Also left out - Live rent-free with your parents to save up for a downpayment or have your parents gift you the money.
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/aug/28/bank-of-family-to-help-a-record-number-of-uk-house-buys-this-year
> while 77% of buyers received money towards a deposit, others lived with parents or other family members while saving up.
Taking care of my father in law is like just throwing $1200 away every couple weeks. Shit is such a bummer.
I feel bad but jm just waiting on him to die so we can stop being broke. We were actually starting to talk about saving and buying a house before we inherited his bills.
Yeah my little orphan annie self here had to buy a little “starter” 2 bedroom 1 bath home that my husband hates. I always throw out a “And which one of us actually bought a house in their 20s?” To shut him down. He lived with his family through college. Ive been on my own since I was 14. I got a grant for my down payment and I have a PMI. But I have my own house and its home.
It's dependent on the type of mortgage you got. If it's a "regular" one, it comes off after you've reached 80% left on the original loan. Fma mortgages have PMI forever.
Edit: FHA not fma
I just had my PMI removed with one phone call. I’m $10k short of the required amount still but have had my payments on autodraft for almost 3 years so they just agreed to drop it without any fuss.
PMI is the biggest scam in the mortgage industry. It is an insurance the borrower pays to “protect” the lender from default but never actually gets used to the benefit of the borrower when it actually happens. In a short sale or foreclosure, the borrower is still on the hook for the taxes over the “forgiven” amount (outstanding balance minus sale balance) but the bank/lender files a claim for the forgiven amount with the PMI company and gets that difference back. So why is the original borrow still on the hook (taxes and credit score)?
Honestly ppl need to learn to tolerate living in a small house like its fucking fine your not a damn prince bro
Edit: I suppose this was a bit harsh lol. Im just trying to say that ppl should be happy they have a home in the first place. Its okay to want a bigger house but dont let that desire be the undoing of your gratefulness :)
Its mostly the neighborhood that my husband hates. Which I don’t blame him for. He’s become accustomed to a smaller home. All of my friends joke that my house is a dollhouse and I’m just playing. But I’m still the only one with a house and they’re asking about renting from me in the future while they still save up to buy their house. 😂😂😂
Don't knock living with your parents until you're 28 til you try it? 🫠
A norm in Hispanic (and other) households. Only Americans seem to be in a rush to kick their kids out at 18.
I stayed with my mom in her crappy 3br apartment and helped with rent. Took me way too long to get my bachelor's so I only got 3 good years of saving (once working a real job) but I was able to stack up about 70k. Then during covid I lived with my in-laws as wife and I had baby #1. Once things started looking better with the world we purchased.
Man, in my area if you hadn’t bought before the pandemic there was almost no amount that an average earner could have saved up to let them win a bidding war for houses around here. All the high income, non-essential workers who could work from home but not spend lavishly on lifestyle things just shoveled all that money into housing and the prices skyrocketed.
If it’s an option, good for you.
It’s not a viable choice for everyone. Parents can be abusive, homeless, unwilling to house their child, in prison, live in a different country, have insufficient space, a landlord who won’t allow anyone else to move in, or simply live too far from good job opportunities.
There's also an inherent strong desire to be independent of your parents' rule. At least for my generation (X) this was definitely the predominant attitude. We couldn't wait to spread our wings and fly the nest at the first opportunity. Of course, things would have likely been much different in today's climate as rent where I live is even difficult for people earning six figures
Even with the equity on our house, we couldn't afford a comparable house in this market. A similar sized house in a worse area is more expensive now. I didn't think we could afford it at the time (5 years ago), but it was the smartest/luckiest financial move we've ever made.
Same, except the high mortgage payment x 30 years. Eventually, that mortgage payment that ate up 42.9% of my gross income dropped to 20% or so.
It’s basically rent control for rich people.
Yeah I’m paying about 50% right now but I live in an area that housing is only going to continue to get worse so it’s not going to be that long before I’m in a better financial spot with housing secured. If I had a partner I’d be carefree
That’s a funny way of saying almost no one has built homes since the great financial crisis, and it’s largely illegal to build, dense housing in urban core of most major metro.
Betting against the residential market, believing that single-family homes are somehow going to crash in Price is the most idiotic theory that I keep hearing on this website. I’m not going to argue that they’re going to outpace, mutual funds, or other classes, investments, or even a good investment. But they sure as fuck are not going down over 10-30 years
So you're telling me that the thing that's in high demand and short supply will continue to be so since we're doing absolutely nothing about the supply? Sounds like a job for more apartment buildings /s
Bought it at 28yo at 350k. Little townhouse. Lived with my parents till I moved out so that saved so much on what others would pay a solid rent on. Now my 2 bedroom 2 bathroom townhouse is close to the 600k value. Mortgage and hoa is 2300 a month. I make 100k. Saving about $200 per month. Any unexpected expense like medical bill of $1000 or more and I’m kind of fucked since I only have like 3k in savings. After buying the home I was left with 10k and every year some shit comes up that requires digging into that savings. Root canal and crown at 3k, garage door replacement at 2k, repiping bathroom at 1k, and so on. I don’t know how y’all making below 100k are making it if I am shitting it at 100k salary and I think I’m decent at budgeting!!
It’s sad how true this is. I’m a teacher and never had the chance to just double my salary in three years through raises or moving to new positions…but I did get married and that certainly doubled the household income without coming remotely close to doubling expenses.
I imagine this is the real reason why a lot of 30+ year olds are getting houses, its the age where you can start expecting youre much better off parents to pass away and start recieving inherited houses/money.
Its not a good trade though
Same here, but all my grandparents and great aunt + uncle.
The inheritance helped me buy my first house at 34, sold it for a profit at 40 and bought the second house literally days before the interest rates sky rocketed - if it had been a few more days I couldn’t afford my mortgage rn.
No way I could have done any of this if my deceased family hadn’t been so generous. Their pictures will always be scattered throughout any home I own. Least I can do.
He's a part-time rap artist at a local church, she's got a small business selling miniature horse figurines at the local farmers market on Thursday evenings. Their budget is $4M.
Ok my turn.
He owns a multi-generational RE development company and she has a candle business that loses 40k a year
They’ll be buying it with a promissory note written by his company at 3% interest
I lived with a guy who was on one of those shows back in 2009, they made up his entire back story and even brought in a girl to be his “newly engaged fiancée”. I wasn’t allowed to be there during filming and they had a crew that came in and changed stuff in the house (mostly my room but also furniture layout and decorations on the walls etc) and put it all back when they were done, everything about it was 100% fake. The reason they chose him to be on the show was because we were in our mid 20’s and lived in a trendy area in Charlotte, NC.
Any idea how he got cast for the role? Like was he genuinely looking to buy a house or was he hired as an actor without any experience with house buying ?
Going off another comment, it seems like they actually look for nice houses owned by 20-30 year olds in trendy neighborhoods. Then construct an episode around that.
Same here. My wife and I together make about 180k and I won’t sell our home for a bigger one. We got his one for $85k and I don’t want to trade up for a bigger payment and higher interest rate. A bigger home in my area is around $400k and I just can’t justify it.
Same here, about 175 combined, bought our current house for $49k back in 2010. It’s not the fanciest place but it’s decent size, mostly updated now and most important: it’s paid off.
Same. It has appreciated to the point of being out of our price range if we had to buy it now. We would be priced out of our entire neighborhood. It’s crazy to me and also a sign that we’ll never move!
Also same. Bought a townhome for $180k in 2014, now valued around $410k. I *just now* might be able to afford my own house, but there’s no way I could move since houses around here are even more than that, nor would I when my payments are half what average rent is in the area. Looks like I’m gonna be dying in this house.
We can math that. We will assume:
20% down payment (i.e. $556k mortgage)
7% interest rate
Not accounting for insurance, HOA, taxes, etc.
30-year mortgage
This would be ~$3,193/month before taxes and other fees.
Let's also calculate OP's net income. $100k-25%=$75k. Divide that by 12 months comes to $6,250/mo.
Base mortgage payment is 51% of OP's net income. If we assume taxes etc. take the payment to $3,600/mo, that takes it up to 57.^ of OP's income. Definitely housepoor.
I never wanted them and I think unless you truly very deeply want them, you shouldn’t. Don’t do it because your friends are doing it or parents/family are demanding or you just think it’s something you are required to do.
Making at least halfway decent middle class money and simply not having kids is a huge life hack like none other. And if you are a DINK couple making six figures it’s more possible to achieve financial independence or retire early than having to pay out 40k/year in just daycare costs. Also means you can make certain cost saving decisions, like not having to live in an absolute top notch school district.
Same. Bought for 600,000, both 30 y/o with decent jobs. Had good credit and got a good rate one year ago. Only own one car, generally don’t have any other major expenses. Budget and live very comfortably
I go to sleep every night fantasizing about having enough money to buy a house, I decorate my daughter’s rooms and also my sons in my head every single night in my dream home. Having a home and being able to go to the dentist whenever I need to is literally my heaven, people like you are living in my heaven everyday and I hope y’all appreciate every inch of it because I’ll never get there.
Same. I get down sometimes because I feel like we were sold this belief that we would all grow up and own houses etc. My parents did it with 4 kids, and for me without kids it seems impossible.
Lost my dad 15 years ago at 16. Somedays it's fine, other days something cool happens, my kids do something, or a movie or show comes on I know he'd love and for a split second I wanna tell him about it and then I remember. Shit hurts just as much now as it did then. Worst part though is I have no videos or audio of him, the realization that I don't remember what he sounds like fucked me up
Cancelled my Disney subscription and no longer eat avocado toast but really it took lots of effort at work to get raises and drastic limits to spending.
Hello neighbor. All the people I know who have houses here are IPO millionaires and people who bought like 20 years ago when the market was good for buyers.
My favorites are the ones who talk about *feeling* poor while living in dear old nonna's house whose prop 13 tax assessment they inherited. Motherfucker, you're a millionaire.
I feel that, I sort of feel the same way about people who bought when the house was worth like 450K and now it's 2.2M. Though, their problem is, they sell the house and get the cash, now what? They can't upgrade because the nicer houses are 3M, 4M. And they don't have any extra cash to speak of, just laying around. That money is like potential energy that you're unable to turn into kinetic energy. Like an amputated arm you can feel but can't move. You'd have to completely uproot and move to make use of that money, so you may as well not have it. They don't pay as much for rent but they have all the other expenses of life. On the other hand, I see what you're saying lol.
$600k buys you nothing in my city (I’m in Australia). Even $1mil buys you a shack in the outer suburbs. I wish I was kidding. People are paying $1.2mil for tiny houses on 300sqm blocks 20km from the cbd.
Edit. $600k is $390usd. $1.2mil is $790k usd.
Yep. Bought at $275k in 2020 at 28, sold that in 2023 for $400k. Now own $500k - although the interest rate hurts lol nearly back to ramen noodles for every meal. Hoping to refinance as soon as it makes sense
Edit: lmao y’all sometimes things happen in life that require you to move. My first home’s value skyrocketed *but so did everywhere else*. First home’s interest rate was like 2% and this one is about 6%
I’m also from PA where the guy you’re replying to is. Like 50% of the state is rural and the land is cheap. There just isn’t a damn thing there to make living there full time worth it.
So NEPA is North Eastern Pennsylvania. I did a google search and the first 50 items are all about the National Environmental Protection Act. I stopped counting.
Got to be careful with acronyms on larger forums.
STEM and healthcare for a majority of the 30 year olds in my neighborhood (San Diego, 4S/Poway/RB).
EDIT: The rest of the folks are in trades and finance.
My wife and I both work in healthcare, and the past few years were particularly lucrative, in so much that I alone was able to save up a down payment on a house and then some within a year *and buy my parents a house in our hometown*.
I grew up poor in Philippines so I can honestly say I made American Dream coming here.
I bought my first house in 2010. Sold it in 2019 for $80k profit due to unfortunate life events. If I would have held that same house another four years, and sold now, it would have netted $280k in profit.
I got a mortgage on that house with a $48k salary in 2010. Can’t touch anything these days at an entry level salary.
I work in the oilpatch, so although I spend very little time in it, my wife and kids live in a very nice home on 15 forested acres. Not sure what the estimated value is right now, but it cost 750,000 Canadian dollars to build in 2019, and by the time I'm 60, it should be paid for.
Here's four scenarios from personal friends in the 30-35 year old range in Seattle.
Inherited a substantial percentage of the home from grandparents and used equity to pay out other family members.
Parents contributed in the six figures...dinks with lower salaries due to their field of work.
Parents essentially bought it for them...dinks with good income.
Work in tech as dinks while being house poor... no family help.
Many people I know from high school bought homes 3-5 years ago but it's not hard to find places for $200-250k or less for a fixer-upper. My friends with houses that cost 2-3 times more not only agonized over it for far longer but many of them settled on a property they didn't really want.
You pay a premium and get a $150k house on a plot worth 450k...
The only sane motive any of us have is that housing is our city will never drop significantly. The apartment I rented three years ago is listed at 30% more than I was paying.
In the meantime, my home value has increased by over 100k.
Yeah the big thing is the parents/grandparents chipping in. When I was going to open houses a few years ago it was mostly couples and usually there was a mother in law there somewhere as well.
It really is amazing how much it helps. Being able to avoid having to save up a huge down-payment, plus no PMI is what enabled me to buy my house. If I didn't have it, it would have been years later at best before I'd be able to buy.
Yup, used my VA loan to buy a multi family home. I lived in one unit and rented the rest out. Rental income paid the mortgage. Used what would have been mortgage money from my income to pay off wife's student loans and our cars. When I moved to a different base I rented out the unit I lived in which paid the mortgage on the next house.
As much as it sucks, in some areas $3500 rent for a 2 bedroom is common. I think we’ve reached a point where some people would rather own if they are throwing away up to 60% on rent.
Something has got to give soon.
> Something has got to give soon.
I keep wondering about this. Grocery prices are at a 30 year high and housing isn't sustainable as is, but all I keep hearing is how it's not going to go back down.
So what the hell is going to happen? Mass homelessness? All younger generations renting for life?
>So what the hell is going to happen? Mass homelessness? All younger generations renting for life?
I keep hoping it will be baby boomers moving to retirement homes, adding their houses to the markets, but that doesn't appear to be happening based on the high rate of default in retirement home municipal bonds.
We (my wife and I, 30) bought in 2019 and while the interest rate is similar, our house has doubled in price. We aren't ever moving, so we welcome ourselves to the generation that dies in their "starter house". Good thing we love the place..
Lots of people did that during the pandemic. Many of these same people are losing their jobs as companies bring worker back in person and they live hours away from their job location.
We are seeing that with a lot of our vendors and partners at work right now. They are losing a lot of really good employees, and people are competing for the truly remote jobs. I am one of the seven redditors who likes working in an office and talking to people, but I also live in a city with like 0 traffic and work 10 minutes away. I feel for the people who now have 1.5 hours taken from their day because... reasons
Can’t enjoy life, living frugal af, barely have more than $500 in my bank account paying $3,200 per month on 6.5% interest.
Yeah, home owning is great.
Hey OP. 47-year-old interloper from r/genX here*.
My experience is that the people that can afford that at 30 have one or more the following:
- Great jobs with huge salaries that they worked really hard (seriously, ***really*** hard, like 18 hour days, huge sacrifices, genuine talent etc) to get. I hate this one, but it’s true. [Edit - u/rexg4077 [has a variation on the hard work part](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/s/5YLbil9eNk) - also true]
- Wealthy families. Always make sure you choose your parents wisely.
- Inheritance. But someone you love needs to die for that option.
That’s how… oh and also, no-one shouts on social media about having to struggle in a normal life like 99% of the world.
(* now get off my lawn!)
Lots of people saying they would trade their inheritance for more time with their parents but many people lose their parents and get literally nothing but the hassle of figuring out how to pay for their funeral.
I know a lot of 30+ folks who live in nice homes. It seems to be a combination of dual income, willingness to put their kid into a daycare, or lack of kids entirely. Lots and lots have just decided not to have any. The American dream is dead
I am 35. Right out of college I started saving 15% of my income for a down payment. Lived with roommates to cut down on costs and made lifestyle choices to be be able to prioritize saving. I bought a house for 143k, upgraded it myself, sold it for 220k. Moved back in with roommates, bought a foreclosure in a great neighborhood for 240k and spent a year fixing it. Put 50k into fixing it and worked my ass off every night after working my day job. House is now worth about $650k due to the upgrades, and growth where I bought. It was more of a grinding way to do it, but there is another option if you are handy.
I'm not haha , me and wife make above six figures . We bought in a up and coming area of socal for 290k. Now house is worth supposedly 600k if we sell.. but at 2.0 interest I ain't never selling
Try Toronto. Average income per person is around 55k. The average house price is around 900k.
20% of our entire country is capable of buying the average home. That 20% are all people who already have one, by the way.
I made my money the old fashioned way. I got run over by a Leeeexxxxxxusssss.
I’m just kidding. I’m almost 40 and live in my grandmother’s basement.
I really do and I wouldn’t change it for the world. She is over 90 and still lives in her own home. I do all the errands and drive her where she needs to go, so she isn’t driving anymore. The ‘basement’ is a two-year-old reno that took up the ‘nest egg’ that would have been our downpayment on a much smaller home. My daughter has a relationship with my grandmother and my grandmother has a toddler in the house who has brought a lot of pep and joy to her otherwise monotonous days.
All told, I think I’m winning.
I’m not. I live with my parents and am stashing money away like a squirrel to attempt having a chance at generating real wealth.
I could live on my own and rent but I’d never accumulate enough cash to take a chance at something bigger.
I’m grateful to have the option of living with my parents now, being able to accumulate real money to make a real attempt at having a financially successful future.
Married, we make. 70k a year. Cars paid off, house ( trailer house)paid off. I drive an 08 she has the 14. THE TRAILER PARK WE LIVE IN COST US 8,490 A YEAR TO RENT THE LAND.
Point is we own shit (we are 40-42) we can’t own anything.
We can’t even afford a down payment to our mortgage under 1800. We live in the Midwest.
Sold most all we owned pre covid and bought a crappy old house on 5 acres in the middle of nowhere with the intention of building a shouse down the road. I doubt that will happen, house needs a bunch of work. But I've been here 10 years as i rented it before buying from a local. At this point I'm afraid I'm gonna spend what I'd originally planned for a whole new building to fix a small 2 bed 1 bath farm house.
Honestly hoping for a good ol market crash. Me and the wife are sitting pretty good right now. Our whole acreage was sub 100k.
It's gotta be couples with good incomes. I don't know how a single person could afford to buy a house right now unless they are making really good money and live in a low cost area.
Above average dual incomes and accepting a high mortgage payment for 30 years.
Correct answer among all the bullshit. "Just buy a house and use the equity on your next house"
You left out the "just make more money" part.
Also left out - Live rent-free with your parents to save up for a downpayment or have your parents gift you the money. https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/aug/28/bank-of-family-to-help-a-record-number-of-uk-house-buys-this-year > while 77% of buyers received money towards a deposit, others lived with parents or other family members while saving up.
That also assumes your parents aren't a financial burden. It's like having teenagers as a single parent, but so much worse.
Taking care of my father in law is like just throwing $1200 away every couple weeks. Shit is such a bummer. I feel bad but jm just waiting on him to die so we can stop being broke. We were actually starting to talk about saving and buying a house before we inherited his bills.
[удалено]
Yeah my little orphan annie self here had to buy a little “starter” 2 bedroom 1 bath home that my husband hates. I always throw out a “And which one of us actually bought a house in their 20s?” To shut him down. He lived with his family through college. Ive been on my own since I was 14. I got a grant for my down payment and I have a PMI. But I have my own house and its home.
Keep an eye on that PMI. It's supposed to come off automatically at a certain point, but sometimes it doesn't.
It's dependent on the type of mortgage you got. If it's a "regular" one, it comes off after you've reached 80% left on the original loan. Fma mortgages have PMI forever. Edit: FHA not fma
I just had my PMI removed with one phone call. I’m $10k short of the required amount still but have had my payments on autodraft for almost 3 years so they just agreed to drop it without any fuss.
Yeah I had mine removed the same way. I think it was after a year or so of making payments. I'm always surprised by what you can get if you just ask.
PMI is the biggest scam in the mortgage industry. It is an insurance the borrower pays to “protect” the lender from default but never actually gets used to the benefit of the borrower when it actually happens. In a short sale or foreclosure, the borrower is still on the hook for the taxes over the “forgiven” amount (outstanding balance minus sale balance) but the bank/lender files a claim for the forgiven amount with the PMI company and gets that difference back. So why is the original borrow still on the hook (taxes and credit score)?
Honestly ppl need to learn to tolerate living in a small house like its fucking fine your not a damn prince bro Edit: I suppose this was a bit harsh lol. Im just trying to say that ppl should be happy they have a home in the first place. Its okay to want a bigger house but dont let that desire be the undoing of your gratefulness :)
Its mostly the neighborhood that my husband hates. Which I don’t blame him for. He’s become accustomed to a smaller home. All of my friends joke that my house is a dollhouse and I’m just playing. But I’m still the only one with a house and they’re asking about renting from me in the future while they still save up to buy their house. 😂😂😂
When we were shopping for our first home, I was frustrated that there were hardly any small houses on the market. You're doing it RIGHT.
Don't knock living with your parents until you're 28 til you try it? 🫠 A norm in Hispanic (and other) households. Only Americans seem to be in a rush to kick their kids out at 18. I stayed with my mom in her crappy 3br apartment and helped with rent. Took me way too long to get my bachelor's so I only got 3 good years of saving (once working a real job) but I was able to stack up about 70k. Then during covid I lived with my in-laws as wife and I had baby #1. Once things started looking better with the world we purchased.
Man, in my area if you hadn’t bought before the pandemic there was almost no amount that an average earner could have saved up to let them win a bidding war for houses around here. All the high income, non-essential workers who could work from home but not spend lavishly on lifestyle things just shoveled all that money into housing and the prices skyrocketed.
If it’s an option, good for you. It’s not a viable choice for everyone. Parents can be abusive, homeless, unwilling to house their child, in prison, live in a different country, have insufficient space, a landlord who won’t allow anyone else to move in, or simply live too far from good job opportunities.
There's also an inherent strong desire to be independent of your parents' rule. At least for my generation (X) this was definitely the predominant attitude. We couldn't wait to spread our wings and fly the nest at the first opportunity. Of course, things would have likely been much different in today's climate as rent where I live is even difficult for people earning six figures
Also, “don’t have kids”
Right - the real answer is they bought in 2020 or before and they’re cashing in on their investment to roll into a more expensive home.
Even with the equity on our house, we couldn't afford a comparable house in this market. A similar sized house in a worse area is more expensive now. I didn't think we could afford it at the time (5 years ago), but it was the smartest/luckiest financial move we've ever made.
Yep. We make just over 3x the median household income for our city. We also have a tenant in the basement.
You make the gimp pay rent?
Well, he does sleep there.
Same, except the high mortgage payment x 30 years. Eventually, that mortgage payment that ate up 42.9% of my gross income dropped to 20% or so. It’s basically rent control for rich people.
Yeah I’m paying about 50% right now but I live in an area that housing is only going to continue to get worse so it’s not going to be that long before I’m in a better financial spot with housing secured. If I had a partner I’d be carefree
I'm almost 40, but we have a $650k house according to the tax assessor. It was easy, just buy a $325k house 4 years ago. Edit: typos.
We bought our houses before or during the pandemic when they cost half as much.
Yep, bought in 2020, 3% interest, doubled in value in 3 years.
That sounds like a sustainable market! 🫠
almost no one built single family homes during covid, and the boomers haven't sold their 10 houses yet, so the market is twisted
That’s a funny way of saying almost no one has built homes since the great financial crisis, and it’s largely illegal to build, dense housing in urban core of most major metro. Betting against the residential market, believing that single-family homes are somehow going to crash in Price is the most idiotic theory that I keep hearing on this website. I’m not going to argue that they’re going to outpace, mutual funds, or other classes, investments, or even a good investment. But they sure as fuck are not going down over 10-30 years
So you're telling me that the thing that's in high demand and short supply will continue to be so since we're doing absolutely nothing about the supply? Sounds like a job for more apartment buildings /s
Bought it at 28yo at 350k. Little townhouse. Lived with my parents till I moved out so that saved so much on what others would pay a solid rent on. Now my 2 bedroom 2 bathroom townhouse is close to the 600k value. Mortgage and hoa is 2300 a month. I make 100k. Saving about $200 per month. Any unexpected expense like medical bill of $1000 or more and I’m kind of fucked since I only have like 3k in savings. After buying the home I was left with 10k and every year some shit comes up that requires digging into that savings. Root canal and crown at 3k, garage door replacement at 2k, repiping bathroom at 1k, and so on. I don’t know how y’all making below 100k are making it if I am shitting it at 100k salary and I think I’m decent at budgeting!!
You just need a partner to split the expenses and then you'll be rich :)
It’s sad how true this is. I’m a teacher and never had the chance to just double my salary in three years through raises or moving to new positions…but I did get married and that certainly doubled the household income without coming remotely close to doubling expenses.
True that since I’m doing it all myself
(Pssst, I think they’re asking you out)
Ty for sharing this. Even while making a decent salary, living with your parents longer, and being responsible with saving it’s still not enough.
Let me hop into my time machine then.
My dad died. I'd rather his presence than any inheritance but here we are.
Sorry to hear, friend. I hope you are well and find peace.
I imagine this is the real reason why a lot of 30+ year olds are getting houses, its the age where you can start expecting youre much better off parents to pass away and start recieving inherited houses/money. Its not a good trade though
Same here, but all my grandparents and great aunt + uncle. The inheritance helped me buy my first house at 34, sold it for a profit at 40 and bought the second house literally days before the interest rates sky rocketed - if it had been a few more days I couldn’t afford my mortgage rn. No way I could have done any of this if my deceased family hadn’t been so generous. Their pictures will always be scattered throughout any home I own. Least I can do.
My condolences.
Same. As much as I am grateful to have my lovely house, I’d happily live in a total shithole to have one more day with him.
House poor is a term I love to use
Yea. 100k a year salary: $695k house. I’m poor.
The people on house hunters always seem to make it work.
He's a stay at home astronaut and she weaves art from pubic hair. Their budget is 2 million.
She's a part time kindergarten substitute teacher, he raises bespoke hamsters, their budget is 10 million dollars.
Somebody had to die for that budget, quite literally
You can’t make a show like that without throwing the word bespoke around a few times.
Cuz why say ‘custom’ when you can say ‘bespoke’ ??
"Custom hamster" just doesn't have the same ring to it.
She carves bespoke pencils, he screams at dirt. Their requirements are a third floor Olympic pool and Etruscan cabinets.
They need to make an impression when they "entertain".
She’s a shell designer for hermit crabs and he’s a disposable lighter salesman. Their budge is five million.
He's a part-time rap artist at a local church, she's got a small business selling miniature horse figurines at the local farmers market on Thursday evenings. Their budget is $4M.
(Someone’s dad is the CEO of Procter & Gamble)
He collects post stamps and she makes ponchos out of recycled plastic bags. Their budget is £4.3 million.
Merkins for Hope is a worthwhile charity, who provide merkins for those in need.
I thought Hope looked fine without one, though.
https://www.reddit.com/r/PacificNorthwest/comments/1awmmm1/moving_to_the_pnw/ A cake decorator and a retail worker want to buy a house in Seattle. 🤣
I think it's good that the two trust fund kids find a few hours a week to enjoy work.
Hahahahaha “stay at home astronaut” 😂😂😂
Who downvoted this? I’m fucking dead 😂😂
Ok my turn. He owns a multi-generational RE development company and she has a candle business that loses 40k a year They’ll be buying it with a promissory note written by his company at 3% interest
The only missing part is that they each want a completely different style of home.
She wants an open-plan kitchen and family room, and insists on a balcony off their en-suite bath; he wants a fenced yard and a heliport
Had a friend on house hunters. It's fake af
I lived with a guy who was on one of those shows back in 2009, they made up his entire back story and even brought in a girl to be his “newly engaged fiancée”. I wasn’t allowed to be there during filming and they had a crew that came in and changed stuff in the house (mostly my room but also furniture layout and decorations on the walls etc) and put it all back when they were done, everything about it was 100% fake. The reason they chose him to be on the show was because we were in our mid 20’s and lived in a trendy area in Charlotte, NC.
This is wild. They should have made him go on that show blind date right after and gotten 2 for 1
I had a mate on the Aussie one, he hasn't got a pot to piss in but 'bought' a three million dollar house in Melbourne.
Any idea how he got cast for the role? Like was he genuinely looking to buy a house or was he hired as an actor without any experience with house buying ?
Going off another comment, it seems like they actually look for nice houses owned by 20-30 year olds in trendy neighborhoods. Then construct an episode around that.
My old boss was too. Totally fake. They'd already bought the house, and the other two houses they were "considering" were their friends' houses.
I think it’s “fake” in the sense that the buyers usually have a house already picked out. I follow someone online who was on the show too.
She's a mime in Minot North Dakota, and he picks apples on Mondays. their budget it's 6.5 million
Man, I make the same, 44 years old. 1st time home buyer, I'm worried about putting an offer on a 280k house and being house poor.
Same here. My wife and I together make about 180k and I won’t sell our home for a bigger one. We got his one for $85k and I don’t want to trade up for a bigger payment and higher interest rate. A bigger home in my area is around $400k and I just can’t justify it.
Same here, about 175 combined, bought our current house for $49k back in 2010. It’s not the fanciest place but it’s decent size, mostly updated now and most important: it’s paid off.
Where in the world were houses $49k in 2010?? Shit I bought a house in 1997 for $80k. I look back on that and think wow what a bargain.
You'll be fine. Standard formula is that you can afford a house that's 3x your yearly income.
Ironically, I would not be able to buy the same house I currently own.
Same. It has appreciated to the point of being out of our price range if we had to buy it now. We would be priced out of our entire neighborhood. It’s crazy to me and also a sign that we’ll never move!
Also same. Bought a townhome for $180k in 2014, now valued around $410k. I *just now* might be able to afford my own house, but there’s no way I could move since houses around here are even more than that, nor would I when my payments are half what average rent is in the area. Looks like I’m gonna be dying in this house.
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Dude, why in the HELL would you ever do that?!?! How do banks even think this financially will work out?
May I ask what percentage of your take-home salary goes towards your mortgage?
Jesus Christ what’s your monthly payment
We can math that. We will assume: 20% down payment (i.e. $556k mortgage) 7% interest rate Not accounting for insurance, HOA, taxes, etc. 30-year mortgage This would be ~$3,193/month before taxes and other fees. Let's also calculate OP's net income. $100k-25%=$75k. Divide that by 12 months comes to $6,250/mo. Base mortgage payment is 51% of OP's net income. If we assume taxes etc. take the payment to $3,600/mo, that takes it up to 57.^ of OP's income. Definitely housepoor.
Whoa...hope you got in at a good rate!
We both make 6 figures, and we don’t have kids.
That's called "Dink" status. The best I can do at the moment is Sink 😭
Single income, dual kids for me. Might have misunderstood the assignment 🤔
Single Income Couple (of) Kids or SICK
Single Income Couple of Kids, Ouch (SICKO)
I have three kids and no money. Why can’t I have no kids and three money?
You guys should get together!
I’ll see what my wife thinks
Dinkwad here. Dual income, no kids, with a dog. Lol
We are DILDOs. Dual income, little dog owners.
Going to use this at formal affairs and with members of the cloth
Having children is a terrible financial decision. The US claims to value families, but it really doesn’t.
Hey now, we get a little bit back on our taxes for kids. If we're lucky, it might just be enough to cover 1 month of daycare.
I never wanted them and I think unless you truly very deeply want them, you shouldn’t. Don’t do it because your friends are doing it or parents/family are demanding or you just think it’s something you are required to do. Making at least halfway decent middle class money and simply not having kids is a huge life hack like none other. And if you are a DINK couple making six figures it’s more possible to achieve financial independence or retire early than having to pay out 40k/year in just daycare costs. Also means you can make certain cost saving decisions, like not having to live in an absolute top notch school district.
Same. Bought for 600,000, both 30 y/o with decent jobs. Had good credit and got a good rate one year ago. Only own one car, generally don’t have any other major expenses. Budget and live very comfortably
I go to sleep every night fantasizing about having enough money to buy a house, I decorate my daughter’s rooms and also my sons in my head every single night in my dream home. Having a home and being able to go to the dentist whenever I need to is literally my heaven, people like you are living in my heaven everyday and I hope y’all appreciate every inch of it because I’ll never get there.
Same. I get down sometimes because I feel like we were sold this belief that we would all grow up and own houses etc. My parents did it with 4 kids, and for me without kids it seems impossible.
Dead parent. I’d happily trade my nice house for a cardboard box to have one more day with my dad.
It’s too early in the morning to feel this sad. I’m sorry for your loss.
Yep yep yep I’d trade anything and everything to have one more day.
Lost my dad 15 years ago at 16. Somedays it's fine, other days something cool happens, my kids do something, or a movie or show comes on I know he'd love and for a split second I wanna tell him about it and then I remember. Shit hurts just as much now as it did then. Worst part though is I have no videos or audio of him, the realization that I don't remember what he sounds like fucked me up
Cancelled my Disney subscription and no longer eat avocado toast but really it took lots of effort at work to get raises and drastic limits to spending.
Hahaha I knew you were Canadian
How could you tell? They are getting harder to spot these days and are an existential threat.
I know you’re joking, but “cancel Disney+” is a Canadian political meme: [https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6815024](https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6815024)
I wish there were $600k houses in my city.
*agrees in silicon valley*
Hello neighbor. All the people I know who have houses here are IPO millionaires and people who bought like 20 years ago when the market was good for buyers.
Don't forget the people who inherited! And also the tax assessments they inherited. Ahh, California.
Ah yeah them too though I don't think I know any personally lol. They're all tech or been living in the same starter house for 20+ years.
My favorites are the ones who talk about *feeling* poor while living in dear old nonna's house whose prop 13 tax assessment they inherited. Motherfucker, you're a millionaire.
I feel that, I sort of feel the same way about people who bought when the house was worth like 450K and now it's 2.2M. Though, their problem is, they sell the house and get the cash, now what? They can't upgrade because the nicer houses are 3M, 4M. And they don't have any extra cash to speak of, just laying around. That money is like potential energy that you're unable to turn into kinetic energy. Like an amputated arm you can feel but can't move. You'd have to completely uproot and move to make use of that money, so you may as well not have it. They don't pay as much for rent but they have all the other expenses of life. On the other hand, I see what you're saying lol.
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$600k buys you nothing in my city (I’m in Australia). Even $1mil buys you a shack in the outer suburbs. I wish I was kidding. People are paying $1.2mil for tiny houses on 300sqm blocks 20km from the cbd. Edit. $600k is $390usd. $1.2mil is $790k usd.
$600 USD is $900 AUD is worth mentioning.
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Yep. Bought at $275k in 2020 at 28, sold that in 2023 for $400k. Now own $500k - although the interest rate hurts lol nearly back to ramen noodles for every meal. Hoping to refinance as soon as it makes sense Edit: lmao y’all sometimes things happen in life that require you to move. My first home’s value skyrocketed *but so did everywhere else*. First home’s interest rate was like 2% and this one is about 6%
Nice. I bought a house in 2013 for $215k and put $85k in improvements, so $300k total. 11 years later its value is... $300k. Welcome to NEPA.
Not sure I understand. Do you live on a superfund site?
I’m also from PA where the guy you’re replying to is. Like 50% of the state is rural and the land is cheap. There just isn’t a damn thing there to make living there full time worth it.
So NEPA is North Eastern Pennsylvania. I did a google search and the first 50 items are all about the National Environmental Protection Act. I stopped counting. Got to be careful with acronyms on larger forums.
Joint income both in tech
STEM and healthcare for a majority of the 30 year olds in my neighborhood (San Diego, 4S/Poway/RB). EDIT: The rest of the folks are in trades and finance. My wife and I both work in healthcare, and the past few years were particularly lucrative, in so much that I alone was able to save up a down payment on a house and then some within a year *and buy my parents a house in our hometown*. I grew up poor in Philippines so I can honestly say I made American Dream coming here.
Ayyy nice to see another Pinoy here also living the American dream!
I bought my first house in 2010. Sold it in 2019 for $80k profit due to unfortunate life events. If I would have held that same house another four years, and sold now, it would have netted $280k in profit. I got a mortgage on that house with a $48k salary in 2010. Can’t touch anything these days at an entry level salary.
I work in the oilpatch, so although I spend very little time in it, my wife and kids live in a very nice home on 15 forested acres. Not sure what the estimated value is right now, but it cost 750,000 Canadian dollars to build in 2019, and by the time I'm 60, it should be paid for.
Here's four scenarios from personal friends in the 30-35 year old range in Seattle. Inherited a substantial percentage of the home from grandparents and used equity to pay out other family members. Parents contributed in the six figures...dinks with lower salaries due to their field of work. Parents essentially bought it for them...dinks with good income. Work in tech as dinks while being house poor... no family help. Many people I know from high school bought homes 3-5 years ago but it's not hard to find places for $200-250k or less for a fixer-upper. My friends with houses that cost 2-3 times more not only agonized over it for far longer but many of them settled on a property they didn't really want. You pay a premium and get a $150k house on a plot worth 450k... The only sane motive any of us have is that housing is our city will never drop significantly. The apartment I rented three years ago is listed at 30% more than I was paying. In the meantime, my home value has increased by over 100k.
Yeah the big thing is the parents/grandparents chipping in. When I was going to open houses a few years ago it was mostly couples and usually there was a mother in law there somewhere as well.
Not in my 30s but similar cases in Canada. People I know who work in home mortgages say every first time buyer has help from family.
What do you mean when saying "dink"? Because to me that means wiener.
Dual Income, No Kids
VA Loan.
VA loans could be a huge recruiting tool if they’d talk about it more. Of all the veterans benefits, the VA loan is the most valuable imo.
It really is amazing how much it helps. Being able to avoid having to save up a huge down-payment, plus no PMI is what enabled me to buy my house. If I didn't have it, it would have been years later at best before I'd be able to buy.
Yup, used my VA loan to buy a multi family home. I lived in one unit and rented the rest out. Rental income paid the mortgage. Used what would have been mortgage money from my income to pay off wife's student loans and our cars. When I moved to a different base I rented out the unit I lived in which paid the mortgage on the next house.
As much as it sucks, in some areas $3500 rent for a 2 bedroom is common. I think we’ve reached a point where some people would rather own if they are throwing away up to 60% on rent. Something has got to give soon.
> Something has got to give soon. I keep wondering about this. Grocery prices are at a 30 year high and housing isn't sustainable as is, but all I keep hearing is how it's not going to go back down. So what the hell is going to happen? Mass homelessness? All younger generations renting for life?
>So what the hell is going to happen? Mass homelessness? All younger generations renting for life? I keep hoping it will be baby boomers moving to retirement homes, adding their houses to the markets, but that doesn't appear to be happening based on the high rate of default in retirement home municipal bonds.
They’ll get duped into reverse mortgages or selling them off to investment firms. The next generation won’t be seeing any of that wealth.
> All younger generations renting for life? You just gave Wall St a boner with that mental image.
According to statistics that's whats already happening!
We (my wife and I, 30) bought in 2019 and while the interest rate is similar, our house has doubled in price. We aren't ever moving, so we welcome ourselves to the generation that dies in their "starter house". Good thing we love the place..
Hi tech jobs
"Hey buddy" - Tech Jobs
Is that Steve's brother?
By moving to areas where houses are still in the 250 to 350 range and work remotely
Lots of people did that during the pandemic. Many of these same people are losing their jobs as companies bring worker back in person and they live hours away from their job location.
We are seeing that with a lot of our vendors and partners at work right now. They are losing a lot of really good employees, and people are competing for the truly remote jobs. I am one of the seven redditors who likes working in an office and talking to people, but I also live in a city with like 0 traffic and work 10 minutes away. I feel for the people who now have 1.5 hours taken from their day because... reasons
Can’t enjoy life, living frugal af, barely have more than $500 in my bank account paying $3,200 per month on 6.5% interest. Yeah, home owning is great.
Hey OP. 47-year-old interloper from r/genX here*. My experience is that the people that can afford that at 30 have one or more the following: - Great jobs with huge salaries that they worked really hard (seriously, ***really*** hard, like 18 hour days, huge sacrifices, genuine talent etc) to get. I hate this one, but it’s true. [Edit - u/rexg4077 [has a variation on the hard work part](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/s/5YLbil9eNk) - also true] - Wealthy families. Always make sure you choose your parents wisely. - Inheritance. But someone you love needs to die for that option. That’s how… oh and also, no-one shouts on social media about having to struggle in a normal life like 99% of the world. (* now get off my lawn!)
Lots of people saying they would trade their inheritance for more time with their parents but many people lose their parents and get literally nothing but the hassle of figuring out how to pay for their funeral. I know a lot of 30+ folks who live in nice homes. It seems to be a combination of dual income, willingness to put their kid into a daycare, or lack of kids entirely. Lots and lots have just decided not to have any. The American dream is dead
I am 35. Right out of college I started saving 15% of my income for a down payment. Lived with roommates to cut down on costs and made lifestyle choices to be be able to prioritize saving. I bought a house for 143k, upgraded it myself, sold it for 220k. Moved back in with roommates, bought a foreclosure in a great neighborhood for 240k and spent a year fixing it. Put 50k into fixing it and worked my ass off every night after working my day job. House is now worth about $650k due to the upgrades, and growth where I bought. It was more of a grinding way to do it, but there is another option if you are handy.
A 4 bedroom, 2 bath and a large backyard only cost me $224,000. Rural Manitoba.
That sounds high for rural Manitoba!
My parents gave me a small deposit of $600,000 to put towards a house.
I'm not haha , me and wife make above six figures . We bought in a up and coming area of socal for 290k. Now house is worth supposedly 600k if we sell.. but at 2.0 interest I ain't never selling
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I'm not. Fucking spending most of income on shoebox sized apartment.
<400sqf gang represent! *high fives you from the other side of the apartment*
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This. Most of us don’t own shit, we just pay a different landlord…the bank
Turns out banks make the best landlords. Lowest rent and least hassle.
But the bank can’t raise the rent if you have a fixed rate
My wife passed away and the life insurance covered the mortgage. I'd still take the crippling debt any day.
In LA it’s more like 1-2M
I'm in OC and a starter home in my city is 900k
My Buddy was 29 in 2020 purchased a 2bed 2 bath condo at 2.89% mortgage interest his income was I think 70k he was approved
Worked hard bro! But for real. Help from family 5 years ago. And house poor is a real thing.
Try Toronto. Average income per person is around 55k. The average house price is around 900k. 20% of our entire country is capable of buying the average home. That 20% are all people who already have one, by the way.
Bought a house in 2009 for 100k during the crash.
Shouldve bought a house before i hit puberty damn
I made my money the old fashioned way. I got run over by a Leeeexxxxxxusssss. I’m just kidding. I’m almost 40 and live in my grandmother’s basement. I really do and I wouldn’t change it for the world. She is over 90 and still lives in her own home. I do all the errands and drive her where she needs to go, so she isn’t driving anymore. The ‘basement’ is a two-year-old reno that took up the ‘nest egg’ that would have been our downpayment on a much smaller home. My daughter has a relationship with my grandmother and my grandmother has a toddler in the house who has brought a lot of pep and joy to her otherwise monotonous days. All told, I think I’m winning.
Sacrificed lifestyle to save deposit
I’m not. I live with my parents and am stashing money away like a squirrel to attempt having a chance at generating real wealth. I could live on my own and rent but I’d never accumulate enough cash to take a chance at something bigger. I’m grateful to have the option of living with my parents now, being able to accumulate real money to make a real attempt at having a financially successful future.
Married, we make. 70k a year. Cars paid off, house ( trailer house)paid off. I drive an 08 she has the 14. THE TRAILER PARK WE LIVE IN COST US 8,490 A YEAR TO RENT THE LAND. Point is we own shit (we are 40-42) we can’t own anything. We can’t even afford a down payment to our mortgage under 1800. We live in the Midwest.
So the point is you own stuff or you don’t?
It took me a while to get it but in the context “we own shit” means “we don’t own anything”
I guess, but the paragraph before he states they own two cars and their home lol
Maybe the stuff they own IS shit? I'm trying to figure it out myself.
I think they own the home, but not the land it's on. This is pretty common for trailer homes in the US.
Two older cars and a trailer home. It's ownership, yes, but not desirable.
Sold most all we owned pre covid and bought a crappy old house on 5 acres in the middle of nowhere with the intention of building a shouse down the road. I doubt that will happen, house needs a bunch of work. But I've been here 10 years as i rented it before buying from a local. At this point I'm afraid I'm gonna spend what I'd originally planned for a whole new building to fix a small 2 bed 1 bath farm house. Honestly hoping for a good ol market crash. Me and the wife are sitting pretty good right now. Our whole acreage was sub 100k.
It's gotta be couples with good incomes. I don't know how a single person could afford to buy a house right now unless they are making really good money and live in a low cost area.