I've included you in this group, Old Man:
This RE market is the perfect time especially for first time home buyers, they also have the opportunity to make a few bucks in the process if they decide to sell in 3-5 years.
Very cool!!!
)
$123,000 will buy you nothing where I live.
Or, offsetting taxes and interest with a renter if you have a wholly separate living space for them, or in your place if you're single/young/motivated. Or, save every penny to purchase another place and have the majority of your interest, taxes, and some principal paid for by some other sucker, errr, renter. The single house investment plan is bunk unless you live in exactly the right area. That said, there are myriad cost-sharing or cost-offset schemes (rental depreciation, after living there for two years to hit the capital gains milestone, for instance) that can make real estate a great investment.
Sounds like someone is having a mid-life crisis. You're not gonna buy a Harley, are ya SS?
I bought at 24 and the nice thing about buying a house is that it fixes your expense for shelter. We actually refinanced to 4.5% (4 years later) and our house payment is lower now. So it worked out well....I make more money now and our housing expense has actually gone down. I have a modest home though and don't buy into the McMansion or housing an investment idea....thats what stocks are for.
That great advice if you have no direction in life. If you're happy where you are and have a good career, buying a house is better than renting in pretty much every way imaginable. Sure it's more work, but how is that a bad thing? It's YOURS. You can do pretty much whatever you want with it.
Talk to someone old that traveled a lot in their youth. I can almost GUARANTEE they won't say "Gee, I wish I had worked all that time when I was young and waited until I was old and infirm to travel and have fun."Now that I am a homeowner and I am in my late 30's I have to say that I wish I would have bought when I was in my 20's.
You know what happens when you live it up in your 20's? You retire a decade later than you could have. And the partying I am capable of now that I am financially stable is far grreater than the partying I could afford when I was in my 20's. Even with a mortgage I can travel world wide, afford a decent car, and basically have fun.
Screw living it up. Buckle down, sacrifice and learn as much as you are comfortable with about finance, and how the economy works. Work hard, make as much money as you possibly can and get out of the rat race early. When you're in your 40's and looking at retiring you will not look back on your 20's and think, "Gee I wish I would have partied more and earned less".
And (AFAIK) houses are a moderate, long term investment. And much like any investment, you need to know what you are doing to make money at it.
My opinion. Your milage may vary. (But probably not by much
I covered those people:
Hey, some people are happy being stodgy sticks in the mud. Besides, when did selling your house and moving become not an option?I covered those people:
"...you're a stodgy stick-in-the-mud that wants nothing more than to tie himself down to a piece of land with a hut built on it for the next 20 years."
I realize there are lots of people that fall in this category. Even in their 20's.
If you have the means in your 20's, you can always buy a place, then lease it out for 2-4 years and travel. That way you're mortgage is getting covered while you're out seeing the world. Then you have a place to go back to when you're done.I covered those people:
"...you're a stodgy stick-in-the-mud that wants nothing more than to tie himself down to a piece of land with a hut built on it for the next 20 years."
I realize there are lots of people that fall in this category. Even in their 20's.
Beer?Will you learn what is important? Oh yes, you will.
Yep. Like all things financial, the earlier the better.That great advice if you have no direction in life. If you're happy where you are and have a good career, buying a house is better than renting in pretty much every way imaginable. Sure it's more work, but how is that a bad thing? It's YOURS. You can do pretty much whatever you want with it.
Wife and I bought a house in our early 30's. We would have bought sooner if we could have. For us, we consider it our home and not really an "investment" per se. Sure the financial aspect of it is a consideration, but it's more of an afterthought than anything. I love our little house.
That's sooo Tyler Durden. You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else.Earth is a total loss. Everybody all worried. Got to save up for retirement. Got to do this, got to do that. Got to save money for stuff. Got to have stuff to have happy.
You own nothing. Nobody owns anything. Your chasing an illusion. Nothing is yours to keep, so why go nuts going after it all? ILLUSION
Nest egg? GONE!! House? GONE !!!! Body? GONE!!! Good looks? GONE!!!!
You will ridicule me because I speak the truth.
Here it is, so listen. Your all going nowhere. You wont need your i-phone, you wont need your $200 Oakley sun glasses.
You wont need to worship sports players.
Will you learn what is important? Oh yes, you will.
Seriously....I covered those people:
"...you're a stodgy stick-in-the-mud that wants nothing more than to tie himself down to a piece of land with a hut built on it for the next 20 years."
I realize there are lots of people that fall in this category. Even in their 20's.
Choosing where to live and work is also a big part of the equation, I lived in Tumwater for 2 years commuting 45 miles to work each way so that I could live comfortably without a huge mortgage payment. The lake property I own is about 20 miles outside of Shelton - a 40 minute commute to Olympia.
Bingo - you should be buying a home, not making an investment.
??? two weeks at Disney World is not what I meant. Living somewhere else for a few years? But hey....adventure isn't for everyone.....Yeah, because buying a house will completely kill any chance you have to travel.
Indeed. You should not feel pressure to buy something you aren't ready for just because it might be a "good investment". A good financial investment, may be a bad investment in your overall lifestyle.
Landlords frown on putting carpet on the walls...
Austin is not that bad. Just keep in mind that in the late 90's the town was full of stock options from high tech companies. I decided that owning my house was more important than a big screen tv and a ferrari.
Thats a given
Sorry, but your "if you don't have kids" comment broke the dumbometer.
whut?
Again....your low sperm count is not my fault.
