• Home
  • Education
  • News and Resources
  • Advocacy
  • Associate Members
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
News
Community, News

Convergence of Boomers, Boomerangers, Housing Costs and the Pandemic Boosts Interest in Multigenerational Homes

At a time when aging baby boomers need a bit of help, more adult children need a place to stay, and housing costs keep climbing, some families are turning to multigenerational homes.

While the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have accelerated such family togetherness nationwide, the use of a house by multiple generations of a clan already had been rising amid changing demographics and housing expenses, according to residential real estate experts.

An analysis by the nonprofit newsroom Wisconsin Watch and the Center for Public Integrity found the state has about 325,000 multigenerational households, or 13% of all households. Most are concentrated in Kenosha, Milwaukee, Racine, Rock, and Waukesha counties. Nationally the rate is about 18%.

“I kind of do think it’s going to continue as a trend, because you have parents a lot of times who are in a little bit of a need of assistance,” said Steve Bechtolt, vice president-mortgage lending for The Bank of New Glarus. “They are not ready for full-time assistance in relation to going to a nursing home, but they could use some help. And I think you are seeing them moving in with children.”

According to the National Association of Realtors, before the pandemic there was an even split between buyers who purchased a multigenerational house either to accommodate aging parents or to provide space for adult children who came back home — so-called boomerang kids — or those who never left. But now aging parents is the No. 1 reason.

While older parents have their grown children to assist them if needed in a multigenerational home, the fact that many seniors are willing to help with childcare for grandkids also figures into the strategy of a house containing three generations of the same family.

Still, there are plenty of parents providing a place for their adult children. The percentage of adult children living at home has never been higher, according to a Pew Research Center analysis last year.

Drawing on U.S. Census data, Pew found 52% of young adults resided with one or both of their parents. Young adults living with their parents grew for all major racial and ethnic groups, men and women, and metropolitan and rural residents, Pew said. Growth was sharpest for the youngest adults — those ages 18 to 24 — and for white young adults, Pew found.

The New York Times reported this summer that shifts in how families live and work, brought on by the pandemic, were creating a surge of baby boom households with multiple generations in the U.S.

But some say it’s been occurring to a lesser degree for years. One reason is the simple economics of sharing space.

Christine Buckman, universal loan officer at First Bank of Baldwin, said over the last five years she has periodically seen people who want to purchase a house for more than one generation of a family.

Some of the driving factors, she said:

  • Convenience to help with aging and/or widowed parents
  • Traditional cultures where it is commonplace to have elders or parents live with the family
  • Snowbird parents who find it wasteful to keep an empty home in Wisconsin while they are in the South six months of the year.

Buckman, who is vice chair of the Wisconsin Bankers Association Mortgage Banking Committee, cited an example involving a married woman with two young children and her parents, who owned a house in Wisconsin and a condo in Florida.

“The parents decided to sell their home in Wisconsin and the parents, daughter and her husband proceeded to design a new custom home for construction together,” Buckman said. “It was designed as one home with two separate wings, so to speak.”

A main foyer leads to the daughter’s family living area, and the foyer also leads to a second living quarters that provides a separate living room, bathroom, small kitchenette, and bedroom.

“The idea being they could leave all the doors open and come and go from each other’s space, but if privacy was desired or needed, the doors could be closed to separate the living areas as well,” Buckman explained.

It was a great solution for the grandparents who were in Wisconsin less than half of the year because it eliminated the expense and upkeep of an unused property while they were in the South. It also gave the grandparents a chance to spend quality time with their daughter and grandchildren in the summers.

“We did have to structure the loan with all four adults as borrowers,” Buckman said. “They were all on deed as well. They worked out the other logistics on financials between themselves.”
The grandparents used proceeds from the sale of their Wisconsin home for a large down payment, while the mortgage payments, taxes and insurance were the responsibility of the daughter and her husband.

The custom home cost more than $900,000, but the strategy worked, she said.

“Pooling their resources and qualifications allowed them to achieve a beautiful property to serve their whole family of three generations,” Buckman said.

Having multiple buyers of a house can be tricky, said Chris Boland, vice president-consumer lending manager for North Shore Bank.

“Multigenerational housing doesn’t necessarily mean multigenerational ownership, although sometimes in these situations the whole family wants to be equivalent owners of the property,” said Boland, who is based in the Green Bay area. “The challenge that presents is that all four of them need to qualify. If somebody has a detrimental credit situation it can make it difficult for the whole transaction to work because of that one individual.”

Over the past few years, some home builders have been featuring “in-law suites” and other convertible space in the houses they are putting up.

David Belman, president of Belman Homes in Waukesha, said a true in-law suite is like an apartment attached to a house.

It typically has a family room, a small dining area, a kitchenette, and a bedroom with a bathroom.

“They have their own private space so they can cook, eat and sleep there, but they can also connect in with the rest of the home if they want to be part of the family,” Belman said.

It’s hard to include all those apartment-like features unless lots in a subdivision are big enough, however, Belman said.

Belman said an alternative for homes built by his company is a first-floor room than can be converted for use as bedroom/bathroom or office.

“I have a really popular floor plan that has a first-floor bedroom-full bath, but it’s not the master suite,” Belman said. “It’s a flexible living space.”

It could be used by an older parent or adult child.

“They would still use the kitchen and their home – they’d be living in the home fully – but they have their own space, their own bathroom,” Belman said. “And down the road, if they’re not there, that room can then be used as an office, a craft room, a sitting room. Home offices are really popular right now just because of COVID.”

While multigenerational homes may be drawing more interest from the general population, they have been common among some groups for years, said Miguel Pesqueira, vice president-community banking manager for North Shore Bank in West Allis.

“From the CRA point of view — the Community Reinvestment Act — we have seen this multigenerational living forever,” Pesqueira said. “It’s really more of a way of life for low-income minority individuals. It’s not uncommon to have grandma and husband and wife and children and grandkids all living under the same roof.”

Even though the pandemic may be a current impetus, Pesqueira said he believes more people from the broader population will pursue multigenerational housing.

“The middle class is shrinking, and I think this is a way of addressing that shrinking budget, by pulling family together,” Pesqueira said.

Buckman said among factors that would seem to encourage multiple generation homes is the increasing longevity of grandparents, and their willingness to provide daycare for grandchildren.

Said Boland: “I think it’s something were definitely going to see more of.”

Paul Gores is a journalist who covered business news for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for 20 years.

Print 🖨
October 5, 2021/by Hannah Flanders
Tags: Mortgage Lending
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Share on Vk
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Wisconsin-Bankers-Association-logo.svg 0 0 Hannah Flanders https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Wisconsin-Bankers-Association-logo.svg Hannah Flanders2021-10-05 15:15:022021-10-05 15:15:02Convergence of Boomers, Boomerangers, Housing Costs and the Pandemic Boosts Interest in Multigenerational Homes
You might also like
Who Must Sign The Mortgage?
Factors to Consider Before Buying a Home
Welcome Back, Old Friend – Section 8 of RESPA is a Hot Topic Again
Triangle BackgroundYear-end Frequently Asked Escrow Questions
Legal Q&A: New Interest Rate on Residential Mortgage Loan Escrow Accounts
Legal Q&A: Delivery of Instruments to Mortgage Borrowers Requirements in Wisconsin
Forbearance Resource for Homeowners
Executive Letter: 2023 Brings Adjusted Regulatory Thresholds

Categories

  • Advocacy
  • Community
  • Compliance
  • Credit Unions
  • Education
  • Member News
  • News
  • Products
  • Resources
  • Uncategorized

Recent Posts

  • National Exchange Bank & Trust Announces Officer Promotions
  • First National Bank and Trust Company Hosts International Speaker
  • Sawyers Promoted at One Community Bank
  • Van Asten Retiring After 32-Year Career with First State Bank
  • Compliance Column: What Wisconsin’s Transfer by Affidavit Form Means for Bankers

Archives

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • November 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • June 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • January 2018
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • August 2016
WBA logo
  • About
  • Community
  • Subsidiaries
  • Staff

questions@wisbank.com

608-441-1200

4721 S Biltmore Ln.
Madison, WI 53718

Get our Newsletter!
Subscribe

© 2023 Wisconsin Bankers Association. All rights reserved. | Website Design by Bizzy Bizzy
WBA Comments on Changes to Deposit Insurance Coverage Calculations for Trus...WBA’s Grassroots Advocacy on Credit Unions
Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

OKLearn more×

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Terms of Use
Accept settingsHide notification only

Subscribe

* indicates required








Membership