A Few Home Truths

I remember the mountain of paperwork needing our signatures when we closed at the title company. It seemed endless.

My wife and I felt overwhelmed at first. Yet, as we worked our way down that stack of papers and came to an end, the stress seemed to give way to an amazing feeling of accomplishment as they handed us the keys. We were finally homeowners. 

Millennial homeowners. 

And that 30-year-old home we just bought needed a little work. 

We’re members of that 23-41-year-old demographic everyone always talks about. Now we’re all looking for a place to live. 

According to the National Association of Realtors, approximately 43 percent of the homes sold in 2021 were purchased by Millennials, securing them the largest share of home sales in the U.S. market. The latest research shows that because of high prices and the housing shortage, Millennials are choosing to buy fixer-uppers more than building or buying new. 

As an energy advisor, though, I know the impact energy inefficiency can have on a household budget. This is how my wife and I decided that efficiency would be a great place to spend our limited funds before moving on to the cosmetic upgrades.

Millennial Housing Market

While mortgage interest rates had been on a steady decline, until recently, since 2018, housing prices in 2021 skyrocketed some 18.6 percent over 2020, according to the White House. 

This unprecedented increase in price is broadly contributed to the confliction of increased demand and decreased supply due to higher costs of building material, labor shortages and supply-chain constraints. 

With these factors added together, Millennials interested in purchasing their starter homes are being outbid on newly constructed, urban homes and forced to consider older, fixer-uppers towards the outskirts of urban sprawl. 

Research by Bank of America found that 82 percent of millennial homeowners were more likely to buy a fixer-upper than a newly built home. 

As a recent first-time home buyer myself, I have firsthand experience with the current, fiercely competitive housing market. A little over a year ago, my wife and I found ourselves entering a journey of the largest financial investment of our lives. 

With the exorbitant cost of newly constructed homes being outside of our price range, we narrowed our search to late 20th-century builds and lowered our expectations from dreams to reality. We toured homes at breakneck speeds, some even occurring within hours of a home hitting the market. During this search, one thing was for certain; any home we chose was going to need some upgrading. 

After a month of prayer and driving our realtor insane, a home within our price range hit the market on a Friday morning. I toured it on my lunch break the same day. 

My wife couldn’t make the tour on such short notice, so I recorded a walkthrough for her blessing. That evening, we submitted a full-price offer on the home and anxiously waited for any update. The next morning, less than 24 hours on the market, we were informed there were two other offers on the home. 

To remain competitive, we had to significantly increase our offer, added as many selling costs as possible, and wrote a personal letter to the sellers. A few days passed, feeling overwhelmed and anxious, and we then learned our offer was accepted. Fast-forward a month later and we are sitting in an eerily desolate home that we could begin to call our own.

Even though our process was difficult, we were very fortunate to successfully find our home when we did. The market has only become more competitive as home prices continue to rise.

Feathering Our New Nest

As we began, we put utilities in our name and installed high-speed fiber internet. In an age of COVID-19 and remote work, most people now know the importance of having fast, reliable internet service. United also recognized this need for reliable internet throughout its territory. At the time of writing this article, United is currently serving more than 11,000 members with fiber internet. Without reliable internet, my wife and I would not have been able to work remotely during quarantine. 

Since purchasing our home a year ago, we have completed various cosmetic and energy efficiency projects. Although most people would probably tackle the cosmetic upgrades first, my position at United had the energy efficiency upgrades at the forefront of our list. 

Soon after moving in, we re-caulked and weather-stripped all windows and perimeter doors. Additionally, we sealed our chimney with a fireplace balloon and installed foam gaskets on perimeter receptacles to prevent excessive air leakage. 

We meticulously found every light bulb in the home and replaced them with cost-effective LEDs. An HVAC company performed a tune-up on our heat pump system to make sure it was performing at its utmost efficiency. 

We had an open wall cavity sealed in the attic and additional required repair and general maintenance has continued around the home. Cosmetically, we have repainted the interior of the home and sweated through many landscaping projects. Future projects include upgrading to a more efficient heat pump HVAC system, adding solar screens to the windows, and upgrading to a heat pump water heater. 

Completing these energy-saving measures has significantly reduced our electric bill year-round. Overall, purchasing a fixer-upper required a lot of research, time, and money. However, the valuable experiences and knowledge gained throughout this home-buying process is something I wouldn’t trade for anything. Purchasing a home in this current competitive market is a grueling process, but in the end, securing a financial investment and having a place to call your own makes all the struggles worth it. 

Whether you are considering purchasing, or have recently purchased, a home and would like specific recommendations on how to improve its efficiency, call one of United’s offices to request a free, in-home Energy Audit. United’s energy advisors are your resource to answer any questions related to energy efficiency.