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No matter where you are in the developed world rn, the housing market is pretty corked for first time buyers.
for those of you that own homes, how did you go about saving for a down payment? Did parents help out? Did you work your ass off in some shit job and never go skiing for your 20’s in order to scrape together just enough? Government subsidies/tax breaks?
It really is quite depressing. I am paying $1750 a month in rent for a small one bedroom apartment right now which is nearly the cost of the mortgage of the owner ( I believe she bought at $469,000). I have a long way to go before I have enough for a down payment on something here. I love where I live, but part of me cant grasp at how much the cost of living is. Vs if I moved back to Vermont I could have an entire home and property for less than a 1 bedroom apartment here.
The balancing act of life and priorities.... Remember being a kid and asking friends "what would you do if you had a million dollars?!" well a million doesn't mean much any more.
We bought in Denver, CO in December 2020. 4 bed 2 bath single family home. Closed for 419K.
I saved up a down payment for about 18 months and ended up doing 5 percent down for a first time home buyer loan. Right now our equity is as about 15 percent with the growth since then. No help from parents or anything like that. Locked in at a sub 3 interest rate which helped out.
It really is quite depressing. I am paying $1750 a month in rent for a small one bedroom apartment right now which is nearly the cost of the mortgage of the owner ( I believe she bought at $469,000). I have a long way to go before I have enough for a down payment on something here. I love where I live, but part of me cant grasp at how much the cost of living is. Vs if I moved back to Vermont I could have an entire home and property for less than a 1 bedroom apartment here.
The balancing act of life and priorities.... Remember being a kid and asking friends "what would you do if you had a million dollars?!" well a million doesn't mean much any more.
Thinking about the housing market in Squamish makes me sweaty.
I wanna seek refuge in Pemby but prices are starting to go up there too. There's just no winning haha I actually feel totally hopeless sometimes. I hear better things about the interior tho
JpurdWe bought in Denver, CO in December 2020. 4 bed 2 bath single family home. Closed for 419K.
I saved up a down payment for about 18 months and ended up doing 5 percent down for a first time home buyer loan. Right now our equity is as about 15 percent with the growth since then. No help from parents or anything like that. Locked in at a sub 3 interest rate which helped out.
how much were you saving every month for the down payment ?
A few years into my oil career between the 2009 and 2014 oil crashes, i knew my earnings had plateaued so knew i had to do well with it. I had some stocks i bought in 2011 that were still bought cheap after 2009 crash (wish i would have heard about Bitcoin back then i woulda been all over it), then took out a 401k loan for rest.
my advice to you: if you’re at all financially stressed, don’t buy a house in this market. If you have a high earning and very stable income and you can afford a $3k+ mortgage, sure. But let me emphasize: if you buy in today’s market of obscenely high prices because of low rates, and rate hikes are in the future which they are, if you ever need to refinance to reduce your payment you wont be able to!
not trying to speak from a soap box, and call me out for wearing a tinfoil hat, but this shit is manipulated. I’m not an expert trader, i don’t do technical analysis I’ve only learned what NOT to do, but anytime people have the euphoria/fomo mindset of “if i dont buy this now i’ll never be able to afford it” they make shit decisions.
focus on yourself, and work on investing. Saving is for cucks. Invest your money, if times are tough well im sure you’re used to eating ramen and ketchup packets at the slope so nothing new. And if you have a banger investing year, then buy stuff. It’s literally the single difference between rich, successful people and those who work until they die (but hey—you’re living “within your means and dont need fancy things—whatever helps you sleep at night...)
theLiquorA few years into my oil career between the 2009 and 2014 oil crashes, i knew my earnings had plateaued so knew i had to do well with it. I had some stocks i bought in 2011 that were still bought cheap after 2009 crash (wish i would have heard about Bitcoin back then i woulda been all over it), then took out a 401k loan for rest.
my advice to you: if you’re at all financially stressed, don’t buy a house in this market. If you have a high earning and very stable income and you can afford a $3k+ mortgage, sure. But let me emphasize: if you buy in today’s market of obscenely high prices because of low rates, and rate hikes are in the future which they are, if you ever need to refinance to reduce your payment you wont be able to!
not trying to speak from a soap box, and call me out for wearing a tinfoil hat, but this shit is manipulated. I’m not an expert trader, i don’t do technical analysis I’ve only learned what NOT to do, but anytime people have the euphoria/fomo mindset of “if i dont buy this now i’ll never be able to afford it” they make shit decisions.
focus on yourself, and work on investing. Saving is for cucks. Invest your money, if times are tough well im sure you’re used to eating ramen and ketchup packets at the slope so nothing new. And if you have a banger investing year, then buy stuff. It’s literally the single difference between rich, successful people and those who work until they die (but hey—you’re living “within your means and dont need fancy things—whatever helps you sleep at night...)
Yup, manipulated. I guess you could outbid black-rock that lives off borrowed money and has trillion of dollars in assets which is buying up tens of thousands of homes in neighborhoods with a steady income. Realestate and the FIRE sector is highly manipulated.
I hate the idea you have to speculate and invest in wall-street to even afford a home or property. I like the whole manifesto the Catholics preach, that property is a right if one works, whatever his ability, saves and sustains himself and his family to the best of his/her ability. Unfortunately, that 'radical' view isn't viewed with merit anymore and instead we go through cyclical purposeful doldrums where the middle-class continues to shrink and the poorer get poorer. The bailout of wallstreet in 2008 was what? 8 trillion? The bailout from coronavirus pandemic in order to inject credit back into the economy saw a transfer of wealth from the middle to very wealthy class of over 100 trillion dollars.
Yeah!
**This post was edited on Jun 17th 2021 at 1:40:05am
twinkle_toesThinking about the housing market in Squamish makes me sweaty.
I wanna seek refuge in Pemby but prices are starting to go up there too. There's just no winning haha I actually feel totally hopeless sometimes. I hear better things about the interior tho
yeah pemby is a bit cheaper but still been going up a lot over the last couple of years. Interior has plenty of more options. A friend just bought in fintry BC which is across the lake from Kelowna. 440k for a 3 bedroom on a nice lot, 5 min drive from the lake. For me I need to be somewhat close to a large city for work, so squamish is amazing for what it has to offer but still being able to tap into well paying clients in Vancouver. Are you in Squamish, too?
Long story short. Got fucked over from the 2008 home crisis, bounced back after working my ass off and bought a house afterwards at a low price, did some repairs to it myself and made a small amount of cash from it and just keep doing that. I just recently bought some beautiful land(3 acres) close to my local ski slope and plan on doing something with it. I was fortunate enough to have bought low and sold high but also able to build and fix stuff myself saving thousands of dollars and working my ass off. Good luck to all of you in this journey of purchasing a home, the market really is crazy at the moment everywhere. For reference I started in SE Idaho, moved to Portland Oregon(area) and now I am living in Scotland, planning to return back to Idaho.
**This post was edited on Jun 17th 2021 at 4:58:52am
-First house I did 10% down, VA Loan. Had 20% ready, but found an awesome investment opportunity at the same time so I did 10%.
-Second I bought as an investment property with 25% down on a conventional loan.
-Third I bought with 5% down on a conventional.
I'd recommend saving for the downpayment you need to make a conventional loan work, PMI is stupid cheap right now. VA loans are a much worse deal most of the time. All the money you spend on the funding fee just goes into the shitter, a downpayment goes to your principal. VA loans also get chucked out first right now because there is zero incentive for a seller to deal with the extra VA stuff when they have 20+ offers above list. I was going to do 20% down on the third house, but the PMI was so shockingly cheap that I decided to put 5% down and pay it. 95% leverage isn't comfortable, but I have money in reserves to justify it. I would never recommend you do that if you aren't solid elsewhere in your finances.
Bottom line: save enough to make a downpayment. It puts the cards in your hands. If you are very smart financially and aren't just doing what your friend Bob down the street said he did to "save" $200 a month, then I'm not opposed to creatively financing it. Have a reason to not make a downpayment. "Cash flow" so you can eat at Chipotle every day is not a reason, just buy a cheaper house or rent until you are ready to send it. Most importantly, don't forget that owning a home is a small job. It costs money and time to maintain a home, that's why there's a Lowe's on every corner.
Was fortunate that my wife and I landed decent jobs right out of college. We also both lived at home during college so only had debt from tuition. (Once again fortunate that we live close enough to decent schools).
We did something like 10% down at 4.75% on a conventional 30 year loan.
Building a new home ended up being the cheaper option to get everything we were looking for, plus everything was selling very fast at the time so it took the stress of offering above asking price 5 minutes after seeing a house away. We ended up living back with our parents while the house was being built paying next to nothing for rent, so that helped us save more. Only downside is our property/school taxes are probably the highest in the area.
For reference 200-250k easily could afford 3 bed 2.5 bath on at least 1/2 an acre at the time.
It really is quite depressing. I am paying $1750 a month in rent for a small one bedroom apartment right now which is nearly the cost of the mortgage of the owner ( I believe she bought at $469,000). I have a long way to go before I have enough for a down payment on something here. I love where I live, but part of me cant grasp at how much the cost of living is. Vs if I moved back to Vermont I could have an entire home and property for less than a 1 bedroom apartment here.
The balancing act of life and priorities.... Remember being a kid and asking friends "what would you do if you had a million dollars?!" well a million doesn't mean much any more.
Eh housing market in VT is pretty fucked right now my guy. Be prepared to put an offer in same day as listing, waive inspection, and offer a good amount of cash over the asking just to have a shot at closing.
Charlie_KellyEh housing market in VT is pretty fucked right now my guy. Be prepared to put an offer in same day as listing, waive inspection, and offer a good amount of cash over the asking just to have a shot at closing.
This seems to be the norm everywhere. There are houses in my development that people built 3 years ago and now they are being listed 50k higher than the original price and selling within a day for over asking price.
Determine your goals, including a timeline, max budget, etc. We bought our first home in 2015 through the first time homebuyer's program, which was great, as it enabled us to only pay a 3% down payment. We had saved for a few years - every bonus and additional money from every raise went into savings. We also reevaluate our budget every six months or so and determine which line items should be increased or decreased, or where we kind find additional savings to meet goals for another purchase/expense (eg: cut $100 from our "eating out" bucket and add that to a savings account or decide to travel less one year so we can use those funds toward a separate purchase).
We refinanced that home last year; our original rate was 3.75%, and we refinanced at 2.875% (both 30-year). We also bought a second home/cabin this spring - 10% down payment, 2.75% APR, 15-year loan (it'll be paid off before my 50th birthday, yay!) - and we will be doing a massive renovation/addition of our first home to be completed no later than 2025 and paid mostly out of pocket (we have a $78K line of credit if we need it).
In short, really doing a regular (quarterly or annually, depending on your discipline and/or fluctuations in your income/expenses) deep dive into your financials, setting a budget that you adhere to as strictly as possible, and really focusing on your financial goals can really pay off. For years, we were not disciplined - we were getting significant pay increases yet weren't saving money. We hired a financial planner who worked with us on some of these things, and we have since been great about budgeting for financial goals on our own. You don't have to give up the things you love in order to save money. We found that cutting our eating out (and drinking) significantly both benefitted our health and short- and long-term financial plans.
VT_scratchyeah pemby is a bit cheaper but still been going up a lot over the last couple of years. Interior has plenty of more options. A friend just bought in fintry BC which is across the lake from Kelowna. 440k for a 3 bedroom on a nice lot, 5 min drive from the lake. For me I need to be somewhat close to a large city for work, so squamish is amazing for what it has to offer but still being able to tap into well paying clients in Vancouver. Are you in Squamish, too?
Yeah for sure, there's more options for work near the city.
Rent in Golden, BC averages around $500/month/bedroom (I think) but it's near impossible to find a stable / well paying job out there. Even in the trades you have to spend a lot of time trying to get a foot in the door to establish some type of career.
I've seen ads of rich folks from the city buying up property in places like Golden, then trying to rent them out for ridiculous Vancouver prices. Locals are not having it. But that kind of behavior is starting to trend in small towns which is pretty sad.
Yes, I was living in Squamish for about a year - working in Whistler up until the pandemic hit. Lost my job and had to move back to North Van.
I'm not sure I like the direction Squamish is headed. In a few years I'm sure they will start building high-rises and it won't feel like a small town anymore. Plus I like night skiing during the week. If I wanted to go skiing after work I had to drive from Whistler to Seymour, it was brutal!
The sea to sky has some incredible backcountry access though! That option will be nice to have when I'm an old lady and don't ski park as much. Maybe I'll settle down in Lillooet lol
JAHBRADORNo matter where you are in the developed world rn, the housing market is pretty corked for first time buyers.
for those of you that own homes, how did you go about saving for a down payment? Did parents help out? Did you work your ass off in some shit job and never go skiing for your 20’s in order to scrape together just enough? Government subsidies/tax breaks?
If you like snow and cold and skiing just move to the U.P. of Michigan and by a 2700 foot 3 bedroom for 60k.
Now even joking, houses here cost like, 1/5th of what they would cost in a "cheap" area.
Your downpayment with an FSA loan would be like 4k.
TheMoostafianI live in WA so buying a house is pretty simple; you just have to offer 25% over asking price the day of listing and pay cash. Piece of cake.
got good grades, went to college and studied something relevant, continued to get good grades, got job, saved money, bought home. the boring way, but its pretty bombproof.
twinkle_toesThinking about the housing market in Squamish makes me sweaty.
I wanna seek refuge in Pemby but prices are starting to go up there too. There's just no winning haha I actually feel totally hopeless sometimes. I hear better things about the interior tho
I lived on the coast in my early 20’s and absolutely love it there. I would move back in a heartbeat but the real estate prices are just too high. There is lots of condo development happening there but they are still going to set you back a cool 600-800k for a 1bdr. That’s doable for a lot of people working in the area but honestly, who tf wants to pay that much to live in an apartment in a place like squam/pemby.
jcaBought a house in Rossland last year for 275k, don't think I'd be able to afford anything here if I'd waited a year.
I’m currently living in Nelson and looking to buy in the surrounding area. Prices are better here for sure but still high for what you get. I went and looked at one side of a duplex that was up for 495k in town. It sold within a week for 60k over asking. Shit is wild to me.
that’s cool that you managed to get a killer deal in Rossland, is it a fixer-upper? The only thing I can find in Nelson that is close to that price is a trap house on a .5 acre that is a tear down project.
As you say, you are lucky you bought when you did, every year the prices are going up exponentially so it’s kinda like playing a never ending game of catch up.
JAHBRADORthat’s cool that you managed to get a killer deal in Rossland, is it a fixer-upper? The only thing I can find in Nelson that is close to that price is a trap house on a .5 acre that is a tear down project.
As you say, you are lucky you bought when you did, every year the prices are going up exponentially so it’s kinda like playing a never ending game of catch up.
It's pretty dated and basic but it's a solid house that doesn't *need* anything for the time being. Definitely extremely lucky to have been able to hop on this when it came up though.
I was looking at places all over the West Koots and Salmo and Ymir were becoming more and more attractive with every overpriced garbage house I looked at.
I do think Ymir is going to become the new hotspot though.
mattytruAnybody straight up build their house? or massively renovate a fixer upper to a livable situation?
Ours was pretty messed up when we bought it, which I think, helped get the price down below 200K Put a gnarly month of renovations in (new floors, new kitchen, new bathroom, bunch of drywall repair, replaced all the light fixtures, all new paint, replaced all appliances, etc.) And then the spring after my partner bought it, I put another two months in and finished the 1200 sq ft basement. Was just concrete down there, so went from a bare box to a livable two-bedroom apartment. Now some homies live in the basement and basically cover the mortgage.
I will say, we got lucky and bought just before the market exploded. We were the last sub-200K house in town, the next year our friends bought the last sub-300K home, last year a house behind us went for 450K, and this year they just built another one back there that's on the market for 975K. So the market is fucked now.
Most states have great first time buyer programs. Finding a competitive lender, building good credit, and showing a stable income are all great first steps. To prequalifying for a mortgage.
cydwhitOurs was pretty messed up when we bought it, which I think, helped get the price down below 200K Put a gnarly month of renovations in (new floors, new kitchen, new bathroom, bunch of drywall repair, replaced all the light fixtures, all new paint, replaced all appliances, etc.) And then the spring after my partner bought it, I put another two months in and finished the 1200 sq ft basement. Was just concrete down there, so went from a bare box to a livable two-bedroom apartment. Now some homies live in the basement and basically cover the mortgage.
I will say, we got lucky and bought just before the market exploded. We were the last sub-200K house in town, the next year our friends bought the last sub-300K home, last year a house behind us went for 450K, and this year they just built another one back there that's on the market for 975K. So the market is fucked now.
For years I had this fantasy that was like well you know if we ever get sick of Seattle we could probably sell our house and buy some ridiculous ranch property outright in BF Montana… turns out every rich prick and their brother already had that idea and it’s expensive AF out there now as well. God dammit
built my home on parents land when I was 18, however it basically didn’t exist in the irs/township/schools til the day I sold it 15 years later 😁came home from marines used that homes equity to start my business, worked 24/7 , that business funds my rentals, those things paid for our new house, equity in that paid for more rentals, started another business and bought several, then oil and gas had their boom and I found out I coulda just spent My youth waiting for them to show up and hand me a check, sold half the farm, got back into skiing….bankrupt
Ammo could be your way in, ammo is in high demand, buy it up, resell, become a black market gun dealer, build customer base, then start small local wars, supply both sides , then start larger wars, supply everyone
SendyMcSendyfaceDon't have a hope in hell of buying a house in the forceable future. Investing in ammo instead.
Seriously now, some of the top advice I can give, work, do anything you can, put pride aside, and instead of spending that money on the next thing you “want”, have a plan and invest in that, take the risk, do not be afraid to fore go the fun in place of investing, more fun and money will come if you invest in your plan, sheriff sales for many items can net a large easy profit and allow you to build side income and move up to buying properties from there, be it sheriff sale properties, foreclosures or cheap fixer uppers, rentals, especially if you can acquire close to a college/university
All my buddies who went to trade school rather than college all own houses. I remember even questioning my close friend about not going to college and instead doing an electricians apprenticeship when we were about to graduate senior year. He purchased a home in October of 2019 right before housing market craze while I was still studying for pointless financial derivatives I will never use.
Granted his salary has now capped out for likely the rest of his career around 120-150k and mine has just begun at entry level 60k he is laughing especially hard at all the kids we knew who got worthless degrees in college.
Simple answer if you want to get a home fast don't go to college and get a trade job
Looking to buy a house in Southern NH/Maine in the next few years and have a decent chunk saved up already. With all the down payments/loans/first time buyer programs I'm still confused about how much it actually costs. All the online calculators just confuse me even more.
Anybody wanna help me with a rough estimate on the actual cash amount it took from the moment you made an offer to the time you moved in? Say on a 350k house? Or, any other advice for an idiot like me who wants to buy a house but has no idea what they're doing?
GrandThingsLooking to buy a house in Southern NH/Maine in the next few years and have a decent chunk saved up already. With all the down payments/loans/first time buyer programs I'm still confused about how much it actually costs. All the online calculators just confuse me even more.
Anybody wanna help me with a rough estimate on the actual cash amount it took from the moment you made an offer to the time you moved in? Say on a 350k house? Or, any other advice for an idiot like me who wants to buy a house but has no idea what they're doing?
If you can, try and keep some cash in reserve for after you buy. Unless you are super handy and already have all the tools just getting the home maintenance stuff up and running can be pretty pricy. When you buy a home you literally buy everything...like that shitty piece of fence falling apart is now yours. We bought a ton of furniture and other stuff you need for a home used and that tends to be really helpful in saving money.
Film.Simple answer if you want to get a home fast don't go to college and get a trade job
There’s a ton of incentive to get into trades atm too.
2nd year of my tuition is going to cost $1,500. Plus getting e.i while your in school. Not to mention the whole paid training thing is sweet. And throw in a couple government incentive grants worth a few grand. Not bad at all
It blows my mind that some people rack up 60k+ in debt and don’t even get paid for their internships. Just seems like a great way to get behind financially in life right out the gate. Unless of course you have rich parents that can fund your education lol
That's a good idea, my thinking was just buy ammo>wait for collapse>take house, but your idea sounds more interesting
SavageBiffAmmo could be your way in, ammo is in high demand, buy it up, resell, become a black market gun dealer, build customer base, then start small local wars, supply both sides , then start larger wars, supply everyone
I havent been living in the same country for long enough to even consider buying a home and settling down anywhere, but I do know the housing market is absolutely bonkers...
My folks house has increased in value by about 120k in the last year according to zillow. I have suggested they sell the bitch as it stands, pay off the mortgage and retire to a downsized space.
SavageBiffSeriously now, some of the top advice I can give, work, do anything you can, put pride aside, and instead of spending that money on the next thing you “want”, have a plan and invest in that, take the risk, do not be afraid to fore go the fun in place of investing, more fun and money will come if you invest in your plan, sheriff sales for many items can net a large easy profit and allow you to build side income and move up to buying properties from there, be it sheriff sale properties, foreclosures or cheap fixer uppers, rentals, especially if you can acquire close to a college/university
This.
Trades are honestly the shit. Pretty much endless job opportunities anywhere in the world, well paid and immensely satisfying. You get paid to learn and it’s relatively easy to start your own business with low overheads for those that feel like they want to earn more than the salary cap. But really, who needs more than 150k/year, especially if that’s dual income with a spouse, sounds like a pretty great life to me.
ericformangot good grades, went to college and studied something relevant, continued to get good grades, got job, saved money, bought home. the boring way, but its pretty bombproof.
As somebody who spent a couple decades in the trades and food service and spent it all on sex drugs rock n roll n rent
this was my wifes method and yeah it works way better than mine was
we bought our first house a year after moving here in 96
Fixed er up, put in wood floors and travertine, remodeled the bathrooms landscaped and resided and roof it
Bout 10 years later we started looking again more so my wife and it was on a busy street
But the market was tough and we were lookin for another fix er upper which were all gittin flipped
Then the market crashed
She finds a place
ill never forget the 1st tour
literally this old seventies house and the dirt pimp just kept saying imagine the potentials'
og from the day it was built 7 bedrooms of every color shag carpet that made the 70's great
including cotton candy bubblegum puke
and state of the art 70's kitchen
so a good 18 months and 3 successively less each time offers
the nice old mormon lady who raised her 10 kids there finally realized in the now fuct market
we were her miracle her agent knew it and became our agent for 1%
I managed to sell our house to a young engineer maggot on the tgrz
and weve slowly been redoing this one inside n out
the kitchen got gutted and redone first
pocket doors and closets got ripped out and one bedroom got reframed into a open whats now my wifes work from home office
the old kitchen cabinets went down into the mancave
the rests a labour of love and we manage a couple projects/upgrades a year
I redid the roof threw in a few skylights and went solar
tore the grass out in front and xeriscaped
reclaimed the overgrown back yard put in patios and our garden
turned the guest shitter
if ya told me then it'd be theoretically worth more than double going on 3x in 10 years
ida been super doubtful
but its a funny market
ill try and find a few more before and after pics
