How long did it take you to save a down payment?

[Anonymous]

We bought our first house in 2004, with 5% down and house cost $325,000. It took us about 6 months to save for that. We used the equity from that house to put 20% down on our current home.

[Anonymous]

I'm the PP who put 20% down. I would have been willing to buy earlier with less down payment but needed the combination of HHI growth and down payment to afford a house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Too long. Should’ve just bought a 2BR condo when I had 3% for FHA loan and got a roommate when I was single.

Bought with my wife once we had cobbled together 12% down payment. We were stressed about not having 20%, but in hindsight it would have been SO DUMB to wait. We would have been priced out. We have friends who insisted on 20% and have never been able to catch up to annual price increases. And now with 7% rates, they are priced out.

Best advice I can give any people under the age of 35 is to not wait to hit 20% down payment. That’s advice from another bygone era when housing was much cheaper. Buy with 5% and get a roommate to offset the mortgage if you’re single. Time in the market will always benefit you.

You can say that if it would have worked out for you in hindsight but the starter condo path is risky. I know as many people who were burned/delayed in ultimately buying a house by their starter condo purchase as who benefited from it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Too long. Should’ve just bought a 2BR condo when I had 3% for FHA loan and got a roommate when I was single.

Bought with my wife once we had cobbled together 12% down payment. We were stressed about not having 20%, but in hindsight it would have been SO DUMB to wait. We would have been priced out. We have friends who insisted on 20% and have never been able to catch up to annual price increases. And now with 7% rates, they are priced out.

Best advice I can give any people under the age of 35 is to not wait to hit 20% down payment. That’s advice from another bygone era when housing was much cheaper. Buy with 5% and get a roommate to offset the mortgage if you’re single. Time in the market will always benefit you.

You can say that if it would have worked out for you in hindsight but the starter condo path is risky. I know as many people who were burned/delayed in ultimately buying a house by their starter condo purchase as who benefited from it.

True — people who bought a DC condo in 2013 and sold in 2018 for $200k gains don’t understand how lucky they were with timing on DC condos. Plenty of 2019 - 2022 condo buyers selling in 2024 for zero gain or sometimes a loss, plus transaction costs.

City condos aren’t the property ladder they once were.

[Anonymous]

Took me 3 years once I made enough to make headway on it. Living in a very small apartment to save as much as possible. Within 4 years I bought 2 more homes. Built wealth quickly through marrying my husband and starting a business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Too long. Should’ve just bought a 2BR condo when I had 3% for FHA loan and got a roommate when I was single.

Bought with my wife once we had cobbled together 12% down payment. We were stressed about not having 20%, but in hindsight it would have been SO DUMB to wait. We would have been priced out. We have friends who insisted on 20% and have never been able to catch up to annual price increases. And now with 7% rates, they are priced out.

Best advice I can give any people under the age of 35 is to not wait to hit 20% down payment. That’s advice from another bygone era when housing was much cheaper. Buy with 5% and get a roommate to offset the mortgage if you’re single. Time in the market will always benefit you.

You can say that if it would have worked out for you in hindsight but the starter condo path is risky. I know as many people who were burned/delayed in ultimately buying a house by their starter condo purchase as who benefited from it.

True — people who bought a DC condo in 2013 and sold in 2018 for $200k gains don’t understand how lucky they were with timing on DC condos. Plenty of 2019 - 2022 condo buyers selling in 2024 for zero gain or sometimes a loss, plus transaction costs.

City condos aren’t the property ladder they once were.

Pure luck in some cases. Friend bought on H street and Chinatown when they were dangerous neighborhoods. Of course it seems like they are backsliding on the crime part these days.

[Anonymous]

23 months. To be honest when married your income doubles and expenses fall the first 1-4 years.

I had a cheap one bedroom apt when single on a busy street with no parking spot.

When married wife moved in and we saved 100 percent her paycheck and like 10 percent of mine. We never went out or on vacation. At best pizza with a couple.

Before kids come when newly married just move into the cheap bachelor pad and start saving.

[Anonymous]

Once DH got a higher paying job it took us about 3 years.

But we saved for closer to 8 years to get a 1.1 house, because that's what we wanted and we were happy renting a nice, under-market rent house.

[Anonymous]

10 years, but we were moving a lot and not in a position to buy until then. Then we got a 600k house, while seemed like so much back then.

[Anonymous]

Bought our first house with 18k down on a 450k house, in late 2008. Bought our next house in 2018 for 1.2 mil and paid 30% down. Took 6 month to save for the first house.

[Anonymous]

About 5 years for a 10% down payment. We also had two kids in that timeframe so 20% was never an option. We bought in 2021 with a 2.75 interest rate, so our starter home is probably our forever home.

[Anonymous]

We put down less than a percent. It was a couple thousand. So, no time at all.

[Anonymous]

Took me about 8 years. My salary gradually rose from 30k to 80k during that time, and I lived in a pretty crummy apartment below my means

[Anonymous]

We only put down 10% and that was about half our net worth. We were newly married but we both had good salaries so covering all of the on going costs was not a problem.

[Anonymous]

Not long, but 5% down. I'd never put more than that down unless rolling over a house 1 to 1.