4 ms·

All the justified complains about housing prices aside, I want to focus on this part "Some people are fine with getting a roommate, but what if you’re not?[...

by Barrin92 10mo ago

All the justified complains about housing prices aside, I want to focus on this part "Some people are fine with getting a roommate, but what if you’re not?[...]Usually, people get to a certain stage of life, and they like their independence.”" No usually it's the other way around. You get to a certain stage of life, your household size grows. There's exogenous factors like lack of construction but all other things being equal, housing used to be more affordable because the entire nation didn't consist of single person households. Multi-generational homes and large families were the norm because it saves resources. People who decide to want to live independently are going to take a financial hit. If you're not interested in a traditional family I'd strongly suggest societies think about cooperative housing collectively and having a flat mate or two individually.

bluGill 10mo ago
We are missing the private bedroom, shared kitchen/dining/living space that a lot of single people want. There are people I couldn't live with, but for the most part people crave some human contact and having the ability to grab a meal with a random person who happens to want to eat at the same time is nice. When you are married (or acting like married) a shared bedroom is good. However single people often want that personal/private space all to themselves.
- QuadmasterXLII 10mo ago
  In college in the university dorms I was logistically and emotionally fine day to day sharing a room with a friend and a hall bathroom with a hall of acquaintances, although in hindsight the price was absurdly inflated for that amount of real estate. https://housing.unc.edu/apply/rates/ https://housing.unc.edu/apply/rates/ Yep, at the moment renting a room at UNC costs 2200 a month if you share it, nearly twice the mortgage on a 3 bedroom house. There's some disease in the american economy where cost cutting code actions magically inflate costs, and we buy it.
  - bluGill 10mo ago
    University is the one place where you find a lot of single people and thus housing the fits their needs. Though I agree the costs seem out of control.
- OGEnthusiast 10mo ago
  There's probably a selection bias in that people who opt-out of dating/relationships probably just want to be left alone most of the time. I doubt there's a huge overlap between people who want to share meals with strangers and people who remain single.
- BobaFloutist 10mo ago
  I think there's also a huge gap in costs and in people's willingness to tolerate shared spaces with bathrooms. I think shared bathrooms are vastly cheaper, but also vastly less desirable.
  - bombcar 10mo ago
    The cost to add a bathroom to a house isn’t actually that much, assuming you don’t have to go insane with the plumbing. Look at how many houses now have “en suite” bathrooms for more than just the master bedroom.
    - BobaFloutist 10mo ago
      Sure, I mean the cost per unit to add a bathroom to each dorm-style units.
m4ck_ 10mo ago
In the US at least having roommates carries massive risk. Sharing a place requires taking on full legal and financial responsibility for a total stranger. If your roomie ends up a drunk who trashes the place, that's 100% on you if they bail out. maybe you could hire a lawyer and take action, but more than likely you're going to be on the hook for any damages (and if you can't pay that debt, you are blacklisted from legitimate rentals until it's cleared.)

bluGill 10mo ago

We are missing the private bedroom, shared kitchen/dining/living space that a lot of single people want. There are people I couldn't live with, but for the most part people crave some human contact and having the ability to grab a meal with a random person who happens to want to eat at the same time is nice. When you are married (or acting like married) a shared bedroom is good. However single people often want that personal/private space all to themselves.

QuadmasterXLII 10mo ago
In college in the university dorms I was logistically and emotionally fine day to day sharing a room with a friend and a hall bathroom with a hall of acquaintances, although in hindsight the price was absurdly inflated for that amount of real estate. https://housing.unc.edu/apply/rates/ https://housing.unc.edu/apply/rates/ Yep, at the moment renting a room at UNC costs 2200 a month if you share it, nearly twice the mortgage on a 3 bedroom house. There's some disease in the american economy where cost cutting code actions magically inflate costs, and we buy it.
- bluGill 10mo ago
  University is the one place where you find a lot of single people and thus housing the fits their needs. Though I agree the costs seem out of control.
OGEnthusiast 10mo ago
There's probably a selection bias in that people who opt-out of dating/relationships probably just want to be left alone most of the time. I doubt there's a huge overlap between people who want to share meals with strangers and people who remain single.
BobaFloutist 10mo ago
I think there's also a huge gap in costs and in people's willingness to tolerate shared spaces with bathrooms. I think shared bathrooms are vastly cheaper, but also vastly less desirable.
- bombcar 10mo ago
  The cost to add a bathroom to a house isn’t actually that much, assuming you don’t have to go insane with the plumbing. Look at how many houses now have “en suite” bathrooms for more than just the master bedroom.
  - BobaFloutist 10mo ago
    Sure, I mean the cost per unit to add a bathroom to each dorm-style units.

m4ck_ 10mo ago

In the US at least having roommates carries massive risk. Sharing a place requires taking on full legal and financial responsibility for a total stranger. If your roomie ends up a drunk who trashes the place, that's 100% on you if they bail out. maybe you could hire a lawyer and take action, but more than likely you're going to be on the hook for any damages (and if you can't pay that debt, you are blacklisted from legitimate rentals until it's cleared.)