Their teenage years might be behind them, but for adults in their late twenties and early thirties, it’s still not time to settle down. Their parents might have already gotten married at this age, but times are different. Now, these so-called adultescents are enjoying (and even extending) the last dregs of reckless young adulthood they have. You’ll see them in their graphic tees and designer sneakers holding managerial jobs, but this doesn’t mean they have all the trappings that made older generations in the same job level reliable and, well, adult. Does this mean they are not ideal homebuyers, then?
Empty Nests No More
It seems like where adultescents go, parents have no choice but to follow. Or rather, parents, who thought they were done with raising children, now have to face an empty nest that is being repopulated as their adult offsprings decide to move back home. This is not because grown children miss homecooked meals. Adultescents can be prone to boredom when it comes to their jobs, and this results in financial insecurity which, of course, means they cannot pay the rent. And so they move back to the place that will offer them free board and lodgings, with meals to boot.
While that might sound like a bad thing for the real estate market, let’s not forget the number of empty-nesters who choose to downsize. Having their grown children back home, though seemingly problematic, is not a permanent arrangement for everyone. Millennials stuck in their adultescent years still need to find purpose, and parents want to take back their life after raising children. Perhaps, this might even cause the two generations to bond over looking for the best mortgage lenders in Utah, as the parents have the experience in homeownership that their adult children badly need.
Financial Literacy
One of the essential lessons adults need to learn through experience is managing their finances. Depending on what they earn, they need to adjust their spending and leave room for savings. Some might even argue that a responsible adult should save first and spend whatever’s left over. However, millennials tend to spend more on experience instead of buying big-ticket items that will saddle them for life. And when they do not deal with rent because of their choice to go back home, they are free to spend their full salary however they wish.
This hardly represents the whole generation. While there might be adultescents who would rather put their adulthood on hold, there are also those who want to achieve more than what their parents did at their age. They might not look for the biggest home, but they consider a small starter home and work up to an investment property. They don’t just want to have a roof over their head; they also want to earn from the real estate they worked hard to afford.
If you look at the big picture, the behaviors associated with adultescents don’t seem to be enough to cause a dip in homebuying trends. Sure, they might not have a considerable amount stashed away for the down payment, but they have parents willing to cosign the mortgage or they start with smaller homes and then when they realize it’s time to press play on growing up, they work up to their forever home.