Movin' on up - the houses you grew up in.

[jjquantz]

DW and I went on a Smithsonian tour in West Virginia this past weekend and along with all of the old geezers was a 10 year old boy. At that age there are no filters between brain and mouth and at one time he commented very loudly, "Wow, these houses aren't any bigger than an RV."

This made me reflect on the homes that I grew up in. So I hopped on Zillow and looked up the current estimate on the houses that I grew up in. The results: the first house I remember was 936 sq ft and has a current Zestimate of $72K. The one we were living in when I left for college was 1100 sq ft and is estimated at $93K. 5 kids were raised in these two houses.

In addition, the two homes that Mom and Dad lived in after retirement were 794 sq ft ($38K) and 698 sq ft which is currently listed for sale at $59K.

Clearly, this is an extreme LCOL living area - for good reason, it is really not very pleasant.

No wonder my relatives think I'm rich. DW and I have 2500 sq ft just for the two of us.

I'm not sure what the point is behind this post, except that DW, my daughters, and I have always had a keen awareness of just how fortunate our lives have been when we compare our living situations to those of my relatives. It's amazing how a few key decisions, made when you are 18 and too stupid to really know better, can really change how things turn out.

 

[RobbieB]

First house (child) 1250 sq-ft MI
Second house (child) 2300 sq-ft MI
First house I bought - 900 sq-ft CA
Present house - 1400 sq-ft CA

 

[rodi]

My first home (till age 4) is worth $450k per zillow. It's 1300sf and backs up to high voltage power lines. I think my dad sold it for $12k in 1966ish. It sold in '93 for $175k. This is in San Diego - so HCOL area.

My second home happens to be the one I live in. (I bought from my dad). The number zillow shows is obscene - and not what we paid. We've been in the house enough years that it's paid off and appreciated plenty. It's just over 2000sf, plus the casita we built for the inlaws that now provides us rental income.

My husbands childhood home is now owned by his brother (who bought it from his parents.) 1150 sf, worth, maybe, $121k per zillow. It's in NE Philadelphia. They managed to raise 6 kids in that house.

 

[aaronc879]

I lived in the same house my entire childhood. It was just under 1000 sqft. There were 4 of us. When my brother and I were teenagers it was a bit cramped since there were 3 guys 6'4" or taller and my mom isn't short at 5'8". That's the only house i've ever lived in. My apartments were all under 1000 sq ft and my condo was 860 sq ft.

 

[ivinsfan]

House what house, military housing, mostly domestic except for a turn in Germany and Hawaii....the best one was a small duplex in Fort Lewis and the worst one was little more then a cement block row of houses sitting out in western Utah at Tooele Army Depot. That yard was tumbleweeds and jackrabbits. This was in the 50's 60's and 70's base housing was very spartan especially for enlisted men.

The result of all this is that I've never been very interested in big houses and stuff, I'm very low key in that area.

 

[Senator]

Interesting post. I recently used Google to 'walk' up the street I grew up on as a kid (7-14). I saw all my old friends homes, and ours. We rented a 3BR 1 BA place for $155 a month.

It sold as a 3BR 2BA place, for $749,000 in Feb 2016. It is in Hawaii, so the prices have skyrocketed. Back then, a $100K home was real high.

So, I lived in a nearly $1M home as a kid. I have that going for me.

 

[pjm-7]

The house I lived in until age 15 no longer exists. The state of Ohio bought the property for a highway exit. It was a "kit" house that my dad built after work and on weekends. It took him almost two years to finish. It was a basic 3 bedrooms, 1 bath house. I'll estimate that it was about 1000 sq. ft. Then my parents purchased a 2600 sq. ft. mid-century modern glass house. Absolutely beautiful. It's on Zillow for $200,000. If the same house were here in Colorado it would probably be well over $1 million. Like they say, location, location, location.

 

[pb4uski]

Growing up; apartment I don't remember (birth - 6 months); small 3 bedroom ranch (6 months - ~8 years old); ~2500 sf 4 bedroom split ranch three houses up from the small 3 bedroom ranch (~8 years old until I left home)

College: dorm rooms for 2 years, 4-man on-campus apt for 1 year, 2-man on-campus apt for 1 year

Young adult: 2 bedroom apt for 6 months; sharing 5 bedroom house for 18 months; 3 different apartments in the metro Boston area with DW for 4 years

Married: expandable gambrel (bought as one bedroom and built out a MB suite and two bedrooms on second floor); 2 bedroom apt in transition to moving into our main home for 25 years a ~2700 sf 4 bedroom split ranch and finally our current home, a ~2000 sf lakefront walkout with a 2 car-garage with 400sf loft above.

We recently had a 90+ year old woman who was a pillar of the community pass away - while a simple farm girl, she was also at one-time a state legislator (as are two of her daughters) - what I thought was really cool is that she lived in the same farm house her entire life and died in the room she was born in.

 

[jazz4cash]

Parents lived across the street from each other. Moms house 960 sq ft 2bd 1ba Zestimate is 480k. Mom had 4 sibs. I lived there in college. It had 3 tiny closets. Dads house 3bd 1ba 1450 sq ft. Parents lived there with grandparents and my 4 sibs and there always seemed to be an out of town relative visiting too. Zestimate is 680k. These are on Capitol Hill in Wash DC. We moved to the house I grew up in which is 3 bd 2ba 1400 sq ft but the 2nd bath was added when I was about 10yrs old. Zestimate is 560k (more than my home in the burbs which is >2x sq ft), but I think the Zestimates are 20% too high.


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[Gumby]

Growing up, we (mom, dad and 3 kids) lived in trailer parks, cheap apartments and occasionally base housing. When I was a senior in high school, my dad retired from the Navy and he and my mom bought the first house they ever owned. It was far and away the largest of all the places we lived. Zillow says it is 1056 sqft. I slept in the basement, because there were only 3 bedrooms and my brother and I were tired of sharing.

 

[jjquantz]

I agree that Zillow is pretty unreliable - I guess I was struck by the observation that my housing is nearly an order of magnitude higher priced than what I grew up in AND I still was able to retire early with the purchase.

I was discussing this stuff with a golf buddy of mine (who also grew up in a blue collar household) and he said, "When I was growing up, I didn't know I was poor." And I replied, "That's because everyone living around you was in the same situation that you were." It amazes me every day how much more secure my financial life has been than that of my parents and my siblings.

Of course, if I had listened to the mortgage companies when I was buying, I would be living in an even nicer house, but I CERTAINLY wouldn't be retired and my financial security would have been shaky throughout much of my life.

 

[jjquantz]

Growing up, we (mom, dad and 3 kids) lived in trailer parks, cheap apartments and occasionally base housing. When I was a senior in high school, my dad retired from the Navy and he and my mom bought the first house they ever owned. It was far and away the largest of all the places we lived. Zillow says it is 1056 sqft. I slept in the basement, because there were only 3 bedrooms and my brother and I were tired of sharing.

We were pretty lucky(?) that I was 16 years older than my youngest brother. By the time he was old enough to move into the boys' bedroom (all of 8 feet x 11 feet) I was off to college. So three beds were still all that was needed. We were always jealous that my sister got her own bedroom (8x8). For much of the time that we had a basement, one of Dad's financially-strapped coworkers was living in it rent-free.

 

[Bamaman]

I just cringe when I read about the demand driven extremely expensive house prices in so many large cities and in places like California.

1st house--1500 sq. ft. 3 bedroom 2 bath all brick house with double car garage in Memphis. $42,441 in 1974.
2nd house--4400 sq. ft. 6 bedroom house with 16' x 32' den--$570 payment in 1987 outside Nashville. The town is now #2 most expensive place to live in the state.
3rd house--4200 sq. ft. in swim-tennis neighborhood in northern perimeter of Atlanta. $800 mo. including taxes. Sold for list price to 3rd person that looked at it in 2002.
4th house--3250 sq. ft. on 4 acres 1/2 mi. off major lake in North Alabama. Scaling down in anticipation of early retirement.
5th house--5000 sq. ft.+ 5 bedroom 5 bath house with 25' x 49' man cave and two double car garages. Paid cash for foreclosure--just under $300K.

And I consider myself fortunate to have grown up and lived in low cost of living cities in The South.

 

[Doribe]

We recently had a 90+ year old woman who was a pillar of the community pass away - while a simple farm girl, she was also at one-time a state legislator (as are two of her daughters) - what I thought was really cool is that she lived in the same farm house her entire life and died in the room she was born in.

Awsome

 

[Doribe]

Growing up house: 1100 sq ft, current Zillow est. of $109K. 3 bed, 1 bath for 5 people in Chicago.

1st bought: about 1100 sq ft apartment, 3 bed, 1 bath (lived in one and rented out two). current Zillow est of $366k for the 3 flats. Chicago.

current house: 2111 sq ft house, 4 bed, 3 bath, $550k Zillow est. Chicago.
vacation house: about 1500 sqft, $125k est. 2 hrs outside of Chicago

 

[kcowan]

Family home (800 sq.ft.) Bought for $4800 and Sold in 2009 for $550k.
Rented penthouse apartment.
First home 1200 sq.ft. bungalow B 21500 S 23500
Second home 1800 sq.ft. B 31000 S 46500
Third home 2400 sq.ft. B 64000 S 230000
Fourth home 5000 sq.ft. B 250000 S 353000

Fifth home 3300 sq.ft. rented for 2530 in 1997, current rent 3770 includes heat/water/electric/security. Probably last stop before seniors center. 19th floor penthouse with unobstructed views.

Older pictures before renovations

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

We recently had a 90+ year old woman who was a pillar of the community pass away - while a simple farm girl, she was also at one-time a state legislator (as are two of her daughters) - what I thought was really cool is that she lived in the same farm house her entire life and died in the room she was born in.

That is pretty cool. Down the road from my Dad, there was a brother and sister that lived next to each other. They build two houses on 4 lots that covered about 4 acres many, many years ago. The sister never married and had no kids. The brother was married but wife died about 20 years ago...again, no kids. When the sister had a stroke @ 94 years old, she moved in with the brother and she died about a year later. He lived in the house, completely independent, until he died last year at 101 years old. Unfortunately, the area is in VERY HIGH demand, so the houses and lots were bought up almost immediately and the two cute ranch homes will soon be bulldozed so they can put up at least 5 McMansions on the land. It's a shame, because the lots are beautiful and they took great care of the houses and the yards. Oh well...progress, right?

 

[travelover]

You had a house? We lived in a hole in the ground. With no roof.

 

[MichaelB]

You had a house? We lived in a hole in the ground. With no roof.

And no floor!

I remember (barely) when we lived in a Quonset hut.

 

[W2R]

You had a house? We lived in a hole in the ground. With no roof.

This is what I was thinking! I can't compete in the "I grew up in a small, wretched house" department so I haven't posted to this thread.

 

[ivinsfan]

Referring back to my comments on the why don't/can't people save for retirement thread we have some families around here where the 3rd generation is raising a family the same house. I have no reason to think there won't a 4th and probably a 5th generation after them. Moving away for more money and better retirement doesn't happen

 

[FIYes]

The house we lived in when I was a child was two bedroom, one bath, eat in kitchen, and living room. I am guessing it was about 800 square feet. It has since been torn down so no Zillow estimates available. My last couple of years in high school we lived in a two bedroom apartment. My parents built a huge house house when I was senior in high school ...completed after I graduated. That was the house they lived in until my father and then years later my mother passed away. It was a five bedroom, three bathroom house with a formal dining room, separate family room and two car garage! It was the only house they ever owned. I was the youngest, so by the time it was completed my sister and I were basically out of the house.

I have followed a more typical path. DH and I lived in apartments until we bought our first house...1200 square feet and then our second house about 1800 square feet. I have no desire for a different house and plan to stay here. We may need to do some remodeling in the future to enable us to age in place.


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[Andre1969]

Every house I've lived in has been fairly modest. Here's a rundown....

First house (childhood): 2br/1ba co-op townhouse, maybe 850 square feet.
Second house (grandparents', after Mom and Dad divorced): 3br/1ba cape cod, roughly 1500 square feet. Semi-finished basement added another ~750, and had a rough-in for a second bathroom.
Third house (after moving out from Grandparents'): 2br/1ba rancher, roughly 1200 square feet. It had a large kitchen, living room, and dining room, bedrooms were average: 12x12 and 13x9
Fourth house (only stayed in the third house a year; Mom hated it down there because it was so far from everything): 3br/1ba two-story home, roughly 1500 square feet, across the street from Grandmom and Granddad. It was originally a little country store with an apartment over top, so its layout was a bit odd, yet we made it work.
Fifth house (moving out on my own): 3br/2ba condo, 1254 square feet. Master bedroom was huge for its price class: 11x18 feet. But the other bedrooms were around 9x11.

I'm currently back in the fourth house on that list, having sold the condo, and moving back in across from Grandmom to help her out in her old age. She passed away about a year ago. In about 4-5 years I'm planning on moving, but I've been casually looking lately, going to open houses and such on the weekends.

One thing I've noticed, interestingly, is that I can find houses that are easily twice the square footage of my current house, yet somehow they don't feel "big" enough, or "right" enough. But then I can find a house that's only has a few hundred extra square feet, yet it feels like it could work. Often, it's just a matter of how the house is laid out. I just hope that when the time does come to move, I won't get too picky!

 

[Walt34]

The house I grew up in was built in 1941 and I think Dad paid $5k for it, and his down payment was that he didn't take the refrigerator that was supposed to come with it. Zoning required that all new homes had to have one so he got a "scratch 'n dent" one with the dent on the side that was against a wall anyway. It was one bath, two bedroom Cape Cod that Dad semi-finished off the attic to serve as a third bedroom for my two sisters. It has since been extensively renovated. Mom sold it ~1990 for $83k and it is now listed for $480k. Looking at the photos I barely recognize the exterior and almost none of the interior. When I lived there it probably was about 900 sf but the guy who bought it from Mom was a builder and he put in four dormers, a 2nd bath and master bedroom upstairs, and finished it off very nicely.

Second home was with the ex-wife. We paid $78k, sold for $91k four years later in 1984, Zillow now shows it valued at $364k. I never paid much attention to the measured sf, just if it "felt right".

Third house I bought on my own, paid $94k in late 1985, sold in July 2002 for $225k. It was probably about 1,000 sf. Zillow doesn't show it now for some reason but last I heard they were in the $380k range after zooming to $450k two years after we sold during the housing bubble. So much for my market timing skills. Shortly after marrying DW I had her name also on the house title because people in my line of work at the time get sued a lot and that provided some degree of insulation.

Fourth house, where we are now is ~1,700 sf and valued at about what we paid for it.

 

[braumeister]

I have very fond memories of the house I lived in when I was young. Built in 1925, 1200 sq ft, and my folks bought it around 1948 for $10,000.
Last sold in 2008 for $350,000 and Zillow estimates it at $397,000 today.

I vividly remember frequently waking up in a freezing house and following my father outside to the coal bin to bring in a bucket of coal to get the stove going and put a bit of heat into the house.

I also vividly remember stomping around in the back yard and falling through the rotten boards (a few inches below the ground) into the cesspool. For those who don't know what a cesspool is, it's a primitive version of a septic system.

And yet, little by little that house has been upgraded and improved, and is now worth nearly 4,000% of what my parents paid for it. Cumulative inflation since then is only about 900%. Seems like real estate must be a pretty good investment!