With a younger generation less motivated to leave the nest, parents are challenged to help their adult children take on the joys of home ownership
By Patricia Nugent
According to Forbes magazine, a record number of young adults ages 18-29—a whopping 52 percent—are choosing to live at home with their parents.
This segment of the population overlaps both Gen Z (ages 10-25) and Millennials (ages 23-38), a group that’s been shown to prefer renting over buying a home.
What does this large number of people potentially entering the real estate market as first-time buyers mean?
To find out, I caught up with Denise Zervos, who, along with her husband, Mark, owns The Neighborhood Experts at Platinum Real Estate.
“Buying a home used to be an accepted milestone of becoming a grownup, but millennials are choosing to forego that, opting for a monthly rent instead of mortgage, for the promise of flexibility,” she says. “This generation is free-spirited, mobile, loves to travel, and wants to do things differently than their parents. They consider a home purchase as something that might tie them down.”
Turning Adult Children into Homeowners
“It feels like there are a lot of parents of adult children who want to help them with the decision to purchase their first home,” says Denise. “For those having that conversation, I think it’s important to first get to the heart of the reasons why young people might be against buying a home. Addressing their pain points could help in overcoming their fears.”
One factor she feels might be affecting their decision is the housing crash of 2008.
“Fourteen years ago, most millennials would have been school-aged to teenagers, at an impressionable age,” she explains. “They probably knew families who lost their homes or went into debt. I’m sure this made some of them say that they’d never let that happen to themselves.”
In reality, she says, that wouldn’t happen to them as the conditions that caused the crash do not exist today. Homeowners can depend on the safety and security of fixed lending rates.
Putting Money Back in Your Own Pocket
Helping adult children look at the long-term bottom line is important.
“Owning a home puts you on the track to accruing assets and growing your personal wealth,” says Denise. “When you rent, the only one making money is your landlord. And rents have skyrocketed, going up 12.1 percent last year alone.”
She recommends sitting down with an adult child and making a list of their living expenses.
“It’s realistic to find a home with a monthly mortgage payment that is lower than the rent they pay, and still build in enough funds for travel and other experiences, as well as savings,” she says. “This is a lesson in investment. You should talk about what type of home best fits their lifestyle, one that’s maintenance-free or a fixer-upper? What cities and neighborhoods promise the best return on home dollar investment?”
Working with a Realtor who has a solid grasp of the local market before starting the home shopping process is a good idea.
Busy January for Home Sales
The market in Lake County continues to be robust. Denise points out that last month—traditionally one of the slower selling times of the year—149 houses were sold and 364 are under contract. The average a home lasted on the market was only 42 days.
“These numbers are up significantly over January 2021,” notes Denise. “Now is an excellent time to buy a home, to lock into the currently low interest rates before they start to climb this year and next year.”
Platinum Real Estate has offices in Northeast Ohio, Columbus and Florida. The new Platinum Center headquarters is located at 7200 Center Street in Mentor. To get more information, call 216-990-2100 or 440-974-SALE and visit YourNeighborhoodExpert.com.