Affordable Starter Homes

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Hi yall,
Its no secret that most young people cant afford homes or places to live here in America. Would you be willing to live in a 800 Square Foot Starter Home if you could afford it and it was like one of those old timey homes. Well I have heard many times that young people would not want to live in a 800 square foot starter home and they want better homes than what the Boomers started in. Would you live in a 800 Square Foot Home if it meant you didnt have to live with your parents anymore? So would you live in a 800 square foot starter home if it was the only starter home you could afford and this starter home was like the one Boomers and Silent/Greatest Generation started in?

Last edited by Texasmoneyman300 on 13 Jan 2026, 7:09 pm, edited 2 times in total.

also zoning has it made it illegal to build these affordable starter homes and its not as profitable to build compared to the luxury McMansions.

in most parts of the country there are no more affordable starter homes.

The poll could use a 'maybe' option.

As you age , it actually becomes much easier to move into a smaller home . Less to care for ... you condense the junk out of your life . With todays digital everything it is much easier to shrink ones space into a easier to care for space .
Your creativity actually expands as you might make certain areas into much more multifunctional spaces . If you get taller ceilings that can transform into all sorts of things. Areas can be converted , by having a movable shelf that swings out from the wall to give a instant room divider, plus the back becomes a canvas for your choice of art or bulliten board.
Or Light curtains as room divider .
A fold up sideways bed or a futon . Remote control stereo . Hung from the ceiling or too high to play with, and a stack CD player With bluetooth speakers ,placement for best acoustic effects. Limited by only. your imagination.

What budget would you say is affordable or on the top end of affordable.

My first home was 1000 sq ft, it was just me and 2 cats through. My current home is 1250 sq ft. I totally agree that zoning laws needs to be changed and some of this NIMBYism has gotten out of control. I'm in northern Ohio, so this is one of the more affordable areas of the USA. Albeit the climate isn't everyone's cup of tea.

In a metropolitan area like Cleveland, Toledo, or Ft Wayne Indiana you can find plenty of smaller homes. You just have to be careful where you go as some municipalities tend to vote for every school levy regardless of how asinine it is, meaning property taxes keep going up and up. Reason why I moved a few years ago.

the lower end of 6 figures is the top end of affordability for most working people.* by affordable I mean it fits in with established financial guidelines that home costs not exceed one-third of available after-tax income for a primary breadwinner or household.



*by "working people" I mean those without advanced uni degrees who are on the top of the middle class or the bottom of the upper class, IOW they [the Richie's] NET over 6 figures/annum. US chamber of commerce says a >6 figure income is mandatory if one wants to buy housing in today's market, nationwide.

Loozz.. sorry but seen this trend towards making all home owners , When paying for property taxes . The cost of the education system in my midwestern major city . Is all on property owners, But just two Years after I moved there . I had found out that my property taxes were supposed to be subsized. By the city allowing tax payers to vote on having Indian Casinos there just 5 years before . And property taxes were rather low. But special Interested City Council after I had arrived , Voted without representation by the property owners,that all the funds from the Taxes on the Casinos, now ! would go to their self interest emergency fund. Directed by only the same city council .And every year after that the taxes would go up by 300 dollars a year . On & On it went. Susequently property insurance had to match that by all local Prop. Ins. companies .Located in my city It was money times for city and business. 300 each year on property taxes and an additional 300 a year on Home owners insurance . Wasnt gonna be too much longer I can live here . Had to pair down my vehicle to a older cheaper smaller vehicle to cover costs here That emergency slush fund .
Paid more to city council members ,paid big Hotels to move there with a moratorium of 10 + years on their respective hotels property taxes . All documented in the city council own reports. Even a Black fellow ,who had been on the ciy counsel before was removed, when he brought it up at a meeting years later. Gonna have to get a roommate or something. Even one of our Riverboat type Casinos,still went under .