At what age did you buy your first home ?

[Dmitriy Gakh]

40 years.

[DaveAuld]

I bought my first home when I was 25. Actually, I bought 2 flats and converted the building back into the original house over the course of approx 7 years before moving in! The property was owned by a mother and daughter. The daughter (in her 60s) owned the upper 2 floored flat, and the mother(80s) owned the ground floor flat. They had reached a point they were downsizing and put both on the market together. I was obviously fortunate enough to be in the heart of the Oil industry, so benefited from company share schemes etc. I dumped a load of them over the course of a few years to generate a deposit which was 26% of the purchase price of the properties, which meant that I also triggered a < 80% LTV band lower mortgage rate. I was also in no rush to move (was staying at parents and was offshore half the year), so after seeing the property and then noticing it wasn't selling because of the renovation work required, I made an offer 5% below market value and gave them 5 days to accept or I walked away. They accepted. I was also sensible in the fact I didn't cripple myself with an excessive mortgage, I only took 63% of what the bank offered me, and elected to fund the renovation progressively using maturing share schemes, and knowing that I could always go back to the bank for more mortgage if things became desperate. This meant that now, I could if I wanted, pay off my mortgage tomorrow, but because I am using an offset account, I am effectively interest free on the mortgage and can use my capital for other investments as I see fit. As the mortgage rates fell over time, I also did not lower my monthly payments, this means that now for every 3 months mortgage payments, I actually pay for 4. so the capital repayment falls quicker. In all I am currently forecasting to pay my mortgage off about 7 years early and saved about 12to15K in interest payments. And with the housing prices increase, it is now about 3.5 to 4x the original value. So, all I would say, is put a little aside each month (no matter how small) to get that deposit up, and then overpay or offset whenever possible.

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[Lost User]

Not buying one. I don't need the risc nor the overhead :)

Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^][](X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett)

[Mycroft Holmes]

30, but that was 30 years ago and I had help from the inlaws!

Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH

[PIEBALDconsult]

42 ?

[Duncan Edwards Jones]

40 - and it took a massive collapse in the housing market in Ireland before the bottom rung was within my reach.

[Lost User]

22 and was looking good to own it by 32. Then Missus turned the wastage meter up to a level I couldn't sustain. Never owned one since. Where in Oz are you? Should catch up for a drink.

Michael Martin Australia "I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible." - Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004

[Joan M]

I guess you've tried to speak with them about that... Could a sign and a fake or even real camera help? :sigh: what can make people behave that way?

[www.tamautomation.com] | Robots, CNC and PLC machines for grinding and polishing. [YouTube channel]

[chriselst]

27, but back then in the UK banks were offering 100% mortgages, and my brother was selling them, eased the process somewhat. Still in the same place, it has doubled in value over those 14 years, interest rates have been slashed, my salary has tripled. I'm still skint at the end of each month, but it's the wife, and to a lesser extent child, and this month dog, that are the cause of that.

Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.

[Wombaticus]

Perhaps you should add to your question: and did you have help (e.g. from parents, an inheritance, etc)?

"I'm never quite so stupid as when I'm being smart." - Linus van Pelt. "If you were as smart as you think you are, you wouldn't think you were so smart!" - Charlie Brown.

[Maximilien]

Bought my condo at 35. It was the right property at the the right location at the right price.

I'd rather be phishing!

[Sander Rossel]

25, but since it still had to be built at the time, and during the build it sort of sank in the ground because there has been a mistake in the foundation so they started over (no additional costs for me), I didn't go and live there until I was 27. I'm 28 now, I've been living here almost 1.5 years :D Prices in the Netherlands used to be very high, but we've got this weird system where you get a part of your mortgage rent back in taxes (mortgage relief). Which led to all sorts of weird mortgage types that fully exploited this tax break (like not paying your mortgage for 30 years and then pay the entire sum all at once, making you pay maximum rent, but also get maximum return). Many people also still have their "redemption-free" mortgage, a small (€50000) rest fee they don't have to pay so they'll keep paying rent, but also keep getting tax returns. It's a crazy system that was once meant to stimulate house sales. It costs the government A LOT of money and they want to stop it now. A lot of mortgage types are already banned, so in 28 years we'll have no weird mortgage types anymore (as the average mortgage length is 30 years). The tax return is also slowly getting less, but many people depend on this tax break so stopping it immediately would result in many people losing their homes. The last elections were all about the mortgage relief, were you for or against? That said, prices are still pretty high, depending on where you live. I live in a rural area and €200000 gives you a decent terraced house. In Rotterdam that same amount gives you a small apartment. In some neighborhoods it gives you nothing at all.

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Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. — Edsger W. Dijkstra

Regards, Sander

[Lost User]

Here where I live an appartment will cost you at least 200000 € and a house easily half a million. Renting is expensive as well, so the only realistic chance is to buy something small, rent it and use it to finance your next purchase, rent it as well and go on until your income as landlord easily pays for whatever you want to have. But of course, you need a little money to begin with.

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[jgakenhe]

I have thought of a camera with a motion detector. I don't know why people behave that way. I like to be left alone, so I leave people alone. A main problem of owning a house, you just can't get up and leave very easily or cheaply.

[Joan M]

Yes, the typical downsides of being an owner are: - not easy to relocate. - cross fingers not to have a bank problem. All the other things are (or should be) advantages... A pity your neighbors are giving you headaches... Good luck!

[www.tamautomation.com] | Robots, CNC and PLC machines for grinding and polishing. [YouTube channel]

[Roger Wright]

I was 31, and it took every bit of forced savings - putting loose change into a CD the wife couldn't touch for a year. At that, I could only afford a 50 year old, run down repo that leaked wind and cold. The loan payment took most of an entire paycheck, roughly half my income. Good luck to you! ;)

Will Rogers never met me.

[Marc Clifton]

I bought my first house with my then-wife when I was 33 or so. She had the money for the downpayment, I had the income for making the mortgage payments. After a relatively painless divorce, it was 20 years later (just this last December) that I bought a house again. It's a bit of a fixer-upper, but it's the right size for my girlfriend and I and two cats, it's by a beautiful stream, and we can walk to the Nature Conservancy just up the road. The mortgage payment is 1/2 what I was paying for rent for similarly sized place, and because I work remotely, I can live in rural New York where the housing costs are significantly lower than any urban or suburban area near any tech industries. Needed only 5% down (though I pay a PMI for that, but it's pretty small) and by making extra principle payments each month, I'm hoping to have it paid off in 15-20 years. Marc

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[Ravi Bhavnani]

29. /ravi

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[Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter]

To buy a house like the one I live in, I will have to save the same money I pay for rent over 50 years... So probably never...(and I'm 44 this year) (To be sure the bank will happily give me the money for a 30 year period, but in that case the payback will be 3 times my monthly rent...A kind of enslavement...)

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[Camilo Reyes]

27, and looking to pay off the mortgage outright after 6 years.