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Comment by onetimemanytime | Hacker News Reader

Insane, every 22 years house goes to zero value. Probably adding relatively little money can extend the life to 40-50 or so. If I'm 30 and buy a house, makes no sense to need to tear it down when I'm 52.

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People don't tear down their own homes (though the home may get torn down for them by e.g. an earthquake), they tear down the house on the land they buy when they move, and get their own house built on it.

Its just thinking of your house as a depreciating asset instead of an appreciating one. Much like a car. I actually can't imagine wanting to live in the same house for more than 10 years.

> I actually can't imagine wanting to live in the same house for more than 10 years.

But can you imagine knocking it down and building a new one every 10 years?

Yea, this is pretty much what they do in Japan, hence the article.

They don't do that though. What they do is move to a plot of land on which they build a new house. If there's already a house on the plot they bought, it gets torn down (entirely) rather than getting reused/renovated.

When people don't move, their house doesn't get torn down.

I get what the distinction is, but effectively it feels like the same thing to me.

>I actually can't imagine wanting to live in the same house for more than 10 years.

Why? Unless your needs/life change so much that you either need to move somewhere or want a fundamentally different property. (Which of course aren't uncommon.)

But, in my case, my needs haven't radically changed. I've updated my 200 year old house to be like I want it. I can imagine a lifestyle change but it certainly wouldn't be to another house in the same area.

I probably worded that poorly, I meant I can't personally imagine living in the same house for 10 years. I can see why others would want to.

>>I actually can't imagine wanting to live in the same house for more than 10 years.

"Wanting" is kindy tricky. How much money do you have? You can live in a new house every year...or hotel. But not all have that luxury, that's why I made that comment. You buy a house and you know shelter is almost solved (taxes+maintenance do cost but...)

Interesting I live in a house built in an old farm yard about 50 yards behind me is a farm house that was old when John Bunyan Preached there in the 1650's

And I did look at buying a Georgian alms house but the renovation was messed up and it ended up in the courts for ages

How often to people these days plan to be in the same house they bought at 30, when they are 50? How many actually do?

It’s hard to get at those numbers. But if you’re asking among people who buy a house at 30, it may be under 50 percent but it’s not rare. The older you get and the wealthier you get the less likely you are to move. 30 is starting to get out of “starter home” range for many.

People move, upgrade, or downsize for lots of reasons but the scenario you give certainly isn’t rare.

FWIW, I bought my first house at 27, with a wife and child, and lived there for 13 years. Child grew up and moved out. Sold the single-family, bought a smaller TH, and assuming nothing major changes, we'll be here until we retire or beyond (I'm now 41, so ~25 years from now).

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