With the direction housing is going relative to all other expenses, having a spare bedroom and a mortgage free home to inherit is becoming the equivalent of trust fund money.
In Boston, The value per bedroom to be ~300-600k dollars depending on location. This value is appreciating at ~8-20% per year in the current environment. If this trend were to continue for 30 years, a parent owning a 2-bedroom stands to impart 5 million+ to the child inheriting that property.
Obviously (hopefully), this trend can't continue - but having a free place to sleep is becoming a massive financial leg up. In many cases, this has become equivalent to the classic example of a "trust fund kid" from prior years. With most home owners earning money from their primary residence on paper for the last decade, simply providing the down payment for a child's home will yield a million dollar+ asset difference over 10 years compared to renting.
In Boston, The value per bedroom to be ~300-600k dollars depending on location. This value is appreciating at ~8-20% per year in the current environment. If this trend were to continue for 30 years, a parent owning a 2-bedroom stands to impart 5 million+ to the child inheriting that property.
Obviously (hopefully), this trend can't continue - but having a free place to sleep is becoming a massive financial leg up. In many cases, this has become equivalent to the classic example of a "trust fund kid" from prior years. With most home owners earning money from their primary residence on paper for the last decade, simply providing the down payment for a child's home will yield a million dollar+ asset difference over 10 years compared to renting.