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

slushiemom

Wed, Jan 31 2018, 7:13 am

Raisin wrote:

Unfortunately many rental arrangements are not so stable. Too many people I know who rent are forced to move every 3 or 4 years or more often.

We moved into our current house in year 6 of marriage, and it's our 8th place, so I know about moving! We always (except for once when we got kicked out due to the landlord's selling the place) saw a new move as a fun exciting opportunity, and we got so good at it, it wasn't even stressful.

It works for us!

Gerbera

Wed, Jan 31 2018, 9:14 am

Bought when I was 27 in 2008 for 421,000 in Toronto. Market is ridiculous here and houses same style on the street now sell for over 1 million. We didn't have any help...we saved for a down payment.

amother

Linen

Wed, Jan 31 2018, 10:14 am

I'm 40 now and we bought our house in Baltimore 16 years ago for $127,000 with an FHA loan, so there was a very small down payment. Have since refinanced at a much lower rate and feel so lucky that we bought when the market was low since other houses on my block are now selling for around $280,000.

amother

Scarlet

Wed, Jan 31 2018, 10:23 am

I'm 31. We bought 2 years ago. BH.
Paid 470k for a house that needed (and still needs!) work
Put down 20% but the taxes are very high so our monthly payment is equivalent to almost 3k. I'm so glad we did it when we did it because prices are only going up uP UP

amother

Tan

Wed, Jan 31 2018, 10:42 am

Is this information for a magazine article or just curiosity?
What's your situation op?

I'm 32.
Bought 4 years ago in Brooklyn for 800k needed some work.
Wish we can move to a different place where you get more space for your money but don't want to uproot everyone from their schools.

amother

Pewter

Wed, Jan 31 2018, 11:34 am

amother wrote:

Is this information for a magazine article or just curiosity?
What's your situation op?

.

not a magazine article - im writing a book about first time homebuyers. just kidding its for my own curiosity. Im 30. live in a two bedroom with three kids in brooklyn. very ready to take the next step and buy. dh works in Queens and HATES the commute. The only place with a reasonable commute to queens that has our crowd that is semi affordable is Inwood - only the housing situation there is very discouraging, A lot of small houses that need work and the prices keep on rising. I would move to Monsey in a second - Chestnut Ridge or Havestraw but thats even a longer commute than Brooklyn for DH. I am so ready for a house!!!! I do not want to do another summer in Brooklyn Sad

amother

Lavender

Wed, Jan 31 2018, 12:38 pm

Hi
Is this normal?
I live in Stamford Hill, London. I have 5 kids KeH and we rent.
The average price for a 3 bedroom shoebox house is £1.3!!! That means its close to $2 million for a tiny 3 bedroom...what an earth are we supposed to do? Golders Green is also similar price range..

amother

Lemon

Wed, Jan 31 2018, 1:53 pm

amother wrote:

25
$230000. (19 years ago)
Brooklyn, NY
Can sell today for about 1.3m

great price! Where in Brooklyn was it that cheap 19 years ago?

amother

Teal

Wed, Jan 31 2018, 2:04 pm

amother wrote:

great price! Where in Brooklyn was it that cheap 19 years ago?

My family members bought in Williamsburg for that price 16-17 years ago. Those apt are now worth over 600k. Almost tripled.
And if you're on the north side in Williamsburg your apt or house is worth even more because the artists are willing to pay astronomical sums for them.

amother

Goldenrod

Thu, Feb 01 2018, 12:10 am

31. Renting. Just started looking to buy but I don't really think we'll find anything. Live in Baltimore. Looking for something in the low 300,000s at most (I don't know how we'll even pull that off). We're picky about the neighborhood so I'm not so optimistic.

amother

Floralwhite

Thu, Feb 01 2018, 2:15 am

amother wrote:

My answer is not so clear cut. We own our home in Israel. But it does not have a legal building permit, as our community over the green line has no official zoning (this is a political issue).
So there is a trade off, we have a house that fits our needs, 150 square meters, four bedrooms, a family room, large well equipped kitchen, large living room and porch, building costs were low as we built using less durable methods and materials, but it only took us two months to have the house ready to move in. But our house is not legal and could theoretically be torn down. Also it would not be worth much to sell, but hopefully our community will get the legal stamp of approval and our house will become of value.

I think the cost of our home was roughly 160K in today's USD. We could probably get 1K USD or so in rent per month for our home.

I am 37.

This must be so stressful, to live with such uncertainty, no?
Signed, another poster who lives in Yesha but in legal yishuv.

amother

Honeydew

Thu, Feb 01 2018, 2:31 am

Live in Baltimore and bought a 280,000 dollar house three years ago which is now probably worth 350. We put down 20% which makes the mortgage just a bit more than the price of an apartment. The down payment was all from a life insurance policy of a family member.

farm

Thu, Feb 01 2018, 8:34 pm

slushiemom wrote:

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

2k sounds like a lot of money to be spending on rent. I personally would rather live in a shoebox that's mine than a palace where I'm covering someone else's mortgage. But you obviously feel differently!

amother

Burgundy

Thu, Feb 01 2018, 11:53 pm

amother wrote:

Very true. I’m 35 and bought an apt (not a house) for 800k 2 yrs ago and it is worth way more now because the artists all reside in this area. Not to mention, prices are rising every day in Williamsburg to the point of sheer absurdity.

Optimystic

Fri, Feb 02 2018, 5:34 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.

Over 30, renting, and I would like to buy. I spent my savings and harmed my credit in order to move to a community where I could walk to shul and not have to drive to the other side of the state to buy meat. And I am single again, so I feel I have to keep the flexibility to move for a shidduch.

I am still sore about it, especially as I know very well how important it is to save early and not dump money into ever-rising rents. I have started to realize though, that knowing how far my financial situation is from what I worked for helps me to better appreciate what it means to let that go and trust HaShem.