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Part of the issue is wanting to live in areas with Insanely high expenses, such as New York City. Or the Bay area/ Silicon Valley.
I get that younger folks want to live in these exciting places, but sometimes it is just not in the cards until later.
They could move to ABQ, which was recently in the news as one of the most affordable places to live. Yes it does have crime issues, and not the greatest transit system. But you can work and make good money [if you have a good STEM degree].
Then after some decades, you could move to Santa Fe, which is a very trendy place most places.
But save money, don't get Tatoos, stop vaping/smoking, and start saving money as a young teen at home if at all possible.
Last edited by insulator_king; 06-05-2019 at 06:33 PM..
I bought my own home ( a townhome-style condo; much easier to manage and less maintenance) at 27 working for a non-profit in a fairly expensive/affluent college town on the edge of a larger metro area. I was able to get a loan that only required 3% down and my monthly payment is still under $900/month. The apartment I was renting before was $900/month at the time I moved out 3 years ago...and currently rents for $1200/month. If I were to sell this place now; I'd walk away with about $45k cash. I'm tempted but I also know I could rent it out long-term once I move on and have a positive cashflow for life from it.
No $$$ from my parents for the downpayment but I was fortunate enough to not have any student loans as they paid for my college so I know that makes a huge difference. I work in the RE industry now and have seen young singles and couples with VERY well paying jobs and good credit that can't buy a house because their student loans throw their debt-to-income ratio all out of wack. Or at least they can't buy one that really suits their needs.
I am one of a handful of single people in my peer group that I know who've bought a home; but the majority of my peers who are married/long term relationship own homes.
(yes I posted this same comment on the article itself...lol)
Same here. I basically worked hard and didn't have any assistance from parents, just my own hard work. I also lucked out and got my company to help with the down payment and also used the FHA loan for 3.5% down for my first townhouse at 24 years old. Sold it for a nice profit (over 150K) after 6 years of appreciating equity and used that to buy a bigger house and the remaining to become debt free.
My house payments in the burbs were half the costs of a 2 bedroom condo near the city that I was renting. So it was well worth it.
I purchased my first condo in NYC at 21 years old. I did it through working very hard to save for a downpayment and purchasing a condo apartment rather than a SFH. The path to homeownership should start small and that condo was what I could afford. At 27, I sold that, got married, and we purchased a SFH jointly.
I support young, single people owning homes and it doesn't have to necessarily be SFHs either.
Bought my first home at 27 using a VA loan. House was a 60 mile commute but I banked on it increasing in value. Sold it 40 months later for 75K more than I paid and netted about 90K total from zero down. The house was in SOCAL. Sold in two days for all cash. Remodeled the bath and back yard myself while living there.
Moved to Hawaii. Made some good stock trades and cashed out. Combined that with my previous home equity to get the 20% down payment on a house next to the beach at 31. Paid 850K for a home in poor condition but it's six houses from the water line. Immediately ripped the kitchen down to the studs and floor joists for a remodel. House is worth around the $1.0M - $1.1M mark now. Still needs new windows and a full bathroom remodel and upgraded electrical. One day I plan to add a second story with two beds and a master bath. Did most of the work myself by watching youtube.
Never took a dime from my parents after high school. Joined the military to pay for college and advanced quickly in my civilian career. Some things broke my way such as having a secure job and buying up stocks at the bottom of the 2008 crash. Not every Millennial is hopeless.
Anyone who put any sort of appreciable amount down was given the money. I don't really feel like that makes this a pertinent story. Anyone can buy a house if they are given the down payment - that is the stumbling block for most and is what the contention is these days - unless you come from money, you have a much harder time getting ahead in life.
And comments like this come from someone who spent their entire lives in academia:
Quote:
I think the actual transmission of wealth should mostly be banned, actually. We should chuck the whole mortgage interest tax deduction scam, prohibit lenders from borrowing to people in the areas that are going to be underwater due to climate change, institute an extremely large (up to 99.5%) inheritance tax on the Jeff Bezoses of the world, and support and nurture affordable cooperatively owned and financed housing. Also, we should get rid of local property taxes, ensure all schools are good, and recognize that the entire "wealth" generated through housing is just another word for profiteering off of racism.
Anyone who put any sort of appreciable amount down was given the money. I don't really feel like that makes this a pertinent story. Anyone can buy a house if they are given the down payment - that is the stumbling block for most and is what the contention is these days - unless you come from money, you have a much harder time getting ahead in life.
And comments like this come from someone who spent their entire lives in academia:
Yes. It's hard to come up with a big down payment. Not impossible though. I did it and so did a few of my friends. It takes sacrifice and planning.
My 28 year old Millennial daughter and son-in-law are closing on their first (and likely last) house this month. I don't think his parents have given them any money and know we have not. They both are in fields that pay well, fortunately, so they've been able to save a large down payment in the the years since they've finished undergrad and grad school. They also were both level headed enough to understand that the great state university for "free" was a better option than a private college with a lot of debt.
My adult children paid off/will finally pay off their student loans (from great state Universities) when they are about 33. Needless to say neither of them will be buying a house anytime soon.
All of their cousins had their college education paid in full by their parents (and some scholarships). Several/most of them were able to purchase houses by the time that they were 33 (and my children were/are just starting to save for a down payment at that age).
Your parents being financially able to pay for college makes a huge difference in when you can buy a house, even if your parents do not give their adult children money towards a down payment.
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