Has anyone else noticed these 'starter' homes on the gallery that when you click into them, they cost about $50 - 100k+? (And some listed as such even on here.)

I'm currently working on a residential lot to help aid this, but admittedly I've upped my budget from 20k to 30k. And I may have to up even that. But my question is do people actively seek out lots that are 20k Simoleons and below for an actual starter home, or do people not care and just cheat their way into a nicer home from the get go?

I'd like some thoughts before I upload my latest work and see in general how people play and feel about the game's home budgeting model.

... 'Starter' homes.

I see inflation has hit the housing market of the sims, too.

I feel like clutter and unnecessary outdoor deco/refurnishing ups the cost to a whooping 10,00 simoleons.

You can see the more recent game changer built houses sometimes struggling to keep it a starter home, too. There's that one in the wedding pack where you'll have 8 whole simolleons left after moving in, because game changers, and i'm guessing players making stuff on the gallery, really like to add decorations, clutter, nicer furniture, to give a home more personality.

Personally, yes,I always keep my library full of starter homes to use that are actual starter homes. Although usually I make the starter version after i've gone around and decorate and make it look nice then realize 'huh, this is now a 40k house uhoh' xD and then save that version and get deleting and replacing for cheaper stuff to have a starter version, too. To me, starter homes are meant to be basic jumping off points. Basic furniture and no real decoration. That's up to you to add later, as your sim gains money, so you can personalize it. I'd imagine there's interest in both, but I personally prefer not to have to sell twenty bushes and decorative elements to be able to make food or buy an easel or cheap computer.

I do not use starter homes. These worlds are so tiny I do not want to waste/fill lots with them. I play one family in each world and they get the house they want. So I money cheat to build them whatever I think they should have and what I want to play. And I love to build so want to do things far more interesting IMO than starter homes.

So to answer your question, I have no interest in them and if ever do, would just build myself.

I don't think I've ever seen the same thing myself, but when looking for what the community often refers to as a 'starter' (home that can be bought straight out of CAS) I just filter the gallery by price instead of actually searching by that word. It's possible that some people just have a slightly different idea of what the word meant or are using it for the unfurnished price only.

Custom save files always make sure there's a sub-20k in every world, so I'd say that's a good indication that the average player wants accessible homes without cheats.

I learned something from your post. I did not know that custom save files even existed though it makes sense that there are people who have shared saves. This is 4, but in 3 I have done many worlds and have many WIP and usually never do starters in mine, but that is just me. Maybe some folks who have downloaded mine without them just bulldozed something and made something simple to replace it.

I recently added a mod that just makes 50K the starting funds for every family. Even a decent facsimile of a decent starter house is hard to get for 20k in sims 4. I can cheat their actual household funds down once I set them up in a house that makes sense.

I use to try to start my families with 20K, but finding houses on the gallery that actually fit those funds and the family was difficult to impossible. If you are starting with a single sim, unmarried, without children, it's a little more possible. My first sim, who was a single man, was fine in a sub 20K starting house. But my couple with twin toddlers wasn't.

My two solutions (besides the mod), search for shells and build off of them as opposed to looking at furnished houses or download some houses in the 30-40k range and delete everything but Kitchens, Bathrooms, and get rid of all the clutter. Then decorate once I move the family in.

I'm not a great builder, but don't mind renovating.

I think a starter house on the gallery plus the cost of the lot on which its built should not exceed 20K for single sim household. 2K is added for every additional sim in the household so I suppose if a build has more bedrooms it could cost 2K more for each additional sim accommodated.

My tip for refreshing an ea starter is to replace base game windows and doors with windows and doors from other packs that cost less. There are lots of cheaper items available in other packs to replace base game items.