And do they still have first time buyer programs?

You start small and build equity, and then you trade up. That's how most people do it.

Oh, and you don't get granite countertops the first time out of the gate.

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?

Maybe Op needs to look a little further out instead of wanting the perfect house in the perfect location on her/his first try. It took me 20 years before I was able to purchase "close in" with a minimal commute. Life changing for us, yes, but it takes time. You can't have the perfect everything the first time around. Compromise.

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.

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

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*?

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

We moved to a more modestly priced area of the country.

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.

I was born in 86 and had no trouble saving up the 20% required. We lived on DH's income and saved my entire income. Wasn't THAT hard. We each make about 80k.

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.

I'm a '89 birth and have no idea. My DH and I have a combined HHI of $90k, and we've realized that waiting to have kids after we buy a house is probably not going to happen. My friends that have bought houses have done so in NC, suburban PA, OH, etc---they've all left DC and I don't blame them. I don't want to stay here but the fed hiring freeze is limiting our lateral transfer options.

I have a co-worker who is 2 years out from undergrad. She lived at home for 2 years - had a crappy commute. But saved a lot of money and just purchased a townhouse in Sterling. Another co-worker who did the same thing and purchased a 1 bedroom condo in Columbia Heights. A 3rd who decided to elope - took the money that was going to the wedding and applied it to a house.

Which of the above choices are you making?

FYI - When I purchased my 1st home I was thrilled to get a 5.325 interest rate AND my student loans were at 8.5%.

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.