I blame that on HGTV. Everyone now has to have a perfect house. With three to four bedrooms. At least three bathrooms. God forbid you might have to share one.
Those kitchens and bathrooms better have granite or quartz countertops too and SS appliances.
Then we need to have a two or three car garage to park our cars in.
This is one of the reasons why houses are so expensive today.
Also, why first time home buyers can not afford them.
Most first time home buyers bought a fixer upper back in the 1960s, 70s, 80s or even 90s. Now, a lot of young people expect all the best stuff in their first home.
I told my kids not to expect to live in the same type of house they grew up in for a long time. It took me 25 years to get to where I am now. I started out in a 2 bed rent house and slowly worked up to where I am now.
Exactly.
My first house was 900 sq ft — a 30 x 30 square. That INCLUDED a one-car garage, so living space was 750 sq feet and THREE bedrooms were crammed into that floor plan. That was the national average house size when it was built in the 40s. After five years there, we moved up to a 1,600 sq ft house with four bedrooms. and that did not include the attached garage. That was DOUBLE the national house size average when it was built in 1952. It has an attached two car garage. 40 amp electrical service. The kitchen had been remodeled in the 60s with 3/4 inch plywood carcase cabinets, probably made on-site, and just plywood doors with rounded edges.
I think it’s a matter of expectations and (as others said) a lot of it is driven by the TV shows showing glamorous homes. Expectations were modest in the 50s and people were thrilled to be in a new suburban house with 1,600 sq ft and a two car garage.
We bought it in ‘83 and have done a lot of upgrades and remodels, but it’s still the original 1952 floor plan which is very serviceable. Our three kids were raised here which helped them with modest expectations. In fact, our oldest daughter (who remodeled her house) loves the “mid century Eichler” style home! That’s what they bought and remodeled keeping the mid century design esthetic.
Raise kids with modest expectations and they won’t be unhappy. They’ll be ecstatic if they beat those modest expectations in their careers and home life.