The kvetching about Millennials continues, but not to worry – the Digitals are next, and GenX is holding the door for you. Your Boomer Uncle (Old Economy) Steve can still hold forth about the younger generations at Thanksgiving while your GenX mom rolls her eyes and your younger Digital cousins eye the exits. As successive generations are handed the dirty end of the economic stick after graduation, you’ve come up with innovations and hacks that let you still move forward despite the media and their endless run of pandering and insulting articles. Here’s what’s holding back the biggest generation since the Boomers from stepping into that mortgage.
- Credit Score: Largely because of the recession and the slow-mo recovery in the first years of their adulthood, Millennials entered the job market at a time of low availability, low wages, and carrying a high debt load from college. Since mortgage interest rates favor those with sizable down payments and gleaming credit scores, buffing up your FICO is the biggie.
- Student Loans: You don’t want to take on decades of debt when you have decades of debt. Student loans, car loans, credit card debt, and the memories of their parents struggling in the recession – and maybe even losing the family home to foreclosure – can make for skittish buyers.
- Unappealing Houses: Let’s face it, the late 90’s and the early 00’s were full of mass-built McMansions with nothing in particular to offer young Millennials. Media room? Sitting room in the master suite? Formal dining room? The 80’s and 70’s homes are… sorry guys… grandma’s house. Now they’d love a cool MCM, but for the most part Millennials have other wants in their housing choices.
- Uncertainty: Most Millennials are in the beginning of their careers, and would rather rent than make a career move and have to go through the hassle of selling a house. They’re not ready to put down roots until they’re more established, and have retired some of that student debt.
- Other Options: From living at home with the parental units, to trying out podshares or tiny homes, Millennials are aware of other options. For a generation mistrustful of many institutions, having homeownership shoved at them as proof that they are “real adults” is kind of insulting, particularly when just ten years ago so many “real adults” were losing their homes or struggling to make their mortgage payments.
Nobody’s here to tell you to buy a house or not buy a house. That’s a deeply personal decision. However and wherever you decide to live, E&L Insurance would like to help you cover what you have. Renter’s insurance, homeowner’s insurance, even insurance for your tiny home or your startup, are part of making responsible decisions and looking after yourself. You can decide how to live, but there are factors that can come in and flatten your choices – such as a car accident, a hurricane, a tornado, a robbery, or a fire. Make a smart choice, and talk with an independent insurance agent today about the coverage you need.