What Age Should You Buy By?

[Anonymous]

I live in northern va, and my spouse and I are early 30s. We just started making around 250k combined. I know this is a lot, but when thinking about future kids, down payment, and just starting to build a savings, do we have a chance at ever getting on the property ladder? It feels defeating to probably never have a single family home. I'm not sure our earnings potential is much higher.

[Anonymous]

What have you saved thus far? Emergency fund, 401k/IRAs, down payment

What are you saving right now?

[Anonymous]

You can buy a SFH right now. Do it as soon as you can, no more than 5% down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can buy a SFH right now. Do it as soon as you can, no more than 5% down.

There are transaction costs involved. Depends a lot more on other factors that everyone loves to overlook.

[Anonymous]

At least a year before you're pregnant.

[Anonymous]

There's no age to buy by. I think it's still if you're to going to live there 5 years and I agree a few months to a year or so before pregnant is nice.

[Anonymous]

There is no age. My father, who was dispatched by his large corporation to work in multiple countries, bought a home when he retired, in cash, a 2M condo in his favorite capital city in Europe. Before that he'd always rented, or lived in the company's rented apartments.

However, if you're afraid that you will never be able to afford real estate... buy sooner rather than later. Prices will never go down in capital cities and their close-in suburbs. Right now the war in Iran stopped the decrease in mortgage rates cold in its track, so mortgage rates are going back up. But prices will never go down, unless we're in a recession, and then you could lose your job and not be able to afford a home anyway.

Your goal is to find something you can afford on your current income and assets. You will have to make compromises. I suggest finding a great neighborhood and buying something smaller, rather than picking a less great neighborhood and buying something bigger, to keep the value of your land stable over the decades.

[Anonymous]

This is also a shaky job market; act like one of you could lose your job, try to live close enough to a metro in case your current job changes.

[Anonymous]

18:37 again. Also, I hope you understand that salary does not lead to wealth, generally. You need to invest (stocks, real estate, etc) to generate wealth. I chose stocks because I don't want to be a landlord or own multiple properties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:18:37 again. Also, I hope you understand that salary does not lead to wealth, generally. You need to invest (stocks, real estate, etc) to generate wealth. I chose stocks because I don't want to be a landlord or own multiple properties.

It sounds like you think you know a lot more about finance than you actually do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:18:37 again. Also, I hope you understand that salary does not lead to wealth, generally. You need to invest (stocks, real estate, etc) to generate wealth. I chose stocks because I don't want to be a landlord or own multiple properties.

It sounds like you think you know a lot more about finance than you actually do.

PP you replied to. Well, I have 18M in tech stocks, grown over decades, and never had close to the household income that OP has. I'm sure you'll say it was all a fluke.

[Anonymous]

The best time to buy is when you’re ready and able.

Are you planning to stay in one place for 5 to 10 years?

Is your credit score high? Do you have a good debt to income ratio?

Do you have enough to cover a down payment and closing costs?

Do you have an emergency fund leftover after down payment and closing costs?

These are some of the relevant questions. Your age is not as relevant.

[Anonymous]

How much did you two invest from 2018 to 2025? Surely $2k a month would not have been too much for two working people without kids.
You would have your 30% down payment, closing costs, money for any surprises, and buyers market.
Start now and buy the home when the first kid starts school at 5. Kids don't know they don't live in a SFH and you need money for daycare.

[Anonymous]

We bought our first SFH in 2008, 1hr15 minute commute from DC for 475k, our down payment was only 15k. We sold it 11 years later for 650k and bought a house in Bethesda in 2019 for 1.3mil at a 2.5% rate ( refinanced in 2020).

My point is just to share that you have to pull the trigger and take some calculated risks, no situation will ever be perfect. If I were you then I would get on the property ladder sooner rather than later.

We have friends who kept on waiting for bigger down payment and ended up paying higher prices as well as higher rates. There is a cost to every decision, the only way you will find out is by rolling the dice. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

From a pure financial standpoint, renting can be quite attractive. Every situation is different and you need to run the numbers for your own. I would neither be scared into buying by a certain age or scared out of it if things align (planning to be in a location for more than 5 years, benefiting from mortgage interest deduction, etc). And there’s are are non-financial aspects to consider: the benefits of feeling more in control of your housing destiny versus the hassle/stress of maintaining an after old money pit home (given housing stock here). No right answer, go with what works for you.