Hallmark of the Future?
New development is now discouraged. Construction costs have steadily increased to the point where it is hard to construct anything that fits in your budget. We are all are dealing daily with the high cost of housing, and it is serious.
Do you want your children back after college? Do you want more doctors, great scientists or teachers? How can they afford to live here?
The fact is that Hawaii is an extraordinary place, where weather, recreation, culture and medicine attract lots of retirees. Supply and demand forecasts that prices will get higher as retiring Boomers fuel demand over the next decade, crowding out the youth we so dearly need.
There is only so much that can be done to make housing cheaper.
- Cheaper land (not likely)
- Cheaper construction methods (factory made modular housing)
- Cheaper financing (60-year amortization schedules).
It is time for us all to reconsider multi-generational houses as a possible solution to not only our high cost of housing but also the family drift that has infected the last few generations of Americans.
Our grand parents and great grand parents took multi-generational housing for granted and grew strong families to care for young and old alike. Our social fabric was woven from close family and community relationships, and we can do that again!
Today’s multi-generational home does not have to mean everyone in the kitchen at breakfast. Hawaii County ordinances may allow old-timers to expand or remodel their nearly empty houses to provide an extra kitchen and as many new bedrooms as may be needed for getting the next generation back.
As time goes by the old-timers can move into the smaller, disability-friendly quarters as the kids and grandkids joyfully fill up the old house. There are even great estate planning tools that allow folks to gradually donate their houses to their kids without ever leaving or giving up a dime of their spending money.
If you are interested in helping your children get a start in Hawaii so that you don’t have to spend the rest of your life visiting Des Moines, Detroit or Decatur, think “multi-generational home”.
Call Bill, Starr, Erin or Stephanie at Property Buyers Hawaii 808-885-6061 to talk story about your future with your kids. You may be glad that you did!
Mahalo,