how old were you when you bought your first house/condo/apartment?

[FVM3]

Im planning to buy a condo, gotta study hard and work hard ....

[JayKay335i]

buy...... wait.... you can buy these things? Shit. Been renting for years.

[MisterSkiMask]

23, The first year I was in it I didn't have any television service, and I didn't turn on the heat, I just built fires in the fire place and put on a jacket. It all worked out, I still live in the house, I didn't plan on being here this long, but now I am too cheap move up to a higher property tax rate.

If I were to move my property tax would go somewhere between two and three times what I am currently paying.

[dpratt34]

I was 24 when my ex-wife and I bought our first house. I don't have either one of them now. Let's just say I upgraded.

[SilverII]

at 25...still livng here

[vachss]

30. Expensive out in LA and no help from Mommy and Daddy.

[NYCGarbagePrince]

I am 25. I have a great job. There is no where I am willing to move that I can afford. And even places that I am not interested in, the taxes are too high. Owning where I am is next to impossible.

I look at it this way. I may be renting and losing the opportunity to gain equity on a piece of property. However, I spend less money on rent than I would on a mortgage. Therefore, instead of having no savings and a home (that the bank owns), I have a place to live and a growing savings/portfolio. At this point in time I will take that over the opportunity to own something that may not see any rise in value for at least a few more years. I will be purchasing within the next 5 years.

[BTM]

I am 23 and rented during college (parents paid) from 18-22. I moved back home last year and planned on buying a place this fall but life had other plans. We'll see where things go but realistically I would like to buy in the next year or two.

[Tondtar]

A word of advice to all the young ones here from someone who has failed to do this for himself and his kid :

If you know where your kid will be attending college, plan on buying a home or a condo/ apt. in that town if you can afford to do so. Anything is OK as long it can meet your kid's needs (which should not be much as a college student). There are several advantages to this :

1. Your kid does not pay rent or have to worry about mailing in the rent check late while in college. You are the Landlord. A huge piece of mind.

2. All the money you spend on the mortgage while he/ she is using the place, you probably get back after 4 years or more and then some. So, there is huge savings as well smart investing there.

3. After getting out and getting a job, if he/ she can afford to take over the mortgage, pass it on to your kid and do it immediately after they get a job. This way they will be building equity of their own right off the bat. If he/ she can not afford the mortgage immediately, go ahead and carry it for a couple of years or so and use its rental income to offset its mortgage cost (or better yet, cover the whole mortgage payment assuming the rental rate and property values have appreciated considerably during years of ownership). You can then sell the property and give the profit to your kid as a gift to place as a down payment on his/ her own first home/ condo purchase when they are ready to do so.

Anyway you look at it, there is a huge financial win in this simple strategy if you can implement it right.

[JayKay335i]

My favorite part of renting in college was no matter how crappy the place looked in the end, all I had to lose was my security deposit. As for grad school, theres a lot of people who have bought real estate close to my school. But, the hell if I'd ever buy anything in Phx, let alone now.

[HomeRun217]

25, bought a 2br/ba condo in Reston. Only reason I was able to front the 20% down payment is because my grandparents set up a mutual fund that has accrued interest nicely over the past 20 years.

[texasmojo]

I had my house built when I was 20. I'm glad I didn't buy more than I could afford.23 years left on mortgage but might pay it a lot sooner. The banks approved me for way more than I ever thought possible. I'm glad I did not bite.

[stimpy]

Bought my house at 25. I don't regret it and I enjoy being a home owner but I thought I was buying at the bottom of the market or close to it - newp! House is worth about 50k less than my purchase price right now.

[Hershey]

Originally Posted by Tondtar

A word of advice to all the young ones here from someone who has failed to do this for himself and his kid :

If you know where your kid will be attending college, plan on buying a home or a condo/ apt. in that town if you can afford to do so. Anything is OK as long it can meet your kid's needs (which should not be much as a college student). There are several advantages to this :

1. Your kid does not pay rent or have to worry about mailing in the rent check late while in college. You are the Landlord. A huge piece of mind.

2. All the money you spend on the mortgage while he/ she is using the place, you probably get back after 4 years or more and then some. So, there is huge savings as well smart investing there.

3. After getting out and getting a job, if he/ she can afford to take over the mortgage, pass it on to your kid and do it immediately after they get a job. This way they will be building equity of their own right off the bat. If he/ she can not afford the mortgage immediately, go ahead and carry it for a couple of years or so and use its rental income to offset its mortgage cost (or better yet, cover the whole mortgage payment assuming the rental rate and property values have appreciated considerably during years of ownership). You can then sell the property and give the profit to your kid as a gift to place as a down payment on his/ her own first home/ condo purchase when they are ready to do so.

Anyway you look at it, there is a huge financial win in this simple strategy if you can implement it right.

+1 on this advice.

I bought when I was 28 with my then fiance..who is now my wife. Buying in CA at the time we bought was tricky with all the "short sales" & foreclosed homes. Luckily we had good real estate agents who took care of us! After our wedding, we set aside money we got as gifts and set up a mutual account AND CD account for our 1st born's college fund!

Now I enjoy "modding" the house and waiting for that Fxx M3 to come out in 2013! (hopefully sooner! lol)

[smack]

Bought a house at 19 with the wife through military loan.

[Want]

I dunno if this counts but 25 now, we got a new place and I pay for half the mortgage, the house is in my name as well as parents.

Tondtar has a good point... I went to uni on the opposite side of the country though, paid a shit load for res/rent

[rsjean]

I was 23. 4 wives, 6 houses and many years later I now have the privilege of living in, and owning a house in, the single highest real estate tax rate county in the entire United States.

And what do we get for that obscenely high tax?

NOTHING.

[.:bHd:.]

Originally Posted by Tondtar

A word of advice to all the young ones here from someone who has failed to do this for himself and his kid :

If you know where your kid will be attending college, plan on buying a home or a condo/ apt. in that town if you can afford to do so. Anything is OK as long it can meet your kid's needs (which should not be much as a college student). There are several advantages to this :

1. Your kid does not pay rent or have to worry about mailing in the rent check late while in college. You are the Landlord. A huge piece of mind.

2. All the money you spend on the mortgage while he/ she is using the place, you probably get back after 4 years or more and then some. So, there is huge savings as well smart investing there.

3. After getting out and getting a job, if he/ she can afford to take over the mortgage, pass it on to your kid and do it immediately after they get a job. This way they will be building equity of their own right off the bat. If he/ she can not afford the mortgage immediately, go ahead and carry it for a couple of years or so and use its rental income to offset its mortgage cost (or better yet, cover the whole mortgage payment assuming the rental rate and property values have appreciated considerably during years of ownership). You can then sell the property and give the profit to your kid as a gift to place as a down payment on his/ her own first home/ condo purchase when they are ready to do so.

Anyway you look at it, there is a huge financial win in this simple strategy if you can implement it right.

adopt me?

[1997gtx]

Wife and I are 27 ... still renting. Could afford to buy, but happy renting for now and avoiding crazy high property taxes where we live.

[yakev724]

Rent is too DAMN high!!!

[Augenbrauezug]

Originally Posted by Tondtar

A word of advice to all the young ones here from someone who has failed to do this for himself and his kid :

If you know where your kid will be attending college, plan on buying a home or a condo/ apt. in that town if you can afford to do so. Anything is OK as long it can meet your kid's needs (which should not be much as a college student). There are several advantages to this :

1. Your kid does not pay rent or have to worry about mailing in the rent check late while in college. You are the Landlord. A huge piece of mind.

2. All the money you spend on the mortgage while he/ she is using the place, you probably get back after 4 years or more and then some. So, there is huge savings as well smart investing there.

3. After getting out and getting a job, if he/ she can afford to take over the mortgage, pass it on to your kid and do it immediately after they get a job. This way they will be building equity of their own right off the bat. If he/ she can not afford the mortgage immediately, go ahead and carry it for a couple of years or so and use its rental income to offset its mortgage cost (or better yet, cover the whole mortgage payment assuming the rental rate and property values have appreciated considerably during years of ownership). You can then sell the property and give the profit to your kid as a gift to place as a down payment on his/ her own first home/ condo purchase when they are ready to do so.

Anyway you look at it, there is a huge financial win in this simple strategy if you can implement it right.

Please call my parents.

[wakeboarder109]

24 here. I am in the process of buying my first house right now (settle on Mar. 16th). It's hard not to buy when there are so many foreclosures out there.