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In many cities of the South and the Midwest outside of the large cities, owning a home while part of the working class is still possible. Anyone here low income and still living the dream of home ownership? Tell us your story!
Both my oldest son and oldest daughter are homeowners (30 and 32). Both have decent but not high paying jobs which are fairly secure, son is maintenance supervisor for a marina and daughter is a County employee.
MD is generally a high cost of housing area but they were both able to find houses they could afford. The houses are older, both about 100 years old, and somewhat fixer uppers but were ready to move in. Actually for my son he had to get a rehab type loan and we did about $14K of work on the house before he could move in. The bulk of that was rebuilding the bathroom from the foundation (which had to be put in) up.
Son's was a foreclosure (Fannie Mae lost its ass on it) while daughter's is a farmhouse which was part of a larger holding that the family was selling off in pieces.
So it is doable if the buyer adjusts his sights to what he can afford. I've found that many buyers of their generation want to start out from where their parents are and not where it's affordable. I guess our kids did that, too. They grew up in a now 100 year old house.
Son's is in Town while daughter's is in a fairly rural area. Neither are "bad" areas.
In many cities of the South and the Midwest outside of the large cities, owning a home while part of the working class is still possible. Anyone here low income and still living the dream of home ownership? Tell us your story!
I make $32k and own two houses in MD.
I bought my first one at 20. Sold at profit, bought a Foreclosures, sold bought another, couldn't sell that one before buying my most recent. So I own two. Hoping to sell the rental to the tenant.
Depending on where you live you can buy a home only making $10 an hour. It's easier if you have a steady job for a long time and have good credit and not too many outstanding debts. If you can find a home for $50K which is possible in some areas of the country all you would need would be around $6500. That would be your closing cost, 3.5% down payment and your home inspection fee. You really only need to show you have the 3.5% in the bank which is $1,750 as long as you have a close relative you is willing to give you the rest as a gift. Actually you need less than $6,500 because you can ask the seller instead of negotiating a lower price to give you a 6% concession towards closing costs so that's an extra $3000 you don't have to pay at closing.
Of course, regular loans that allow low down payments then tack on PMI which drives up mortgage payments making the low down payment cost a whole lot of moeny.
OP, glad you asked this. I'm always curious how people do it. I have $36k/year coming in. Was dying to get into my own home this year, and was only looking at houses $80k or less and it's literally impossible unless I have a massive 20% down payment. Though of course you really need much more than that in the bank in order to cover all those pesky maintenance issues that will come up in the first few months. Home ownership is just really out of reach for the average person.
Home ownership is just really out of reach for the average person.
It's not out of reach, they just think it is. Depends what they want, a decent home to live or a fancy large home with marble countertops. In some high cost areas it is out of reach, but then they can always relocate to where it is a possibility.
In many cities of the South and the Midwest outside of the large cities, owning a home while part of the working class is still possible. Anyone here low income and still living the dream of home ownership? Tell us your story!
Live below your means, save, save, save, buy less house than you can afford and continue to save, save, save, in the long run you'll be far ahead, delayed gratification.
Live below your means, save, save, save, buy less house than you can afford and continue to save, save, save, in the long run you'll be far ahead, delayed gratification.
??? ??? I don't think "less house than I can afford" exists or is legal in this country.
I've noticed that many people with lower incomes regularly splurge on little things -- cigarettes, beer, soda pop, evenings at the local bar... to feel better about not being able to afford a vacation or a buy a home or...
A pack a day habit is around $5,000. Two years of not smoking and you've got the downpayment for a $100K home.
Cooking at home rather than eating out, saves a fair amount as well.
There are people who make a game of living on half their income until the achieve the financial goals they set for themselves.
If homeownership is one of your goals, then you need to figure out how to achieve that.
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