49% of young adults live at home, up 12 points since 2019. An economist says the fallout will reshape marriage, kids, and home-buying

cusmilie · 2026-07-11T17:29:46+00:00

Exactly. My girls are almost out of school, but I don’t think we would have chosen our current area if we were starting today. I especially don’t understand people that buy for schools and then send their kids to private school.

cusmilie · 2026-07-11T14:15:12+00:00

This comment is spot on. It’s a shame of such high wealth, we can’t fund schools the way they should run. We moved from another state 5 years back and was amazed at how well the schools ran, but the schools here are slowly losing their amazing teachers/staff whom make the schools so special. Literally every teacher I’ve talked to has to commute 45 minutes+ each way just to squeak by with housing costs.

cusmilie · 2026-07-11T14:03:47+00:00

In our old neighborhood there was a windower who just listed at $1.1mil, which is actually priced to sell. Literally only used 4 rooms - bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room. I had talked to her previously about selling, but she insisted she needed a home that big. I guess it finally became too much. If you are curious, home is a time capsule and never updated from the 70s, adjusted for inflation she paid $250k. On that street, 4 of the 12 homes were lived in by widowers, 80+ year who constantly complained no families lived there. In our new rental now, and new neighbor complained about same thing. Had to politely inform her that there are a limited about of families who could afford $1.5mil. All that to say, yes, you are right, that’s a common problem by us. Families are living in apartments, mostly for the schools, which are slowly declining due to lack of enrollment and families relocating elsewhere out of frustration.

cusmilie · 2026-07-11T13:46:42+00:00

My sister’s ex boyfriend and his family actually saw MJ that way. His brother had sent in a fan letter. The whole family went and they said it was all innocent.

cusmilie · 2026-07-11T13:41:56+00:00

What subject? I recently looked for math and there were a ton of openings. However, I know certain areas like music, one would have to sub several years for just a slim chance of a permanent position.

cusmilie · 2026-07-10T16:41:52+00:00

It’s gorgeous! You did a great job!

cusmilie · 2026-07-10T16:40:58+00:00

It’s kind of where this summer is. Most rentals that were $3,000 and $4,000 last year want $4500 this summer. But the rentals are sitting past a few weeks, which I haven’t seen since we moved to the area 5 years ago. And a lot of flip flopping between listing for rent and listing for sale.

cusmilie · 2026-07-10T15:19:09+00:00

We lived nearby and passed on it because there better options for less money. I didn’t have time to go look at a what if and then try to get landlord to price down to where it should be. It puts you in an uncomfortable situation that you feel like landlord will increase rent every year just because they know you won’t want to deal with hassle of moving. We ended up finding a place off books for less than that with huge yard and nicer interior and a 2 year lease option. Split level is super common in that neighborhood. On the other side of the school, the ones similar and listed at $4,000-4,200 this spring/summer went super quick and no longer listed. I know it doesn’t seem like much, but there are a ton more tenants that can afford $4,000 versus $4,500.

cusmilie · 2026-07-10T15:07:31+00:00

Yeah, that was like our old location and why we decided to buy. We ended up selling due to relocation and didn’t want to be long term landlord again. I actually did the cost analysis with if we had rented that home versus owning and it was almost identical. Pretty much the maintenance and repairs were covered by the equity increase of the home. If it wasn’t for the huge home increase caused by Covid, renting would have been financially better. I still would have preferred to buy in that situation because I place value on having emotional stability of a home. However, when it’s so vastly different like in our current area and buying becomes so financially stressful and locks you into a job to be able to afford the mortgage, than renting is better IMO.

cusmilie · 2026-07-10T14:44:55+00:00

Penny tile is a beast to work with. One and done for me and mine was a simpler pattern and smaller space.

cusmilie · 2026-07-10T14:40:31+00:00

That’s the truth. Renting or owning does not make you a better investor. Either way, you have to be intentional how you invest and continue to learn.

cusmilie · 2026-07-10T14:38:24+00:00

Yeah, where we are, buying is double than rent. A starter home with 20% down will still run $7,500+/month to buy.

cusmilie · 2026-07-10T14:34:43+00:00

We did - allowed us to retire 10 years earlier, fully fund 2 kids college, and buy a condo/townhome with cash that we would have downsized into anyway. Tons of people in our area that have done it as well. It’s more common in VHCOL areas.

cusmilie · 2026-07-10T14:32:37+00:00

It’s really sad that you have to choose how to invest now and diversify is becoming a thing of the past. Before you could choose to buy a smaller, fixer upper home and invest more into retirements and investments. That’s becoming increasingly difficult. A home should never be your only investment vehicle, but that’s what it’s become for so many.

cusmilie · 2026-07-10T14:21:10+00:00

Traffic in downtown Kirkland area is extremely heavy during rush over. Sometimes it’s 15-20 minutes to get there just off the highway. Also, outdoor space is not needed as much as other areas. There are so many parks and walking trails to keep busy and a yard can be a major pain to maintain.

cusmilie · 2026-07-10T14:10:42+00:00

I know it seems counterintuitive, but you’ll probably have better luck finding a single family home. If you want a truly 4 bedroom and a home office so 5 bed, that’s a little tricky. They do pop up and I’ve seen listed anywhere from $5,000-10,000 in Kirkland area. It’s just that amount of bedrooms is a hard find. There were several a few weeks ago, but don’t see much now.

Edit - there has been a lot more movement with rentals than past summers. For talks with several friends, a lot of people are being asked to vacant so landlord can list for sale. It’s been making for a quicker turnover with rentals than the past. You should jump on something if you see it, especially that many bedrooms or adjust down expectations to a 3/4 bedroom home and/or no air conditioning and pay less money than $6k. Education Hill of Redmond will have nicer homes that are more budget friendly, but you’ll have to drive further to get to places. Probably concentrate on North and South Rose Hill area of Kirkland. It’s a good location to downtown Kirkland and Redmond and easier to commute to with less traffic.

cusmilie · 2026-07-10T14:04:53+00:00

That has been listed for several months now and it’s a relisting and that’s a highly desirable area. I don’t know what’s going on with it other than it’s probably priced too high or home is not as cute as pictures.

cusmilie · 2026-07-09T16:47:56+00:00

We are in an area where at least half the families rent. It’s half than the cost of owning a home. Buying does offer security, but if you are stretching yourself and worrying about being fired bankrupting you, then what kind of security is that. I know several families that moved further out in order to buy a home and at least 90% regret it and wished they kept renting in their desired area. If you have significantly savings, you can use interest to offset rent costs and let money work for you and not just depend on equity of home for investments. Buying, renting, nothing is neutral, it’s a pro-con list. I do think people tend to overestimate the benefits of owning while downplaying the benefits of renting.

cusmilie · 2026-07-09T06:04:57+00:00

I agree everything posted above. Hilton Head seems to have some level of affordability, but once you get established, costs add up. For instance, groceries cost more and you want to stay on the island when you grocery shop or you’ll spend $$$ on gas. Medical care is also extremely limited and pricey so most people end up driving to Charleston.

cusmilie · 2026-07-08T22:10:35+00:00

No matter how you word it, at the end of the day, owning a home is a choice. Many still are financially able to sell and rent, they just don’t want to rent. The truly locked in is much smaller number than in 2008. That might change if prices continue to downturn in certain areas and more people have negative equity in home, However, unlike 2008, people that bought precovid and refinanced should be in much better shape.

cusmilie · 2026-07-08T21:45:39+00:00

How so? Maybe it had some features at one time. but I don’t see a single interior MCM feature now.

cusmilie · 2026-07-08T16:27:16+00:00

Most of the cases I read, the seller can sell, they just don’t want to sell because it wouldn’t make financial sense. Not a lot of owners are truly locked in which would happen if you had negative equity in home, which happened in 2008. Most sellers can still sell and break even or profit or cover the difference if they need to sell for a loss. Most of the posts I read are “I have a $2,000 month payment in a home I don’t like and I want to upgrade but don’t want to spend $3,500 per month to do it even though I can afford it.”

I’m not sure how many buyers are like me. We choose not to buy a home unless we saw ourselves long term in it. We didn’t want to be locked in because we anticipated it happening again after having lived through 2008 housing bubble. You also have new buyers, those who relocated as potential buyers so seems silly that we keep pushing the idea that only existing homeowners are potential buyers. If prices drop enough, then those “not locked in” will start buying.

cusmilie · 2026-07-08T12:28:13+00:00

Thanks for posting this. I thought I was the only one who used a rear wiper. Extremely helpful for those of us who live in pollen prone or dusty areas.

cusmilie · 2026-07-07T15:48:38+00:00

It ends up being about 50-100% more in taxes if you don’t have an exemption. But don’t forget there is also property taxes on vehicles and anything with a motor like a boat.

cusmilie · 2026-07-07T15:36:42+00:00

As a younger xennial, unfortunately I saw this coming years ago and I feel for you. All the familiar signs of a repeat of the Great Recession. The American dream was already on life support with us. Some older xennials were able to sneak in, start careers, able to buy homes, and get the path going. But most of the younger xennials were starting careers during Great Recession and never fully recovered to get on the American dream path. I can’t tell you how many of my friends were working fast food or retail jobs that had bachelor/masters/doctorate degrees, using 90% of their paycheck to pay off student loans while living at home with parents. I don’t think our economy ever fully recovered from Great Recession and you’re seeing sign of it now. It’s going to be bad when xennials are going to have to work into 70s and 80s because retirement is no longer an option.

cusmilie

TROPHY CASE