Someone in less advantaged part of the world may wonder how someone buys a $150,000 house in their 20's just a few years out of grad school.

My dad could pay off my mortgage if I wanted to. But no thanks. He paid for college. He paid for graf school. He paid for my first car. I mean at some point you need to have some kind of dignity and get your own sh**t. I don't care that they are your parents. You just can't be a taker forever. There is joy in having your own money. beleve it or not

Anonymous wrote:My kid just did this. We did pay for college (and they got a masters within the 4 years) so no school debt. Got a great job and saved like heck. It can be done.

It can be done. But it a smart use of funds? We’re a tad older in early 30s and could easily buy a $3M house tomorrow with our HHI and savings.

But should we, when the market tells us the rule of 72 and all that? Why would we lock up so much liquidity in an asset that depreciates much more slowly than equities when we’re so young and have so much compounding ahead of us?

If you come from a normal background without expecting an inheritance it’s a bigger thought exercise than simply “can I afford this” - it’s about the time value of money.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No twenty-something can afford a 2 million house through a job. It's always parents and trust funds and so on. They happened to have been delivered through the right vagina.

Wrong. It’s rare, but there are some very high-income W2 jobs and others make a killing on RSUs. My BIL was making over $1M annually in W2 income in private equity before 30. He was on financial aid at his Ivy League undergrad and has held the same job since graduation. Zero parental help.

He worked in the DC area?

NY but firm is also in DC.

Right, so irrelevant to DC specifically. High finance salaries in NYC are much higher than DC even for the same roles / companies. The $1M also includes carry which isn’t W2 technically.

My kid just did this. We did pay for college (and they got a masters within the 4 years) so no school debt. Got a great job and saved like heck. It can be done.

Anonymous wrote:I know an acquaintance who just did this. They only have a handful of years work experience. I make pretty decent money at 29 but I can’t even fathom buying a $1M house let alone 2 million.

Their parents, of course.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No twenty-something can afford a 2 million house through a job. It's always parents and trust funds and so on. They happened to have been delivered through the right vagina.

Wrong. It’s rare, but there are some very high-income W2 jobs and others make a killing on RSUs. My BIL was making over $1M annually in W2 income in private equity before 30. He was on financial aid at his Ivy League undergrad and has held the same job since graduation. Zero parental help.

He worked in the DC area?

NY but firm is also in DC.

We have two kids out of college working. Own two investment single family homes (est $1m each now but purchased for est$600k ) in nova. We purchased both about 10 years back knowing our kids, despite working hard and doing all the right things in life would need the housing assistance. Now Waiting for them to purchase one at a steep discount. We saw it coming - cost of housing continues to outpace earnings. It’s been an excellent family investment.

Anonymous wrote:I know an acquaintance who just did this. They only have a handful of years work experience. I make pretty decent money at 29 but I can’t even fathom buying a $1M house let alone 2 million.

It's called inheritance from a grandparent, great grandparent, etc or Mommy & Daddy Trust Fund, or someone getting very lucky in the stock market.

They bought bitcoin in 2010

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No twenty-something can afford a 2 million house through a job. It's always parents and trust funds and so on. They happened to have been delivered through the right vagina.

Wrong. It’s rare, but there are some very high-income W2 jobs and others make a killing on RSUs. My BIL was making over $1M annually in W2 income in private equity before 30. He was on financial aid at his Ivy League undergrad and has held the same job since graduation. Zero parental help.

He worked in the DC area?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two lawyers in big law can do this with 5-10% down if they don’t have significant student loans. Their household income could be 800k/yr, and they could have 100-200k saved.

Not at that young.

Total comp for a fourth year is 405k. So they definitely could.

https://www.biglawinvestor.com/biglaw-salary-scale/

But what if dont make partner?

That’s why they need to buy the house NOW and qualify while they’re still making big law salaries.

Anonymous wrote:No twenty-something can afford a 2 million house through a job. It's always parents and trust funds and so on. They happened to have been delivered through the right vagina.

Wrong. It’s rare, but there are some very high-income W2 jobs and others make a killing on RSUs. My BIL was making over $1M annually in W2 income in private equity before 30. He was on financial aid at his Ivy League undergrad and has held the same job since graduation. Zero parental help.

Anonymous wrote:No twenty-something can afford a 2 million house through a job. It's always parents and trust funds and so on. They happened to have been delivered through the right vagina.

And let's not forget that - the hole chose the right pole, and the pecker was a good picker.

Anonymous wrote:No twenty-something can afford a 2 million house through a job. It's always parents and trust funds and so on. They happened to have been delivered through the right vagina.

Like everything, this is mostly true with some exceptions. The 20-something Palantir SWEs (or equivalent mag7) who rode the stock appreciation could easily afford this in their mid to late 20s. But that’s the exception, not the rule. Even the big law and lobbyist types aren’t usually purchasing at this level until early / mid 30s.