(MCT)—Suppose you’re buying a home. And suppose, too, that you have an elderly parent or adult child who’d like to live in your home with you. Why not buy a home together as a family?
If that sounds smart to you, you’re not alone.
Multigenerational living is “in.”
In fact, a recent study by the National Association of REALTORS® found that 14 percent of U.S. home purchases last year involved a multigenerational household of adult children, plus parents, grandparents or both.
The multigenerational housing trend isn’t new, but it’s on the rise. According to a Pew Research analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data, the proportion of 25- to 34-year-olds who live in such households has increased significantly since the Great Recession, to the highest level since the 1950s.
Five Things about Buying a House with Relatives
— More families are living with more than one generation of adults under one roof.
— Everyone in the house needs space and privacy.
— Sometimes you have to be creative to carve out private space.
— As always, the home’s location is important.
— Involve everyone in the discussion, including siblings who won’t live in the house.
John Graham, emeritus professor of marketing and international business at the University of California, Irvine, and co-author of “All in the Family: A Practical Guide to Successful Multigenerational Living,” says he isn’t surprised.
“A lot of people say financial problems are causing this (trend), but what’s really happening is the realization that the best way to get along in life is interdependence with the extended family. We’ve had a 50-year experiment with the notion of the nuclear family and it’s sort of a stupid way to live,” Graham says.
Everyone Wants Space, Separation
Multigenerational homebuyers on the hunt for a suitable home need to focus on what their needs are, a list that’s likely to involve space and privacy, says Bradley Marshall, a REALTOR® in Irving/Las Colinas, Texas.
Marshall says one of his recent deals involved a multigenerational family who bought a 3,400-square-foot house with two master bedrooms.
“We found a house with a master downstairs and upstairs and both with an en suite bathroom. It was five bedrooms with a study, so plenty of room,” he says.
Rather than amenities, the home’s layout trumps in such situations, Marshall suggests.
Employing Creativity to Create Space
Karen Straughan, a REALTOR® in Rockwall, Texas, also says multiple bedrooms and bathrooms are crucial, and families will “get real creative” if they can’t find a home with the layout they need.
“People are buying a one-story home and putting in a breezeway, giving mom her separate space, and converting the garage or an outbuilding into her private living quarters,” Straughan says. “If there aren’t that many bedrooms, they say, ‘Can we take this second living area and make it into a bedroom?’ It’s very important that everyone has their own space.”
