Getting Old, Part 4

Wondering how young folks today can own a home in some places when everything seems to be a castle….

            I WONDER WHEN a house quit being just a home and became, well, a castle. I suppose since humankind found its first cave, it probably wanted something bigger and better.

            I know most folks in this country aren’t living in castles, but when I peruse the big real estate ads in the papers on a slow Sunday morning, I find myself moving from just shaking my head to saying words that don’t belong on a Sunday morning.

            Take downtown Philadelphia, just a hop, skip and a train ride to the East of my small apartment. 

            “Introducing Penthaus 3 at Arthaus, a magnificent bi-level residence offering luxurious living in Philadelphia’s esteemed Avenue of the Arts neighborhood. Positioned across Levels 43 and 44 of the iconic Arthaus building, this exceptional home boasts a total interior space of 5,460 square feet, complemented by expansive exterior areas totaling 1,944 square feet, providing stunning panoramic views of the city.”

            All that can be yours for just $15,110,300. You can probably assume that when two words in the place’s name end in “haus” that the cuteness probably put a couple of million bucks in there.

            OK. I admit I swung for the fences on that one. You can get a modest 2-bed, 2-bath, 1,363 square foot condo for $799,000. Or, if that’s slumming it a bit, you can get close to the same square footage not far away for $1.5 million.

            If you get out of the city and come on out where I live, it’s not so bad. You can get 1,700 sqf, 2-bed and 2-bath for $455,000. Sorry, no golf course involved. 

            Houses in our borough, in this morning’s listing, had quite a few above $1.5 million and some of them looked quite normal, hardly what I would associate with that sort of price tag. Back in Texas, from whence we came four years ago, most of them would go for under $500,000. Same could be said for houses back in my Ohio hometown.

            WE LIVE IN a well-to-do area so houses are going to cost more. But, as an old geezer I remember when my wife and I bought our first home, in 1973, in Xenia, Ohio for $17,000. We bought it through a government program that didn’t require a down payment. It had three bedrooms but two of them could only handle a twin bed and there wasn’t much in the way of living space. But boy, did we like that house. Had a roof, heater (no air), running water, indoor plumbing and a laundry room. No garage, but I never had one of those before so didn’t miss it.

            Over time we got larger houses, as the family grew, but I don’t think any of them would come close to being a trophy home. 

            I’m thinking about this today because I’m reading about young people not being able to afford homes. I live a block from a homeless shelter and I know a lot of the folks who work in the businesses that fill our lively downtown probably can’t live in West Chester, unless it’s in a tiny apartment. 

            It seems every new house that goes up in our area tops $500,000 and I wonder how many young people carrying student loans and first jobs could even think about buying one. Keep in mind, starter homes here are not cheap. A 1,000 sqf townhome comes closest at $299,900. 

            We have a problem here in borough beautiful. It’s one a lot of communities face. How to have all the “nice” stuff that goes with being an urban hot spot, but still providing homes for those who get up every morning and go to work making it a hot spot?

            I don’t have an answer, but we’d better find one if we want to hang onto any sense of community. You shouldn’t have to make into six figures just to put a roof over your head, to live in a safe neighborhood with good schools and things to do. I wonder if my wife and I would be able to live in a lot of towns today if we had the same kinds of jobs we had starting out. I suspect not.

            Anyway, that’s what an old geezer thinks about these days when he sees the real estate ads in the Sunday paper and he has four grandchildren who are going to need homes.            

            Rich Heiland is a retired journalist and semi-retired consultant, trainer and public speaker. During his journalism career he was a reporter, editor, publisher, college instructor, part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team and a National Newspaper Association Columnist of the Year honoree. He also writes the intodementia.com blog about his family’s experience with dementia. He lives in West Chester, PA and can be reached at [email protected].