Late 30s/early 40s - how many homes have you bought and sold?

[Anonymous]

I'm 38, bought 4, sold 3 --

1. Condo
2. Small Row home
3. Big Row home
4. SFH

With each move either moving more uptown or gaining a kid

[Anonymous]

We bought our first house in 2010 near H Street NE. It doubled in value over 6 years. We sold in 2016 and bought in Arlington. That house is now up about 40-50% over what we paid and we're locked into a great interest rate.

In total we're at about $800k in real estate gains from very good market timing.

[Anonymous]

We are 38 & 39. Bought have bought the house we live in plus a rental. Climbing the property ladder and trading up would have been smarter but moving is such a PITA!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH and I were college sweethearts and bought a condo when we got married in our early 20s. It was small and in a noisy area, so we sold that after 6 years (basically breaking even) for a single family home. We’ve been in that house for 2 years now and it’s turned out to be a lemon, and the neighborhood is pretty unfortunate with bad schools. No kids yet but obviously this decision was pretty short sighted, and I’m realizing that by the time we have a school aged kid we will more than likely want to move yet again, so we’ll probably only be in this house for 8 years and will likely lose money when we sell as we’ve had to spend so much on repairs. Are we especially stupid or have others had to buy and sell multiple times before landing on a place you can stay in for a long time?

Other than the schools, what's wrong with the neighborhood? If daycare and elementary school are OK you could actually stay for awhile. But if there's something you don't like about the neighborhood, I would start looking to move now. Over time housing prices tend to go up, so it's better to just get the utility of the home you want to be in ASAP rather than continuing to put repairs in on this place you don't enjoy. And you can always refi if rates go down.

+1. Bought our first and only house 10 years ago in EOTP DC. In hindsight, probably should have stretched our budget for better schools, but elementary is good and we're staying due to our sub 3% mortgage. Would probably move if we could keep our interest rate, but not looking to triple our mortgage when we like our actual house and immediate neighborhood. We'll either lottery into better middle and high schools, rent and rent for those years, or maybe stretch for private. But there's a big difference between, say, Manor Park zoned for Whittier with lots of lottery options, and Brentwood or somewhere else with violent crime issues.

But in this area it's very common to do exactly what you're proposing. Start with a condo, then a starter home, then a long term home once kids reach school age. With a lemon house and interest rates, you'll take a hit, but you have to weigh the cost of continuing to dump money into your house and whether the neighborhood is actually somewhere you'd feel unsafe with young kid(s).

[Anonymous]

45. 2. Bought one house we thought would be our forever house but then ended up moving here. Rented briefly and then bought the one we're in now. Likely not selling again until the kids are grown and settled. Considering buying an investment property at some point.

[Anonymous]

48 yo. Bought/Sold 0. Currently renting a SFH in AU Park on a long term (5 yr) lease. Can't believe I've never owned, have some angdst about missing out on benefits of real estate ownership, but have a lot of savings invested in the markets and hope that evens things out.

[Anonymous]

44yo--
bought 1
sold 0

We purchased in 2011. Home is a little on the small size, but it works for our family of 4. Schools are great, and we have a 2.5% mortgage, so no plans to move anytime soon. Maybe when the kids go to college.

[Anonymous]

Bought our first one about 6 years ago when we were mid 30s. First home purchase for both of us

We have money to buy our 2nd with 20% down, but won’t sell our current home in DC at 2.75% interest. Probably buying a property from a relative on west coast for investment purposes + use in our own retirement in 20 years.

[Anonymous]

3 and kept all as rental property. Smartest thing we ever did.

[Anonymous]

One at 28 and one at 34. Probably again in 10-15 years.

[Anonymous]

Bought 5, Sold 1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bought 5, Sold 1

Also, I'm 31

[Anonymous]

At 42 we had bought 2 and sold 1. Second was our forever house that we later fixed up and added to.

[Anonymous]

45/47
Primary and secondary residences: 5.
Total: maybe 100.

[Anonymous]

41/43 and we have owned three places so far.

We have built up equity but it's been difficult. I feel like we've had to be real estate speculators to do it. I definitely view homes as investments, not with the romantic view that people I know in my parents' generation view them.