The town where I now live, my hometown, used to be full of young Baby Boomer couples who grew up in cities like Revere, Everett, Lynn, etc. and wanted some space and fresh air in which to raise their families. The town was being carved out of woodlands and dairy farms and they lived in pleasant neighborhoods full of Capes and splits and ranches on quarter- or half-acre lots. Years later, many of them upgraded to Colonials in treeless new developments, which now have trees because they're 20 years old. Their kids, my generation, are lucky if we can afford to live there and send our kids to the schools we went to.
Now the town is becoming overrun with NEW new developments full of $1M-plus starter castles, and attracting a new kind of resident. The kind, like the couple my dad met while performing an insurance inspection, who have $900K mortgages, a wife who doesn't work, and four kids under the age of six. Or the kind, like a guy I saw this morning, who commute to work in convertible Porsche Boxsters, Bluetooth headsets firmly in place. I'm sure it would be fabulous to have a butler's pantry, media room, heated garage and central vacuum, but personally, I don't get it. I don't think the people who buy these houses are truly rich. Doesn't having a ginormous mortgage scare the crap out of them? Especially on one income (regardless of how large)? Are they thinking about the huge tuition payments coming down the road, or the ridiculous amount they're going to need to save in order to sustain their lifestyle in retirement?
Are they like a few people here at work, who had kids so late in life that they're going to have to work until they're 70?
No thanks. It seems like slavery to me. I'm already lucky to be where I am and have what I have... no way would I press my luck that far, even if it does come with gleaming cherry hardwood, three Trex decks, au pair suite and built-ins galore.
Now the town is becoming overrun with NEW new developments full of $1M-plus starter castles, and attracting a new kind of resident. The kind, like the couple my dad met while performing an insurance inspection, who have $900K mortgages, a wife who doesn't work, and four kids under the age of six. Or the kind, like a guy I saw this morning, who commute to work in convertible Porsche Boxsters, Bluetooth headsets firmly in place. I'm sure it would be fabulous to have a butler's pantry, media room, heated garage and central vacuum, but personally, I don't get it. I don't think the people who buy these houses are truly rich. Doesn't having a ginormous mortgage scare the crap out of them? Especially on one income (regardless of how large)? Are they thinking about the huge tuition payments coming down the road, or the ridiculous amount they're going to need to save in order to sustain their lifestyle in retirement?
Are they like a few people here at work, who had kids so late in life that they're going to have to work until they're 70?
No thanks. It seems like slavery to me. I'm already lucky to be where I am and have what I have... no way would I press my luck that far, even if it does come with gleaming cherry hardwood, three Trex decks, au pair suite and built-ins galore.
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