What is housing like for forum members?

[bingus_baby]

Every year or two I move. A bit of a nomad, if you will. I had a family member say at one point, and I'm paraphrasing as he said it less poetic, that if you're not happy with your situation, why not try something new? I kept getting stuck with bad roommates or bad units, so I moved very laterally across the apartment market amongst equally priced, equally mediocre places. Before that I had jumped houses a few times. I'm not one to talk as I've had it better than most, but I can't help but feel that it's made me cold and apathetic to where I live. I'll move out eventually, so why plant my roots and get comfortable? Part of me enjoys that degree of detachment, since I know the bad stuff isn't forever, but then neither will the good stuff. It all will be a distant memory one day, so who cares? I've been having existential thoughts lately if you couldn't tell. I've finally landed a good apartment good roommates, but I'm also graduating this school year and will probably move out. Rinse and repeat the cycle continues until I'm either dead or don't have the capacity to care anymore blah blah whatever. Sick n tired of this.

But at the same time... I live next to, like, five bangin' boba shops. When I get sad, I go get some boba and musabi and all is well in the world. That is not something most people can say, as most boba is mid at best, and straight awful at worst. My parents live near some good places too, which is cool. I judge cities based on boba pretty often. If you don't have good boba, what even is the point...

Bonus section - Other things I rate areas on!
-Proximity to a Super Walmart
-Can I walk to a nearby fast food or fast casual restaurant?
-Can I walk to a supermarket or convenience store?
-Good boba within 4 miles
-Is it walkable at night?

Mega bonus points if I can walk to a Taco Bell from my unit. I don't eat there much anymore, but I still enjoy the option.
Suburban areas also get bonus points.

Song that is on topic:

[Bede]

I'm currently living with my mom, dad, and little brother. I'm a young adult, but I basically just feel like a tall child, since I'm still living with my parents and don't have my driver's license yet.

Thankfully, my mom seems to understand that the current housing market and cost of living is, how they say, Not Good, so she hasn't ever tried to pressure me to move out. I don't know about my dad; he isn't much the talkative type. He's threatened to kick me out during arguments since I was 16, but I learned after I tried to "okay then, I'll go get my stuff" in response that it's an empty scare tactic.

I'm pretty happy living here, despite the complaints, and I do plan to leave eventually, but that'll be after my boyfriend and I are done with college, and I have my license. Assuming that the housing market has chilled the fuck out by then. Fingers crossed!

[ConnorTheVGFan78]

I currently live with my mom in a house that used to be owned by my grandparents. We own the house outright with no mortgage payments due and only pay for utilities, annual property taxes, and maintenance. Out of all of these, maintenance is highest priority since my grandparents put off doing certain repairs on the house while they owned it.

I live in what can only be described as the middle of scenic nowhere. The nearest businesses are a 5-10 minute drive away, and none of the roads around where I live are safely walkable or bikeable. Also there's a waterway next to my house that has flooded multiple times over the years, so the location the house is in has never really been that ideal. My mom's health isn't the best right now, so my plan is to stay put here until her condition improves and I'm able to finish working on my CompSci degree. Once those two things happen and I'm able to get a stable job, I would love to find a place of my own (preferably away from a flood zone).

[Misanthropic Monster™]

I am sorry you're in a bit of a rut rn - same for others who posted who are also in situations that are not ideal. But I can promise that you will find something you feel happy and secure calling home.

I didn't get a proper 'home' till last year when I moved into my mortgaged house with my life-partner and all our critters - I've lived here just over a year now, and after 4 decades, I finally feel like somewhere is home.

Before this I lived in HORRIBLE rented accommodations full of mould, terrible landlords who were borderline abusive, horrible flatmates, despairing situations. I honestly lost hope of ever owning my own home (especially because of my age etc) but I can assure you, it's never too late to find a home, and it's never too late to get a mortgage.

I wish everyone in this thread good luck and best wishes - I genuinely hope ya'll find happiness and a home :)

 

[lianna]

I'm a university student in Germany financing my life with students' social security. I get a comfortable ~1100€ a month, of which about 350€ is paid to my landlord. I live in a comfortable and spaceous "two-bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, hallway, dining room" apartment with my roommate who pays the other half. We have a wonderful century old garden, both on the front and in the backyard, with apple trees.
I live next to university so I can leave on foot five minutes before the lecture starts. I have a grocery store, cafés, restaurants, pharmacies a two-minute walk away. I am right on the foot of a historical forest, and there's biking and hiking routes literally behind my house. I cook fresh each day and I can afford buying myself a treat of tech every once in a while. I can even go on a vacation if I want to, like once a year.

It feels so surreal looking at the American-dominated internet and realizing that, even though I am not rich or special or outstanding by any means for German standards and I am solely living off of social security and not any kind of parental support, I still live in abundance compared to American college students scraping by on the poverty line and having to choose between eating and rent each month. I don't even need a job and can focus on my degree full time.

[PurpleHello98]

I'm so sorry for anyone here who's struggling! I really hope and pray it gets better for you soon.

Personally, although I'm back home for Labour Day weekend currently, I'm living at college in a (suite-style, so I don't have to share a bathroom with the whole floor!) dorm. I have one roommate and then two other suitemates, and we all get along really well for the most part! There has been a little animosity here and there, but I don't feel like airing that out on-line. It's actually a pretty nice deal for a college dorm---the mattress is even more comfortable than my mattress at home! Luckily, most of my classes aren't more than a ten-minute walk away from my dorms, although one of my classes is a bit of a trek. And to sweeten the dorm life deal, there's this really cute guy that lives a few doors down! :)

[brisray]

There's always hope! I used to live and work in a deprived area of England's best city. It was deprived 50 years ago and nothing much has changed. When I was much younger, I used to wander round and started to realize that some people had just given up. Their life was crappy, was likely to be crappy forever and they just stopped caring. Once you fall into that trap, unless you find some inner strength or get lucky, then welcome to the rest of your life.

I was bought up one one of the huge less than salubrious housing estates in Bristol, UK. "It looks a lot more dangerous than it feels" (except on the days that it wasn't). Parts of Knowle West, Inns Court, Bedminster and Hartcliffe were wild. Not that I was much better than my peers, I've woken up in my share of gutters, did things I shouldn't have and all the rest. But I got lucky in that I've always that little bit of brain that kept reminding me that life could and should be so much better.

I think life was easier in the 70s and 80s. If you grabbed the opportunities, it felt like there was nothing you couldn't do. Hardly anyone I knew from those days and who I'm still in contact with, still lives in the area. Those are still there say the really nasty areas have moved, even just a few blocks, but now drugs are rampant, which doesn't help anyone.

Walking Thru Hartcliffe -

Inns Court - Not the first house I lived in on the main Knowle West estate, but I used to live in the second house from the right with my mum when I was about 10.

Home - 55 years, 4,000 miles, a few adventures, a lot of laughs, and a few tears later.

[Thorn]

I currently live in a 680 square ft/63 square meter apartment in a suburb on the midatlantic coast of the US. It costs $1125 per month which is about 70% of my current post-tax income, it hasn't been substantially remodeled since the 90s, and if I stay here past November I can either sign a 1 year contract and pay $100 more per month or I can go month to month and pay $300 more, so needless to say I'm looking to move and the next seven weeks are going to be chaotic as hell. I was able to afford the apartment at about 40% of my post-tax income when I worked briefly for a pharmaceutical research company, but that job didn't work out a few months in, partially due to my own screw ups of not being punctual, partially due to my car getting wrecked, and partially due to the fact that it triggered my migraines and sensory overload multiple times per week and I lost 10 pounds due to stress in two months.

I've been talking with a couple of people in my area looking for roommates for about $800 or so per month, and there's a few sketchy listings that offer $600 per month rents. My girlfriend's parents have offered to let me move into their place with a contract for a few hundred per month, and I'm sort of considering the offer but I also feel as though I'd be imposing on them too much. I'm currently working part time (usually 25-32 hours per week) at a coffee shop for minimum wage plus tips, and I just picked up a second minimum wage gig at a pet store, so I have some money to support myself while I try to get my actual biochemical career back on its feet.

Moving back in with my parents is kind of a last resort option; it's better than being homeless on the street and I wouldn't have to pay for rent, food, or utilities, but being around them for more than a 24 hour visit wrecks me mentally and emotionally every time, and they have been toxic and abusive in the past before they lost energy as they aged. I sometimes wish I could go low contact with them or confront them on their actions, but I'm still on the family phone plan and they pay for my health and car insurance because even with my research job I couldn't afford those, so I'm not really in a position to do things other than avoid them when I can and play nice when I can't anymore, since if I tick them off too much or get as honest as I probably should be, there's a risk to those necessities getting cut off.

[nintendowii99]

I live in an apartment with my wife. Luckily our housing is pretty stable and we feel very "settled" in our lives. We both have stable careers and are feeling good about things. We don't have any plans to buy, we live in a major city on the west coast and it will be out of our budget for a while.

I totally understand having unstable housing, I also did during a lot of my twenties.

[rhenn]

I live in a really small city center house with 5 flatmates and none of us really get along
[...]
if I move, at a minimum my rent will go up by about 200 euro; and If I ever hope to not be sharing, it'll go up by more like 700 euro.

Ouff I feel both of those... rent here in NZ is crazy too. I'm currently paying around $195 NZD/week to stay in a flat in studentville with 3 other people - we mostly get along but are generally doing our own thing.

That said, I really like my room! It's a good size, gets good light and is pretty warm; I just wish I could pick it up and move it elsewhere. Living near uni in general gets pretty noisy, and this year I have new downstairs neighbours who stay up talking until 4am and smoke weed indoors constantly  so looking forward to moving!

I'm currently looking to move further out with 1 other person; boy are places expensive though. Generally 2-3 bedroom places are $550 per week minimum (total, not each) which is crazy because a lot of these places aren't even insulated. Fortunately (with any luck) I'll be able to get a PhD scholarship next year, which pays better and will help. In the meantime I'm still stuck househunting 

[Capybara]

I envy the 40+ crowd because I don't know if/when I'll ever move out. My coworkers tend to be in the 16-50+ range, and I notice the only ones who have a house or don't live with family are married or on the older end. I was still in high school when the recession started, and everything I've read that's happened from 2008 to today is... You either must be really rich, very lucky, have a partner or friends to room with, or you're just stuck with your parents. Doesn't help the min wage in my state is dirt, even the fattest paycheck I got isn't enough for rent.

I moved several times as a kid (this was more doable in the 90s than now...) and when I moved to this state, I spent my childhood in the shitty parts of the city with a lot of crime, which is why I'd rather just have a house than live in a cheap apartment again. Those hippie-to-yuppie boomers don't know how good they got it, geez. (I'm being facetious)

[zj]

I'm lucky enough to be able to live in my own small apartment. It's the perfect size for me; one combined living&bedroom, bathroom with a tub, tiny kitchen big enough for 1 person to comfortably stand in, a little entry room and a small balcony, 32sqm. It took me 4 and a half years in the queue to gain enough points (1 a day) to get it. I got in the queue at age 16. The rent is good, 257 euro thanks to being in a small town (5k inhabitants, outside the city) and being from the municipality's own renting company. I'm lucky to live somewhere that offers decent social security, as I am currently on sick leave from burnout.

While I love the location, it's close to my family and lots of nature nearby, I won't stay here forever. My long distance partner and I want to move in together and have cats in the future, and I'm not sure how we would compromise with the location. We want to live in a little classic swedish house in the countryside, with cats, close to a bus stop. Our dream home is basically Pettson's house from the beloved swedish childrens' book series Pettson & Findus by Sven Nordquist