With Millennials facing the brunt of job losses and loss of opportunity and savings due to COVID-19, many are finding the dream of jumping on the property ladder further and further from their grasp.
But there is a way for mum and dad investors to use their spare bedroom to help create a brand new kind of Millennial housing solution with a micro-apartment conversion.
With many millennials being caught short each month at the moment due to COVID-induced job losses, they are finding themselves struggling to afford rent and having to return to the family home.
For them its extremely worrying, especially if they’ve lost their job during COVID. They’re just looking at ways to be able to save money and be able to get themselves into a better spot, but how do they do that?
There’s a couple of different options for them. One idea is the micro-apartment conversion.
Let’s use little Freddie as an example. Little Freddie moved out three or four years ago. He’s been out there in the rental market and he’s hit the age of 30 and he’s finding that he’s getting no headway whatsoever. So he asks mum and dad, “Can you just do a partial conversion on your home? That way I can move back in and I can start to save some money and consolidate my costs.”
But when Freddie moves back in, he’s actually a fully grown adult. He’s developed his way of living on his own and mum and dad have got themselves to a place where they’re used to their own space as well.
So by doing a partial micro-apartment conversion, they can convert Freddie’s old bedroom and the spare bedroom becomes the ensuite/kitchenette. Then Freddie has his own bathroom and his own living area.
So this creates a respected place where there’s rules and regulations about what you can and can’t do as far as mum and dad are concerned. Freddie doesn’t want to intrude on them, but can also have his partners and friends over. That means it is a much better outcome from a savings perspective for Freddie.
When mum and dad eventually say, “Hey, Freddie, you’ve been here for three to five years. You’ve saved a good deposit. We’d like you to leave and get on with your life.”
Then they have the choice of adapting their house back if they want to, and having their space again, or they can have another child of theirs come in and help them out so that they can get on their feet.
Maybe they’ve got a family relative or grandma and grandpa, that may be getting to the point where they need a little bit of care.
However if they wanted to adapt it back to its original condition, then it’s as quick as it was to modify it. Within a week you could go back to a standard everyday home again.
How much does it cost to convert a micro-apartment?
Pictured above, a micro-apartment created in the garage of a family home could be the next Millennial housing solution.
For as little as $25,000 plus, you can actually convert part of the house into a micro-apartment. You will require, and it’s absolutely important that, you do get approval to do it. We can do that through a private certifier in less than 10 days in most areas of Sydney.
You do need to be compliant because otherwise you may be putting lives at risk and additional costs of re-instating back to the original condition if you are non-compliant.
This can also be a solution for millennials who live in their own property as well, but due to COVID, they’re perhaps looking for more ways to help service their debt and just build their wealth in some ways.
As we’ve seen that during COVID some first home buyers living in their home have been affected by job losses or a lesser amount of work and are struggling to pay their bills.
If these couples were to convert their home with a micro-apartment, then they are able to get back on top of all the bills and keep the home that they live in. They have now put themselves in a place to reduce their mortgage costs, reduce their outgoings, and pay off their mortgage quicker and being closer to living at home for free.
But more importantly, what it’s done is it’s created a micro-apartment setup that has created affordable accommodation outcomes for other people that have been affected by COVID, or just want to save themselves two-thirds of their weekly rent by moving into one of these micro-apartments.
And so as you can see, this is a win-win across the board for everyone.
If you think that a micro-apartment is what you need, then contact Spinryde Home Renovations for a free consultation.