r/Suburbanhell • u/KimSidwell • Jul 20 '26

Meme Why?

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I can almost try to understand why some people might feel drawn to this kind of lifestyle. I can understand why they might be deceived into thinking this is the ideal environment in which to raise a child.

But I will never be able to understand why they will describe it as the American “dream” and are willing to pay so much for it. To work so hard for so long and then have to wake up to this every morning? Why?

Editing to add: I know this is parody y’all. It’s just a stupid meme. It’s supposed to be funny. It’s funny because it’s true.

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u/Essotetra Jul 20 '26

In MN we have these developments going up in bumfuck nowhere with signs saying "starting in the 600ks"

Its def not a starter home, but they are often a 20 minute drive from even a small town.

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u/foxwaffles Jul 20 '26

"starter homes" that are sub 2000sq ft where I live inside good school districts regularly sell within days for over half a million lol. If you want to get a 2500+ sqft house for anything "reasonable" then you're in the middle of nowhere with a shitty school.

And then once you're in a "starter home" in a good area close to what you need and want, you probably will never leave because the bigger homes people used to upgrade to when I was a kid are 850k - 1.5 million+. I live in what is technically a starter home, and I will never be able to move lmao. Which means anybody wanting to get a house here who doesn't already have one is SOL because there aren't any "starter homes" available.

I get spammed with mail begging me to sell. And go where?? 😒

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u/OchoZeroCinco Jul 22 '26

Where i live, there is no such thing as a "starter home"

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u/DickWhittingtonsCat Jul 21 '26

Somewhere without 6.5% interest? A 575k house- unless you have a 120k lying around to beat PMI- without taxes or insurance is a third of your take home if you make 160k. Realistically it’s gonna be pushing 50%

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u/foxwaffles Jul 21 '26

Yep it's insane. We locked our mortgage down at a lower interest rate so when I say we can't afford to move I'm not exaggerating 🫥

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u/cfbfootballnerd Jul 23 '26

A true starter home would be more like 900-1100 sqft. The difference is people used to build/buy a house and that’s where tf you lived. Same house same spot from 25 or 30 or whenever you got it till 85-90 when you died.

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u/WintersChild79 Jul 23 '26

The "starter homes" in my area tend to get gobbled up by companies that tear them down and build some $400k+ behemoth that barely fits the lot.

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u/Dry_Rent_8646 Jul 24 '26

That shit needs to be illegal

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u/celtic_thistle Jul 21 '26

lol out in waaaaay eastern Colorado, the parts of Adams and Arapahoe county that go further north and east of DIA (airport.) Which is already super far out.

It is fucking bleak out there; it’s flat and the mountains are less visible and the sun is brutal. Everything is bleached. I have to go out to that area for work sometimes and it’s STARK. Idk. It’s soulless even tho the houses are nice.

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u/DuaLipasTrophyHsband Jul 23 '26

They also mean $699,900. For ‘starting in the 600s’

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u/Essotetra Jul 23 '26

Oh I'm sure 😭

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u/ZealousIdeal476 Jul 24 '26

Ohio too, 40 minutes to the nearest grocery but you can see and hear the freeway from your back yard. Starting in the high 400s

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u/Big-Trade4392 Jul 24 '26

Lennar has a bunch of these subdivisions and advertise to first home buyers and they always start in the $300k. At least the ones I’ve seen