Was 25 and super nervous, so when the realtor was like “oh yeah they just check for basic stuff, but I looked around and it looks great” I was like “Oh okay, this is so astronomically expensive every penny saved is good…”
Everything has been great as far as I can tell. House was built like 40 years ago but super well maintained it seemed and I’ve been super happy. But just curious if maybe I should hire someone to make sure there was nothing outstanding from back then, and no major issues have popped up in the last couple years like leaks/foundation issues, the like.
Is that crazy? Is it weird to call and be like “I’m not selling, I just wanna make sure there are no issues I need to address before they get worse”
Is there a certain type of inspector I should get? I know some inspectors are notoriously lazy.
Also I moved in 2 weeks before covid lock downs happened for time line stuff.
How did you buy a house at the age of 25? I can’t get past this.
The simple, but annoying answer, was luck and fear.
I grew up in poverty on account of my father going to prison very young and my unprepared mom having to somehow take care of 3 kids and realizing he had made lots of money vanish and stolen lots of the money we did have that needed to be returned, and instead of inheriting money irresponsibly, I got a crippling fear of debt and spending money on non necessities.
But at the same time I was making around 70k a year at 25, because at 20 I got my associates in IT, then found a job paying above what I was asking for in under a month after graduating, and I still work at that job 10 years later as they’ve been very reasonable through everything. Getting that job SOO fast that worked out so well was just pure luck.
Also I couldn’t buy the house I’m in anymore, buying at 25 instead of 26 was pure luck. If I had been born a year later, buying at 25 wouldn’t have worked. The price of the house went up about 100k a few months later.
Also even in 2019, my home was considered a fantastic deal. A 2k square foot town home for 240k in a medium sized city (the one I grew up in), within walking distance of main street. It has an hoa, but it only has 9 other town homes in it, and we have a massive shared common area and pool. Having a pool I only have to share with a dozen other people is a luxury I never imagined. Hoa fee is 200$ and they’ve only ever asked me to pull weeds around my house when a neighbor was selling theirs and they wanted it to look pretty to help out a neighbor.
So I actually don’t have a car (too expensive) and I can walk/bike to grocery stores, doctors appointments, the like. To top it off it’s only about 3 miles from where my mom lives, and we just recently moved my grandma into a senior living center about a mile away so she’s close to me and my mom.
So, yeah. I just saved every penny to a stupid level, then got rather lucky. Saving every penny at my income wouldn’t have worked without the luck. Never being unemployed in my entire life was pure luck. Finding a home that met all my needs perfectly within my budget was crazy.
The cheapest home in this city are 200k 900 square feet town homes, but because of the interest rates the monthly payments are 50% higher than my beloved home.
But all that luck wouldn’t have meant a thing if I hadn’t saved like crazy. Sooo… yeah. For context, after much cajoling from counseling I have agreed to allow myself 100$ fun budget per month, and $400 a month for food so I buy more “nice” food. My only debts are a little bit of my college loans (I paid off all the high interest ones and the only ones left are like 3%. I had a tradition where every tax return I just put the entire thing towards the highest interest student loan) and my mortgage which is at 4.25%. I’m going to retire a millionaire and with a fully paid off home.
But it’s so sad, because people taking the EXACT same actions as me, but 2 years younger, won’t. They’ll have to rent their entire life, or buy a home out in the middle of nowhere away from family and services. Which means they’ll most likely need a car and have to pay other premiums.
Thanks for the details. I appreciate it. I wish you continued luck and success :)
Thank you! I wish I could give advice that was relevant to the current time . If I was 24 and didn’t own a home I’d probably be having to do math on buying a 100k home in a super cheap area in a different state. But that would come with other hidden costs like having to own a car, not having access to good medical care, possibly higher crime rate, if I didn’t have a WFH job then finding a job will most likely be a pay cut and if I lost my WFH job I’d have to most likely take a lower paying job, then of course if I wanted to see my family ever I’d have to budget in that…
Ugh. IDK man, I feel awful for people just 5 years younger than me.
Work remote from rural areas. Or just find a reasonable paying job in those areas. I see nice places in the 200k’s in towns under 5000 near me.
Sure, I can see that but I cannot imagine living in such a small town. I’ve only lived in cities in 2 countries, and top 5 largest ones at that. To live in a small town for me just sounds miserable. At the same time, living in cities there is convince so long as you can afford it. Home ownership is almost impossible for millennials like myself and now cars are getting up there.
It’s not miserable, just different. But not too different — I’ve lived in districts with 3k people and cities with 1.6m and found that the big cities are mostly just clusters of little 3k communities squished together, with a few differences like 24/7 activities/clubs and arenas. And cheaper food.
I saved up for 19 years to buy a home, and even then almost missed the opportunity. At this point, I’d buy a 200k home in ruralia in a heartbeat as long as it had reliable affordable Internet and somewhere within an hour’s drive that had stores I could shop at.
But it all depends on what you already know how to live with.
I don’t think I could put up with the terrible ADSL 10 Mbps max. quality internet
I was 29 when I bought mine last year, but was only able to do so because of my Veteran’s benefits.
My biggest regret was not buying a house while I was still in, in the area I was stationed, because since then (2017), houses have jumped in price and I much preferred living there then my home state. But… Life is just funny like that, I suppose.
My husband said pretty much the same thing. We can only buy a house with VA assistance as well and it is so expensive here around his home town. Hopefully we can move interstate in the future. Around where he was stationed we could get a big old family house in a nice area for $100k less. For however long that lasts.
It’s possible just not easy lol. My friend is doing it right now. And he got in right before the loans got insane.
Edit. For clarity. He doesn’t have parental help or anything like. I just had my dad fund me.
There’s tons of the country outside the coastal regions where land is pretty cheap.
I bought my first house at 23. It takes discipline and saving.
Are you 50?
Are you 13?
Is there like a “nomoreavacadotoast” or “capitalism circlejerk” community? This would be an excellent addition 😂
Did you check out the “im_jealous” community?
Not jealous, just astonished by how out of touch you are.
Not out of touch at all.
It takes having your parents giving you money. That’s what my parents did.
The difference is I don’t pretend that I earned it myself because not only is that unhelpful to everyone else it’s just intellectually dishonest.
My parents didn’t give me money to buy a house.
I guess not?