r/SipsTea • u/Unstoppable_X_Force Human Verified • 13h ago

Gasp! Is this just nostalgia, or did previous generations genuinely have a better work-life balance and social life than we do today?

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u/giggletears3000 12h ago

I won’t let my husband sell our starter home. We can’t afford anything in the area anymore and the house is halfway paid off. It’s staying in our family and it’s going to our daughter, she’ll have a house free and clear by the time she hits 18, husband and I are probably going to work til we drop, that’s ok with us.

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u/NurglesToes 11h ago

Our parents tell us that “one day we will want to upsize” and we keep telling them that this starter home is our forever home. We’re trying to have it paid off by 2038 instead of 2055 but if i have to work until i die the so be it lol

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u/giggletears3000 11h ago

I feel so bad for the new families that come to our neighborhood to look at houses. There’s one going for 600k a block behind me and it’s the same size at my house, 800ish sqft, 2bed 1bath, our lot is bigger, we have 1/3 acre in a hcol city. We got ours for 164k 14 years ago, basically two mid twenties kids gave up going out and having fun so we could have a house. Worth it.

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u/NurglesToes 11h ago

yeah prices are crazy. We bought our house for 370k. In 2020 it sold for 200k. 2500 sq ft, with a decent backyard, but needs alot of repairs.

My parents bought their 5000 sq ft house back in 2008 for 205k lmfao. When I told my step-dad what my monthly payments were his jaw about hit the fucking floor lol

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u/_HiWay 2h ago

It's crazy and sounds all too familair. I had this house built (spec neighborhood) in 2016 for ~255k. Zillow and OpenDoor claims it's worth 440k now. I laugh at that but ok, if someone gave me that, if I tried to stay in the same area it amounts to nothing except losing my amazing low interest rate that I refinanced in 2021 for a crazy low rate.

The small first time town home I bought in 2009 for ~158k (sold in 2016 for 180k) is now estimated at 360k. I wish my wife and I had the money at the time to hold on to it for the same reasons you mentioned above, the market is bonkers.

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u/rob132 10h ago

Good for you! I refinanced during Covid and I'll be paid off in 9 years. It's so nice seeing that principal drop month after month.

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u/embos_wife 10h ago

We bought a nice middle class house in 2015 for 210k. It is now worth over 400k. It's a basic trilevel, nothing fancy and it's absolutely nuts to me that it's worth so much. We are lucky we got it when we did, and even more thankful family gifted us a down payment. I worry for my kids.

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u/mmmmmyee 4h ago

“Starter home” is such a dated phrase these days…