As a tenant in one property in Boston who receives no help from his parents, I deeply resent the ease with which you attained wealth by just renting out ever-rising Bostonian housing.
A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent
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Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent
#12This is an interesting counterpoint to all of the "government subsidies distort housing prices" arguments. Obviously family subsidies are very different than government subsidies, but I think they might have a similar effect on pricing. Especially for economicallt disadvantaged people trying to go it alone; you're now in a market (similar to college tuition or healthcare) where nobody pays full price except for you*
*For large values of "nobody" and "you"
Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent
#13Been there. As one of the 20-something whose parents didn't help with the rent. Two consequences: - really tough discussions with some friends and acquaintances once I realised their parents heavily subsidized their way of life while they were putting the social persona of young working adult being independent and nagging me about when I was going to buy my first car or why I was always the one who made it through th…
Why didn't they help?
Many parents (mine included) say "if you aren't in school pay your own way".
Once you are out of school, regardless if your wage is still barely above minimum, you are on your own.
Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent
#14$3,000 a year is a weird number. Of course anything helps, but when rent is $1,000, $2,000, or even $3,000 / month, is that really make or break?
I wonder if it's paying security deposits or first / last deposits. When I was 23, paying rent seemed doable, but digging up 3 months of rent all at one go was terrifying.
Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent
#15As a tenant in one property in Boston who receives no help from his parents, I deeply resent the ease with which you attained wealth by just renting out ever-rising Bostonian housing.
Curious how you know it was easy? A colleague of mine is a landlord and it seems externally to be a huge pain. Definitely put me off of trying to do the same.
Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent
#16As a landlord of multiple properties in Boston I can confirm the parents pay the rent.
One of my college roommates would get a small stack of signed blank checks from his mother every time he went home, in order to pay the rent and whatever else came up. He kept them underneath his mattress, which we discovered when we had to move from one apartment to another and his ass never showed up to help.
And here I am, paranoid about having unsigned checks laying around because they have my account and ACH # on them. Other people's tolerance for risk always amazes me!
Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent
#17As a tenant in one property in Boston who receives no help from his parents, I deeply resent the ease with which you attained wealth by just renting out ever-rising Bostonian housing.
Curious how you know it was easy? A colleague of mine is a landlord and it seems externally to be a huge pain. Definitely put me off of trying to do the same.
I'm sure it is just an oversight that the OP forgot to mention that he is currently heavily invested in the Boston rental market as a landlord.
Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent
#18$3,000 a year is a weird number. Of course anything helps, but when rent is $1,000, $2,000, or even $3,000 / month, is that really make or break? I wonder if it's paying security deposits or first / last deposits. When I was 23, paying rent seemed doable, but digging up 3 months of rent all at one go was terrifying.
In many urban areas, rent is not $1000 a month, let alone $2000 or $3000. In smaller cities you can often find rooms for $250-$500, although that seems to be changing very quickly in my area. Jobs often pay less too.
Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent
#19As a tenant in one property in Boston who receives no help from his parents, I deeply resent the ease with which you attained wealth by just renting out ever-rising Bostonian housing.
Renting out properties is a huge hassle. My family spent a lot of time in real estate and I got to hear the headaches (which is why I didn't follow in their footsteps). Frankly, I'm pretty sure you're just being bitter and aren't helping the conversation.
Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent
#20Subject to change while I parse the source data set, but I'm not sure their conclusions are sound. Specifically the reliance on averages and amortizing the existence of yearly lump sums to monthly assistance. And the wording of "has ever" so a single gift/loan now gets extended to reported as years of monthly assistance. For example, parents providing their child with first month's rent/security deposit for the first…
Or worse- yet another article that attempts to make people feel bad for using the wealth they've obtained over the course of their life for making their children "privileged"