Are you 30 or older, do you own or rent your home?

amother

Pewter

Tue, Jan 30 2018, 2:28 pm

If you are renting to you plan on buying? If you bought how old were you when you bought? Feel free to share your location and home price too.

amother

Navy

Tue, Jan 30 2018, 2:30 pm

We actually bought, sold, moved to a different location and now rent..

amother

Royalblue

Tue, Jan 30 2018, 2:31 pm

Own
24
NY
1.5

amother

Seashell

Tue, Jan 30 2018, 2:37 pm

I am 34 and we are trying to buy for the first time. I always assumed we would rent forever to be honest. We have really outgrown our 2br apartment and rent has gotten so high that we decided to do some research. We put some money from family together with a few grants. A government backed loan like FHA or FreddieMac does not require the full 20% down.

I am in Chicago and we are looking at a fixer upper in the 200k range. It needs a fair amount of work but we have low standards and will do it slowly over time.

amother

Pewter

Tue, Jan 30 2018, 2:41 pm

amother wrote:

What grants are out there for first time homebuyers? I am in the tristate area where houses are at least 500k and more for something that doesnt need work. If I don't put 20 percent down I'll never be able to afford the monthly mortgage....

amother

Seashell

Tue, Jan 30 2018, 2:43 pm

amother wrote:

I googled for a list of first time homeowner programs in my state. You can do the same.

amother

Wheat

Tue, Jan 30 2018, 2:44 pm

60.
Own a house since age 19. Still live in the same house. Price was $25,000, now worth $50,000.

amother

Blonde

Tue, Jan 30 2018, 2:44 pm

Age 31. Bought a house a year ago. Struggling to manage mortgage and upkeep.

amother

Chartreuse

Tue, Jan 30 2018, 2:46 pm

amother wrote:

If you are renting to you plan on buying? If you bought how old were you when you bought? Feel free to share your location and home price too.

34 years old, we own our home. Just bought it six months ago.

House cost about 300,000$, and is in terrible shape! We love having projects to do though, so we don't mind. We brought the house knowing it needs tons of work.

amother

Hotpink

Tue, Jan 30 2018, 2:48 pm

Age 33, Bought 3 yrs ago, when I was 30.
City: Brooklyn, NY
Price: 800k

slushiemom

Tue, Jan 30 2018, 2:50 pm

I'm renting, and we never plan to buy. Rent in my neighborhood is relatively cheap, and totally doesn't match what it should be based on how much the house would sell for.

We can rent forever and not pay the amount we'd pay over the years for a house and all related expenses.

It's so easy knowing that any major issues is the landlord's problem and not ours.

We love the flexibility we feel we have when we rent.

My city in particular (Bet Shemesh) is not a place I assume we (non-chareidim) will have a long term future in. Part of the flexibility we enjoy of renting, I don't panic (as much as I would have if I owned a house) at the thought of the inevitable chareidization of Bet Shemesh.

I truly don't care about what my house looks like. I love my house because it's practical, big enough that each of my kids has their own room + a guest room, home office and a HUGE backyard. For cheap. I don't care about tiles, faucets, toilets, doors, windows etc. I just can't bring myself to care about that stuff. I never want to have to spend months picking out interior design for a house. I'd rather watch Netflix. As long as I find a house to rent that meets my practical needs, I couldn't care less what it looks like, and I've seen the kind of stress that experience puts on people. No thanks.

We love experiences. Not having most if not all of our money sunk into a house, not to mention a huge mortgage and unexpected expenses, allows us to enjoy cash flow we wouldn't otherwise have. I'll take experiences over items every single time. That means a trip to Amsterdam instead of fancy faucets, and yearly trips to Tel Aviv and Eilat instead of walk in closets and mold repairs.

We lucked out, finding the absolutely perfect long term rental. We've been here 6 years, and as long as everything goes smoothly, I need it for another 6 years or so before we'd be ready to move. However, if we want to move earlier, it's easy to do so.

IF we ever buy a property, it would likely be a vacation rental apartment on the coast that we'd rent out to cover the mortgage, and schedule in time for ourselves throughout the year. That's down the line though.

Sorry so long, those are my thoughts on this! I find the topic fascinating. It took me awhile to come around to the idea of long term renting, but now that we've been doing it for 12 years with no plans to stop anytime soon, I really love and appreciate the benefits of it.

amother

Orange

Tue, Jan 30 2018, 2:51 pm

I'm 32 yrs old. Bought my house 4-5 yrs ago for just over $500k. Money is tight but my mortgage payments are comparable to rent here in Boston.

amother

Wine

Tue, Jan 30 2018, 2:51 pm

Age 33
Looking to buy
Still renting Sad

we outgrew our space a long time ago

slushiemom

Tue, Jan 30 2018, 2:56 pm

Sorry, didn't read all the rules of the post Wink

32
Rent - $2k/month (The house I'm living in would sell for ~$800K)
Bet Shemesh

amother

Ecru

Tue, Jan 30 2018, 3:02 pm

amother wrote:

60.
Own a house since age 19. Still live in the same house. Price was $25,000, now worth $50,000.

This is fascinating. Did you mean 500 000$? Do you live in a city?

amother

Babypink

Tue, Jan 30 2018, 3:03 pm

I am 34 and have owned for almost 7 years.
Bought for $130,000 now worth around $220,000. We have a 15 yr mortgage so are almost halfway through.
I hope that within the next two years we can move into something larger and have this as an investment property.

amother

Teal

Tue, Jan 30 2018, 3:30 pm

34
Bought a house 5 yrs ago in Monsey for 500k.

amother

White

Tue, Jan 30 2018, 3:38 pm

Age 33
rent
I would love to buy but here in brooklyn houses are going 1.6 and needs work

amother

Bronze

Tue, Jan 30 2018, 3:44 pm

30 and just started looking to buy. Budget is about 600, but we'd happily pay less if we find something for less. I will add, everyone we know in NY who is around our age who bought had help from family. We are also being helped by family (with the downpayment, we set our budget based on a range of mortgage payments we can afford by ourselves). We do have friends who moved OOT and were able to buy on their own.

amother

Mint

Tue, Jan 30 2018, 3:48 pm

amother wrote:

Own
24
NY
1.5

Wow. What do you and your husband do for a living that you were able to purchase a $1.5 million home at age 24?

I purchased my first home as a 20-something single. Sold it when I married. Bought another home in my mid-30s for about $220,000 (value has about doubled). Its now paid off, so I can honestly say we own it.