Anonymous wrote:X'er here. eBought in 2004 on U street. Use the equity in that house and money from savings to buy another house in U, , then 2 in Adams Morgan and then 2 in Kalorama Triangle. Managed to do this before market collapse. Rented them all out and now out and now have over 30k of positive cash flow a month. Just have to look for opportunity and be decisive when you find it.

Timing is everything here. OP cannot bank on the same appreciation that happened on U St. from 2004 going forward.

You have the flexibility now to buy in an area that might not be super desirable, so use that to your advantage. Once you have kids, it gets harder to (1) put sweat equity into a house and (2) feel comfortable buying in an up and coming neighborhood. Right now you have the time and flexiblity. Use a first time homebuyers program.

Buy an undesirable house. That's what I did. It was on a busy street and in bad shape. I put in some sweat equity and looked on the bright side (I get plowed first!). It got me on the property ladder. Look for something other people don't want -- stale listing, further out, busy street -- you get the drift.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was 27 I was still living in a group house!

I bought my first house when I was 42 and my husband was 47. We had two kids and had rented up until then.

The world doesn't owe you a house.

+1 I was 40 when I purchased my house. I was divorced and had one child.

Let me ask you both a question? Does being so nasty come to you naturally?

The op NEVER said the world owes her a house. She is concerned that the timing has just not worked out for her and that she will never get ahead.

We have an entire social and financial system set up that encourages and rewards home ownership. Maybe it doesn't work out for everybody, but you two ninnies acting like this pressure/perception doesn't exist doesn't help.

Why not try less of an assholio response, like: "I know it sucks, but sometimes, the timing doesn't work out. Try not to let it get to you and make other good financial decisions so that someday it will work out."

Really consider why your default setting is to go ugly, while you're at it.

I'm wondering why you think it's so "nasty" to point out that plenty of people are not homeowners at age 27? SMDH. Maybe you need to really consider why your default setting is "outrage." Particularly when the observations you're so worked up about are completely reasonable ones.

OP didn't say she wants to be a homeowner now at 27. She is wondering how she is ever going to get her footing in the housing market though with rising interest rates and home prices increasing faster than many people can save.

I'm an older millennial and realize the job market is only getting tougher and income inequality is growing. Living at home into save money is only an option if you have family willing to house you who happen to live near enough to a job center where you can find work. Living off one person's income and saving the other only works if you meet your spouse early enough to do this. Counting on gentrification can be a gamble.

OP, my advice would be to find a cheap place to rent, pay off any debt, invest in index funds, and keep your eye on something small you can save for in a desirable area. Also, try to be ok with the fact many people don't buy their first place until their mid 30s or later. I am 32 and on the younger end of my homeowner friends, but DH is older and we both had some savings. We also moved a bit outside the beltway because we work in the suburbs and focused on a nice enough house with good schools and close to amenities.

Born in 1982. I have no intentions of ever buying a house while I'm young. 2008 was a real eye opener for me on the highly level of greed with the banks and the residential real-estate market. I've decided take the money that would've gone towards a house, invest in myself, start my own business and expand globally. Save up for more retirement, my kids colleges and for my travels. I'll consider buying retirement condo by the beach and probably not in the U.S and live in peace.

I'm at the very end of GenX. We bought a house in our early 20s because we cancelled our wedding and had a very small wedding with ten people. Didn't pay for a venue, had a friend take pictures, and the reception was dinner at a local restaurant.

Used wedding money to buy the first house in a transitioning neighborhood, in the suburbs. We slowly updated that house on our own, and finally sold for a decent profit after owning for 12 years. There were definitely times I wished we were still renting. Most of DCUM would never have given our house a second look -- bars on the windows and all.

Anonymous wrote:

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

That reminds me of this old Monty Python sketch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNfGyIW7aHM

How to rid the world of known diseases? Start by curing cancer!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

NP but granite countertops are like $3500. Chump change compared to housing prices.

Ohmylord. You don't get it. The granite countertops are just an example. You aren't going to get high end finishes on your first home. Some first time homebuyers have unrealistic expectations.

Anonymous wrote:Buy a house in north college park. The houses are cheap now but they will be going up because the area is on the metro and is undergoing redevelopment . It's convenient to everything and the purple line will be going in soon. You can get a house for 250k now .

Hello!
Opportunities are always available .

Anonymous wrote: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.

At 49 - I still don't have the close in single family house. Hey its life.

I bought further out and it was an older townhouse with only one full bath. I also had an interest rate over 7% at the time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was 27 I was still living in a group house!

I bought my first house when I was 42 and my husband was 47. We had two kids and had rented up until then.

The world doesn't owe you a house.

+1 I was 40 when I purchased my house. I was divorced and had one child.

Let me ask you both a question? Does being so nasty come to you naturally?

The op NEVER said the world owes her a house. She is concerned that the timing has just not worked out for her and that she will never get ahead.

We have an entire social and financial system set up that encourages and rewards home ownership. Maybe it doesn't work out for everybody, but you two ninnies acting like this pressure/perception doesn't exist doesn't help.

Why not try less of an assholio response, like: "I know it sucks, but sometimes, the timing doesn't work out. Try not to let it get to you and make other good financial decisions so that someday it will work out."

Really consider why your default setting is to go ugly, while you're at it.

I'm wondering why you think it's so "nasty" to point out that plenty of people are not homeowners at age 27? SMDH. Maybe you need to really consider why your default setting is "outrage." Particularly when the observations you're so worked up about are completely reasonable ones.

It's not the message; it is the way it is conveyed. Also, again, it is nasty to say "the world doesn't owe you a house" esp since the OP never indicated that she did. You could point things out without sniping, truly.

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.

I am a Gen X and graduated in 1991 during a recession so consider yourself lucky. My husband and I bought in a neighborhood that was considered edgy. It changed our real estate forecast b/c we made a ton when we sold it. Those opportunities are still there, but people don't want to sacrifice. I never expected live like my parents immediately.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was 27 I was still living in a group house!

I bought my first house when I was 42 and my husband was 47. We had two kids and had rented up until then.

The world doesn't owe you a house.

+1 I was 40 when I purchased my house. I was divorced and had one child.

Let me ask you both a question? Does being so nasty come to you naturally?

The op NEVER said the world owes her a house. She is concerned that the timing has just not worked out for her and that she will never get ahead.

We have an entire social and financial system set up that encourages and rewards home ownership. Maybe it doesn't work out for everybody, but you two ninnies acting like this pressure/perception doesn't exist doesn't help.

Why not try less of an assholio response, like: "I know it sucks, but sometimes, the timing doesn't work out. Try not to let it get to you and make other good financial decisions so that someday it will work out."

Really consider why your default setting is to go ugly, while you're at it.

I'm wondering why you think it's so "nasty" to point out that plenty of people are not homeowners at age 27? SMDH. Maybe you need to really consider why your default setting is "outrage." Particularly when the observations you're so worked up about are completely reasonable ones.

This is going to be a lame internet troll reply but some people enjoy being petty at any opportunity. I've noticed quite a few who make snipe-y comments no matter how benign the original post. My guess is that they have awesome lives, are multimillionaires and happy in every possible way.

The best way to deal is ignore. I'm an older millennial and waiting for a drop. Right now the markets are very weird because of QE and the Fed plans to unwind their balance sheet. No one knows how this will play out because it's uncharted territory. My advice is to live below your means, be frugal and hopefully you can buy into the market during the next sellers market. Keep improving yourself (ie get certs/masters) in lucrative fields and climb the job ladder as best you can. We will have our chance too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was 27 I was still living in a group house!

I bought my first house when I was 42 and my husband was 47. We had two kids and had rented up until then.

The world doesn't owe you a house.

+1 I was 40 when I purchased my house. I was divorced and had one child.

Let me ask you both a question? Does being so nasty come to you naturally?

The op NEVER said the world owes her a house. She is concerned that the timing has just not worked out for her and that she will never get ahead.

We have an entire social and financial system set up that encourages and rewards home ownership. Maybe it doesn't work out for everybody, but you two ninnies acting like this pressure/perception doesn't exist doesn't help.

Why not try less of an assholio response, like: "I know it sucks, but sometimes, the timing doesn't work out. Try not to let it get to you and make other good financial decisions so that someday it will work out."

Really consider why your default setting is to go ugly, while you're at it.

I'm wondering why you think it's so "nasty" to point out that plenty of people are not homeowners at age 27? SMDH. Maybe you need to really consider why your default setting is "outrage." Particularly when the observations you're so worked up about are completely reasonable ones.