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York PA, Gen-Y First time Home Buyers

By Nathan Krotzer

Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Patriots RS311849

February 28, 2010 02:31 PM

With low interest rates, a buyer's market, deflated home prices, and the $8000 tax credit, why are there buyers still on the fence? If you are one of these buyers reading this, please contact a Realtor--preferably me if you live in the York area :-) ! But anyways, are we in historic times for first time home-buying or what? I would like to just take this space to stir up some conversation about the nature of Gen-Y buyers or should-be-buyers in this market.

So we all probably know someone out there, maybe friends or family, who should be making that first home purchase, but they aren't. Many of my Gen-Y peers make up this population of people not buying. So why aren't they buying? Are they ill informed? Do they dislike the idea of maintaining a home? Or maybe it runs deeper like-- maybe home ownership isn't something that generation Y values.

If it is a matter of people being ill-informed, are we Realtors failing in marketing this great opportunity? A brief story: I met with a friend of mine over questions he had about buying. He solicited the meeting. Over the meeting, he agreed with me that it is a great time to buy and it may not get any better than this-- and HE SHOULD BE BUYING! I told him what his next steps were, and sent him some reminders, but the home buying expedition never took off for him, and he has since told me that he isn't going to be buying for now.

What about maintenance, or the underlying responsibility of owning a home? In my own home buying experience, I was anxious to find a fixer-upper so that I could learn a thing or two about home projects! I wanted to put my special mark on a home! But I feel like I am running into a lot of young should-be buyers who value the few advantages of renting. They are at ease if it is someone else's responsibility, and they don't care that their rent gets thrown away instead of building up equity. Is it as simple as a difference in values?

Allow me to potentially stereotype my own generation. Is there something different about this culture? Ownership is American! Isn't it? But this curiously doesn't seem to be a shared sentiment with some my peers, which I alluded to in the above paragraph. Perhaps Generation Y is a more nomadic people and we do not like to be tied down. I don't know what it is so could you please help me out?

Nathan Krotzer

RE/MAX Patriots

2575 Eastern Blvd. York, PA

www.myyorkparealtor.com

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Joan Whitebook

BHG The Masiello Group - Nashua, NH

Consumer Focused Real Estate Services

There are a lot of good reasons to buy if you job looks secure.

Feb 28, 2010 02:35 PM

Michael J. Perry

KW Elite - Lancaster, PA

Lancaster, PA Relo Specialist

The sooner you buy your first property the quicker doors of financial opportunity will open for you !

Mar 01, 2010 08:25 AM

Cal Yoder

Keller Williams Elite - Lititz, PA

Homes For Sale in Lancaster PA - 717.413.0744

Nathan,

Thanks for stopping by and commenting on my blog. Just wanted to return the favor.

Cal

Mar 01, 2010 12:43 PM

Anonymous

Amber

I am a Gen Y-er, and I don't value owning a home. I know I should and everyone in my family surely wants me to. But WHY? I'm comfy calling maintanence when my a/c breaks, like it did twice that summer. Keep track, that was a new a/c unit. I like having cozy amenities like a pool, dog park, breakfast bar, european kitchen, and mail services. Ok, so I've decided to buy. Now I get to try and find something in my price rance, buy more importantly, what I've been spoiled with. If this is all adding up, my mortgage should end up being about TWICE what rent is, and TWICE what I can realistically afford. Sure, I see the big ads, "WHY RENT WHEN YOU CAN BUY FOR LESS?" Of course you can, if you want to live on a block of Section-8 with no a/c and walls that are falling apart. Of course if it's in that condition you won't pass your home inspection, and there goes your FHA loan. Oh, seller assistance? If they had money to fix it, they would have before selling it. Plain and simple, this is why I rent. More bang for the buck. I know I won't own my apartment, but I think of it sort of as a new car lease. Trade it in and get something better, right? Besides, who can really argue with "FIRST MONTH FREE AND NO DEPOSIT!!" When was the last time your mortgage company cut you some slack?

Sep 28, 2010 02:03 PM

RE/MAX Patriots - Wrightsville, PA

Amber,

First, thank you for offering your perspective. I'll go through it in the order it was presented, but first I'd like to say that owning property had been considered one of the greatest privileges in the world. In America, discriminated people were not allowed or in effect prevented from owning property. Why? Because owning property is how one accumulates wealth.

There is the convenience of having others take care of maintenance-- but who is really eating this cost? Certainly the cost is passed onto the consumer even though you aren't seeing it directly. When one says that you are paying "TWICE" of what you pay in rent when buying a home of the same standards, one is only looking at the face value of your dollar per month. The difference is really in the forgone value of what one is putting money into. Simply, you are buying your own equity in real estate instead of buying equity in someone else's real estate. This also addresses the "more bang for the buck" assertion as well. Forgive me for seeing it this way, but while one's landlord is "cutting you slack" on the first month free with no deposit, he's laughing all the way to the bank!

To cite economics as the reason to rent, I couldn't disagree more. The richest people in the world are one of three people: geeks, people who own real estate, and people who own real estate that oil resides in. :-)

Oct 02, 2010 03:34 PM

Heather sloat

We currently own our own home and i'm now kicking myself for it at this point. I lobd the fact of having property but we are now stuck in a house that no longer meets our needs becsuse the market tanked. York city taxes are killing us and i don't see much progress for those taxes. Frustrated!

Mar 16, 2011 06:57 AM

Heather,

I can certainly understand your frustration. Sometimes our needs change beyond what we could have predicted a few years ago, and for that, there is not a lot you can do when you own a home in this situation.

At the same time, a renter may be stuck in a lease agreement. I know people that have rented and faced eviction simply because the landlord had their own reasons (maybe leasing to friend or family, or maybe they wanted to do renovations and sell it). Or what if something needs repaired and your landlord has been less than cooperative in repairing it.

My point is that there can be unpredictable hardships as a renter as well.

Let me know if I can help!

Nathan

May 17, 2011 04:56 AM

York PA, Gen-Y First time Home Buyers

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