When did you buy your first house?

[herdjohnson]

I notice a theme; a lot of these stories include "we". I guess two salaries could definitely help the situation.

[cypher1]

I bought mine alone but have higher % of house expense than the recommended 28% of monthly net income. I wish I found this site a few years ago, to save more, pick less house, and down 20% But I am still able to pay myself first, afford my home and have a comfortable lifestyle, whether I have roommate or not.

[herdjohnson]

Well done! I have a roommate now and he would likely come with me if I bought a house, but I don't want to have to count on someone else to pay my bills. Would be in a tough spot if he decided to move to another city.

[cypher1]

Originally Posted by herdjohnson

Well done! I have a roommate now and he would likely come with me if I bought a house, but I don't want to have to count on someone else to pay my bills. Would be in a tough spot if he decided to move to another city.

My 2cents for home/roommates: I've been fortunate to have 2 great friends/roommates who are very responsible. I'd heard horror stories from friends/family in the past. I'm just saying when you do buy your own place down the road, keep any rent outside your budget to avoid counting on. All mine goes to savings or house expenses. This forum repeatedly reminds you that renting is a need, house is a want. Spend no more than 3 times your annual gross income, do 20% downpayment, and keep your mortgage payment less than or equal to 28% of monthly net income, etc. I'll admit I didn't do most of these rules You've got plenty of time to save though. Good luck!

[Ima saver]

WE bought our first house when I was 21 and had been married for a year. Since, I am the oldest on this forum (I think), we did not pay that much for a new house. We saved for a year for the down payment on a $13,000 house. We sdded onto the house and sold it 8 years later for a profit. Then we built a bigger house. I completely paid off my mortgage at age 32. I have been mortgage free ever since. We built a house on the river in 1984 in the mountains and it was paid for. My last home (the one I am in now) is the biggest home I have had. It is 3200 sq. feet on 2 acres on a creek with 2 seperate garages, one with living space in it.
WE paid cash as we were building it and then added the other garage with bath and bedroom later as we saved for it.

I must add that it helps that husband #2 (34 years) is a builder, so his labor is free!

[greenskeeper]

I bought my first house in 2003 when I was 23. $100k with $20k put down. I actually got married on saturday, signed papers for the house on monday, honeymooned in St Lucia on tuesday for a week. I think that's the most money I've "spent" in one week lol.

Second home was bought in 2007 when I was 28. $256k with $25k down. Been paying at least double principal every month. 30yr fixed should be paid off by 2019 (12 years).

[KiwiJo09]

I don't have my own house yet. I'm only 21. But I have a lot of friends who are the same age as me who own their own house already! I can't imagine settling down yet. I haven't graduated college yet and I really don't want to buy a house and end up moving after graduation.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

21 almost 22, dh was 23, it was 2002. We had 10% DP, paid off the next 10%, then moved on. We also bought a 1 bd condo for $150k. Was cheaper than renting.

[troyw]

Wow, I didn't realize this forum was full of some many young guns!

[disneysteve]

We got married in 1992. I finished my education in 1993. We bought our home in 1994. I was 29 and my wife was 30.

Remember, the decision to buy a house has a lot more to do with place in life than it does age or income. Yes, you need to have the money, but you need to be confident that you are ready to put down roots in that specific location. We bought our house about 9 months after I started my job. At that point, I was comfortable in the job and felt that I was going to be there long-term. Obviously, you can never be sure of that, but there is no way I would have bought a house before starting that job or even soon after starting. I wanted to get settled and feel that I liked it there and they liked me.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Not to mention stable relationship. Hence why I just reiterated to my BIL buy a place ON YOUR OWN!

[abcfisher1]

I bought our first home 3-months before my wife and I were married. I was 28 and she was also. I was finished with school and working full time, she was still in undergrad with 1yr to go. We both decided to pay off our only debt which was our cars during the 1yr of our engagement. It was a great feeling to carry (I almost fell) my new bride into our first home. The house was only in my name for a short while before we added her. Because I took out the mortgage based solely on my income I only qualified for a small mortgage ($84,000). When she finished school 1yr later and started working full time, our income doubled. I refinanced from a 30yr mortgage to a 15yr mortgage with only a $110 increase in our monthly payment. That was 1997. We sold that house 2yrs ago for a nice profit and a huge down payment on our 2nd home. Worked for me

[feh]

My wife and I were 25.

[elessar78]

Yes, you need to have the money, but you need to be confident that you are ready to put down roots in that specific location.

This is probably self-explanatory question, but so if you're not sure you're going to settle down in a specific location then don't buy, right?

We live near my wife's parents but not confident about long term availability of jobs in the area. It's tough because home prices here are low so rental units are either of low quality or few and far between. We probably live in the best rental options in our area. We could easily afford a "starter house" but don't really want to go that route and not sure if we'll stay put for the next 5 years.

As I've mentioned before I feel there's a big stigma against being a "renter".

[frugalgirl]

Originally Posted by elessar78

This is probably self-explanatory question, but so if you're not sure you're going to settle down in a specific location then don't buy, right?

We live near my wife's parents but not confident about long term availability of jobs in the area. It's tough because home prices here are low so rental units are either of low quality or few and far between. We probably live in the best rental options in our area. We could easily afford a "starter house" but don't really want to go that route and not sure if we'll stay put for the next 5 years.

As I've mentioned before I feel there's a big stigma against being a "renter".

If you are not sure about the stability of jobs in the area, think about who would buy your house (if you bought one) if the job market collapsed in that area? Renting allows the flexibility to be financially unconstrained and free to move anywhere for new job opportunities. Personally, I feel you are being smart by continuing to rent.

Have you ever talked to a real estate agent about renting a house that is for sale? If houses aren't moving in your area, that may be a good option for both you and the homeowner.

[Like2Plan]

I think the cost of living in a particular area will also have some influence on the decision to buy.
When DH and I lived in the Los Angeles area, we rented. The apartment we rented was really nice and well kept up (It was a 2 story townhome and there were only 4 units with lots of nice lush landscaping). We looked at purchasing in the same area as our apartment and the houses were very, very expensive! The homes in our price range were smaller than our apartment and really, really old on small lots. ( We were only about a 5 min drive to/from work and we didn't want to have a terrible commute--so we only looked in the same area as our apartment). Also, DH's job was such that we didn't know when we might have to move. So, we just saved for a down payment.
When we moved to the Washington DC area, the cost of housing was less than L.A.--it almost seemed affordable. I was 30 when we purchased. We started out paying 9 7/8% interest (it was a very good rate back then)--refinaced the mortgage 3 times as the interest rates came down and finally paid off the mortgage a few years ago.

[LittleGopher]

My husband and I bought in 1988, and we were both 25. Our starter house is still our house!

Interest rates were high when we bought, so we went with an ARM, which luckily kept lowering for five years in a row, until we refinanced into a low rate 15 yr conventional, which we paid off a few years early (in time for the college years for our four girls!)

[asmom]

I was 25 and the husband was 27. The idea of buying a house was intimidating but I read a book for first-time homeowners that really demystified the process. We had a VA loan so we didn't have to put money down but even at that, the mortgage was less than the apartment rents we had been paying. We felt good about it because we made sure to get a home that we could afford on ony one income so it worked well for us. When we got our next home 3 years later, we kept the same philosophy and it has worked well for us as our mortgage payments are now less than 10% of our joint income. One of the few smart financial decisions we ever made.

[AshleyB]

We bought in 2004. I was 26 and my husband was 39. (But we weren't married yet.) He owned a house when we met, which he had bought in 2000. We took the profit from the sale on his house along with a gift from my dad and put it down on our current house.

[NolaP]

I just started looking to purchase my first condo or house, and I'm 31.