Some good house conversation- What do you think of this article?

I read an article this weekend in the Journal News that basically stated that people in our age cohort or first time buyers are opting more and more for condos or townhomes than 'starter houses', because in the last few years the prices have narrowed between the two. The article stated that instead of it being an affordability factor, it is now coming down to a difference in lifestyle. Do you want the amenities of a condo with pool, tennis, clubhouse or do you want land, a free standing house, freedom to expand as you please, etc? I was wondering everyone's thoughts on this.

I disagree with the article. I think that the reason more and more people might go with the townhome, co-op or condo is that people want newness (open floor plans, big windows, high ceilings) and these condos are relatively new. What is new in a house form and going up now in LI seem to be very expensive homes, fetching 1 million and up.

I feel like when our parents bought for the first time their houses were twenty years old- not bad, so less went wrong. Most of us grew up in houses from the 1950's not 1800's. These houses now are fifty plus years old and are in not great shape. More money needs to be spent on upkeep and bad inspections are more likely. The old houses are what seems to be in a first time buyers price range.

But those have to come down at some point and then what? How will anyone buy a house at a new builders price? Are condos going to get bigger? What do you all think? Where is the future going to be?

my fh and i can't afford to buy a house on long island and that is the sole reason why we are buying a co op. and if we could afford a house, it would either be in a crappy area where the price of the house will depreciate because of the area or its a shambles and who has the money to fix the money pit. we make decent money but we don't want to be living on ramen noodles and mac and cheese. we have looked at houses but we are 'settling' in a sense. some of the houses didn't even have appliances or cabinets in the kitchen and they wanted 300,000. it's insane out there and there is no way when my parents were buying that they had troubles like this. the rule back then was 'buy ahead of your means' because most likely your salary would increase but nowadays who knows what your salary is going to do so the good mortgage brokers are not recommending biting off more you can chew with a house. i think you should play it smart a buy comfortably. anyway you look at it the market will go up if your in a decent area and your neighbors are keeping there house in good shape also. with a co op, the board does it for you and from what i've heard on here, most people are making a profit off of there co op. sorry to be so long but it's just so frustrating. i never thought i wouldn't be able to own my own home once i was married.

I had bought my townhouse 2yrs ago for many reasons.

I was looking to invest my money into something solid like real estate. Not the stock market. I was single at the time and houses were just way toooo much compared to prices for a condo/townhouses. Not sure how a couple just starting can afford a house these days let alone a single person. Plus when you're single who wants to worry about the outside anyway.

I quess it depends on the the individual or couple and the type of income. At least these days a condo/co-op/townhouse is more affordable than a house with land