AMGala

iTrader: (4)

Absolutely

I lived with my parents ever since graduating college, and even after I got married in July 2011. It SUCKED, but it did allow my wife and I to save up enough to put 50% down on our house. We will save a lot of money which would otherwise be wasted as interest.

parasitius

30 and still haven't bought jack shit.

I'll never understand the sacrifices people make. Let me see... I could live in a $395 micro-efficiency apartment and have $400 extra each month to enjoy eating like royalty (pretty much I can afford to eat out at McDonalds, Taco Bell, or Arby's once per day on weekdays and twice per day on weekends). OR I could pay $800 for a luxury apartment and have to live like a shut-in, always trying to find a way to cook noodles and such due to the food budget constraints...

OR I could make life hell and get a house (not even getting into this... ) with ungodly expenses beyond the $800 mortgage payment... landscaping, taxes, constant repairs, reroofing, sump pumps, septic tanks, etc. which pretty much guarantees you have to cook all your meals for the rest of your life and totally give up on taking real vacations.

ArthurL

iTrader: (4)

Interesting perspective...

But why help someone else pay off their mortgage by renting their apartment when you can put that rent money towards a mortgage for a house that will eventually become yours?

Well obviously if money is tight.. then a mortgage wouldn't be a viable option. If I was living in $400 apartment and had $400 extra each month, I'd rather be saving that money up and cooking at home then wasting it at Mickey D's..

But to each their own.

TeknoKing

Royalty don't eat that shit, and $800 will you get a luxury closet in NYC.

The only time it makes more sense to rent if a) not a permanent place of employment b) it is not a buyer's market, so owning and losing vs renting, renting will win. c) you can't be committed to a mortgage - in finishing one without extra debt or penalties.

But if you live in a nice place and you like it, and you see yourself there for at least 10 years and your rent is a few hundred short of a mortgage to own, why piss your money away?

Moog-Type-S

25 years old when I purchased my first home.

Acura_Dude

Homeowner ship can be expensive, but if you're smart, buy within your means, make a habit of saving, and you'll always come out on top. Especially if you live in the home a few years and watch it appreciate. R-E-S-A-L-E

I can agree with this perspective too. Renting has it pros too, especially if you live in an area where it's still too expensive to buy. I think it'll be better to buy a home if you're staying 5+ years instead of renting.

CarbonGray Earl

26 when I purchased my first home, back in 2002. Bought my second in 04, when I was 28.

Wish I kept my first as a rental, but I needed the equity to upgrade to my second house.

parasitius

Okay so I have to admit you are right. What I will do is acquire a rental property that hopefully makes enough income to cover my own rent. But go ahead and keep on renting myself - because there is nothing worse in my mind than being a "prisoner" in one location 5 or 10 years just because you will hurt badly if you resell too soon given real estate agent's commission etc.

In the past 13 years the longest I've been in any one city continuously was 2.5 years. heh

fsttyms1

Thinking like this, home ownership will never make sense to you. Home ownership has plenty of benefits if done properly and not go over your means/income. Also location has a lot to do with rent vs own. $ 800.00 a month here would get you a nice newer/new 1400-1600sqft ranch (including escrow)

Personally i like to come home at the end of the day to MY house, not someone else's house that i just live in.

NWI_#73

24 and just upgraded in December at the age of 27.

Will Y.

Interesting-- I made my first home purchase while in the mid-30s.
All of my male friends bought their first homes in their mid-30s as well, after they got married and stabilized their careers.

We all then had to contend with home prices in SoCal.

speedemon90

yea thats my big worry lol, being in socal would push back buying a home for a while maybe I'll just buy a condo (since over here that could probably buy decent sized houses in of lot of other places)

still have a long time for that too though

ArthurL

iTrader: (4)

Bump!

fsttyms1

Oh and i was 26

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

bump for?


seems like you got great responses with data pointing towards mid to late 20s to early to mid 30s.

ArthurL

iTrader: (4)

I was bored man.. and was interested in hearing more stories.

EL19

iTrader: (4)

Bought when I was 23 years old for $130K put $30K into it and alot of personal time and effort. It's now worth $260K, appraiser was just here last week for a refinance to get a lower rate. Will probably build the next home and rent this one out since I can get double the mortgage including escrow in rent with it being so close to the air force base. Best purchase of my life. Also very rewarding going home to MY house.

I think you'd be making a wise choice.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Signed contract at 24, closed at 25 (new construction). Between that and my 34th b-day we purchased two more homes and flipped some land. Note - when I say purchased two more homes, we've owned 3 total... not at the same time (although our last house was rented by the buyers for 8 months before we closed on it, so we had two homes for a short period of time) . Also, we never put down less then 20%. PMI is crap.

Only time I paid rent was for 8 months while waiting for our first home to be completed. I was never a fan of paying someone else's mortgage.

We are now in the process of purchasing a vacation property which will be both a place to retreat to, plus supplemental income.

dpwarner

Bought my first at age 30 in 1982 for $46,000. Always took out 15 year loans to build equity faster as I was transferred 6 times. Had enough equity on 2nd home purchase for 20% down and never looked back. Last home purchased in 2004 for $300,000 cash. Retired this year, and boy was it handy saving the house payment money for 10 years before retirement. Home ownership worked out well for me.

ACCURATEin

I am unable to answer this question at this time.

350

iTrader: (4)

21, kinda wished I held out a little longer but it made sense at the time. 25 now, I'm planning on doing something custom construction in the next few years. Need more garage space.

Nicks2001tl

I was 35 waited to long IMO. But now have a three homes

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

I was 26 and on my own when I bought my first house. I learned a shit ton about home ownership from that one.

Then I met my wife, who didn't like my house. I was a single guy with a single guy perspective when I bought the house.

Between me and my wife, we are on our third house which we bought when we were 29 and 27. We are probably going to hold on to this one for a while, either to live in it or rent it out.

Nicks2001tl

Here is one of mine. Built about five years ago.

XLR8R

Location, location, location.

We purchased 2 acres of land in a rural bedroom community, then I spent my early career as an expatriate professional.

So I was 30 when we returned to the US and we designed and built the house to our specs. We choose the state, county and school district for it's dominant population of like-minded people.

It was a carefully designed, lifetime plan and we still enjoy it.

Nicks2001tl

Bought a duplex before my current home and now renting it out not making the most money out of it but the equity is building every month. It should give me a return in about 20 years

Acura_Dude

Nicks2001tl, that is a gorgeous home.

Nicks2001tl

Regarding my house on post #64


The location is on a mountain in Northern Greece and whole interior of the house: floors, walls and ceilings is Knotty Pine from Oregon.


It is a beautiful wood especially sealed. And very happy to tell you that many towns in the state use the knotty pine from Oregon.


The house also has a marble fireplace, built in bedroom cabinets and hydronic heating and four balconies. Elev. 3,600 ft.

GoDucksCLSPride

I was 31 and my wife and I bought our first home a year after marriage. I rented throughout my 20's and moved probably once a year so i feel like I never ever want to move again. We bought a 6 bedroom home though so plenty of room to never have the need to move again....unless this neighborhood goes south which seems to happen overnight in Phoenix sometimes.

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

If only you lived in a better neighborhood...

CL9 Jon

Bought our house when we were 25... best way to go if you're able to do so. Renting is flushing money down the drain. Some of my friends pay more for their rent, then our mortgage. It's a joke. Obviously we have maintenance and repair costs along with other odds and ends like landscaping/yard up keep... however we love tinkering around the house, inside and out. It's an investment too. Home will appreciate in value.

ThermonMermon

KEEP RENTING AT YOUR AGE

renting in NYC too and waiting to pull the trigger in the next 2 years WHEN we need the space. we found a basic 1 bedroom rental through a condo owner. Our rent is well below market at $2,600...his RE tax and Building CAM is $2,200/mo., and his mortgage (if he has one) would be another $3,000/mo. So you could find situations like this where renting makes a lot of sense.

I say save, stay with parents, or get a room share. Renting in NYC through your 20s is practically inevitable, as your options to buy are the following:

1. Condo within 5 boroughs: If you look hard, $300k could get you a 1 bedroom somewhere, and will have roughly $1.5-2k a month in RE tax and building CAM, so even if you were to inherit the condo debt free, your carry cost could outweigh rent (even if you have a rental room share).

2. Starter house: In area with good schools, and <1 hour commute to NYC will be a stretch for $600k to land a 3 bedroom home (north jersey/Westchester). Taxes in NJ would be $12-$15k and taxes in Westchester, slightly less. Again, carry cost, less mortage, are not too far off from renting.

Theres always a price to building some equity, but I would not recommend putting 10% down on a place in/near NYC until you have an established career / stable job with a salary in excess of 100k.

....again, ride it through your 20s and pull the trigger later in life.

WdnUlik2no

I was 26. Still in the same home today. Looking to move in the next couple of years or so.

DAN!!!

I was 22.....l I baught a condo, not a house. but I still own it

Acura_Dude

Vacation home FTW!

ThermonMermon

Also to note - in your search, you may find out of all things that co-ops may be cheaper than condos. Keep in mind that a co-op could carry higher building cam in excess of 2k/month, and they could make capital calls if the association board agrees to an expense that isn't covered by everyone's share. They are also a huge PITA to sell, as potential buyers need to spend a few grand in processing fees only to find out that their demographic stature is not good enough for the board's approval

05_NBP_TL

iTrader: (1)

^Guess its a good thing I don't live in NY.


Update...we just sold our first home and bought our next home. My wife and I just turned 31 (we bought our first house when were 24). Two kids later, we needed more room, so we finally got us something a little bigger...well, a LOT bigger, lol.




We already have about 63k in equity on the home and we just closed on Dec. 6th.

ArthurL

iTrader: (4)

My update:

I'm currently renting in NYC. I decided to move out of my parents place back in Sept. I love it though, it's been really convenient and the rent is pretty decent for the space and location that I'm getting. I'm living with 4 other roommates in a 1FL loft near the Lower East Side.

The building is being demolished in Nov. so I'll have to start looking for a new place sometime this year. I've been contemplating whether or not to move back to the Bronx to save up for a downpayment on a house and other things. And my parents offered to rent me an apt in one of their properties but even with that offer, the apt is still back in the Bronx although the rent would be cheaper for sure.

Now that I'm single, living in the city has been a blast though.. and it's been reaaaal convenient to meet people and invite friends/guests over. The BMW however has been sitting back in the Bronx with my grandmother. Contemplating whether or not to sell the car. Even though I don't drive it often (maybe 3-5 times a month).. I'm still in love with it but then again that's extra money coming out of my pockets every month. I decided to give my sister my TL so the car is still within the family.

oo7spy

24. Bought a 30 year old home on 1/2 an acre that needed some TLC. Since my father is a general contractor, I have had an entire youth's worth of experience fixing and building things. I have updated 6 out of 9 areas all with my own hands. My hope is to improve the house enough to help cover the cost of interest paid and closing costs when we upgrade in a few years.

cM3go

27, regrettably, in 2007 no less. Still paying for it