Ally Home Asked Americans, "How Close is too Close When it Comes to Living Near Your Family?"

New survey of 2,000+ US adults shows majority of respondents say there should be a 15-45 minute buffer zone between themselves and parents, in-laws

News provided by

Ally Financial

May 29, 2019, 10:00 ET

CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A new survey from Ally Home, the direct-to-consumer mortgage arm of Ally Bank, reminds us that while you can't choose your family, you can choose how nearby you live to them. According to the independent survey of 2,000 US adults, consumers across all age demographics say keeping some healthy boundaries between them and where parents and in-laws are based makes for a happier family relationship.

According to the survey respondents, a little distance between families goes a long way. More than half (57%) say there should be at least some driving distance between where their parents and/or in-laws live and where they live. An even greater percentage of GenZ (63%) and Millennial consumers (62%) felt some distance was important. Specifically, most respondents (27%) homed in on 15-45 minutes as the ideal distance range.

"We're deep into the home buying season, and at Ally Home, we see first-hand how excited consumers are to find and then be able to afford the home of their dreams," said Glenn Brunker, head of Ally Home. "But as we go through that home-buying journey with them, it's clear there's more than just the house and yard that go into their decision-making. Consumers need to think through things like the neighborhood, school system, access to good hospitals, and just how near (or far) they prefer to be to family. All of those things go into making a home the right fit, and we're here to help consumers when it comes to their specific loan needs."

Other survey findings included:

Call First Before Popping In!

More than one-third of respondents (37%) agree that family should not live close enough to just pop in and say hi. An even greater percentage of Millennials (42%) don't like the idea of the unannounced pop-in.

Adults Need Their Own Space

Almost two-thirds of Americans (64%) say that while they love their adult children, they don't want them living with them.
Millennials don't like how things are trending, either. They worry more than any other age group that, at some point, they will have their adult children, their parents or in-laws living with them (33% vs. 21% of the general population)

So Who can Live Nearby? "My Family's Okay, but Yours can Keep Their Distance."

When asked about their preferences for which family members could live nearby, respondents said:

My siblings (30%)
My adult children (30%)
My parents (29%)
My in-law parents (25%)
My in-law siblings (24%)

What are the Top Stress Points When Dealing with Family?

The survey also presented respondents with a number of stress points and asked which ones ranked top when dealing with family. The top five responses included:

Road trip with parents or in-laws, but no radio (52%)
Dealing with a father/father-in-law whose views are on the opposite side of the political spectrum from yours (40%). GenZ and Millennial respondents were even more bothered by this (53% and 44% respectively)
Living within 5 minutes of parents or in-laws (38%)
Cooking a complicated meal for a mother or mother-in-law (31%)
Hosting family for the holidays (27%)

"Much of a person's preference regarding location has to do with cultural norms, since extended families living together or nearby one another is common in certain cultures. But more often, having some physical distance between family can help create a natural and healthy boundary. Ultimately, it's up to family members to be open and honest about their own boundaries and what makes them most comfortable," said William X. Kelly, who has a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy and is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Licensed Alcohol & Drug Counselor.

Click here to view a video news release on the survey.

Survey Methodology: This online survey was conducted by Regina Corso Consulting on behalf of Ally Financial between April 17 and 22, 2019 among 2,041 U.S. adults, aged 18 and older. Figures for age, gender, education, income, employment and region were weighted to being them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate, no estimates of sampling error can be calculated.

About Ally Financial Inc.:
Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY) is a leading digital financial-services company with assets of $180.1 billion as of March 31, 2019. As a customer-centric company with passionate customer service and innovative financial solutions, we are relentlessly focused on "Doing it Right" and being a trusted financial-services provider to our consumer, commercial, and corporate customers. We are one of the largest full-service automotive-finance operations in the country and offer a wide range of financial services and insurance products to automotive dealerships and consumers. Our award-winning online bank (Ally Bank, Member FDIC and Equal Housing Lender) offers mortgage-lending services and a variety of deposit and other banking products, including savings, money-market, and checking accounts, certificates of deposit (CDs), and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). We also support the Ally CashBack Credit Card. Additionally, we offer securities-brokerage and investment-advisory services through Ally Invest. Our robust corporate finance business offers capital for equity sponsors and middle-market companies.

For more information and disclosures about Ally, visit https://www.ally.com/#disclosures.

Media Contacts:

Andrea Puchalsky at Ally
313-656-3798
[email protected]

Kathy Wilson at Tier One Partners
781-652-0499
[email protected]

SOURCE Ally Financial