When did you buy your first house

jbl126

We bought our house 5 1/2 years ago.  We were both 28 and bought it right before we got married.  It is definitely not our forever home.  In one year, we will be able to move out of the city due to the lifting of the residential rule for DH's job.  So we will be moving hopefully to a slightly bigger house.  I just hope we can sell ours and find something we like. 

And I am very glad to not be renting anymore.  Though now when something breaks, we have to fix it instead of calling the landlord.

BrittKav

We bought a home last June. I am SO glad we did. We got a great deal, and I know (well, I hope) the value will go up before we move again. We're paying less than we did renting, and we don't have to deal with landlords. I don't think this is our "forever home", but we'll be here at least another 5 years. I was 19 when we bought, DH was 20.

Que*Syrah

We are comfortable renting right now. We're saving to put 20% down and are anticiapting prices rising again before we buy- and we're taking that into account.

To us it doesn't make sense to buy now just to get a good price if it puts us on unstable ground financially. Emptying our savings account is a recipe for disaster. Being on one income we're more concerned than we used to be about having adequate savings. Our efund is stable but we need to improve our general savings so that if something happens with the house we have money to fall back on.

I would personally rather wait even if it means paying more.

KristinB!

We bought our first about 5 years ago (24 at the time) and just bought our second (and much longer-term home) a few months ago.

 Despite being a terrible time to sell, it's a great time to buy (at least in Austin) so we sacrificed some of our potential profit to get an even better deal on a bigger/usually-more-expensive home that we'll have much longer and at a much better interest rate than our first.

I'm really glad we made the decision to move when we did.

jcsntms06

We bought in May 2006 and I'm so happy that we bought when we did. It was about 3 months before our wedding. Although after having a baby and 2 dogs, we need more space, but for now it works. I was 26 and DH was 27.

Kelli2507

We are in the same boat. I am 25 and DH is 26. We could get approved for a home loan now, but that doesn;t mean we are able to REALLY afford it. Your best bet is to wait until you have a good chunk for the down payment and if the house needs any work done to it. We live in RI and the house prices are through the roof! It kills me because I lived in NC about 3 years ago and a brand new 3 bed 2.5 bath sells for 150k... here we can get a run down POS that will need a ton of work.. its the pits! We are waiting it out. And like us, you have age on your side. Try to talk your DH down from rushing into anything. I don;t know if youve heard of it, but we get a ton of great home owners do;s and don't from a show called  :"til debt do us part"... Check out when it airs and I recomment watching, it might change his mind about rushing things.

ridesbuttons

We purchased when we were 25ish.  Glad we did it.  Have moved twice since and our next move will be to downsize when the kids are grown and gone.

We made very smart and lucky moves. 

Aprilynn0206

We were 25. We started off looking casually. We agreed that if we found something that was absolutely perfect we would go for it, otherwise we were in no hurry and were going to be picky. We love owning our home and don't ever want to rent again!

Singingmama

We bought our home in February of 2008, but we were in a completely different situation. We have two dogs and knew that we would need to rent, at least, a 2-3 bedroom house with a decent backyard. In our area the general rent for a house that size is around $1,000 a month. We did some research and found out that in our area, we would be able to buy a house and have our mortgage payment only be $200 more than the average rent cost. For us, it was pretty simple. We actually didn't have a down payment, but we didn't need one in our area and during that particular time. We both have jobs that had special interest rates and got a pretty decent fixed interest rate on a 30 year loan. We also purchased our house in a growing area and it's already worth about $15,000 more than what we paid for the house.

It is a starter home, we would like something bigger, eventually. However, it's a nice house, in a good neighborhood and near a good school. For now, I'm happy right where we are.

ETA: I was 25 and DH was 26.

rnfromtn

I was 25 and pretty much bought the first condo that I looked at.  It had everything that I wanted short of a two car garage, it only has one.  I am glad that I purchased, however, I wish I had looked at more and had considered paying a little more to purchase a single family home.  Now we are waiting for our condo to sell and have had it on the market for almost 11 mos.  Oh well, things will happen when they are supposed to, at least it is a tax deduction.

You can't compare the cost of someone' home in a different area because pay scales usually reflect the local market.  My brother had a very nice 3 bedroom 2 bath home on 3/4 of an acre.  Not only did he pay less for it than I did for my condo, his property taxes were also 1/8 what mine are a year.  But his pay scale is totally different than police officers up here.

LMBESQ

We also live in SoCal (OC).  We bought in 2008 when we were 26.  We wanted to be in a single family home that would last us for at least 5-10 years, so we spent a bit more than we wanted to.  We have a very high mortgage and the house is now worth a lot less than we paid for it, but we anticipate being here for a long time. 

murfygirl

LMBESQ:

We also live in SoCal (OC).  We bought in 2008 when we were 26.  We wanted to be in a single family home that would last us for at least 5-10 years, so we spent a bit more than we wanted to.  We have a very high mortgage and the house is now worth a lot less than we paid for it, but we anticipate being here for a long time. 

DH and I are not on the same page on what our max price would be. I want to get a mortgage at what our rent is and he is willing to go up. We will see. More than likely we will have to leave Rancho since I think my max with a descent down payment is 200k and that just isn't going to get us much in this city.

T&BMay142005

DH bought our first house when he was 23 (I was 24). It was a townhouse, we were dating, but not engaged yet. He bought it with the idea that I would move in. He could afford the mortgage on his own. This was back in 2003 when everyone was saying "now is the time to buy, cause it was cheap". In away I wish we would have rented for awhile. Exactly a year ago we bought our 2nd home, and had to pay to get out of the townhouse. It sold for way less than what we bought it for. Luckily we had lots of money saved up. Our saving took a dip though. We really wanted to get out of the townhouse, because we were starting to outgrow it and needed more space. I am thankful we moved to our current home in the country. I love it!

ESD_0707

We bought our house in 2006 when I was 24 and he was 26.  Then, we had a baby last year, and suddenly we are growing out of our house!  We love owning our home, but we will definitely be moving out within the next 2 years.

Mereou12

We purchased our first home three years ago (at ages 26 and 29) and it was a huge mistake. We're military, and are currently trying to sell....we thought we'd be here longer, but plans changed and we move in May. We'll likely take a loss on the house, but we'd rather wash our hands of the situation than try to deal with being landlords from a distance.

Our situation is unique, of course, since we're military. We moved to a small town in GA where houses are CHEAP, and we were able to afford a gorgeous new construction home for under 200k. But we stupidly got caught up in the moment and didn't think it through long term. The market here is terrible right now.....our house has been on the market for 5 weeks and we've only had ONE showing. Ugh. We're not buying again until DH is out of the military.

amyknjones

I still rent, but would LOVE to buy. However, the market crash hasn't ended so prices are still going down (at least here in OR, that's the case). I have a friend who is a manager in an investment corporation. Right now the banks are flooded with foreclosures, still, and can't put them all on the market at once or the market will drop worse. So waiting to buy isn't such a bad idea. I plan on working on buying in about 3-5 years.

erino&chrish

When I was 23 I bought my first house on my own (didn't meet DH until I was 28).  We just bought our first home together last year.  I'd suggest buying now.  Prices are low are rates are phenomenal.  You don't get to write off rent like you can with a mortgage.  I'd meet with a CPA or financial advisor who can explain the tax benefits of owning a home.  Owning a home/land is the American Dream so I can't imagine not wanting to buy if I could financially afford to do so.

grapeape73

I bought my first townhouse when I was 24. I was a single mom, and my mortgage payment was less than $600/mo including the maintenance fees. I had a 1900 sq/ft 3/2, and it was great. 

We sold that and used the profits from the sale for our down payment for this house.  Our house has depreciated in the last 4 years, but we have lived here for almost 9 years now, so we aren't upside down, just not as far ahead as we once were. 

We are actually thinking about buying the house down the street that is a short sale as an investment property.  

There are several tax advantages to owning as opposed to renting.  Every $ we put to or into this home is $ we will get back.  

The housing market will eventually recover, and we will have a hefty profit on this house. 

alyssa7

If you own a home are you glad you got out of renting and made the big leap? I personally really like owning a home except that its much more expensive to own thatn rent.

Are you in your forever home or will you have to purchase again at some point? We're planning to stay for at least 10 years. We have a 3400 sq ft house so its plenty big. The only reason why I think we might move is to be closer to DH's job and friends (only about 20 miles away).

How old were you when you purchased your first house? I was 25 when DH and I bought our townhouse. We sold it after a couple years and bought our current house when I was 28.

shortyran

I was 24 and my husband was 25. It was a starter home. We were there for 4 years and just bought our long term house a few months ago. I never want to move again! And yes, I am very happy we own. I like being able to do whatever we want to our house and I am also happy we aren't just paying someone else's mortgage by renting