Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mid thirties couple here with no way forward regarding buying a home. I feel sad knowing I won’t be able to have a home to call my own and decorate and build a family in.

Anyone else in this boat?

No. You two had at minimum 10 years to live in a condo/townhouse (possible with roommates) and pay down the mortgage. Then take out the equity and buy something bigger. Since you don't seem to have done that, take the money you invested while renting all those years (Usually renting is cheaper than owning, so the difference you invested). You did that, right? If you live in DMV you have known for a long time that it is expensive to live here.
If no,t you two need to move into a studio and both work 1.5 jobs to save up for a townhouse somewhere outside of the city. Within a few years when the interest rates go down again, you should be ready to buy. Get a roommate if you do buy a townhouse or a house.

This. The pp had years to live frugally and save for home ownership. If you suddenly look up at age 33 and wonder why you don't own a home, then that's on you.

So hard to imagine that many people in an area known for highky edicared transplants didn't grow up here, didn't live with mom and dad, or spent their savings or had low incomes in their 20s due to higher education. I know TONS of people who weren't able to save for a down payment at the rate prices were increasing in their 20s.

Lots of us did it without family to live with or to give us money. We lived with roommates in crappy rentals and saved money to buy a dated home in a tier 2 or 3 area. You also need to be careful taking on student loans. If that exclusive school is going to saddle you with debt but not a high salary, then you can't afford it. You also can't afford the prestigious but low-paying career. I have no sympathy for people who indulged their egos instead of being financially responsible.

Don't try to live the trust fund lifestyle without a trust fund then come complaining.

There is some truth to this and there are also now some systemic barriers to wealth building that Gen X and Boomers didn't face.

OK. I'll bite. I'm a gen xer in my mid-40s. What systemic barriers did you face that i didn't?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We bought our first house 10 years ago at 24. Paid $350k for a fixer upper townhouse in South Arlington. Fixed it ourselves and sold it last year for $800k which enabled us to buy a $1.6M house. The initial house was old, ugly, in bad schools, but we knew it (and the area) had potential.

At 24 we were each making $40k a year but we lived frugally, put 3% down with an FHA loan (paid off PMI in 5 years since our salaries increased). We now make $500k (average by DCUM standards), but live in a comfortable 4 bedroom house with great schools.

The problem is many people don’t want to sacrifice. Our friends laughed when we bought that house, but now they’re all still stuck in their townhomes with no equity while we are ahead. Some still in apartments in DuPont or other expensive areas.

Point is, no one is entitled to anything, you have to sacrifice and sometimes go “down” to go up. We had no family help, we aren’t wealthy, but we made smart decisions.

You were unusually mature at 24. Most professionals are still in grad school at that age accumulating at least some student loans. You were also very young to be married with dual incomes. Not judging, just saying that’s highly unusual in this area. Everyone’s lives are different. It’s not just about personal willpower as much as the real estate “winners” on this thread want to think it is.

We were finishing grad school at the time, engaged but not yet married. We scraped our 3% down together and knew that our salaries were about to increase. Lived cheaper than all our friends who at the time were living in Clarendon and Georgetown. My point is that we sacrificed and many people don’t believe they have to sacrifice. They just think they should be able to buy a single family home in a great location on average salaries. That doesn’t exist in the DMV.

Ok but you bought in the aftermath of the biggest housing bubble ever when prices were at peak affordability. An identical couple in 2022 could NOT afford the equivalent of the house you bought, not even close.

But they could….in PG county, Benning Rd, in parts of Alexandria (rt. 1 corridor, Landmark, etc.) even parts of Loudoun. South Arlington wasn’t desirable back then, so the people looking to get into the market need to look where it’s undesirable now.

You aren’t understanding. Any given home, whether it be in PG etc, is drastically less affordable right now than it was in 2012. Enough with the pull your self up by the bootstraps nonsense.

^^Sorry for the weird formatting.

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What’s with the focus on iPhones? I mean, I agree you need to make smart financial choices/make sacrifices to be able to afford a home but iPhones are getting mentioned as a signal of frivolous spending to a bit of an amusing degree. [/quote]

Exactly what I was wondering. It used to be getting Starbucks every day was frivolous spending. Now it is iphone? Starbucks is a waste. But an iphone is 1k and if getting the latest every year with trade-in the new phone will be half price. So one iphone a year is $500 average cost. Can’t buy a house with those savings.

The OP gave no details about why the OP will never be a homeowner. Appears the OP works in DC and wants a house in DC, not willing to live outside the city. Fair enough.

If OP would consider living in the suburbs, there are many options. My neighborhood is $600-700k range, 3000 sq ft.


[/quote]

Not the pp who said iPhones, but it looks like their point is that many people complaining about not being able to afford a home could afford one if they saved more. [/quote]

It’s not the actual cost of the phone but the reoccurring monthly charge. Times 2. Then adding in the vacations, cable, cleaning person, gym membership etc. It can all add up easily to $1-2k per month that could go towards a downpayment.

[/quote]

This. It’s not any one thing. It’s a mindset and way of living. We did not have any of the above before buying our first house. Frankly we still don’t have a lot of it and we are fine with that! We do have a nice house though. [/quote]

I don’t think there is any disagreement on the base point: Live (and save) within one’s means. We had all of the above before buying a house and while we were saving for one because we could afford to do so due to high incomes. Could have bought earlier but didn’t feel the need to until we were thinking about starting a family…renting made more sense for us until that point.

But even admitting that, I don’t think an iPhone is indicative of the same sort of mindset that expensive vacations represent—assuming one is spending money on those as opposed to saving when they want a house. Perhaps you are from an older generation. An easy-to-use and widely compatible smartphone, of which an iPhone certainly is one example of, is an important part of how people live their personal and professional lives. For proof of that, look no further than the cell phone stipend or independent work cell many companies offer as a standard benefit. It just struck me as quite odd and an example of almost looking for things to criticize others for. The PP who pointed out people very rarely pay full price for a new iPhone (which also isn’t always the most expensive phone) is correct and most would consider the monthly a pretty standard utility at this point.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We bought our first house 10 years ago at 24. Paid $350k for a fixer upper townhouse in South Arlington. Fixed it ourselves and sold it last year for $800k which enabled us to buy a $1.6M house. The initial house was old, ugly, in bad schools, but we knew it (and the area) had potential.

At 24 we were each making $40k a year but we lived frugally, put 3% down with an FHA loan (paid off PMI in 5 years since our salaries increased). We now make $500k (average by DCUM standards), but live in a comfortable 4 bedroom house with great schools.

The problem is many people don’t want to sacrifice. Our friends laughed when we bought that house, but now they’re all still stuck in their townhomes with no equity while we are ahead. Some still in apartments in DuPont or other expensive areas.

Point is, no one is entitled to anything, you have to sacrifice and sometimes go “down” to go up. We had no family help, we aren’t wealthy, but we made smart decisions.

You were unusually mature at 24. Most professionals are still in grad school at that age accumulating at least some student loans. You were also very young to be married with dual incomes. Not judging, just saying that’s highly unusual in this area. Everyone’s lives are different. It’s not just about personal willpower as much as the real estate “winners” on this thread want to think it is.

We were finishing grad school at the time, engaged but not yet married. We scraped our 3% down together and knew that our salaries were about to increase. Lived cheaper than all our friends who at the time were living in Clarendon and Georgetown. My point is that we sacrificed and many people don’t believe they have to sacrifice. They just think they should be able to buy a single family home in a great location on average salaries. That doesn’t exist in the DMV.

Ok but you bought in the aftermath of the biggest housing bubble ever when prices were at peak affordability. An identical couple in 2022 could NOT afford the equivalent of the house you bought, not even close.

But they could….in PG county, Benning Rd, in parts of Alexandria (rt. 1 corridor, Landmark, etc.) even parts of Loudoun. South Arlington wasn’t desirable back then, so the people looking to get into the market need to look where it’s undesirable now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We bought our first house 10 years ago at 24. Paid $350k for a fixer upper townhouse in South Arlington. Fixed it ourselves and sold it last year for $800k which enabled us to buy a $1.6M house. The initial house was old, ugly, in bad schools, but we knew it (and the area) had potential.

At 24 we were each making $40k a year but we lived frugally, put 3% down with an FHA loan (paid off PMI in 5 years since our salaries increased). We now make $500k (average by DCUM standards), but live in a comfortable 4 bedroom house with great schools.

The problem is many people don’t want to sacrifice. Our friends laughed when we bought that house, but now they’re all still stuck in their townhomes with no equity while we are ahead. Some still in apartments in DuPont or other expensive areas.

Point is, no one is entitled to anything, you have to sacrifice and sometimes go “down” to go up. We had no family help, we aren’t wealthy, but we made smart decisions.

You were unusually mature at 24. Most professionals are still in grad school at that age accumulating at least some student loans. You were also very young to be married with dual incomes. Not judging, just saying that’s highly unusual in this area. Everyone’s lives are different. It’s not just about personal willpower as much as the real estate “winners” on this thread want to think it is.

We were finishing grad school at the time, engaged but not yet married. We scraped our 3% down together and knew that our salaries were about to increase. Lived cheaper than all our friends who at the time were living in Clarendon and Georgetown. My point is that we sacrificed and many people don’t believe they have to sacrifice. They just think they should be able to buy a single family home in a great location on average salaries. That doesn’t exist in the DMV.

Ok but you bought in the aftermath of the biggest housing bubble ever when prices were at peak affordability. An identical couple in 2022 could NOT afford the equivalent of the house you bought, not even close.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is just the latest item on a long list of why I sincerely think that the posters of this website are some of the least happy people you can find. Not just the people lamenting about not owning a physical asset because they view it as a status or identity item, but also some of the nasty responses.

You have to remember that most of the posters here are in a rat race they can't escape. They believe they have to follow a script for life -- get the right education, get a high-paying job, get married, have kids, buy a house in the suburbs. They do that and realize they are miserable. Instead of taking a hard look at themselves and what they truly want out of life, they double down on making sure everyone else follows the same script. Misery loves company.

OH MY GOD this is the truest, most definitive post I have ever read on DCUM.

What's even more pathetic is the people who feel like they have a grievance because they can't afford to live that same lifestyle but without the high-paying job or the right education.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mid thirties couple here with no way forward regarding buying a home. I feel sad knowing I won’t be able to have a home to call my own and decorate and build a family in.

Anyone else in this boat?

No. You two had at minimum 10 years to live in a condo/townhouse (possible with roommates) and pay down the mortgage. Then take out the equity and buy something bigger. Since you don't seem to have done that, take the money you invested while renting all those years (Usually renting is cheaper than owning, so the difference you invested). You did that, right? If you live in DMV you have known for a long time that it is expensive to live here.
If no,t you two need to move into a studio and both work 1.5 jobs to save up for a townhouse somewhere outside of the city. Within a few years when the interest rates go down again, you should be ready to buy. Get a roommate if you do buy a townhouse or a house.

This. The pp had years to live frugally and save for home ownership. If you suddenly look up at age 33 and wonder why you don't own a home, then that's on you.

So hard to imagine that many people in an area known for highky edicared transplants didn't grow up here, didn't live with mom and dad, or spent their savings or had low incomes in their 20s due to higher education. I know TONS of people who weren't able to save for a down payment at the rate prices were increasing in their 20s.

Lots of us did it without family to live with or to give us money. We lived with roommates in crappy rentals and saved money to buy a dated home in a tier 2 or 3 area. You also need to be careful taking on student loans. If that exclusive school is going to saddle you with debt but not a high salary, then you can't afford it. You also can't afford the prestigious but low-paying career. I have no sympathy for people who indulged their egos instead of being financially responsible.

Don't try to live the trust fund lifestyle without a trust fund then come complaining.

+10000. We are relatively high earners and had to make sacrifices for that first down payment. We spent a year or so not going on any vacations, we skipped out on some weddings, didn’t even have iPhones and got by with one older car. The friends we have who have not yet bought a house are all unable to make these kind of sacrifices. Now they are in their 30s and it will be more obvious that they missed the boat.

Wow, you spent a whole year without going on vacations? You didn't even have iPhones?? I'm impressed you were able to make those kinds of sacrifices.

Sacrifices? Right, this is DCUM. Sacrifices are when you live in a one bedroom apartment with two kids so that you can send a large part of your money to your home country to support poverty stricken relatives. Perspective, please.

I was being facetious -- making fun of the PP talking about skipping a year of vacations and not having an iPhone as an example of sacrifices.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We bought our first house 10 years ago at 24. Paid $350k for a fixer upper townhouse in South Arlington. Fixed it ourselves and sold it last year for $800k which enabled us to buy a $1.6M house. The initial house was old, ugly, in bad schools, but we knew it (and the area) had potential.

At 24 we were each making $40k a year but we lived frugally, put 3% down with an FHA loan (paid off PMI in 5 years since our salaries increased). We now make $500k (average by DCUM standards), but live in a comfortable 4 bedroom house with great schools.

The problem is many people don’t want to sacrifice. Our friends laughed when we bought that house, but now they’re all still stuck in their townhomes with no equity while we are ahead. Some still in apartments in DuPont or other expensive areas.

Point is, no one is entitled to anything, you have to sacrifice and sometimes go “down” to go up. We had no family help, we aren’t wealthy, but we made smart decisions.

You were unusually mature at 24. Most professionals are still in grad school at that age accumulating at least some student loans. You were also very young to be married with dual incomes. Not judging, just saying that’s highly unusual in this area. Everyone’s lives are different. It’s not just about personal willpower as much as the real estate “winners” on this thread want to think it is.

We were finishing grad school at the time, engaged but not yet married. We scraped our 3% down together and knew that our salaries were about to increase. Lived cheaper than all our friends who at the time were living in Clarendon and Georgetown. My point is that we sacrificed and many people don’t believe they have to sacrifice. They just think they should be able to buy a single family home in a great location on average salaries. That doesn’t exist in the DMV.

This is nonsense. You can get nice house in Rockville, Kensington or Silver Spring for under $800.

My friend bought a really cute house in South Kensington for less than $750 this year. And its not a moldy flip, but a lovely updated house.

Is it Capitol Hill, or Dupont Circle? No. But you can buy property in suburban DC.

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Anonymous wrote:Early 50s. Same. We moved too often to ever own for more than once for a few years and didn’t benefit from appreciation. We can now only afford a too small fixer upper but don’t have money to fix it up either. Renting until we retire somewhere cheaper. It’s frustrating because our income more than doubled recently and we still can’t buy a house that doesn’t need major work or require an hour plus commute.

Same boat. Moved too much to buy and now priced out. It is so depressing.

That was your choice. Get on a plan for extreme saving now because home prices will continue to fall for most areas.

It couldn’t possibly be that housing has increased far more than salaries. Couldn’t possibly be a flaw in the market or the system, right?

Unfettered immigration will do that.

This. Thanks Democrats.

Laughable to blame housing prices increasing astronomically on poor immigrants. It’s the rich bankers and investors which are both plenty comfortable with sleezy and shady deals in the name of a buck.

Yeah, you keep going with that line. See where it gets us in ten years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Early 50s. Same. We moved too often to ever own for more than once for a few years and didn’t benefit from appreciation. We can now only afford a too small fixer upper but don’t have money to fix it up either. Renting until we retire somewhere cheaper. It’s frustrating because our income more than doubled recently and we still can’t buy a house that doesn’t need major work or require an hour plus commute.

Same boat. Moved too much to buy and now priced out. It is so depressing.

That was your choice. Get on a plan for extreme saving now because home prices will continue to fall for most areas.

It couldn’t possibly be that housing has increased far more than salaries. Couldn’t possibly be a flaw in the market or the system, right?

Unfettered immigration will do that.

We do need to place limits on how much foreign money can be spent in real estate. The super wealthy from other countries buying up our houses in cash is really bad for Americans.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Early 50s. Same. We moved too often to ever own for more than once for a few years and didn’t benefit from appreciation. We can now only afford a too small fixer upper but don’t have money to fix it up either. Renting until we retire somewhere cheaper. It’s frustrating because our income more than doubled recently and we still can’t buy a house that doesn’t need major work or require an hour plus commute.

Same boat. Moved too much to buy and now priced out. It is so depressing.

That was your choice. Get on a plan for extreme saving now because home prices will continue to fall for most areas.

It couldn’t possibly be that housing has increased far more than salaries. Couldn’t possibly be a flaw in the market or the system, right?

Unfettered immigration will do that.

This. Thanks Democrats.

Laughable to blame housing prices increasing astronomically on poor immigrants. It’s the rich bankers and investors which are both plenty comfortable with sleezy and shady deals in the name of a buck.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Early 50s. Same. We moved too often to ever own for more than once for a few years and didn’t benefit from appreciation. We can now only afford a too small fixer upper but don’t have money to fix it up either. Renting until we retire somewhere cheaper. It’s frustrating because our income more than doubled recently and we still can’t buy a house that doesn’t need major work or require an hour plus commute.

Same boat. Moved too much to buy and now priced out. It is so depressing.

That was your choice. Get on a plan for extreme saving now because home prices will continue to fall for most areas.

It couldn’t possibly be that housing has increased far more than salaries. Couldn’t possibly be a flaw in the market or the system, right?

Unfettered immigration will do that.

This. Thanks Democrats.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s with the focus on iPhones? I mean, I agree you need to make smart financial choices/make sacrifices to be able to afford a home but iPhones are getting mentioned as a signal of frivolous spending to a bit of an amusing degree.

Exactly what I was wondering. It used to be getting Starbucks every day was frivolous spending. Now it is iphone? Starbucks is a waste. But an iphone is 1k and if getting the latest every year with trade-in the new phone will be half price. So one iphone a year is $500 average cost. Can’t buy a house with those savings.

The OP gave no details about why the OP will never be a homeowner. Appears the OP works in DC and wants a house in DC, not willing to live outside the city. Fair enough.

If OP would consider living in the suburbs, there are many options. My neighborhood is $600-700k range, 3000 sq ft.

Not the pp who said iPhones, but it looks like their point is that many people complaining about not being able to afford a home could afford one if they saved more.

It’s not the actual cost of the phone but the reoccurring monthly charge. Times 2. Then adding in the vacations, cable, cleaning person, gym membership etc. It can all add up easily to $1-2k per month that could go towards a downpayment.

This. It’s not any one thing. It’s a mindset and way of living. We did not have any of the above before buying our first house. Frankly we still don’t have a lot of it and we are fine with that! We do have a nice house though.

How many years did you forgo cell phones, vacations, and gym memberships to afford a down payment? When did you have kids? Has your job ever required you to move to places with horrible public schools? Has your job ever required you to move at all? How much have you spent on medical bills not covered by your insurance? Did you need space for one of your parents to live with you?

From college graduation to age 27 when we bought our first house (a townhouse.) Had our first baby at 28. We have remained local and only traded up one time, to our current house. There is room for a relative to live with us if needed. We could easily trade up again but are content with what we have. We still don’t have gym memberships or fancy phones, and don’t get takeout coffee. We do take vacations now thankfully!

So you were dual income straight out of college?

Yes. But if not living with my then boyfriend (now husband) I would definitely have had roommates! Also we did have phones but the cheapest “free” phones on the absolute cheapest plans we could find. Old beater cars. Minimal new clothes and when we did get them it was Kohls and Old Navy on sale. Absolutely no brand name anything.