“Good night, grandpa! Good night, Grandma!”
Maybe you grew up watching The Waltons… or maybe you’ve never heard of it. But for anyone who caught TV in the 1970s, it’s hard to forget the picture of one big, busy, loving household spanning three generations—and each episode ending with everyone calling goodnight to one another as the screen went dark.
What once felt like a nostalgic TV ideal is increasingly real life for American homeowners: grandparents, parents, and kids living together under one roof.
And it’s not a niche trend anymore. According to the National Association of REALTORS®, 17% of homes purchased last year were bought by multigenerational households—an all-time high. (National Association of REALTORS®)
And according to Angi, 1 in 4 homeowners are living in multigenerational households. (Angi)
Why Is This?
For more than half (57%) of multigenerational homeowners it’s for support, according to Generations United. About 25% of multigenerational homes were purchased †o support aging parents, while others (21%) were to support financial children (about 40% of American “children” over the age of 18 have returned home or never left home in the first place).
For many other (about 2 in 5) families who purchase multigenerational homes, it’s about cost savings. As homes prices climb and the associated costs of homeowning a home continue to climb, homes are simply affordable when families pool their resources.
And for many families, it’s just about togetherness. According to Generations United, more than half of the multigenerational homes became multigenerational during Covid, and it was so convenient that 7 in 10 continued this living arrangement more than five years after Covid. When families of different generations live together, there is built in house sitting, pet sitting, childcare and even driving service.
When Moving In Together
Recently, someone posted on Reddit, “If you have lived with your families, what are some lessons you learned?” The most popular response was the need to respect boundaries. “We cooperate, communicate and hold appropriate boundaries,” one commentor wrote.
But just like an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, sometimes the best way to live together is to house shop together with the long term in mind. For example:
- How much space sharing do you actually want? Do you want shared living spaces with separate bedrooms? A so-called mother-in-law apartment? Or an actual detached living space such as a DADU?
- What accommodations are needed? For example, an aging parent might need a bathroom that can accommodate an aging body. And maybe that mother-in-law apartment is terrific except the aging parent may have challenges climbing the stairs to and from that apartment. Maybe one member of the family is a drummer in a rock band and so would ideally have a place to practice that’s not on top of the rest of the family. It’s important to think about the needs of the family and the long term accommodations changes that might occur.
Multigenerational (Multigen) homeowning is increasing. And it’s a viable options for many families.
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