At what age did you buy your first home ?

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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Ygnaiih

I was 25 and got a mortgage on a house the cost $17,500. that was around 44 years ago. Now that house is going for $100,000 US dollars. I'm looking at retirement now and a condo in Florida at around $70k. The state where I am working is a frozen hell.

Tom Deketelaere

I was 25 when I bought my current apartment. But I got very lucky, the place had been on the market a long time (so price went down) and was a dump. But had the right size (2 bedrooms). And I got a very cheap loan. I did spend 2.5 years renovating it together with my father but all worth it in the end.

Tom

Lost User

virang_21 wrote:

Sydney

I live in the North Western suburbs, Mount Druitt. I'm in the CBD working Thursdays and Fridays the next 3 weeks if you want to catch up for a coffee.

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PSU Steve

I was 30 when I bought my first house. I needed the tax break from the mortgage interest and was in the military so the housing allowance I received easily covered the monthly mortgage. I also got a VA loan so I needed just a tiny down payment. Got married six years later and the wife and I bought a much bigger house a year later. We kept my original house and rent it out for nearly twice the monthly mortgage. We've since purchased a third house which we rent to her parents.

loctrice

I was 28 - but I got the place from a guy I worked with and it needed work so he let it go at a good price. We just did the paperwork through a lawyer and left the banks out of it. I have a fixed rate loan on it and pay him directly. So, that means I didn't have a downpayment to make.

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curtisc89

I got mine at 24, I was lucky enough in the US we have a First Time Home Buyers loan which essentially trades the down payment for a bunch of smaller fees including mandatory inspections that must pass for the loan to approve, that totaled for me to about 1/5 of what a 20% down payment would be.

dannomanno

Good question, intriguing answers. Just as important as how much you earn is how much you spend. I worked since high school as much as possible and have always been a big saver, staying with my parents until about 28. At that point I could move out and buy myself a property. I paid off the mortgage aggressively (in less than 10 years) upon realizing bank interest was (and still is) near nothing I had little incentive to keep saving. I'd like a second/investment property but prices in my area (USA, Washington DC) are very high so instead I use my earnings to benefit my many siblings and their families. Life is good, and software development is a fine career.

maze3

im sure that counts as some criminal behaviour of lotting and property damage in which police can be involved?

agolddog

28. I assume you're in IT and make a better-than-average wage. Don't necessarily buy all the house you can, buy the house you need. My first house was a 50-year-old, 800-square-foot little place in a blue-collar neighborhood. I was able to pay ahead to gain equity and still have money left for other things. After a few years, you can move up if you desire. Another piece of advice is to have at least $5k (USD) extra laying about. Things just come up--whether it's painting before you move in, buying appliances, whatever. If you end up not using that, great, but it's nice to have just in case. It is nice to have that part of your finances at a (relatively) stable cost. As others have pointed out though, there are risks involved, both financial (something breaks, it's on you to fix) or mental (bad neighbors, etc).

jgakenhe

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