When did you buy your first house?

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Not to mention stable relationship. Hence why I just reiterated to my BIL buy a place ON YOUR OWN!

[abcfisher1]

I bought our first home 3-months before my wife and I were married. I was 28 and she was also. I was finished with school and working full time, she was still in undergrad with 1yr to go. We both decided to pay off our only debt which was our cars during the 1yr of our engagement. It was a great feeling to carry (I almost fell) my new bride into our first home. The house was only in my name for a short while before we added her. Because I took out the mortgage based solely on my income I only qualified for a small mortgage ($84,000). When she finished school 1yr later and started working full time, our income doubled. I refinanced from a 30yr mortgage to a 15yr mortgage with only a $110 increase in our monthly payment. That was 1997. We sold that house 2yrs ago for a nice profit and a huge down payment on our 2nd home. Worked for me

[feh]

My wife and I were 25.

[elessar78]

Yes, you need to have the money, but you need to be confident that you are ready to put down roots in that specific location.

This is probably self-explanatory question, but so if you're not sure you're going to settle down in a specific location then don't buy, right?

We live near my wife's parents but not confident about long term availability of jobs in the area. It's tough because home prices here are low so rental units are either of low quality or few and far between. We probably live in the best rental options in our area. We could easily afford a "starter house" but don't really want to go that route and not sure if we'll stay put for the next 5 years.

As I've mentioned before I feel there's a big stigma against being a "renter".

[frugalgirl]

This is probably self-explanatory question, but so if you're not sure you're going to settle down in a specific location then don't buy, right?

We live near my wife's parents but not confident about long term availability of jobs in the area. It's tough because home prices here are low so rental units are either of low quality or few and far between. We probably live in the best rental options in our area. We could easily afford a "starter house" but don't really want to go that route and not sure if we'll stay put for the next 5 years.

As I've mentioned before I feel there's a big stigma against being a "renter".

If you are not sure about the stability of jobs in the area, think about who would buy your house (if you bought one) if the job market collapsed in that area? Renting allows the flexibility to be financially unconstrained and free to move anywhere for new job opportunities. Personally, I feel you are being smart by continuing to rent.

Have you ever talked to a real estate agent about renting a house that is for sale? If houses aren't moving in your area, that may be a good option for both you and the homeowner.

[Like2Plan]

I think the cost of living in a particular area will also have some influence on the decision to buy.
When DH and I lived in the Los Angeles area, we rented. The apartment we rented was really nice and well kept up (It was a 2 story townhome and there were only 4 units with lots of nice lush landscaping). We looked at purchasing in the same area as our apartment and the houses were very, very expensive! The homes in our price range were smaller than our apartment and really, really old on small lots. ( We were only about a 5 min drive to/from work and we didn't want to have a terrible commute--so we only looked in the same area as our apartment). Also, DH's job was such that we didn't know when we might have to move. So, we just saved for a down payment.
When we moved to the Washington DC area, the cost of housing was less than L.A.--it almost seemed affordable. I was 30 when we purchased. We started out paying 9 7/8% interest (it was a very good rate back then)--refinaced the mortgage 3 times as the interest rates came down and finally paid off the mortgage a few years ago.

[LittleGopher]

My husband and I bought in 1988, and we were both 25. Our starter house is still our house!

Interest rates were high when we bought, so we went with an ARM, which luckily kept lowering for five years in a row, until we refinanced into a low rate 15 yr conventional, which we paid off a few years early (in time for the college years for our four girls!)

[asmom]

I was 25 and the husband was 27. The idea of buying a house was intimidating but I read a book for first-time homeowners that really demystified the process. We had a VA loan so we didn't have to put money down but even at that, the mortgage was less than the apartment rents we had been paying. We felt good about it because we made sure to get a home that we could afford on ony one income so it worked well for us. When we got our next home 3 years later, we kept the same philosophy and it has worked well for us as our mortgage payments are now less than 10% of our joint income. One of the few smart financial decisions we ever made.

[AshleyB]

We bought in 2004. I was 26 and my husband was 39. (But we weren't married yet.) He owned a house when we met, which he had bought in 2000. We took the profit from the sale on his house along with a gift from my dad and put it down on our current house.

[NolaP]

I just started looking to purchase my first condo or house, and I'm 31.

[GREENBACK]

I bought my first and only house in 1999. I still live in it. I lived in an apartment for about 6 yrs. while saving to put 20% down. It's 1800 sq. on a slab with a 1 acre wooded lot in the country. I got it for 75k which was a great deal. Previous owner had to move out of state for family reasons and priced it to sell. I'm glad I found it as My mortgage is pretty small and doesn't interfere with my other financial goals. No palace, but I'm happy with it.

[StepRightUp]

I just don't get the idea that paying rent is throwing money down the drain.

You pay money for goods and services. I pay my rent in exchange for living in one of the best cities in the country. I could not afford to buy in this town, so renting allows me to have a quality of life I would otherwise not have if my choices were buying or moving.

A mortgage is debt and with debt comes a huge amount of risk. So while you're paying your mortgage, you're in essence paying the bank for the service of "allowing" you to live in your home. Stop paying that mortgage before it's paid off and see how long the bank allows you to stay there.

I'm surrounded by friends who are buying houses. Some are in great financial shape, others in debt up to their eyeballs. I'm thankful that for right now I do not have that debt over my head.

But first and foremost, when I buy, it will be about improving my quality of life. If buying enables me to do that, AND I can afford to do so, then perhaps I'll make that decision.

But in the meantime, I am paying rent. And I am not throwing away money each month simply because having a place to live is as essential as having food to eat.

[thekid]

I was 30 and my wife was 29 (she already had a condo). We had been working for some 5 years and had saved a considerable cash down.

For us that worked well. We travelled and saved alot before buying the home and were ready to settle down (and financially well prepared) when we did.

[dbstylee]

I was 21 when I bought...made a killing before the market crash in Cali

[hausfrau]

I was 24 and my husband 28 (just 6 months ago LOL)

We really scraped by on the hairs of my chinny chin chin. We had nothing saved. We sold stuff to get the 3.5% FHA down payment. I feel like the whole thing was a miracle!
I know, I know.. we didn't have 20%..

But our principle & interest payment is $475 a month at 4.875%. Homes in my neighborhood rent for at least $1000.

I feel like we made the right decision to buy even though we didn't have 20%. When I go back to work and we have two incomes, I plan to throw my income at the mortgage. We could have the sucker paid off in two or three years!