019)

I think affordability and dreams defines most folks housing wants. Housing needs is an entirely different issue. I remember in the 60s we actually believed four of us could live indefinitely in a VW van working craftsman odd jobs that none of us had the experience or skill for. That dream died on the way to California. The poor little overworked VW engine crapped out in Pennsylvania. One of the girls’ mothers sent money for us to bus back to NYC where we all returned to sponging off our parents. The good old days


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## Lakeland living (Dec 11, 2019)

Not having bothered trying to impress others I can really understand how the Millennials or Geny are seeing something that is not worth it to them. How many of you know people that cannot retire because of the big houses and flashy cars or whatever you wanted that was better than the neighbor. I for 1 am glad they are avoiding those traps!  I have a mortgage, one that is less than what you could get a room for.
      I for one am proud that they are strong enough to step on their own path.
     k, nuff of the soap box


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## tortiecat (Dec 11, 2019)

Interesting topic.  Bought our first bungalow for $5000.00 in 1955.
Sold it for $150,000.00 in 1988.
Bought second home for $135,000.00 in 1988. Sold for $400,000.00
in 2009.
I now live in a very nice senior's retirement center in a 5- 1/2 room apt.


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## Islandgypsy (Dec 11, 2019)

I think one of the biggest fuelers of the excessive home size is the buyer with relatively deep pockets from selling his much smaller home in the north. Those late boomers are still arriving in Florida, amazed by what their house sale cash can buy them here. After living 13 years in a house where you had to turn sideways to get through the bedroom door, we moved to Florida and bought a “huge” 1100 sf house with 1 1/2 baths.


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## JB in SC (Dec 20, 2019)

I never bought in to the "buy as big a house as possible" mantra. 1600 square feet was the largest we ever owned, and all we needed in retrospect.


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## Liberty (Dec 21, 2019)

We have a large house on acreage...hub built it (he's an engineer) and we love it.  Its very open and easy to clean. Metal roof, special built construction for the climate we live in. When winter comes, we don't feel trapped inside a small "box".  When we went to Florida for years (for the month of January) we felt cramped and bored when the weather was bad and we were "condo bound".  It all depends on how hard the upkeep is and your preferences and  financial situation is of course.  Sure wouldn't want to be "house poor".  We've lived here for many  years and hope to upgrade to that home in the sky from it...lol.


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## Ken N Tx (Dec 21, 2019)

Liberty said:


> We have a large house on acreage


We have a smaller home..
.


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## fmdog44 (Dec 21, 2019)

Taxes, insurance and maintenance play in to it as well.


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## Liberty (Dec 21, 2019)

Ken N Tx said:


> We have a smaller home..
> .


Oh, you have a lot of outbuildings!  Did you raise dogs? How much land?  We've got 12 acres, mostly wooded.


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## Liberty (Dec 21, 2019)

Islandgypsy said:


> I think one of the biggest fuelers of the excessive home size is the buyer with relatively deep pockets from selling his much smaller home in the north. Those late boomers are still arriving in Florida, amazed by what their house sale cash can buy them here. After living 13 years in a house where you had to turn sideways to get through the bedroom door, we moved to Florida and bought a “huge” 1100 sf house with 1 1/2 baths.


It ain't just happening in Florida...check out Texas - they're all swimming this way from California and NYC!  Messing up our local real estate market.  They sure want the "starter castles" with the infinity pools and endless marble.  It is what it is.


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## Ken N Tx (Dec 21, 2019)

Liberty said:


> Oh, you have a lot of outbuildings!  Did you raise dogs? How much land?  We've got 12 acres, mostly wooded.


Yes we raised Siberian Huskies..all gone now..4.3 acres..


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## Liberty (Dec 21, 2019)

Ken N Tx said:


> Yes we raised Siberian Huskies..all gone now..4.3 acres..


Looks real good. How long have you lived there?  We've been here since '85.


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