Anyone else who will likely never be a home owner?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We didn't buy our first home until we were in the mid-thirties, but took quite a few years of saving $$$ to get there. This was about 10 years ago. Since then, we've been able to buy four additional homes as investment properties. The trick? As our income grew over 10 years, we kept our spending habits more or less the same as 10 years ago, so we've had 6x growth in saving over the year. Takes strong discipline, being handy helps (fixing things in the house ourselves and doing most of car maintenance self also.....w/both cars being 15+ yrs old)

You can do it, discipline and trading off current consumption for future consumption.

Best of luck!

Your trick? Buying at the bottom of a crash and then hoarding properties. You’re not that smart. My worst financial decision was being born too late to do what you did. Those of us who are born later and did the right thing and worked hard to save for a down payment are getting screwed because the cost of housing has artificially increased over the last two years far faster than we can save. It is utterly unprecedented and you are in no position to give advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We didn't buy our first home until we were in the mid-thirties, but took quite a few years of saving $$$ to get there. This was about 10 years ago. Since then, we've been able to buy four additional homes as investment properties. The trick? As our income grew over 10 years, we kept our spending habits more or less the same as 10 years ago, so we've had 6x growth in saving over the year. Takes strong discipline, being handy helps (fixing things in the house ourselves and doing most of car maintenance self also.....w/both cars being 15+ yrs old)

You can do it, discipline and trading off current consumption for future consumption.

Best of luck!

Your trick? Buying at the bottom of a crash and then hoarding properties. You’re not that smart. My worst financial decision was being born too late to do what you did. Those of us who are born later and did the right thing and worked hard to save for a down payment are getting screwed because the cost of housing has artificially increased over the last two years far faster than we can save. It is utterly unprecedented and you are in no position to give advice.

Amen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We didn't buy our first home until we were in the mid-thirties, but took quite a few years of saving $$$ to get there. This was about 10 years ago. Since then, we've been able to buy four additional homes as investment properties. The trick? As our income grew over 10 years, we kept our spending habits more or less the same as 10 years ago, so we've had 6x growth in saving over the year. Takes strong discipline, being handy helps (fixing things in the house ourselves and doing most of car maintenance self also.....w/both cars being 15+ yrs old)

You can do it, discipline and trading off current consumption for future consumption.

Best of luck!

Your trick? Buying at the bottom of a crash and then hoarding properties. You’re not that smart. My worst financial decision was being born too late to do what you did. Those of us who are born later and did the right thing and worked hard to save for a down payment are getting screwed because the cost of housing has artificially increased over the last two years far faster than we can save. It is utterly unprecedented and you are in no position to give advice.

Amen.

No. Your generation had access to the lowest interest rates in history. You couldn’t afford bc you wanted to enter the property ladder without compromise. Buy further out, buy smaller, buy a condo, buy in a lower cost of living area, build equity, enjoy appreciation, sell and enjoy a tax free profit and climb the ladder. I’ll never forget my first real estate agent. She bought in Capitol Hill 40 years ago. She said no one would even come to their house. Now she owns a boss home in a prime location. But it did not come easy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We didn't buy our first home until we were in the mid-thirties, but took quite a few years of saving $$$ to get there. This was about 10 years ago. Since then, we've been able to buy four additional homes as investment properties. The trick? As our income grew over 10 years, we kept our spending habits more or less the same as 10 years ago, so we've had 6x growth in saving over the year. Takes strong discipline, being handy helps (fixing things in the house ourselves and doing most of car maintenance self also.....w/both cars being 15+ yrs old)

You can do it, discipline and trading off current consumption for future consumption.

Best of luck!

Your trick? Buying at the bottom of a crash and then hoarding properties. You’re not that smart. My worst financial decision was being born too late to do what you did. Those of us who are born later and did the right thing and worked hard to save for a down payment are getting screwed because the cost of housing has artificially increased over the last two years far faster than we can save. It is utterly unprecedented and you are in no position to give advice.

Amen.

No. Your generation had access to the lowest interest rates in history. You couldn’t afford bc you wanted to enter the property ladder without compromise. Buy further out, buy smaller, buy a condo, buy in a lower cost of living area, build equity, enjoy appreciation, sell and enjoy a tax free profit and climb the ladder. I’ll never forget my first real estate agent. She bought in Capitol Hill 40 years ago. She said no one would even come to their house. Now she owns a boss home in a prime location. But it did not come easy.

Darn. If I had only compromised safety, I too could own a home.

[Anonymous]

We kinda got stuck in the middle. We bought a TH in 2017 and sold in 2021. We moved overseas at the time but had we bought a new house, we could have afforded a nice 1 million place. Now our overseas assignment is ending after 2 yrs and we are moving back this summer. We are looking at 700k max including a 350k 50% downpayment, which buys a complete dump. The interest rates are what kills everything. Most places in our desired neighborhood are still going for 900-1 million and the best ones fly off the market in a few days still. Idk where the money comes from to cover such a huge increase in cost from interest rates- maybe it's generational wealth from boomers and people are paying cash idk but I'm getting stressed out about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We didn't buy our first home until we were in the mid-thirties, but took quite a few years of saving $$$ to get there. This was about 10 years ago. Since then, we've been able to buy four additional homes as investment properties. The trick? As our income grew over 10 years, we kept our spending habits more or less the same as 10 years ago, so we've had 6x growth in saving over the year. Takes strong discipline, being handy helps (fixing things in the house ourselves and doing most of car maintenance self also.....w/both cars being 15+ yrs old)

You can do it, discipline and trading off current consumption for future consumption.

Best of luck!

Your trick? Buying at the bottom of a crash and then hoarding properties. You’re not that smart. My worst financial decision was being born too late to do what you did. Those of us who are born later and did the right thing and worked hard to save for a down payment are getting screwed because the cost of housing has artificially increased over the last two years far faster than we can save. It is utterly unprecedented and you are in no position to give advice.

Amen.

No. Your generation had access to the lowest interest rates in history. You couldn’t afford bc you wanted to enter the property ladder without compromise. Buy further out, buy smaller, buy a condo, buy in a lower cost of living area, build equity, enjoy appreciation, sell and enjoy a tax free profit and climb the ladder. I’ll never forget my first real estate agent. She bought in Capitol Hill 40 years ago. She said no one would even come to their house. Now she owns a boss home in a prime location. But it did not come easy.

How would I have afforded to buy a property while in school and making no income? What about people who graduated in say 2019 and needed to work a few years to save up for a down payment? You don’t make any sense. The cost of housing right now in every corner of America is vastly less affordable than it was just a year ago. Not everyone was in a position to buy last year or before that, and even if they could it was very hard to “win” a bidding war.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We kinda got stuck in the middle. We bought a TH in 2017 and sold in 2021. We moved overseas at the time but had we bought a new house, we could have afforded a nice 1 million place. Now our overseas assignment is ending after 2 yrs and we are moving back this summer. We are looking at 700k max including a 350k 50% downpayment, which buys a complete dump. The interest rates are what kills everything. Most places in our desired neighborhood are still going for 900-1 million and the best ones fly off the market in a few days still. Idk where the money comes from to cover such a huge increase in cost from interest rates- maybe it's generational wealth from boomers and people are paying cash idk but I'm getting stressed out about it.

It’s coming from FOMO. People are scared and are buying at the absolute top of their pre-approvals, which is a scary thought. The data doesn’t lie. There just isn’t enough income to support these prices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We kinda got stuck in the middle. We bought a TH in 2017 and sold in 2021. We moved overseas at the time but had we bought a new house, we could have afforded a nice 1 million place. Now our overseas assignment is ending after 2 yrs and we are moving back this summer. We are looking at 700k max including a 350k 50% downpayment, which buys a complete dump. The interest rates are what kills everything. Most places in our desired neighborhood[b] are still going for 900-1 million and the best ones fly off the market in a few days still. Idk where the money comes from to cover such a huge increase in cost from interest rates- maybe it's generational wealth from boomers and people are paying cash idk but I'm getting stressed out about it.

See pp’s earlier posts about compromise

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We didn't buy our first home until we were in the mid-thirties, but took quite a few years of saving $$$ to get there. This was about 10 years ago. Since then, we've been able to buy four additional homes as investment properties. The trick? As our income grew over 10 years, we kept our spending habits more or less the same as 10 years ago, so we've had 6x growth in saving over the year. Takes strong discipline, being handy helps (fixing things in the house ourselves and doing most of car maintenance self also.....w/both cars being 15+ yrs old)

You can do it, discipline and trading off current consumption for future consumption.

Best of luck!

Your trick? Buying at the bottom of a crash and then hoarding properties. You’re not that smart. My worst financial decision was being born too late to do what you did. Those of us who are born later and did the right thing and worked hard to save for a down payment are getting screwed because the cost of housing has artificially increased over the last two years far faster than we can save. It is utterly unprecedented and you are in no position to give advice.

Amen.

No. Your generation had access to the lowest interest rates in history. You couldn’t afford bc you wanted to enter the property ladder without compromise. Buy further out, buy smaller, buy a condo, buy in a lower cost of living area, build equity, enjoy appreciation, sell and enjoy a tax free profit and climb the ladder. I’ll never forget my first real estate agent. She bought in Capitol Hill 40 years ago. She said no one would even come to their house. Now she owns a boss home in a prime location. But it did not come easy.

Darn. If I had only compromised safety, I too could own a home.

I mean a lot of people east of the park did just that. They pioneered. That is how they know have a home with a bunch if equity and a low rate while you have nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We didn't buy our first home until we were in the mid-thirties, but took quite a few years of saving $$$ to get there. This was about 10 years ago. Since then, we've been able to buy four additional homes as investment properties. The trick? As our income grew over 10 years, we kept our spending habits more or less the same as 10 years ago, so we've had 6x growth in saving over the year. Takes strong discipline, being handy helps (fixing things in the house ourselves and doing most of car maintenance self also.....w/both cars being 15+ yrs old)

You can do it, discipline and trading off current consumption for future consumption.

Best of luck!

Your trick? Buying at the bottom of a crash and then hoarding properties. You’re not that smart. My worst financial decision was being born too late to do what you did. Those of us who are born later and did the right thing and worked hard to save for a down payment are getting screwed because the cost of housing has artificially increased over the last two years far faster than we can save. It is utterly unprecedented and you are in no position to give advice.

Amen.

No. Your generation had access to the lowest interest rates in history. You couldn’t afford bc you wanted to enter the property ladder without compromise. Buy further out, buy smaller, buy a condo, buy in a lower cost of living area, build equity, enjoy appreciation, sell and enjoy a tax free profit and climb the ladder. I’ll never forget my first real estate agent. She bought in Capitol Hill 40 years ago. She said no one would even come to their house. Now she owns a boss home in a prime location. But it did not come easy.

How would I have afforded to buy a property while in school and making no income? What about people who graduated in say 2019 and needed to work a few years to save up for a down payment? You don’t make any sense. The cost of housing right now in every corner of America is vastly less affordable than it was just a year ago. Not everyone was in a position to buy last year or before that, and even if they could it was very hard to “win” a bidding war.

We're supposed to cry because 24 year olds can't buy right now? There's been a 2-year blip of homes being either overly priced, high interest rates, or both. Just ride it out and you'll be in a great position to buy in 6-18 months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We didn't buy our first home until we were in the mid-thirties, but took quite a few years of saving $$$ to get there. This was about 10 years ago. Since then, we've been able to buy four additional homes as investment properties. The trick? As our income grew over 10 years, we kept our spending habits more or less the same as 10 years ago, so we've had 6x growth in saving over the year. Takes strong discipline, being handy helps (fixing things in the house ourselves and doing most of car maintenance self also.....w/both cars being 15+ yrs old)

You can do it, discipline and trading off current consumption for future consumption.

Best of luck!

Your trick? Buying at the bottom of a crash and then hoarding properties. You’re not that smart. My worst financial decision was being born too late to do what you did. Those of us who are born later and did the right thing and worked hard to save for a down payment are getting screwed because the cost of housing has artificially increased over the last two years far faster than we can save. It is utterly unprecedented and you are in no position to give advice.

If you really saved as much as the poster you're replying to, then you'll be fine. Prices are decreasing in most areas. Just keep saving and wait until prices fall more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We kinda got stuck in the middle. We bought a TH in 2017 and sold in 2021. We moved overseas at the time but had we bought a new house, we could have afforded a nice 1 million place. Now our overseas assignment is ending after 2 yrs and we are moving back this summer. We are looking at 700k max including a 350k 50% downpayment, which buys a complete dump. The interest rates are what kills everything. Most places in our desired neighborhood[b] are still going for 900-1 million and the best ones fly off the market in a few days still. Idk where the money comes from to cover such a huge increase in cost from interest rates- maybe it's generational wealth from boomers and people are paying cash idk but I'm getting stressed out about it.

See pp’s earlier posts about compromise

+1

Given the fact that your “max” is 700k even with that downpayment, your real budget for the ultimate monthly payment is 350k. Looking at a neighborhood with 1M homes is a recipe for heartache. It’s really unlikely prices are going to drop 200-300k…and if you do get lucky, it’ll likely be a major fixer upper that you may not be able to afford if you need to keep your mortgage that low.

It’s great you have that much saved up—but think you need to readjust your expectations.

[Anonymous]

Who cares? I bought a condo eight years ago and it’s appreciated by less than the rate of inflation (if Zillow is to be believed).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We kinda got stuck in the middle. We bought a TH in 2017 and sold in 2021. We moved overseas at the time but had we bought a new house, we could have afforded a nice 1 million place. Now our overseas assignment is ending after 2 yrs and we are moving back this summer. We are looking at 700k max including a 350k 50% downpayment, which buys a complete dump. The interest rates are what kills everything. Most places in our desired neighborhood[b] are still going for 900-1 million and the best ones fly off the market in a few days still. Idk where the money comes from to cover such a huge increase in cost from interest rates- maybe it's generational wealth from boomers and people are paying cash idk but I'm getting stressed out about it.

See pp’s earlier posts about compromise

+1

Given the fact that your “max” is 700k even with that downpayment, your real budget for the ultimate monthly payment is 350k. Looking at a neighborhood with 1M homes is a recipe for heartache. It’s really unlikely prices are going to drop 200-300k…and if you do get lucky, it’ll likely be a major fixer upper that you may not be able to afford if you need to keep your mortgage that low.

It’s great you have that much saved up—but think you need to readjust your expectations.

I believe this is right, unfortunately. We will see, but I keep saying that there is no way people will pay X for some house, and then they do, or pay more. Even now. I think that part of the problem is that people saved up a lot of money and have a lot of cash and were trying to buy during the craziness. Those people still have money to deploy and are still looking. I think we will see certain price bands fall more than others, but I think that the 1m and under homes in good areas are going to have a lot of action. It will be seen as an investment, and a great one if interest rates go down again in the future allowing people to refinance.

[Anonymous]

We’re in the position to buy but prices have gone up $200-300,000 in the past three years. This plus interest rates moves us back down to a fixer upper or a townhouse instead. We couldn’t compete with the all cash, no inspection crowd responsible for these increases and now we’re dealing with the consequences too. Not a fan of this game.