Anonymous wrote:How do people save $200,000 for a home downpyament here?! How.

We make $165,000 and have two small kids. It took us all year to save $10,000. At this rate I won't have that kind of cash until I'm 60 (I'm 38 now).

Good grief. How?

I think a more important question is how will you be able to afford a mortgage payment on an 800K loan, even if 200K fell out of the sky for your downpayment.

We got married at 21 and were unexpectedly pregnant within 6 months despite birth control. That threw a wrench in our financial plans and we ended up having kids before we could save (but lucky us, we'll have an empty nest at 42 and plenty of life left to live). After a series of unfortunate events (cancer, etc) wiped out our entire savings account we finally managed to catch up and buy a house at 35 with a 5% down FHA loan. We lucked out and bought a SFH in Arlington that needed a lot of work and is now appraised at $200k more than we paid only 3 years ago. We are in the process of refinancing to get out of PMI.

Anonymous wrote:We didn't. People on this board act like not putting 20% down equals irresponsible disaster. We put 7% down, most from a gift, and now have about $250 k in equity. Yes, we bought at a good time and we're lucky, but we also knew we had fairly stable jobs, were going to live here at least 3-5 yrs (it's been 7), and could comfortably handle the monthly payment. I think the last thing is the big part- make sure you can handle the payment.

+1

I put down 20k on a 390k house (admittedly, in 2009). We sold the house for 625k. After taxes and expenses, that doesn't leave me with quite 200k for my next down payment, but I'm actually renting in a new place for now. If I bought a million-dollar home here, it would be way more than I need. i'll probably save 100k for a downpayment and sock the rest into college accounts and an index fund.

Change in control event at my employer meant an early payout of the LTIP *plus* incredible timing on the sale of our starter home (we bought with FHA 3.5% down and made $70k on the sale due to market timing, this was in 2009-2012.)

Totally luck, would not have had the $$ to put 20% down for another 5 years.

Anonymous wrote:You're 38, have two small children, and are just now starting to save for your first house? And, your first house is going to be $1m? And your HHI is only $165k? The answer to your question is in your question.

Sorry but this is spot on you aren't in a good position to buy a 1 m house

Anonymous wrote:We saved in our twenties bought a house at 29/27 for 360 in D.C. We had 80 in earned savings between us. Sold three years later for 610 so we had money for 750k house. Sold three years later for 900k then bought 2.5 m house.

Although for reference we made 250k between us then we make 2m between us now.

Anonymous wrote:How do people save $200,000 for a home downpyament here?! How.

We make $165,000 and have two small kids. It took us all year to save $10,000. At this rate I won't have that kind of cash until I'm 60 (I'm 38 now).

Good grief. How?

You're taking on too big a mortgage you need to scale back!

We saved in our twenties bought a house at 29/27 for 360 in D.C. We had 80 in earned savings between us. Sold three years later for 610 so we had money for 750k house. Sold three years later for 900k then bought 2.5 m house.

We scraped together 5% for a fixer upper in 2003 (it cost $285K). Sold that a few years later for a $140k profit (we renovated it ourselves). A few years later, put 20% down on our current house (600k). It was a lot of hard work plus good market timing.

For our first house, our combined incomes were about $115k, and we lived very cheaply, so without flipping that house I have no idea how we'd save for a 20% down payment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do people save $200,000 for a home downpyament here?! How.

We make $165,000 and have two small kids. It took us all year to save $10,000. At this rate I won't have that kind of cash until I'm 60 (I'm 38 now).

Good grief. How?

I got married I made 50k, wife made 52k we saved 100k in 21 months. Stop spending like a drunken sailor and save in higher yielding assets.


Stocks are on a almost 9 year straight run up and bonds on a 30 year tear. Biggest issue is folks have too much money or not properly diversified. The world is awash in a sea of cash.

Stocks are up around 300% since 2009. Which means every 4 bucks you spent Starbucks or 10 bucks at lunch cost you 12 bucks for coffee and 30 for sandwich.

300% since 2009?? Which index?

Total stock market is up about 120% since 2009, so you are only off by 180% LOLZZ

Anonymous wrote:How do people save $200,000 for a home downpyament here?! How.

We make $165,000 and have two small kids. It took us all year to save $10,000. At this rate I won't have that kind of cash until I'm 60 (I'm 38 now).

Good grief. How?

I got married I made 50k, wife made 52k we saved 100k in 21 months. Stop spending like a drunken sailor and save in higher yielding assets.


Stocks are on a almost 9 year straight run up and bonds on a 30 year tear. Biggest issue is folks have too much money or not properly diversified. The world is awash in a sea of cash.

Stocks are up around 300% since 2009. Which means every 4 bucks you spent Starbucks or 10 bucks at lunch cost you 12 bucks for coffee and 30 for sandwich.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people don't save it, their parents give it to them.
I saved $80k for a $400k house. I had roommates, no kids, almost never went out to eat. It took me about 5 years.

And PS, you should not be buying a house a that requires a six figure downpayment. You don't make enough to afford it, despite what the lender or your realtor is telling you. You should be buying in the 400s.

400s is a 1br in this area.

Anonymous wrote:How do people save $200,000 for a home downpyament here?! How.

We make $165,000 and have two small kids. It took us all year to save $10,000. At this rate I won't have that kind of cash until I'm 60 (I'm 38 now).

Good grief. How?

Not having kids by age 38. But that's a different story, it's not like you can change this now. It also can translate into tens of thousands of dollars down the line in fertility treatments. But for us "dual income no kids" plus no student loans and living well below our means (rented apartment in 'burbs, sharing one old car, not eating out a lot) was how we saved almost $300k for down payment and closing costs. YMMW.

We were first time home buyers with a HHI of 75K. No kids. We saved 30K in one year (also did not save for retirement during that time) and put it as down payment for a 280K SFH. The house is worth 600K now (20 years later) and our HHI is 250K with 2 kids. We did feel that we bought a lot of house for our income at that time.
Real estate prices are crazy now. I cannot imagine what is left of your income if your mortgage is so high.

Anonymous wrote:Most people don't save it, their parents give it to them.
I saved $80k for a $400k house. I had roommates, no kids, almost never went out to eat. It took me about 5 years.

And PS, you should not be buying a house a that requires a six figure downpayment. You don't make enough to afford it, despite what the lender or your realtor is telling you. You should be buying in the 400s.