At what age did you buy your first home ?

[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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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!

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[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! ;)

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[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.

[David Crow]

virang_21 wrote:

How long did it takes you to buy your first home ?

How long from when? Birth? Marriage? Time from paying earnest money to signing contract? Some other milestone? Regardless, my wife and I were both 25. Down payment was next to nothing since it was our first house; The bank didn't care.

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[Mark_Wallace]

I bought it when it was almost 60 years old, but I don't see how that information can help you.

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[R Giskard Reventlov]

23. It were different back then, what with 15%+ mortgages and then only if you actually had a relationship with the building society and at least a 10% deposit. Ah, magical days. TBF, the place was £19250 and I sold it 6 months later for £27500 (property shortage as I recall). But that was in 1873 and we all wore stovepipe hats. :)

[GenJerDan]

50. Sheesh.

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[stoneyowl2]

I am going on 64 and have never owned a home. Right now I do not see any advantage - if I have a problem, the landlord/owner pays for it, not me. BUT - the wife has her heart set on owning something, just so she can repaint, knock down walls, etc. I figure to buy in the next year, but do not expect to ever pay it off before I shuffle off the coil. If/when I retire, I would probably go to the Dominican Republic to buy, since that is where she was born, and my social security check would be considered upper middle class there.

[virang_21]

Michael Martin wrote:

Where in Oz are you?

Sydney

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[xiecsuk]

Good heavens, man. That is a fact that we, as men, have to learn very early in life. YOUR WIFE HAS TO MAKE ALL THE DECISIONS THAT AFFECT YOU BOTH, otherwise your marriage won't last long. I've been married for 53 years now and I haven't made an important decision in all that time. My wife even chooses what clothes I wear when we go out. It saves such a lot of arguments that way.

[jgakenhe]

Thank you. Yes, I have learned, the hard way! I won't make that mistake again.

[Member 9116320]

Bought first house at 35. Second house at 38. Now 58 and that house is paid for. With taxes, insurance, and maintenance payments never go away, but it's nice to not have a mortgage payment.

[Mark H2]

25 and the wife to be was 19, in the islands just across from the land down under. A small box on an undeveloped section for $64k. 1986 and interest rates were 20%. Most of our furniture was borrowed or cast-offs from family and friends. Life was exceedingly minimalistic for a year or two while I worked massive amounts of overtime and pumped it all into repayments. A few years later (while living/working in Melbourne and renting house) prices started to slump. Eventually sold, probably broke even. But after moving back to NZ, we've ended up (15 years ago) with a large old farmhouse on 2 acres we got for a shade over $300k, 10km from town (and 75km from work, so that's a fair bit of commuting each day). Value has seriously increased and am having to constantly tell the bank that no, I'm not really interested in buying more property - although a holiday home in France or Italy is on the wife's (same one) radar. There's no point looking at stuff you haven't a hope in hell of gathering a deposit for. Look further out even if you end up with a serious commute. Make a plan, figure out a budget for saving and stick to it. Nothing comes on a plate unless you inherit it.

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