If you were born in 1990, how do you plan on ever affording a house?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're a bit older, but still millenials. We bought a two bedroom rowhouse, next door to a crack house (literally) in a gentrifying neighborhood (H St NE). We renovated the interior ourselves (no contractors) and sold 6 years later for a hefty profit. We now have a $1.1M house at age 35 with more than 45% equity.

We had no financial assistance from parents beyond college tuition help many years earlier. I had substantial undergrad and law school loans that I also paid off myself in that period.

Save a down payment and get your toe in the door in a small place in an up and coming neighborhood. Don't be afraid to do some renovations yourself.

Where do these exist in DC?

[Anonymous]

When I was 27 I was still living in a group house!

I bought my first house when I was 42 and my husband was 47. We had two kids and had rented up until then.

The world doesn't owe you a house.

[Anonymous]

We bought in River Terrace, east of the river. Very basic house (although the original wood floors are to die for). Nothing fancy, no granite or stainless, only 1.5 baths--very basic ones. But cheap, good neighbors, our little rowhouse with a small yard....a toe hold in the city. We opted to take a slightly higher interest rate so our small down payment didn't require PMI. We refinanced after 3 years and got a lower rate.

[Anonymous]

'84 and we compromised big time. We bought in a totally not-trendy part of PG county. My commute is 45 minutes. But it's not the end of the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You buy something...say, a townhouse in a growing neighborhood and build equity. Sell in 5-7 years. Use equity and savings to buy a small house. Renovate and live there or sell and move on up.

Buying houses is a long, slow, lifelong grind for the middle class. It's certainly not impossible, but it's not super fun either.

Foolish! You don't build equity in 5-7 years generally. The cost to buy and sell a house will eat up 6% anyway. You will make only tiny principal payments in 5 years anyway. The house may appreciate or it may not. It's too little time for equity building

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You buy something...say, a townhouse in a growing neighborhood and build equity. Sell in 5-7 years. Use equity and savings to buy a small house. Renovate and live there or sell and move on up.

Buying houses is a long, slow, lifelong grind for the middle class. It's certainly not impossible, but it's not super fun either.

Foolish! You don't build equity in 5-7 years generally. The cost to buy and sell a house will eat up 6% anyway. You will make only tiny principal payments in 5 years anyway. The house may appreciate or it may not. It's too little time for equity building

Agreed. People saying 5-7 years are giving terrible advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You buy something...say, a townhouse in a growing neighborhood and build equity. Sell in 5-7 years. Use equity and savings to buy a small house. Renovate and live there or sell and move on up.

Buying houses is a long, slow, lifelong grind for the middle class. It's certainly not impossible, but it's not super fun either.

Foolish! You don't build equity in 5-7 years generally. The cost to buy and sell a house will eat up 6% anyway. You will make only tiny principal payments in 5 years anyway. The house may appreciate or it may not. It's too little time for equity building

Agreed. People saying 5-7 years are giving terrible advice.

Timing matters. I have a friend who lost $100K on a home in Lansdowne, but previously made $100K on a townhome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just venting here. Seems like every major coming of age event in my life is met with huge hurdles. I finally was able to save for a down payment after working for a lousy post-recession corporate job, and now the housing market has completely exploded and interest rates are going up. I don't know what to do to get ahead in life anymore.

I'm GenX. This happened to us. The dotcom bust came along before we were able to sock away much money from the booming 90s. The 2000s were economically lethargic, but a lot of us were able to get into the housing game just before the Great Recession.

Just keep grinding it out.

What? Im genx and feel sooo fortunate to have been born in 1976. Graduated college in 1999 and landed a good job. Sure it went bust, but i had professional experience and the bounce back was fast. I also bought a SFH house in VIENNA in 2000 for 250k. I met my DH in college and we put finances together to afford that house and we thought that mortgage of $1700/mo was SO high, so we rented a room out. Genx has it so easy.

Most 25 years can't put together $25k 4 years out of college. That would have been 1/2 the value of my parents house. Student debt, entry level jobs. Was your DH older, and what kind of jobs gave you that route?

We did an FHA loan and put 3% down. I made 50k and DH (BF at the time) made 55k. Very easy to qualify with a combined income of 100k. No student loans. We met at GMU and i lived at home while in school and we both paid cash from waiting tables/bartending. Graduated college with no debt and a little savings. We picked Vienna Woods because we both went to GMU andnthis was home. Plus our jobs were in Tysons. Trailblazers in NOVA IT

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Born in 88 and have a house over $1 MIL without parents support.

And you also have an inability to answer the question. *HOW*?

By having a high-paying job

Did you have student debt to get your high paying job?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You buy something...say, a townhouse in a growing neighborhood and build equity. Sell in 5-7 years. Use equity and savings to buy a small house. Renovate and live there or sell and move on up.

Buying houses is a long, slow, lifelong grind for the middle class. It's certainly not impossible, but it's not super fun either.

Foolish! You don't build equity in 5-7 years generally. The cost to buy and sell a house will eat up 6% anyway. You will make only tiny principal payments in 5 years anyway. The house may appreciate or it may not. It's too little time for equity building

Agreed. People saying 5-7 years are giving terrible advice.

Timing matters. I have a friend who lost $100K on a home in Lansdowne, but previously made $100K on a townhome.

I think this is precisely the point OP is trying to make.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You buy something...say, a townhouse in a growing neighborhood and build equity. Sell in 5-7 years. Use equity and savings to buy a small house. Renovate and live there or sell and move on up.

Buying houses is a long, slow, lifelong grind for the middle class. It's certainly not impossible, but it's not super fun either.

Foolish! You don't build equity in 5-7 years generally. The cost to buy and sell a house will eat up 6% anyway. You will make only tiny principal payments in 5 years anyway. The house may appreciate or it may not. It's too little time for equity building

Agreed. People saying 5-7 years are giving terrible advice.

Yup that ship has sailed. I've come across homes in neighborhoods inside the beltway that are listed for the same amount they sold for in 2006...sometimes less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're a bit older, but still millenials. We bought a two bedroom rowhouse, next door to a crack house (literally) in a gentrifying neighborhood (H St NE). We renovated the interior ourselves (no contractors) and sold 6 years later for a hefty profit. We now have a $1.1M house at age 35 with more than 45% equity.

We had no financial assistance from parents beyond college tuition help many years earlier. I had substantial undergrad and law school loans that I also paid off myself in that period.

Save a down payment and get your toe in the door in a small place in an up and coming neighborhood. Don't be afraid to do some renovations yourself.

Where do these exist in DC?

I'm not in this market right now, but suspect you can still get a deal on a two bedroom rowhouse off of Benning Rd or Bladensburg Rd. It's really important to know your block and be realistic about what you're willing to tolerate. Do your research.

https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/1631-Lyman-Pl-NE-20002/home/10110837?from_mobile_app=true

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I was 27 I was still living in a group house!

I bought my first house when I was 42 and my husband was 47. We had two kids and had rented up until then.

The world doesn't owe you a house.

+1 I was 40 when I purchased my house. I was divorced and had one child.

[Anonymous]

You all are being very harsh on the OP, implying that she's whiny or a hard worker.

Telling her that you didn't buy a house until you were 40 isn't very helpful, because it's possible OP will have a hard time affording a house even at 40. The job market is changing and will only get tighter.

[Anonymous]

Buy a house in north college park. The houses are cheap now but they will be going up because the area is on the metro and is undergoing redevelopment . It's convenient to everything and the purple line will be going in soon. You can get a house for 250k now .