Anonymous wrote:OP, if you aren't married but see yourself getting married in the next 5-8 years, just rent. Trust me.

+1

Rent and save aggressively. Not sure what PP is thinking, but IMO both because of the way real estate and relationships work, this is very good advice.

OP, if you aren't married but see yourself getting married in the next 5-8 years, just rent. Trust me.

I was born in '82, so a little older. First, patience. I just bought my first condo 3 years ago.

Secondly, we put 5% down only - yes we had to pay mortgage insurance, but with the appreciating home value, we refinanced a year later, and our home value increased to the point where we owe less than 80% of the original loan.

I know they have a 3.5% down mortgage program now.

Also, the first home you buy isn't going to be your dream home, so start small, don't try to imagine yourself buying a rowhome. Just buy something, live there for a few years and then trade up.

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.

Back to OP's post - it is a combination of luck, timing, hard work, and sacrifice for most people. Now that we are past the recession, have you moved to a better job that pays more money? You don't want to job hop just for money, but rather be aware that changing jobs can sometimes be the way to get that salary bump. Be excellent at what you do so in the good economic times you get those raises and/or easier to get that next job.

You know lots of people mentioned their story included sacrificing immediate gratification and even making tradeoffs when buying. I think the strong emotions when someone tells their story and everyone chalks it up to luck is because this memories are real to the person telling the story. It brings them back to when they felt like the odd person out and tries the undermine the feeling of it being "worth it". It's like you are retelling the story of the ant and the grasshopper but saying the ant only had food due to luck of there not being 10 feet of snow that winter or if the grasshopper got to both party all season and have fun AND have enough food for the winter. I lived in crappy apartments because that was all I could afford to live there on my own and rent was cheap. There is a part of me that wished that I could have lived in the cool post college places but that ship has sailed and that was the tradeoff that paid off for me.

The other part of the story was part luck of picking a lucrative field, IT, part planning on my part of going where the money was within my field in the early stages, being good at what I do, and changing jobs for better careeer and financial opportunities. I also made a conscious decision to move from an even more expensive area, greater NYC, to D.C. Metro because I knew I wanted to be a homeowner someday and that seemed an even higher bar in that area. When I made more money, I followed my mom's advice and lived on what I was making prior to the increase and saved the raise/bump. So my spending always lagged my income. When I made 60K, I continued living like someone that made 40K. When my now DH moved in with me (by that time I bought a townhouse) once we were engaged, we banked what he had been paying in rent. Everyone has "luck" in that you happen to look at the job postings the day the perfect job happened to be open, or you met your husband at a party you almost didn't go to (assuming you are happily married that was good luck) etc. Those are the things you can't control. Being able to take advantage of that "luck" is what you can control.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, DH and I were born in 1982, but I'll throw in anyway. He didn't start earning a real salary until he was 27; fortunately he spent that time earning a PhD in a practical field, fully funded, and did not pursue a career in academia (no hoping/waiting for dwindling tenure-track professorships). I didn't start earning a real salary until I was 27 also. I worked low-paying jobs after college and took out $60k in loans for graduate school. Fortunately, I landed a job right after finishing my M.A. and earned enough that the loans were not a significant hardship; however, I did not earn enough to pay them off quickly.

We both moved to DC after finishing our education, so we weren't saving much with the high cost of living. We met, married, and had a child in our early 30's. We are still renting in DC. With $80k in savings, and a kid, we will never be able to buy a house in this area. The sacrifices it would require are out of the question for us, for a bunch of reasons.

Our savings is more than a down payment on a nice house in a good school district in the areas each of us grew up in. We simply have to move - that's all there is to it.

But do your skills lead to well paying jobs in those places?

Him - undoubtedly
Me - Could afford and stomach a pay cut

Anonymous wrote:My story: mid-1990s, 30 y.o. recent PhD, first full-time job, no savings. Bought a SFH in PG County. After mortgage and utilities and groceries each month I had about $25 left. The house payment was around 75 percent of my income. I have no idea how I got a mortgage but the PMI was huge--something like 25 percent.
It was extremely painful, but also nice to finally be out of apartments and in a peaceful, clean SFH.

A few years went by. My salary increased. The equity in the home went up, the PMI came off. Some inflation happened. Now I had a relatively cheap place to live and a nice investment. This wouldn't have ever happened if I had needed an Arlington or Bethesda address.

Same thing I said earlier. You can have what you want but some of the dream might have to be deferred. We can't all live west of the park. Every house is not out of reach just the exact house you want so focus on your needs and build toward your wants. I wanted offstreet parking and a Victorian with original features (pocket doors etc). I don't have them. I DO however have nearly $300k in equity which is more than I would have had if I had continued renting and complaining about not being able to afford a Victorian with parking.

My story: mid-1990s, 30 y.o. recent PhD, first full-time job, no savings. Bought a SFH in PG County. After mortgage and utilities and groceries each month I had about $25 left. The house payment was around 75 percent of my income. I have no idea how I got a mortgage but the PMI was huge--something like 25 percent.
It was extremely painful, but also nice to finally be out of apartments and in a peaceful, clean SFH.

A few years went by. My salary increased. The equity in the home went up, the PMI came off. Some inflation happened. Now I had a relatively cheap place to live and a nice investment. This wouldn't have ever happened if I had needed an Arlington or Bethesda address.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Gosh, what a bunch of crybabies.

When I graduated from school, mortgage interest rates were around 17 percent. So I got a roommate and just rented an apartment. When I bought my first house at age 30, the rates were 13 percent. I bought a simple, 3 bedroom 2bath house in a very working class neighborhood in the South. Fixed it up, held onto it until in tripled in value, then moved to an even lower cost area for my 4 bedroom, 3 bath home with lake access. I was 45.

We boomers bought small, waited, and moved up as the economy allowed.

Millennials want everything NOW and they want it to be HGTV perfect, with the perfect school district.

And they want avocado turkey Breast sandwiches with chai lemon iced tea and a chop salad for lunch . Netflix and Rock climbing gym with unlimited data plan with a hybrid engine.

Someone has to care about saving our planet since the older generation didn't!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, DH and I were born in 1982, but I'll throw in anyway. He didn't start earning a real salary until he was 27; fortunately he spent that time earning a PhD in a practical field, fully funded, and did not pursue a career in academia (no hoping/waiting for dwindling tenure-track professorships). I didn't start earning a real salary until I was 27 also. I worked low-paying jobs after college and took out $60k in loans for graduate school. Fortunately, I landed a job right after finishing my M.A. and earned enough that the loans were not a significant hardship; however, I did not earn enough to pay them off quickly.

We both moved to DC after finishing our education, so we weren't saving much with the high cost of living. We met, married, and had a child in our early 30's. We are still renting in DC. With $80k in savings, and a kid, we will never be able to buy a house in this area. The sacrifices it would require are out of the question for us, for a bunch of reasons.

Our savings is more than a down payment on a nice house in a good school district in the areas each of us grew up in. We simply have to move - that's all there is to it.

But do your skills lead to well paying jobs in those places?

I could have written your post. We moved to DC because that's where we found jobs. Unsure that we'll be able to find similar jobs or jobs that we like in our midwest hometowns that pay equivalent.

Anonymous wrote:Well, DH and I were born in 1982, but I'll throw in anyway. He didn't start earning a real salary until he was 27; fortunately he spent that time earning a PhD in a practical field, fully funded, and did not pursue a career in academia (no hoping/waiting for dwindling tenure-track professorships). I didn't start earning a real salary until I was 27 also. I worked low-paying jobs after college and took out $60k in loans for graduate school. Fortunately, I landed a job right after finishing my M.A. and earned enough that the loans were not a significant hardship; however, I did not earn enough to pay them off quickly.

We both moved to DC after finishing our education, so we weren't saving much with the high cost of living. We met, married, and had a child in our early 30's. We are still renting in DC. With $80k in savings, and a kid, we will never be able to buy a house in this area. The sacrifices it would require are out of the question for us, for a bunch of reasons.

Our savings is more than a down payment on a nice house in a good school district in the areas each of us grew up in. We simply have to move - that's all there is to it.

see if baltimore could work for you.

we had 200k for downpayment but refused to be house poor and pay DC area prices. i really don't like anything under a million dollars (and often more). i work from home and the commute works for my husband and we now live with plenty of cash to spare at a home that would cost two millions in DC.

Anonymous wrote:Well, DH and I were born in 1982, but I'll throw in anyway. He didn't start earning a real salary until he was 27; fortunately he spent that time earning a PhD in a practical field, fully funded, and did not pursue a career in academia (no hoping/waiting for dwindling tenure-track professorships). I didn't start earning a real salary until I was 27 also. I worked low-paying jobs after college and took out $60k in loans for graduate school. Fortunately, I landed a job right after finishing my M.A. and earned enough that the loans were not a significant hardship; however, I did not earn enough to pay them off quickly.

We both moved to DC after finishing our education, so we weren't saving much with the high cost of living. We met, married, and had a child in our early 30's. We are still renting in DC. With $80k in savings, and a kid, we will never be able to buy a house in this area. The sacrifices it would require are out of the question for us, for a bunch of reasons.

Our savings is more than a down payment on a nice house in a good school district in the areas each of us grew up in. We simply have to move - that's all there is to it.

But do your skills lead to well paying jobs in those places?

Well, DH and I were born in 1982, but I'll throw in anyway. He didn't start earning a real salary until he was 27; fortunately he spent that time earning a PhD in a practical field, fully funded, and did not pursue a career in academia (no hoping/waiting for dwindling tenure-track professorships). I didn't start earning a real salary until I was 27 also. I worked low-paying jobs after college and took out $60k in loans for graduate school. Fortunately, I landed a job right after finishing my M.A. and earned enough that the loans were not a significant hardship; however, I did not earn enough to pay them off quickly.

We both moved to DC after finishing our education, so we weren't saving much with the high cost of living. We met, married, and had a child in our early 30's. We are still renting in DC. With $80k in savings, and a kid, we will never be able to buy a house in this area. The sacrifices it would require are out of the question for us, for a bunch of reasons.

Our savings is more than a down payment on a nice house in a good school district in the areas each of us grew up in. We simply have to move - that's all there is to it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was born in 86. DH was born in 83. We own 2 houses, one in Lorton and one in New York State that we rent.

We bought the house in Lorton with less than 20% down in 2012 for $500k. At the time, HBO was $150k, but it's now $260k. No big deal because it's appreciated almost $100k, and we can get PM I removed in a few months.

I bought a house at 24 that I sold and made $25k on, we used that and some other savings for down payment. House in Lorton was a fixer upper but plenty big for two kids. South County High School seems to be a decent school as well. We have a beautiful yard, plenty of space, and easy commute via VRE. I think because we were willing to live in an area that's not "hot", we were able to buy. I like it here though, neighbors are friendly and we've made lots of friends. So millenials, there is hope.

You both commute downtown trombone lorton on VRE? Do you have kids? VRE is fine if just one parent commutes, but since it only runs rush hour directions it is problematic if you need to be home earlier or go to work late bc of kid stuff. I guess the occasional 30 mile uber is cheaper than a more expensive mortgage?

We both commute downtown with two kids. Lorton is also about 18 miles from downtown DC where we work, not 30 miles, and were both walking distance to L'enfant. The occasional Uber for a sick kid pickup runs about $25. Actually had to do it today, which is why I'm on DCUM. However, transit subsidy covers the VRE ticket and parking free, so an occasional Uber ride isn't going to break the bank.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Gosh, what a bunch of crybabies.

When I graduated from school, mortgage interest rates were around 17 percent. So I got a roommate and just rented an apartment. When I bought my first house at age 30, the rates were 13 percent. I bought a simple, 3 bedroom 2bath house in a very working class neighborhood in the South. Fixed it up, held onto it until in tripled in value, then moved to an even lower cost area for my 4 bedroom, 3 bath home with lake access. I was 45.

We boomers bought small, waited, and moved up as the economy allowed.

Millennials want everything NOW and they want it to be HGTV perfect, with the perfect school district.

And they want avocado turkey Breast sandwiches with chai lemon iced tea and a chop salad for lunch . Netflix and Rock climbing gym with unlimited data plan with a hybrid engine.

And baby boomers want their pills cut into their mashed banana with metamucil mixed in. they want extra guard rails around the toilet in their room, and lfor their attendant to let them "win" at chess. Hey I guess everyone can play this game

But you are going to need that too. And we did without the finicky expensive habits of milennials.

Who knows, with the Health advances being made. And we're not there now, and you are. Now eat those bananas.

Nah we played outside as kids and processed foods didn't exist. Your sedentary computer lifestyle is diabetes central.

And and now you guys are old, wrinkly and obese. where did it all go so wrong?

I'm a millenial and you make no sense, you are embarrassing. People our age are fatter and unhealthier than ever before. I look at women in their early 20s with guts like middle aged men flapping over their low rise jeans.

And old people are fatter than ever before. Do you find it embarrassing when a baby boomer makes generalizations about diabetes and a "sedentary computer lifestyle"?

You sling insults about getting wrinkles and eating soft food, as if we millenials somehow will be able to avoid that. It was really silly and then you somehoe draw some conclusion that millenials will avoid aging due to medical advances.

I will say thougj, that there's no denying the sedentary modern lifestyle. You can't even compare the two generations on that account. I was justvin Orlando for a conference and felt like i was surrounded by the people from wall-e. These were young people like myself. Really gross.

Right… treatments for aging and life expectancy are expected to change over the next 50 years. I'm not sure why that would be a surprise to you but… Now you know.

Insults gets long at millennials all the time, even by there by our own age group as you demonstrate. So people can sling insults at us it goes both ways. That's life- deal with it.

Sure. While advances in aging process are possible they are much closer to a remote possibility rather than certainty. A lot of diseases that have been researched to death still have no cures. I would not count on being forever young.

Anonymous wrote:I was born in 86. DH was born in 83. We own 2 houses, one in Lorton and one in New York State that we rent.

We bought the house in Lorton with less than 20% down in 2012 for $500k. At the time, HBO was $150k, but it's now $260k. No big deal because it's appreciated almost $100k, and we can get PM I removed in a few months.

I bought a house at 24 that I sold and made $25k on, we used that and some other savings for down payment. House in Lorton was a fixer upper but plenty big for two kids. South County High School seems to be a decent school as well. We have a beautiful yard, plenty of space, and easy commute via VRE. I think because we were willing to live in an area that's not "hot", we were able to buy. I like it here though, neighbors are friendly and we've made lots of friends. So millenials, there is hope.

You both commute downtown trombone lorton on VRE? Do you have kids? VRE is fine if just one parent commutes, but since it only runs rush hour directions it is problematic if you need to be home earlier or go to work late bc of kid stuff. I guess the occasional 30 mile uber is cheaper than a more expensive mortgage?