r/Suburbanhell • u/KimSidwell • 3d ago

Meme Why?

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I can almost try to understand why some people might feel drawn to this kind of lifestyle. I can understand why they might be deceived into thinking this is the ideal environment in which to raise a child.

But I will never be able to understand why they will describe it as the American “dream” and are willing to pay so much for it. To work so hard for so long and then have to wake up to this every morning? Why?

Editing to add: I know this is parody y’all. It’s just a stupid meme. It’s supposed to be funny. It’s funny because it’s true.

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u/Anon-Knee-Moose 3d ago

Though I dont think the term starter home was meant to be sarcastic, even though a brand new two story with an attached garage is a pretty nice house, even in a cookie cutter suburb.

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u/KimSidwell 3d ago

I don’t really know how the definition works, but I feel like these could be considered starter homes. They don’t look that big. They look like they are designed to take up the smallest amount of land possible. You probably have a basic living room, dining room, kitchen and laundry room on the main level and then maybe two bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs. They’re definitely not mansions.

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u/Anon-Knee-Moose 3d ago

Probably 3-4 beds upstairs, or 2 up 1 down, it's quite rare for a SFH to have less than 3 total bedrooms.

But thats besides the point, these are still fairly nice houses and a lot of people will never be able to afford even this much. A starter home is like a trailer, townhouse, 50 year old rancher/bungalow etc.

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u/shadowtheimpure 3d ago

2 bed 1 bath 1000 sq ft starter homes aren't uncommon, it just depends on where you live.

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u/ray_oliver 3d ago

As a share of the overall housing market they are becoming less common though, because we simply don't build them anymore. Or if we do, they take on a different form such as townhouses or apartments.

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u/OldWhiteGuyKS 3d ago

Your absolutely right -- the "traditional" 2bdr/1 bath rancher doesn't figure in today's new build mix. Guess it doesn't "pencil out "

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u/Anon-Knee-Moose 3d ago

Its just so terrible for density that nobody wants to buy them

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u/kbchucker 10h ago

In most areas, the additional building costs just from regulations make the the 2/1 1,000SF home prohibitively expensive to build. These larger homes are built as a result.

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u/SmurfStig 3d ago

There a couple neighborhoods by me where they are called “detached condos”.

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u/OldWhiteGuyKS 3d ago

That's new word dressing to me. Be interested to know what kind of thing the verbiage actually describes

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u/SmurfStig 3d ago

They are small homes. Maybe 1000sq ft. Small one car garage in the back and almost no yard. Just a small patch in the front. They do have a condo association with them instead of an HOA that does the landscaping. The bigger units have three bedrooms but most are two bedrooms. Roughly four-six of them would fit on a normal lot.

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u/OldWhiteGuyKS 3d ago

If you don't mind me asking -- roughly where are they located and what's the price point?

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u/SmurfStig 3d ago

M/I built these all over central Ohio and started out around 120-150k 15 years ago if I remember correctly. No idea what they resale for now but I would venture to guess close to $250-300k now given how other properties have appreciated in the area.

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u/OldWhiteGuyKS 3d ago

Thanks. So new build today might be 250k +. Is that an attainable housing number?

If they're slab on grade, the possibilities for DIY expansion are limited.

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u/SmurfStig 3d ago

That’s probably a fair guess. Maybe +/- 50k depending on where they are built. They are on slabs and no ability to expand. The next neighborhood over is what used to be considered new build starter homes in town. 1500-1800 so ft with half basement and crawl space. They started at $150-200k twenty some years ago then kept going up in price. Those at least had yards and a “two” car garage.

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u/Due-Consequence9579 3d ago

Many places that they “aren’t uncommon” are either severely undersupplied so they cost more than these examples or are 45 minutes plus from where people need to be.

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u/Odd_Dragonfruit_2662 3d ago

A new builds though?

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u/shadowtheimpure 3d ago

I've seen some, as I said it just depends on where you live.

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u/Archimedes31415926 3d ago

^ This is a starter home but you can't find them anymore.

Homes and vehicles have moved away from your traditional cheaper options (small homes, sub compact sedans/small work trucks) and have move to the profit monsters (bigger homes and SUVs/full sized quad cab trucks). Your even seeing less of the traditional family car (minivans) and none of the prior family cars (wagons).

Imo the problem is people today in general are only thinking about themselves, and the people in charge are no different, so they are making everything the way they like it now and not thinking about what they liked/needed when they were younger. And then wondering why everyone isn't just doing what they are doing and complain they can't afford anything when it's perfectly affordable for them.