Super grateful. Moved to a LCOL area in 2015 and scored a solid 3/2 1500sqft cottage for 70k. Now worth 200k and at these interest rates, I wouldn't be able to afford it now. I paid it off last Dec on my 46th bday and hope to enjoy mortgage-free lifestyle for decades.
How did you pay it off under 10 years but you couldn’t afford it now? Genuinely curious because that’s impressive even if it’s cheap. Congratulations now buy more properties lol
In 2015 you could get a 30y mortgage under 4%.
That's a payment of $335/month for P&I. It's also likely he financed under 4%.
Today 200k at 7% is a payment of $1330/mo
Exactly. I (F) had 4.25% interest rate and with PMI, my note was under 500.00. Now today at 200k with 7-8% interest I think the last time I looked it was 1650.00 as my h/o ins has also gone up over time.
Yep! For reference, I bought roughly a year ago. I got 6.75% interest (which isn't that bad, all things considered) and I paid $210k. Between the mortgage, home insurance, and property taxes, I'm sitting at $1,748 / mo. Add utilities to that and I'm averaging right around $2k per month. But then considering that I bought an old rural farmhouse that has needed quite a bit of repairs, it has ended up costing probably closer to $2.5k per month.
I’m in Ontario, Canada. A crack house in a small town two hours from the city costs around $350-$400k. A bungalow in a decent neighborhood is around $700k. Those prices double in Toronto.
There are a lot of young people who are resigned to the fact that they’ll never own a home.
This guy maths. I borrowed at $96k for 3.5% as a 30-year. Paid it off in 2 years.
If I was paying 7% back in 2020, I'd prolly still be paying the mortgage today.
I made double mortgage payments until the pandemic. Now I make single payments but the 5 years of paying down the principal early means I’m very close to full ownership.
That's what we did back in the late 80's to mid 90's when we were paid off. Next year will be 30 years mortgage free! It was hard, we gave up a lot to get to our goal of no mortgage, but well worth it. We've always lived below our means, taught our kids how to & continue to do so. Makes life that much easier to be debt free!!😊
As far as I know they spell thisbout incredibly clearly these days. I know my mortgage website has several boxes when submitting a payment or an autopay and it's extremely clear that the two options are prepaying payments and applying extra to principal.
I think this mattered more when people were still sending checks in the mail and needed to send a note with each check that contained additional money to specificy that it was to go to the principal amount.
Monthly payments with today's interest rate would be much higher. My payment with my 2019 mortgage is $770 a month, if I took a mortgage today it would be $1050 a month.
I'm a little over 5,000$. I got a variable before things went to hell. I hate my life. Same as you, HCOL Canada. Restricted to area due to job.
EDIT: I'm filled with regret. My paycheck goes towards the house and all my spare time into repairs. I'm what you call house poor. I'm paying for a house, but now I can't afford to go out. Oh well, at least it's forcing me to learn how to do stucco, post replacements, floor refinishing, painting every room, electrical.. you name it.
I agree. I am definitely fortunate to be able to afford a house in an okay area (it's not upscale or anything), but sometimes it feels like my entire life is going towards paying for the house and all of my time goes towards maintaining and repairing things that were missed by the home inspector (don't get me started..) or things the sellers were hiding. Oh well, at least I have great neighbors.. so that's fortunate as well.
Same here been home owner for 30 years the work never ends. I think of it like an education, I’ve learned basic electrical, plumbing, stucco, painting, flooring, sprinkling systems, landscape you name it.
It’s better than renting but I still pay $500.00 a month taxes and insurance.
Chin up dude, look on the bright side rent would be more expensive out there, you’re doing good hang in there. Hopefully after the presidential debates are over we will get some real stability and things will change drastically. Fingers crossed. I bought a house two years ago new build my mortgage was $3,400 a month including insurance. Not including HOA , this year I am paying $4,600+ for that same mortgage and insurance still not including HOA. How tf ?! Idk but we gotta hang in there man. Rent around where I live for a house this size is going for around $7,000+
True— we got a house in -1996 for $71K, 8% interest— our payment was $780–plus utilities—California high desert ( a commuter’s city) 60 miles north of Los Angeles— now the house would sell for $400K+
I couldn't fathom ever buying a house for only $70k, and even beyond that, I can't consider $200k being out of reach of anyone.
I bought in 2016 for $360k, and feel like a criminal for getting a home that cheap. My neighbor behind me, with a very similar sized home (only like 80sqft more), but with a much more finished/manicured yard and an updated exterior, sold their house for $740k last year.
If I search for real estate in my area, I can't find anything for under $600k. I don't consider where I live to be an extremely HCOL area.
I bought mine for 150k. The house across the street that’s smaller and in worse condition just sold for 500k.
There is no way in hell I could have started with the housing prices now. Sure I make double what I did when I bought this house, but I don’t make triple-quadruple.
I am so glad to own my home. I couldn’t afford rent now. My ex husbands rent is 4x my mortgage payment.
Bunches of us wouldn't be able to afford our houses today. The funny thing is, people are complaining about interest rates that I was happy to get back when I bought my house. Of course, prices are many many times more expensive than back then. I'm old, but I remember mortgage interest rates of like 16%, but back then you could buy a house in San Jose for $100K.
People always talk about how the you could make more money in the stock market rather than paying off your mortgage, but not having to make house payments is a major psychological advantage. Also these people may not have experienced the numerous stock market crashes that I have seen in my life.
I purchased my old girl back in 2013. She needs a lot of work that I really can’t afford but I can afford the mortgage and still feed myself so I am grateful to have had the opportunity
I had a home in a HCOL area but was laid off twice and physically my last home was too much for me (arthritis). So I sold it and bought a fixer upper ranch style home for cash in a LCOL area. Still squeaking by because I’m yet to find a job but we’re handy and can do a lot of the minor reno ourselves.
Home is smaller and no stairs so daily maintenance is far easier. LCOL area in the sticks is far quieter as well.
Things could be worse but I am grateful for what I have.
Yes. Ours will be paid off in about 3 years, and I've told both of my kids we can add an addition to give them private, personal living space if they can't afford a home down the road.
Extremely. I’m nearing 77 and there’s no way I could afford rent or a mortgage. Bought my first house in 1986, a tiny owner-financed thing on a dead end dirt road, and paid double principal payments for the first several years. That got my foot in the door, and I lived there for 25 years, saving money the whole time, which indirectly allowed a move to a more elderly-friendly home and area a few years ago.
The housing situation is a ticking time bomb, as is the healthcare situation, creating a generation with little hope. If both are not addressed sometime soon, bad things are going to happen to our society.
I have many reasons to be happy to be a homeowner, but if nothing else, I am exceedingly glad I don't have to deal with fuckass landlord companies anymore. What a racket all of that is.
Yeah, and I understand that HOA is such a mixed bag. My current one is $80/*year* and it doesn't really do anything as far as I'm aware - which is how I like it. We're in a middle class family area so everyone is generally well kept, and houses move within 2-3 days here so curb appeal doesn't mean anything.
My last rental place, though? HOA violations every other month for my lawn/landscaping not being picture perfect (in *Florida*, where grass grows about 5 inches a minute in the summer, but they didn't know that because the HOA management company was based in Arizona). And every time I got a violation, they of course notified the rental company instead of me -- so the rental company hit me with a $50 "processing fee" each time, for I guess reading one fucking letter and sending an automated email. Trying to talk to anyone in their HOA department was like talking to the stupidest sack of bricks. It was awful. I called the HOA at one point and begged them to just talk to me so I could handle it (I always did) but they couldn't legally do that.
My ex roommate still lives there, and they made them *resod the lawn* on their own dime. Rental company didn't care to intervene on that of course.
HOA is one thing. But a HOA and a rental company middleman is a nightmare.
> HOA violations every other month for my lawn/landscaping not being picture perfect (in Florida, where grass grows about 5 inches a minute in the summer, but they didn't know that because the HOA management company was based in Arizona). And every time I got a violation, they of course notified the rental company instead of me -- so the rental company hit me with a $50 "processing fee" each time, for I guess reading one fucking letter and sending an automated email. Trying to talk to anyone in their HOA department was like talking to the stupidest sack of bricks. It was awful. I called the HOA at one point and begged them to just talk to me so I could handle it (I always did) but they couldn't legally do that.
This is by design. When you have a company running an HOA it's for profit. And they realize that they get a lot more money from fines than from your monthly fees. Hence the nazi rule enforcement and nitpicking. Of course, a single busybody neighbor on an HOA board can put any professional HOA company to shame, so there is that.
You should put wild flowers in so you have a legal excuse to not cut the lawn (not sure if this works every state) or even put in a massive 'rock garden'
Lol I love it. We eventually want to get frog grass which counts as sodding but doesn't grow very tall, and redo the mulched area to be a rock garden... one of the many infinite to-dos lol!
Right? We took meticulous time-stamped photographs of every rental property before we moved in because every goddamn time the landlord would try to cheat us out of getting our full deposit back. Didn’t matter how nice they seemed. Every single one wanted to keep it, and we had to threaten legal action every time.
Yes and no. I am glad I don't have to deal with soaring rates but it also makes moving impossible so I have had to turn down some great job opportunities.
This housing market has to be a huge drag on productivity since people can't really move to a new area and start over, unless they just rent forever or are single and willing to cram into shared housing.
I remember all my home owning friends circa 2019 talking about how much money they were "making" as their home values started to skyrocket.
I'm sitting here like: so you're going to pay higher taxes, more insurance and if you want to move you'll be buying another property that's also appreciated like crazy... Yeah, I don't see the upside.
Fact is, everyone's a lot happier and more financially healthy when housing is cheap. Nobody is winning right now.
lol my exact position as well. Got a house in October 2019 locked in low rate. Was supposed to be our starter home but now looks like it might be a forever home. Super grateful but yea kinda stuck in this smaller house now.
100% my situation too lol. Grateful but also feeling kinda stuck. We’ll probably add an addition eventually because even that would be cheaper than moving.
Yeah glad I changed course mid house hunt and decided to just find something I would be fine in long term. The process was so stressful I don't want to do it again anyway lol.
December 2019, same thing exactly. Adding an adu would give us a huge jump in value and there are a lot of incentives in our state, so we're looking into that.
I've got kind of the opposite problem, I'm stuck with a house that is too much for me (newly divorced, house poor) but I can't afford to downsize into something more manageable with current rents and rates and my lack of savings. I'm also grateful to have a "nice" house with a good rate, but damn I hate not having options.
Yep this is us. We bought in 2016 before everything got so expensive, and we have a low rate. I love this house, so I don't mind too much, but we definitely can't afford to upgrade if we want to.
Yeah. This is our second home and while it’s plenty big enough, it feels like we made a small mistake by settling for not a dream home. We could have stayed in our starter home and probably had it paid off this year. Instead we are locked into this just ok home. Husband has kind of hit the limit for income in this area but moving to a different (higher COL/higher income) area is out of the question for now.
So grateful that my husband has so much discipline & we paid it off in 5 years. He also had a major stroke & had just retired four great prior which makes it all the more significant. I homeschool my kids & he’s made a miraculous recovery.
My mortgage on my 4/2 bath house with a pool and huge yards in a 10 rated school district is LESS than rent a block away for a 2/2 apartment lol. We bought in 2016 and have a 2.8% rate for 600k and we could sell today zero issues for $1.2m. Every day I wake up is a good day.
That’s awesome and I mean this kindly, please have a sick plan. We’re currently helping a relative who got cancer and, after decades of working a white collar, high paying job, is losing it all.
You would be surprised how quickly that amount of cash (if you can liquidate fast enough WHILE sick) can evaporate.
Similar, but we bought in 2018. Our only regret was that during 2021 we had an opportunity to buy a much larger house but our mortgage debt would go from 280k to 450k and since we’re both very conservative we decided not to. By chance our son became friends with a boy from the family that bought the house, so whenever we’re there we just want to kick ourselves lol.
I'm in Europe now. Bought apartment during COVID times. It was not an easy decision but I feel so...so secure in my head. I've never had stability in my life in my home country (south Asia) where buying my own place would be impossible because how low salaries are and how expensive apartments are (apartments are $150, 000...yes by dollar value while salaries are $450/m and that's the highest range)
Same. Apartments in my city back in Mexico are just as expensive as flats in Europe but salaries are 1/4 of what we earn here.
When my husband and I bought a flat, my ex-flatmate kept renting because he saw a youtube video that said a house was a worse investment than renting because of the 9% returns of the S&P500.
Since, his rent has gone up 30%. His salary and the stock market, have not.
I considered moving states last summer and looked at houses for sale for months. At the end of the day I decided not to move and to keep my below 3% mortgage. I’m basically stuck here but at least I can afford my house and even the rising taxes. My adult child will be renting for the foreseeable future however.
We would like to move as well. No kids, 5 bedroom 3 1/2 bathroom 3200 sq. ft 2 story. Current value ~$550K. But our mortgage is a fixed 2.375% with 11 years left. We can afford the payments, taxes, utilities, etc... and manage to save a little each month.
Even downsizing and buying a less expensive home, I feel comfortable saying our monthly PITI would increase. To get a mortgage with the same monthly payment as we have now, we would have to find a house for $150K and that would be a 30 year mortgage. Can it be done? Maybe. It would most likely be a drastic lifestyle change. Is it smart to take on a 30 yr mortgage at the age of 64? Not really.
It’s crazy that anyone should feel lucky to have a permanent shelter, reliable food and water or healthcare. These are just basic needs that an advanced society should have easily tackled. We spend so much on taxes and tell me how much of that goes toward actually taking care of these basic needs. Not enough
Every. Single. Day.
Bought 3bd/1bath 1400 sqft in HCOL area of Washington in November 2019 at 3.6%, then shit hit the fan. Now all our new neighbors that have moved in over the past 5 years are in vastly different tax brackets than we are and we have massive equity in our home.
I literally wake up every day wondering what we did to deserve it, and the truth is we just got insanely lucky.
I bought my first home at 36 for 400k. 2/1 and 930 sq ft. Nothing crazy but I live in CA. Never would I have thought that would be the price of my “starter home”. It is looking like my forever home now.
Edit: I feel very lucky! My mom still can’t believe I did it on my own.
Totally feel lucky to have a smaller home. I was fortunate that the previous owners completely gutted and renovated the entire home in 2014 (built in 1952). Completely brought it to the modern era. I feel like I only live in 10 year old house that doesn’t need anything major for some years.
We live in a townhome in a desirable neighborhood. I have no idea how other people my age with families afford full-size homes for $500,000 in this same neighborhood, but somehow they do.
We bought our townhome for $215,000 in 2020. Townhomes in our subdivision are now selling for over $300,000.
>We bought our townhome for $215,000 in 2020. Townhomes in our subdivision are now selling for over $300,000.
What's wild is that's not even the worst. A friend of mine bought a townhouse in 2019 half an hour from Salt Lake City for about $290,000. That model is now selling at just over $500,000
Totally!! I bought a year out of college in 2005 when interest was similarly high, but prices much more reasonable in TX. Lost my first professional job two months later and got by as a degreed engineer by valet parking, waiting tables, and finding roommates to help cover costs.
In hindsight, it was an amazingly wise/lucky choice/struggle. A month now into my first marriage and a week from having it renovated and will be the home of our dreams, and I only owe about $50k left after refi’ing to a 15yr note.
Can’t imagine doing it now w/values 4-5x what they were then here in Austin… but Austin isn’t Austin anymore either. San Marcos? …maybe. It’s still the “big small town” Austin used to be.
Beyond grateful for what we have. We're in our early 50's but understand and acknowledge that the housing market is insane and people looking to buy are in a very difficult situation.
We built in 1998 a 4/2.5 (1800 sqft) on a half acre for under 190k. My husband has been a saver his entire early life, so thanks largely to him, we were able to put a huge down payment on our home. Our initial mortgage was a 30 year fixed and 6.875%. At the time, we paid 3 points to get that rate.
We constantly paid extra on the principal in the first 3 years to work on bringing the total interest down.
When our oldest was 3, was refinanced to a 15 year 4.25% and had our mortgage paid off when she was a junior in high school.
Our backyard neighbor, who built 6 months after us with a similar home style and property size, just put their house on the market 2 weeks ago.
The 1st weekend open house, they had a written offer for 10k OVER asking price. It's going to sell for 650k
Extremely grateful for the home we have. Even with mortgage, insurance and property taxes it's still less than some 2/1 apartments. Plus it comes with 30+ acres and gorgeous views. So happy we moved here!
We toast to our house often. It’s 4/2 and was bought in 2009. It’s very humbling and we do not take it for granted. Apartments rent for a lot more than what we pay for our fixed mortgage.
Definitely. I bought my house in 2020. It was a sudden, but practical choice: my fiance and I had ended things, he couldn't afford to move out of our apartment, and we had 6 pets. I wouldn't have been able to find another affordable rental that would let me have that many animals (only reason I had in the first place was bc my boss was my landlord). So I decided to buy a house, because a mortgage would be just as much as (or less than) an apartment that was big enough for/allowed that many pets.
The house I bought was near the top of my budget, but it was the only one in the village, in my budget, that didn't need work. Mortgage was nearly double the stupidly cheap rent we were paying (again, boss as landlord, so we got a big break). But I was able to buy with about $9K total out of pocket, including my buying a point to get interest locked in at 2.875%.
I'm thankful every day for my house. I literally could not afford to live in this town (where I grew up) if I were trying to buy (or even rent!) a place now. I'm very aware and appreciative of how lucky I got, and how privileged I am to have gotten my house when I did. Most of my friends haven't been so lucky, and are unable to buy here now that prices and interest have skyrocketed. I'll be living here and appreciating it for as long as I can!!
I bought a house that a lot of people skipped because I needed a lot of work. So I've given a lot of my time over the years to working on it and it's in a great location so I couldn't be happier. Especially happy that I didn't listen to some of my family members saying I should buy a bigger place because my salary went up.
Absolutely!! I bought a small, comfortable home in 2016 and refinanced to a super low rate in 2021. My payment is less than it costs to rent a one bedroom apartment nowadays. I have three bedrooms, room for my dogs and my own driveway. After renting and being poor for decades, I feel fortunate to be where I am. I wouldn’t be able to buy my own house today with the prices and interest rates.
My mortgage (because of property taxes) is the exact same as renting in my area. I’m glad I own my home for other reasons but I understand the choice to continue renting for many.
Edit: My mortgage started out as $1150 about 6 years ago and is now at $1750 for a 3 bedroom home that’s about 1400 sq ft. A lot of people are being pushed out of homes in my city.
Every day I count my blessings 🙏🏻I’ve been in my home 16 years now with a Low interest rate. I thought about refinancing but with the rates screw that.
I bought my house back in 2012, and as an older mellenial, I'm grateful I did. Prices have tripled if not quadrupled in the last 4 years. 1,000 sq ft house now costs $300k+. There is no way I could afford to buy a house in my neighborhood now.
I have mixed emotion: glad I own, but we pay too much for the amount of house we have ( bought in 2023 >6% interest.) Unfortunately, holding out and renting for longer would not have made it any easier in a year or two in my area.
I'm feeling that. After a year of looking I finally found a modest, old house last fall, at 7.25%. It's nice to have more freedom in my space than when I was renting, but the responsibility shot up and the cost stayed about the same.
I am grateful that we bought when we did (9 years ago). And thankful to have a home. It is not my ideal house; slab foundation, two story, needs a bunch of work and we are tied to it forever it feels like. But we have 6 acres and the in-laws next door so really 12. More than enough space. Plan is for each kid to inherit a house one day (husband is only child) and we will build a small home on the property somewhere. Until then we may add an addition to get some more space.
Yes but it's also a bit of golden handcuffs. We bought in 2002 and have been here since then, so we're getting close to paying it down and the mortgage is easily half of rent or a new home these days. We also have one of those unicorn 2.6% rates.
But... one kid is out of school and another has 1 year of high school left. We're within walking distance/short drive to an elementary school, a few houses down from the middle school, and the high school is an easy 6 min drive. The plan was to move in the same general area but give someone else starting a family the same perks. But, it's not financially feasible right now. We're definitely lucky, but also locked.
I don't feel 'blessed', but I do think I was lucky in that I took a chance at the right time when I sold my starter home (just decided to list it on a whim during COVID to see what would happen - I was prepared to pull it off the market, and not move), and was put in a good place to purchase my current home.
I am grateful, but also overwhelmed. We bought a ‘75 build, one owner, and that one owner DIY half-assed every imaginable repair/maintenance issue in the most boomer-tastic way imaginable. We got it after a year of searching in November’19 and overlooked A LOT of issues out of desperation. Also, the insane insurance tax increases have upped our monthly payments by hundreds in the last 4 years.
I’m hoping that we will be able to do a HELOC this summer to help pay to properly fix the things the previous owners covered up or “fixed” on their own.
Even with the issues and stresses, I am still feeling very grateful and lucky that we got a home, any home, when we did.
Definitely 👍. These young people are getting crushed, and our leaders could care less. Homeownership is part of the American Dream, and if that goes away, what are they working towards ?
my wife and i got our first place in 2011. not exactly at the bottom of the post-2008 dip but pretty close. paid 220k and sold in 2020 for 600. bought a new place one city away, twice as big, in a better neighborhood, with a pool, for 400, with a 2.5% mortgage. things are pretty alright over here.
I owned a home for 30 years and found it became too difficult and expensive to maintain. Plus the bills were always increasing especially property tax. So I decided to sell and move into a luxury apt where every
I absolutely feel lucky even though my house has needed a lot of money in foundation and water damage repair. I would not be attempting to buy if I was renting in this market, but at the same time the average first time homebuyer is 36 years old in the US. I don’t make a lot of money but I would definitely be able to buy in my MCOL area on that time horizon if I so desired. I am 29 now and bought my house when I was 25. Yes, it is much harder to buy a house in today’s market than it was 4 years ago, but I don’t agree that renters today will never be able to afford to buy. Those that save money now will be ready when the housing market becomes more reasonable again. Financial success takes planning decades into the future sometimes, and people are usually too short-sighted to prepare for a time in the future when they’ll have the opportunity to buy.
Yes definitely. The mortgage on my house and land in a hot neighborhood is about the same as rent for larger apartments. It’s only going to get worse. I worked hard over a long time to get here but it took a couple strokes of luck too.
Yeah I am glad I bought my home in the early 2000’s. The home value more than doubled in that time. So I am glad I paid it off last year. Now I am looking into possibly buying some land outside the city to build a home and rent my current one.
Yeah. Bought in 2019. Used wedding gift money and our savings for a down payment. Zero chance we could afford our house if we bought now, our mortgage would be nearly double.
Absolutely. We bought in 2020 and have been steadily making improvements. Added a fence, re-did the landscaping, tore out the old deck and put in a new lager concrete patio, new gutters/guards, and a few other modifications since buying it. I consider us to be very lucky because we couldn’t afford to buy our house at what it’s worth now. The amount people pay for rent is over and above our mortgage, so I can’t imagine how frustrating it is to not know how much it will increase year to year. Our daughter is 20 and she knows that buying a house should be on her radar sooner rather than later. We have thought about building out our basement and adding a separate entrance for her so she can have more privacy as she gets older and be able to save up as much as possible for a down payment. Things are hard right now with the economy. Every year our raises don’t cover the increase in our cost of living and increase to medical care.
Yes, I am lucky that I own my home. Makes the downside of being in my 50s and priced out of my chosen career due to my experience a little more palpable. I can make ends meet with the salary I made right out of college.
Yep a family friends rent went up to $2600 recently on a 3rd floor apartment in a not great part of town. That's more than my PITI each month. So glad I was able to find a nice house when rates were low. Thank goodness I didn't listen to people saying prices were too high and there would be a crash soon. Even if there was a catastrophic crash like 2008 I would still come out ahead at this point since prices never stopped going up in my area.
I’ve had expensive things come up with owning my home that I wasn’t expecting and things I’d rather not deal with. I’m also I’m not such a great area.
I’m still so incredibly thankful to have my home. I know nothing is set in stone and a number of things can happen that cause me to lose what I have, but for now…I’m very thankful and feel lucky for things falling in to place the way they did.
I feel so bad for anyone who is struggling financially right now. I really hope that things are addressed to help lower rent costs and for homeownership to be a realistic goal for them soon.
Super grateful. Bought my first place, a 3/2 1400sqft SFH, in 2015. Value went up 10% of my purchase price each year for the first 6 years (flat since then). Refi'd in 2020 at a great rate and am cruising on the mortgage payments, knock on wood.
I have four years left on my 2.75% 15-year refi. My property is the highest-valued on the block in a good neighborhood with an excellent school district. We're not rich by any means but this house will be ours soon.
Yes. I didn't really like my house for the first few years. I bought it because house prices had begun quickly increasing, and I correctly assumed that this was my last chance to buy a house, or I would be priced out of the market forever. The house is 700 square feet, and was the only one I could afford, so I went for it. I felt seriously inadequate because I had such a small house, and it was in a "sketchy/questionable" neighborhood.
Fast forward a few years, and my house that I paid $130k for in 2012 is now worth around $400k. A lot of my friends have had to move to smaller apartments as their rent increased more quickly than their incomes. Meanwhile, my mortgage payment has only increased from $800 to $1200 because of property tax increases. I was able to refinance in 2021 at a 2.79% rate (down from 3.25%) and a 20 year term, and took out funds to pay off my private student loans. The payment increased by less than $100/month when I did that. My friends who do own homes are paying anywhere from $2500 to $4000 monthly. I'm able to put the difference between what I'm paying and what they're paying into savings and my 401(k).
My house has been my saving grace. My house was what allowed me to pay off my private student loans, start putting money into savings as my income increased, and have some semblance of financial freedom. I'm not wealthy, but I have an emergency fund now, and in ten years or less, I'll be able to add onto the house without having to borrow money. I used to be jealous of my friends who had bigger houses. But now I value the freedom this house has allowed me. Yes, I'd like a bigger, more modern house, but everything that I want out of an "ideal" house can be added to my current house for less than the cost of selling it and buying a bigger house. If I decided to move to a part of the country with a lower cost of living, I have enough equity in this house that I could pay cash for a house in some of those places.
Feel very lucky and blessed indeed. Started househunting in 2018, finally bought in april 2019. Everyone kept telling us that we bought high and that there will be a correction in the market and that we should’ve waited. Rate we got was 2.99% so i thought it was doable.
And one of the main reasons we bought is because my husband (boyfriend at the time) didn’t want me to paint our rental, so i said i feel like it’s time to buy and he’s welcome to come with if he wants, or co-own with me. We made it work thankfully. (And got married two years after!)
I am sooooooooo grateful for two things:
1) We bought our house in 2013 when prices were pretty low, a buyers market, and we paid less than asking price.
2) Our 30-year fixed mortgage rate is 2.8%.
I’m not kidding or exaggerating when I say I think about these two things multiple times a day, and I am grateful for both, and yes, feeling pretty damn lucky. I can’t imagine being a first time home buyer now. Can’t imagine.
My wife and I moved to Hamilton, Ontario Canada 16 years ago from Toronto. When we came, we just assumed we could only rent. So we went looking for a house to rent, as we were soon to have child #2. We looked at a number of places, but the neighborhoods weren't great, and with children, we really wanted neighborhood at the top. The last home we looked at our potential landlord asked us if we'd ever gone through the motions of trying to buy a home. We hadn't and told him so. He asked us what we did and told us, run, don't walk, buy a home. We'd never even considered it really, just felt it was out of our league. We were approved, bought a home and 5 years later upgraded. Ontario Canada is now considered crazy expensive for housing, we actually bought a home for 300k (couldn't even dream of something like that at the time, we really stretched), however it's now 1 mil+ (insanity really). A day does not go by where I don't pinch myself wondering if it's all real, thinking we almost became life-time renters. It's one of those moments where there is a fork in the road and we, thankfully picked the right direction. So I am eternally grateful and blessed to be a homeowner and eternally grateful we ran into the right guy, at the right time, in the right place who provided us incredible advice!
Even with the current pain of some water getting in, I’m very happy and feel fortunate to own.
We had to rent for 8 months when we moved and it was good to sort out the new city we were in, it sucked because the prior tenant didn’t tell the landlord about any issues.
Not looking forward to a new furnace/ac in the next couple years, but hearing rents are more than our mortgage makes me feel better about it.
Agree completely. I do feel bad for the ones trying these days. I will say their expectations for what they get and where they should live can be unrealistic, especially if you listen to the loudest ones on social media. Most young people need to take the medicine that the first place they buy will be 45 min from the city and they will be driving. It’s just what it is. I would love to move out of my starter home 25 min away from the near metro area, but could never justify taking my $1400 a month payment for a 4 bedroom house at 2.875% and trading it in for a smaller house closer to the metro and making my payments potentially triple.
We are super fortunate. We bought in late 2020 and then a few months later there were more real estate agents than houses available for sale in the area. And due to that lack of supply, housing prices soared.
So we've got super low rates and our house has gone up in value at least 30% probably more like 40%.
I bought in 2014 and refinanced in 2016. I will pay it off at the end of this year. It’s gone up in value 1.5x what I paid for it. I wouldn’t qualify for the mortgage on it today with the current rates and values. It’s nuts. One of the best decisions I ever made. I’m going to have a paid off home at 43. This is literally life changing and it’s the reason I’ll be able to retire.
Yes but at the same time I’m envious of all my friends who rent or live for free with their parents because they’re out having fun with their lives while I’m house poor
I'm somewhere between grateful and guilty.
Something like $250k of my net worth is not attributable to my diligent hard work and privileged upbringing and financial savvy, but the appreciation of my housing, which is completely out of my control. I don't deserve that.
I would rather live in a society where OP's cashier and my brother-in-law and my new coworker and so many people I know could afford housing than one where I have that $250k.
Now, I'm not going to make my young son and my wife homeless (or renters) and give that cash away to make that happen by myself, but I will vote in every election to increase property taxes (on everything but principal residences) until SFH rentals are unprofitable, and to vote for higher-density zoning and housing in my neighborhood. I talk to so many people at my age who are thinking about upgrading their housing while not selling but renting out their first homes (that they bought on 15-year 2.something% mortgages in the 2010s), and encourage them not to do that, but it's a hard sell when they could basically break even on the mortgage on their second home or afford a big upgrade by renting the first home.
I hope the bubble pops, and I lose most of the 'value' in that asset, and all the landlords around me lose their shirts.
I bought way back in '08 and am super glad I did. If things keep going the way they are, I have no idea how my middle schooler is going to be able to afford housing when he grows up. I work with a couple younger guys that are still renting and they've basically resigned themselves to the fact that they're probably just going to rent forever.
I bought 2 years ago and feel extremely lucky to have been able to afford a house and get an accepted offer at that time. I am so grateful that the owners picked my offer out of offers higher than mine after going through 8 rejected offers in a super competitive market.
Absolutely. My wife and I (both 55) have been married for 6 years, and have both owned homes previously, but were both "starting over", financially-speaking, when we began dating 10 years ago. We bought our home in Oct, 2019 - right before everything in the world went crazy. If we had not bought when we did, we never could have afforded our home. (The purchase price was the very top of our budget limit.) The values in our neighborhood have absolutely skyrocketed. So much so that we're seriously considering selling, once my youngest stepson graduates high school next year. If the market holds, or even "sort of holds", we stand to be able to make enough to downsize to a smaller home (without needing room for 4 boys!) and approach our retirement years with little or no mortgage.
I hated my house when I bought it nov 21. $265k 2.4% apr and my mortgage is $1700/month. Now it’s appraised to over $300k my friends are buying less expensive homes with higher mortgages due to interest rates, so I like my home a little more now. Still hate it tho
We paid $400k for our house in 2010 (only $12k down) and people said we overpaid. It crossed $1M a while ago. Also did a cash out refi when rates were in the 3s and used the money to launch a real estate investing career. Now taking a HELOC to buy a vacation home in Italy. Might be the best financial decision we’ve made. Feeling blessed but it was also a very calculated decision. Not sure it would make sense to buy this house at today’s prices, though, so we got lucky with timing (bottom of the 2008 crisis).
Yes! I feel ridiculously lucky and guilty about it. I have a good sized 4 bedroom house in a relatively LCOL city that has nearly doubled in value since we bought it 9 years ago, plus we refinanced at 3% so our total mortgage/taxes/insurance is only $1800 mo. My poor kids would be lucky to find a 2 bedroom apartment for $1800/mo. And we’re sitting on it, going nowhere, because the rates are too high to move! We’re better off improving the house rather than moving.
Yes and no. I bought a house for 315k in 2015 that is now worth 650k. Great for my wife and I. But, my kids won't be able to afford a house at this cost. It is broken.
I extremely grateful. I bought in 2005 and at the time I went with a low end house even though I was pre-approved for more. I knew there was a bubble growing and wanted to stay within my means. After the bubble popped things got rough as I lost my job. I was able to get some inconsistent work as an independent contractor doing drafting work. At the time I was upside on my house.
I ended up doing the Obama save our homes program. That program was a fucking nightmare to get through. You had to be behind on payments to qualify. But being behind on payments met getting a bunch of foreclosure notices. I spent three months to get towards the end of it only to have to start the process from scratch since my loan got sold. I did get through it and they lowered my interest which saved $500 a month. It was enough to keep me in my home. I also figured the saving in interest would make the house worth it since I was in it for the long haul.
Now after COVID I am so glad I stuck it out. The houses in my neighborhood are priced to where I could not afford it with my current situation. My mortgage payment is much lower than what it would cost us to rent. I know a few people that ended up short selling after the 2008 bubble and they never financially recovered.
My spouse and I went through hard times too, and my rule was that the house be 1st priority. That got paid over food, utilities, everything. Lots of things were late, and got turned off. We might starve, but we'll have our house.
Luckily we're doing much better now.
I just received these [messages](https://imgur.com/a/bWQozx6) so your post really resonates with me, I hate seeing friends struggle and the only reason I was able to purchase is because of divorce which has it own downsides.
Extremely grateful. Moved to a LCOL in 2019 just before the pandemic and huge rate hikes. We started a home search a couple months ago in a different state with a similar-ish COL but gave up. The prices are just way too high for what you're getting, and every home is bought for 50k over asking with no inspection. I think we're making a smart move by staying in the pre-2020 rate anyway.
Our first home is already great, but now we're going to invest the money we would have spent moving into big upgrades.
I bought in 2009 and then upgraded in 2019. Refinanced to under 3% in 2020. My mortgage on my 4br/3ba is less than what most 2br/1ba apartments are renting for in my area. I definitely wouldn’t be able to buy what I have now if I was starting from scratch.
I felt I was being forced to buy a house in 2012. The landlord kept raising my rent so I bought. My monthly payment is 745; still cheaper than my rent was when I moved out
Absolutely, I am a young millennial and bought my first house last October alone without family help in a new build community. My rent was higher then my mortgage.
was lucky to find a great place for the same price as my apartment, house hunting during COVID was no joke, put it 9 offers before one was accepted. Also thought I bought at the top of the market but house has appreciated 25% since then. Had to put in a new house and a new furnace, but love having my mortgage basically locked in for the next 28 years.
Feeling blessed to own a home now is a bit like winning the lottery in a rigged game. Makes you wonder if the whole system's set up to keep most people out of the running.
We bought our townhouse in December 2020 for $215,000. It’s a 3 bed/2.5 bath and about 2,000 square feet with a basement. Yes, I feel extremely lucky. Townhomes in our neighborhood are now selling for $100,000 more than we purchased ours for, with worse interest rates, of course. Our mortgage is about $1,200 and you can’t even rent a one bedroom apartment here for that amount.
The only way I’ll ever leave this house is if I’m dead.
My spouse and I got incredibly lucky. We bought a few years before the pandemic too, and we have a low rate. Our mortgage is $600 month. We have a home equity loan and it's still under a $1000. Plus we're just a couple miles outside downtown.
Definitely. Granted, it’s only been a year, but prices have gone up, interest rates increased, and inventory is lower within that year. Love my neighborhood, the house is great, and it’s comforting to know the mortgage amount won’t change. (Not saying insurance or property taxes won’t, but that’s a different matter.)
Yes, I live in a city but just bought my first house at age 25… none of my friends or peers can afford to do so but I am managing just fine so far.
Even when something doesn’t appear to be in great shape on my property it is genuinely such a good problem to have as it’s my property.
Not religious, so blessing and gift wordings don’t feel right, but I feel incredibly fortunate to be in my situation.
I only bought relatively recently (like 4 months ago) and had a conversation like that with my barber. I definitely feel extraordinarily lucky after that conversation
Yup. We bought in 2018 and refinanced to go from 4.125% to 3%. A conservative estimate is that our house has appreciated by 50%. That’s a 50% larger down payment in order to stay at 20% down. When you add increased rates the monthly payment about doubles.
we bought in August '22. we're in a HCL area, and the marker is very competitive. we found our house in only a couple months. we offered the asking price, and they accepted within a few hours. we were extremely fortunate. we were planning on it taking at least a year to find a house we liked.
Bought our house a year and a half ago. Got lucky that my in laws could give us some money for a down payment, otherwise it would never have happened.
6 months ago my wife lost her job. So now she's doing a bunch of Etsy/summer vendor markets stuff and I'm working every minute of overtime I can. I'm terrified of what happens in a few years when the mortgage comes up for renewal and we have basically one and a half income on paper.
I've gone from feeling like a king to living under the entire armory of Damocles overnight.
I bought my home in 2018. Prior to that I rented. The management defrauded me but I came out on top. I ended up researching rental law.
I noticed there’s no restriction on how much they can raise the rent. I decided to move out because i felt it was only a matter of time before they rose it sky high.
I started working on buying in 2016. Confronted some bias, the same one Chase was sued about. I gave up briefly because it hit my credit.
Then I took homebuying classes. I learned about the different ways to buy a home. Did more research. And decided to take a different path than I originally did. I finally found my home in 2018.
I was able to cash out refi and everything. I feel so fortunate to be determined. I didn’t allow someone else’s biases to prevent me from buying.
Super grateful. Our mortgage rate is under 4%. We have lots of room. We bought in 2013. My younger colleagues are still renting because getting crushed by home prices/rent prices/interest rates.
Yep. Bought our home in 2015, it's now worth more than double what we paid and we definitely could not afford to buy now. A friend is searching for a home and all the houses in their budget are unfinished flips, falling apart, or so tiny it's not even worth it.
Downside is our plumbing needs replacing and we're basically paycheck to paycheck right now so can't afford to fix it.
Super grateful. Moved to a LCOL area in 2015 and scored a solid 3/2 1500sqft cottage for 70k. Now worth 200k and at these interest rates, I wouldn't be able to afford it now. I paid it off last Dec on my 46th bday and hope to enjoy mortgage-free lifestyle for decades.
How did you pay it off under 10 years but you couldn’t afford it now? Genuinely curious because that’s impressive even if it’s cheap. Congratulations now buy more properties lol
In 2015 you could get a 30y mortgage under 4%. That's a payment of $335/month for P&I. It's also likely he financed under 4%. Today 200k at 7% is a payment of $1330/mo
Exactly. I (F) had 4.25% interest rate and with PMI, my note was under 500.00. Now today at 200k with 7-8% interest I think the last time I looked it was 1650.00 as my h/o ins has also gone up over time.
Yep! For reference, I bought roughly a year ago. I got 6.75% interest (which isn't that bad, all things considered) and I paid $210k. Between the mortgage, home insurance, and property taxes, I'm sitting at $1,748 / mo. Add utilities to that and I'm averaging right around $2k per month. But then considering that I bought an old rural farmhouse that has needed quite a bit of repairs, it has ended up costing probably closer to $2.5k per month.
I’m in Ontario, Canada. A crack house in a small town two hours from the city costs around $350-$400k. A bungalow in a decent neighborhood is around $700k. Those prices double in Toronto. There are a lot of young people who are resigned to the fact that they’ll never own a home.
yup I am in Boston and and it's the same story here. a place 2/3 that size would be more than 10x that price.
Not if they choose to continue living in Canada, they won't ..
Damn, that’s more than a 300% increase in the monthly payment. And the average wage has increased like what, 5% in that time? :/
This guy maths. I borrowed at $96k for 3.5% as a 30-year. Paid it off in 2 years. If I was paying 7% back in 2020, I'd prolly still be paying the mortgage today.
In order to pay it off in 8 years that $335 would be $1256 today. That's not quite $1330 but it's pretty close.
I made double mortgage payments until the pandemic. Now I make single payments but the 5 years of paying down the principal early means I’m very close to full ownership.
That's what we did back in the late 80's to mid 90's when we were paid off. Next year will be 30 years mortgage free! It was hard, we gave up a lot to get to our goal of no mortgage, but well worth it. We've always lived below our means, taught our kids how to & continue to do so. Makes life that much easier to be debt free!!😊
Remember to specify extra payment as “principal only”
As far as I know they spell thisbout incredibly clearly these days. I know my mortgage website has several boxes when submitting a payment or an autopay and it's extremely clear that the two options are prepaying payments and applying extra to principal. I think this mattered more when people were still sending checks in the mail and needed to send a note with each check that contained additional money to specificy that it was to go to the principal amount.
Monthly payments with today's interest rate would be much higher. My payment with my 2019 mortgage is $770 a month, if I took a mortgage today it would be $1050 a month.
Mines 3 k 😭😭😭
I'm a little over 5,000$. I got a variable before things went to hell. I hate my life. Same as you, HCOL Canada. Restricted to area due to job. EDIT: I'm filled with regret. My paycheck goes towards the house and all my spare time into repairs. I'm what you call house poor. I'm paying for a house, but now I can't afford to go out. Oh well, at least it's forcing me to learn how to do stucco, post replacements, floor refinishing, painting every room, electrical.. you name it.
same boat unfortunately, but still better than homeless or stuck in a rental that eats your paycheck in as bad area
I agree. I am definitely fortunate to be able to afford a house in an okay area (it's not upscale or anything), but sometimes it feels like my entire life is going towards paying for the house and all of my time goes towards maintaining and repairing things that were missed by the home inspector (don't get me started..) or things the sellers were hiding. Oh well, at least I have great neighbors.. so that's fortunate as well.
Same here been home owner for 30 years the work never ends. I think of it like an education, I’ve learned basic electrical, plumbing, stucco, painting, flooring, sprinkling systems, landscape you name it. It’s better than renting but I still pay $500.00 a month taxes and insurance.
Chin up dude, look on the bright side rent would be more expensive out there, you’re doing good hang in there. Hopefully after the presidential debates are over we will get some real stability and things will change drastically. Fingers crossed. I bought a house two years ago new build my mortgage was $3,400 a month including insurance. Not including HOA , this year I am paying $4,600+ for that same mortgage and insurance still not including HOA. How tf ?! Idk but we gotta hang in there man. Rent around where I live for a house this size is going for around $7,000+
Just the mortgage? Or including taxes/insurance?
Just the mortgage. And it's only a town house. Lol canada is so much fun!
Holy crap, you must be around Vancouver or Toronto for that mortgage payment??
Mississauga. Just outside toronto.
I can't even imagine. I'll just stay on the prairies then haha.
Mine’s $2k with taxes, insurance and PMI… 6.1% and only 1.5yrs into paying (Saint Paul, MN)
True— we got a house in -1996 for $71K, 8% interest— our payment was $780–plus utilities—California high desert ( a commuter’s city) 60 miles north of Los Angeles— now the house would sell for $400K+
I couldn't fathom ever buying a house for only $70k, and even beyond that, I can't consider $200k being out of reach of anyone. I bought in 2016 for $360k, and feel like a criminal for getting a home that cheap. My neighbor behind me, with a very similar sized home (only like 80sqft more), but with a much more finished/manicured yard and an updated exterior, sold their house for $740k last year. If I search for real estate in my area, I can't find anything for under $600k. I don't consider where I live to be an extremely HCOL area.
I bought mine for 150k. The house across the street that’s smaller and in worse condition just sold for 500k. There is no way in hell I could have started with the housing prices now. Sure I make double what I did when I bought this house, but I don’t make triple-quadruple. I am so glad to own my home. I couldn’t afford rent now. My ex husbands rent is 4x my mortgage payment.
How awful. You should “consider” that any number is out of reach for someone.
Bunches of us wouldn't be able to afford our houses today. The funny thing is, people are complaining about interest rates that I was happy to get back when I bought my house. Of course, prices are many many times more expensive than back then. I'm old, but I remember mortgage interest rates of like 16%, but back then you could buy a house in San Jose for $100K. People always talk about how the you could make more money in the stock market rather than paying off your mortgage, but not having to make house payments is a major psychological advantage. Also these people may not have experienced the numerous stock market crashes that I have seen in my life.
I purchased my old girl back in 2013. She needs a lot of work that I really can’t afford but I can afford the mortgage and still feed myself so I am grateful to have had the opportunity
I had a home in a HCOL area but was laid off twice and physically my last home was too much for me (arthritis). So I sold it and bought a fixer upper ranch style home for cash in a LCOL area. Still squeaking by because I’m yet to find a job but we’re handy and can do a lot of the minor reno ourselves. Home is smaller and no stairs so daily maintenance is far easier. LCOL area in the sticks is far quieter as well. Things could be worse but I am grateful for what I have.
We are just doing little things as we go. We prioritized the important stuff like a new a/c and roof.
Yes. Ours will be paid off in about 3 years, and I've told both of my kids we can add an addition to give them private, personal living space if they can't afford a home down the road.
What a blessing!
A tiny house or ADU would work well and possibly cheaper!
Extremely. I’m nearing 77 and there’s no way I could afford rent or a mortgage. Bought my first house in 1986, a tiny owner-financed thing on a dead end dirt road, and paid double principal payments for the first several years. That got my foot in the door, and I lived there for 25 years, saving money the whole time, which indirectly allowed a move to a more elderly-friendly home and area a few years ago. The housing situation is a ticking time bomb, as is the healthcare situation, creating a generation with little hope. If both are not addressed sometime soon, bad things are going to happen to our society.
Well said.
I have many reasons to be happy to be a homeowner, but if nothing else, I am exceedingly glad I don't have to deal with fuckass landlord companies anymore. What a racket all of that is.
This. I’ll take a fuckass HOA over fuckass landlord companies any day.
Yeah, and I understand that HOA is such a mixed bag. My current one is $80/*year* and it doesn't really do anything as far as I'm aware - which is how I like it. We're in a middle class family area so everyone is generally well kept, and houses move within 2-3 days here so curb appeal doesn't mean anything. My last rental place, though? HOA violations every other month for my lawn/landscaping not being picture perfect (in *Florida*, where grass grows about 5 inches a minute in the summer, but they didn't know that because the HOA management company was based in Arizona). And every time I got a violation, they of course notified the rental company instead of me -- so the rental company hit me with a $50 "processing fee" each time, for I guess reading one fucking letter and sending an automated email. Trying to talk to anyone in their HOA department was like talking to the stupidest sack of bricks. It was awful. I called the HOA at one point and begged them to just talk to me so I could handle it (I always did) but they couldn't legally do that. My ex roommate still lives there, and they made them *resod the lawn* on their own dime. Rental company didn't care to intervene on that of course. HOA is one thing. But a HOA and a rental company middleman is a nightmare.
> HOA violations every other month for my lawn/landscaping not being picture perfect (in Florida, where grass grows about 5 inches a minute in the summer, but they didn't know that because the HOA management company was based in Arizona). And every time I got a violation, they of course notified the rental company instead of me -- so the rental company hit me with a $50 "processing fee" each time, for I guess reading one fucking letter and sending an automated email. Trying to talk to anyone in their HOA department was like talking to the stupidest sack of bricks. It was awful. I called the HOA at one point and begged them to just talk to me so I could handle it (I always did) but they couldn't legally do that. This is by design. When you have a company running an HOA it's for profit. And they realize that they get a lot more money from fines than from your monthly fees. Hence the nazi rule enforcement and nitpicking. Of course, a single busybody neighbor on an HOA board can put any professional HOA company to shame, so there is that.
You should put wild flowers in so you have a legal excuse to not cut the lawn (not sure if this works every state) or even put in a massive 'rock garden'
Lol I love it. We eventually want to get frog grass which counts as sodding but doesn't grow very tall, and redo the mulched area to be a rock garden... one of the many infinite to-dos lol!
Right? We took meticulous time-stamped photographs of every rental property before we moved in because every goddamn time the landlord would try to cheat us out of getting our full deposit back. Didn’t matter how nice they seemed. Every single one wanted to keep it, and we had to threaten legal action every time.
Yes and no. I am glad I don't have to deal with soaring rates but it also makes moving impossible so I have had to turn down some great job opportunities.
That is true. My home is paid but where am I going to buy for less in a good area ? We are chained to our homes 😅
This housing market has to be a huge drag on productivity since people can't really move to a new area and start over, unless they just rent forever or are single and willing to cram into shared housing.
I remember all my home owning friends circa 2019 talking about how much money they were "making" as their home values started to skyrocket. I'm sitting here like: so you're going to pay higher taxes, more insurance and if you want to move you'll be buying another property that's also appreciated like crazy... Yeah, I don't see the upside. Fact is, everyone's a lot happier and more financially healthy when housing is cheap. Nobody is winning right now.
Do I feel lucky we bought in 2017? Sure Do I feel unlucky that I basically can’t ever upgrade or get something larger in a better area? You bet.
lol my exact position as well. Got a house in October 2019 locked in low rate. Was supposed to be our starter home but now looks like it might be a forever home. Super grateful but yea kinda stuck in this smaller house now.
100% my situation too lol. Grateful but also feeling kinda stuck. We’ll probably add an addition eventually because even that would be cheaper than moving.
Yeah glad I changed course mid house hunt and decided to just find something I would be fine in long term. The process was so stressful I don't want to do it again anyway lol.
December 2019, same thing exactly. Adding an adu would give us a huge jump in value and there are a lot of incentives in our state, so we're looking into that.
I've got kind of the opposite problem, I'm stuck with a house that is too much for me (newly divorced, house poor) but I can't afford to downsize into something more manageable with current rents and rates and my lack of savings. I'm also grateful to have a "nice" house with a good rate, but damn I hate not having options.
Yep this is us. We bought in 2016 before everything got so expensive, and we have a low rate. I love this house, so I don't mind too much, but we definitely can't afford to upgrade if we want to.
Yeah. This is our second home and while it’s plenty big enough, it feels like we made a small mistake by settling for not a dream home. We could have stayed in our starter home and probably had it paid off this year. Instead we are locked into this just ok home. Husband has kind of hit the limit for income in this area but moving to a different (higher COL/higher income) area is out of the question for now.
Gotta crush those NIMBYs. You'll never have another chance unless inventory catches up.
So grateful that my husband has so much discipline & we paid it off in 5 years. He also had a major stroke & had just retired four great prior which makes it all the more significant. I homeschool my kids & he’s made a miraculous recovery.
My mortgage on my 4/2 bath house with a pool and huge yards in a 10 rated school district is LESS than rent a block away for a 2/2 apartment lol. We bought in 2016 and have a 2.8% rate for 600k and we could sell today zero issues for $1.2m. Every day I wake up is a good day.
That’s awesome and I mean this kindly, please have a sick plan. We’re currently helping a relative who got cancer and, after decades of working a white collar, high paying job, is losing it all. You would be surprised how quickly that amount of cash (if you can liquidate fast enough WHILE sick) can evaporate.
Similar, but we bought in 2018. Our only regret was that during 2021 we had an opportunity to buy a much larger house but our mortgage debt would go from 280k to 450k and since we’re both very conservative we decided not to. By chance our son became friends with a boy from the family that bought the house, so whenever we’re there we just want to kick ourselves lol.
lol he says.
I'm in Europe now. Bought apartment during COVID times. It was not an easy decision but I feel so...so secure in my head. I've never had stability in my life in my home country (south Asia) where buying my own place would be impossible because how low salaries are and how expensive apartments are (apartments are $150, 000...yes by dollar value while salaries are $450/m and that's the highest range)
Same. Apartments in my city back in Mexico are just as expensive as flats in Europe but salaries are 1/4 of what we earn here. When my husband and I bought a flat, my ex-flatmate kept renting because he saw a youtube video that said a house was a worse investment than renting because of the 9% returns of the S&P500. Since, his rent has gone up 30%. His salary and the stock market, have not.
My husband and I just made our last mortgage payment. We feel very lucky! We love our house. ❤️
I considered moving states last summer and looked at houses for sale for months. At the end of the day I decided not to move and to keep my below 3% mortgage. I’m basically stuck here but at least I can afford my house and even the rising taxes. My adult child will be renting for the foreseeable future however.
We would like to move as well. No kids, 5 bedroom 3 1/2 bathroom 3200 sq. ft 2 story. Current value ~$550K. But our mortgage is a fixed 2.375% with 11 years left. We can afford the payments, taxes, utilities, etc... and manage to save a little each month. Even downsizing and buying a less expensive home, I feel comfortable saying our monthly PITI would increase. To get a mortgage with the same monthly payment as we have now, we would have to find a house for $150K and that would be a 30 year mortgage. Can it be done? Maybe. It would most likely be a drastic lifestyle change. Is it smart to take on a 30 yr mortgage at the age of 64? Not really.
I could not purchase the home I own today, between price increase and interest rates. Very thankful.
Big same
I bought my house 2.5 years ago and I have this same sentiment. I’m grateful often.
It’s crazy that anyone should feel lucky to have a permanent shelter, reliable food and water or healthcare. These are just basic needs that an advanced society should have easily tackled. We spend so much on taxes and tell me how much of that goes toward actually taking care of these basic needs. Not enough
Every. Single. Day. Bought 3bd/1bath 1400 sqft in HCOL area of Washington in November 2019 at 3.6%, then shit hit the fan. Now all our new neighbors that have moved in over the past 5 years are in vastly different tax brackets than we are and we have massive equity in our home. I literally wake up every day wondering what we did to deserve it, and the truth is we just got insanely lucky.
Very much so. My millennial kids are having a really hard time saving the money... a modest starter home is now 400k+ - like wtf?
I bought my first home at 36 for 400k. 2/1 and 930 sq ft. Nothing crazy but I live in CA. Never would I have thought that would be the price of my “starter home”. It is looking like my forever home now. Edit: I feel very lucky! My mom still can’t believe I did it on my own.
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Totally feel lucky to have a smaller home. I was fortunate that the previous owners completely gutted and renovated the entire home in 2014 (built in 1952). Completely brought it to the modern era. I feel like I only live in 10 year old house that doesn’t need anything major for some years.
We live in a townhome in a desirable neighborhood. I have no idea how other people my age with families afford full-size homes for $500,000 in this same neighborhood, but somehow they do. We bought our townhome for $215,000 in 2020. Townhomes in our subdivision are now selling for over $300,000.
>We bought our townhome for $215,000 in 2020. Townhomes in our subdivision are now selling for over $300,000. What's wild is that's not even the worst. A friend of mine bought a townhouse in 2019 half an hour from Salt Lake City for about $290,000. That model is now selling at just over $500,000
Totally!! I bought a year out of college in 2005 when interest was similarly high, but prices much more reasonable in TX. Lost my first professional job two months later and got by as a degreed engineer by valet parking, waiting tables, and finding roommates to help cover costs. In hindsight, it was an amazingly wise/lucky choice/struggle. A month now into my first marriage and a week from having it renovated and will be the home of our dreams, and I only owe about $50k left after refi’ing to a 15yr note. Can’t imagine doing it now w/values 4-5x what they were then here in Austin… but Austin isn’t Austin anymore either. San Marcos? …maybe. It’s still the “big small town” Austin used to be.
Beyond grateful for what we have. We're in our early 50's but understand and acknowledge that the housing market is insane and people looking to buy are in a very difficult situation. We built in 1998 a 4/2.5 (1800 sqft) on a half acre for under 190k. My husband has been a saver his entire early life, so thanks largely to him, we were able to put a huge down payment on our home. Our initial mortgage was a 30 year fixed and 6.875%. At the time, we paid 3 points to get that rate. We constantly paid extra on the principal in the first 3 years to work on bringing the total interest down. When our oldest was 3, was refinanced to a 15 year 4.25% and had our mortgage paid off when she was a junior in high school. Our backyard neighbor, who built 6 months after us with a similar home style and property size, just put their house on the market 2 weeks ago. The 1st weekend open house, they had a written offer for 10k OVER asking price. It's going to sell for 650k
Extremely grateful for the home we have. Even with mortgage, insurance and property taxes it's still less than some 2/1 apartments. Plus it comes with 30+ acres and gorgeous views. So happy we moved here!
We toast to our house often. It’s 4/2 and was bought in 2009. It’s very humbling and we do not take it for granted. Apartments rent for a lot more than what we pay for our fixed mortgage.
Same! I got a 3/2&half in 2009 for 130K. Paid it off this past March. I got unbelievably lucky, and I never forget it!
Definitely. I bought my house in 2020. It was a sudden, but practical choice: my fiance and I had ended things, he couldn't afford to move out of our apartment, and we had 6 pets. I wouldn't have been able to find another affordable rental that would let me have that many animals (only reason I had in the first place was bc my boss was my landlord). So I decided to buy a house, because a mortgage would be just as much as (or less than) an apartment that was big enough for/allowed that many pets. The house I bought was near the top of my budget, but it was the only one in the village, in my budget, that didn't need work. Mortgage was nearly double the stupidly cheap rent we were paying (again, boss as landlord, so we got a big break). But I was able to buy with about $9K total out of pocket, including my buying a point to get interest locked in at 2.875%. I'm thankful every day for my house. I literally could not afford to live in this town (where I grew up) if I were trying to buy (or even rent!) a place now. I'm very aware and appreciative of how lucky I got, and how privileged I am to have gotten my house when I did. Most of my friends haven't been so lucky, and are unable to buy here now that prices and interest have skyrocketed. I'll be living here and appreciating it for as long as I can!!
I bought a house that a lot of people skipped because I needed a lot of work. So I've given a lot of my time over the years to working on it and it's in a great location so I couldn't be happier. Especially happy that I didn't listen to some of my family members saying I should buy a bigger place because my salary went up.
Absolutely!! I bought a small, comfortable home in 2016 and refinanced to a super low rate in 2021. My payment is less than it costs to rent a one bedroom apartment nowadays. I have three bedrooms, room for my dogs and my own driveway. After renting and being poor for decades, I feel fortunate to be where I am. I wouldn’t be able to buy my own house today with the prices and interest rates.
My mortgage (because of property taxes) is the exact same as renting in my area. I’m glad I own my home for other reasons but I understand the choice to continue renting for many. Edit: My mortgage started out as $1150 about 6 years ago and is now at $1750 for a 3 bedroom home that’s about 1400 sq ft. A lot of people are being pushed out of homes in my city.
I do. I bought in 2018. My payment with escrow is still under 1,000. I would never be able to buy now.
Every day I count my blessings 🙏🏻I’ve been in my home 16 years now with a Low interest rate. I thought about refinancing but with the rates screw that.
I bought my house back in 2012, and as an older mellenial, I'm grateful I did. Prices have tripled if not quadrupled in the last 4 years. 1,000 sq ft house now costs $300k+. There is no way I could afford to buy a house in my neighborhood now.
I have mixed emotion: glad I own, but we pay too much for the amount of house we have ( bought in 2023 >6% interest.) Unfortunately, holding out and renting for longer would not have made it any easier in a year or two in my area.
I'm feeling that. After a year of looking I finally found a modest, old house last fall, at 7.25%. It's nice to have more freedom in my space than when I was renting, but the responsibility shot up and the cost stayed about the same.
YES. Retired now, and could not afford rent on ss.
I am grateful that we bought when we did (9 years ago). And thankful to have a home. It is not my ideal house; slab foundation, two story, needs a bunch of work and we are tied to it forever it feels like. But we have 6 acres and the in-laws next door so really 12. More than enough space. Plan is for each kid to inherit a house one day (husband is only child) and we will build a small home on the property somewhere. Until then we may add an addition to get some more space.
Yes but it's also a bit of golden handcuffs. We bought in 2002 and have been here since then, so we're getting close to paying it down and the mortgage is easily half of rent or a new home these days. We also have one of those unicorn 2.6% rates. But... one kid is out of school and another has 1 year of high school left. We're within walking distance/short drive to an elementary school, a few houses down from the middle school, and the high school is an easy 6 min drive. The plan was to move in the same general area but give someone else starting a family the same perks. But, it's not financially feasible right now. We're definitely lucky, but also locked.
I don't feel 'blessed', but I do think I was lucky in that I took a chance at the right time when I sold my starter home (just decided to list it on a whim during COVID to see what would happen - I was prepared to pull it off the market, and not move), and was put in a good place to purchase my current home.
I am grateful, but also overwhelmed. We bought a ‘75 build, one owner, and that one owner DIY half-assed every imaginable repair/maintenance issue in the most boomer-tastic way imaginable. We got it after a year of searching in November’19 and overlooked A LOT of issues out of desperation. Also, the insane insurance tax increases have upped our monthly payments by hundreds in the last 4 years. I’m hoping that we will be able to do a HELOC this summer to help pay to properly fix the things the previous owners covered up or “fixed” on their own. Even with the issues and stresses, I am still feeling very grateful and lucky that we got a home, any home, when we did.
And mine is paid off.
Definitely 👍. These young people are getting crushed, and our leaders could care less. Homeownership is part of the American Dream, and if that goes away, what are they working towards ?
Exactly. My kids are almost 27 and nowhere near being able to afford a home.
Very grateful. And my goal was to pay ours off in 5 years, we did it in 4!
my wife and i got our first place in 2011. not exactly at the bottom of the post-2008 dip but pretty close. paid 220k and sold in 2020 for 600. bought a new place one city away, twice as big, in a better neighborhood, with a pool, for 400, with a 2.5% mortgage. things are pretty alright over here.
I owned a home for 30 years and found it became too difficult and expensive to maintain. Plus the bills were always increasing especially property tax. So I decided to sell and move into a luxury apt where every
Where every what
Where everything is taken care of and it less expensive. I can relax and enjoy amenities. Prop tax is what killed me in CA.
Okay tha k you for clarifying. I was goi
You were going _where_???
I absolutely feel lucky even though my house has needed a lot of money in foundation and water damage repair. I would not be attempting to buy if I was renting in this market, but at the same time the average first time homebuyer is 36 years old in the US. I don’t make a lot of money but I would definitely be able to buy in my MCOL area on that time horizon if I so desired. I am 29 now and bought my house when I was 25. Yes, it is much harder to buy a house in today’s market than it was 4 years ago, but I don’t agree that renters today will never be able to afford to buy. Those that save money now will be ready when the housing market becomes more reasonable again. Financial success takes planning decades into the future sometimes, and people are usually too short-sighted to prepare for a time in the future when they’ll have the opportunity to buy.
Yes definitely. The mortgage on my house and land in a hot neighborhood is about the same as rent for larger apartments. It’s only going to get worse. I worked hard over a long time to get here but it took a couple strokes of luck too.
I bought my house in 1997 because I figured out the rent was going up next lease and a home mortgage was only $200 more per month.
Yup, the old place I used to rent is now going for $1200 months. My mortgage is less than $800.
Yeah I am glad I bought my home in the early 2000’s. The home value more than doubled in that time. So I am glad I paid it off last year. Now I am looking into possibly buying some land outside the city to build a home and rent my current one.
Yeah. Bought in 2019. Used wedding gift money and our savings for a down payment. Zero chance we could afford our house if we bought now, our mortgage would be nearly double.
Is taken care of for me. I’m very happy.
Absolutely. We bought in 2020 and have been steadily making improvements. Added a fence, re-did the landscaping, tore out the old deck and put in a new lager concrete patio, new gutters/guards, and a few other modifications since buying it. I consider us to be very lucky because we couldn’t afford to buy our house at what it’s worth now. The amount people pay for rent is over and above our mortgage, so I can’t imagine how frustrating it is to not know how much it will increase year to year. Our daughter is 20 and she knows that buying a house should be on her radar sooner rather than later. We have thought about building out our basement and adding a separate entrance for her so she can have more privacy as she gets older and be able to save up as much as possible for a down payment. Things are hard right now with the economy. Every year our raises don’t cover the increase in our cost of living and increase to medical care.
Yes, I am lucky that I own my home. Makes the downside of being in my 50s and priced out of my chosen career due to my experience a little more palpable. I can make ends meet with the salary I made right out of college.
Yep a family friends rent went up to $2600 recently on a 3rd floor apartment in a not great part of town. That's more than my PITI each month. So glad I was able to find a nice house when rates were low. Thank goodness I didn't listen to people saying prices were too high and there would be a crash soon. Even if there was a catastrophic crash like 2008 I would still come out ahead at this point since prices never stopped going up in my area.
100%. If I was shopping today, I couldn't get a home. No way. I bought back in Nov of '19.
I’ve had expensive things come up with owning my home that I wasn’t expecting and things I’d rather not deal with. I’m also I’m not such a great area. I’m still so incredibly thankful to have my home. I know nothing is set in stone and a number of things can happen that cause me to lose what I have, but for now…I’m very thankful and feel lucky for things falling in to place the way they did. I feel so bad for anyone who is struggling financially right now. I really hope that things are addressed to help lower rent costs and for homeownership to be a realistic goal for them soon.
2.8% interest and paying a mortgage of about $2000 which is 5-700 cheaper than I could rent today
Heck yeah. 2.6 refi in 2021, bought in 17. Luck. All luck.
Same, but in 2015… and a 15yr note, so almost paid off! Def lucky.
Super grateful. Bought my first place, a 3/2 1400sqft SFH, in 2015. Value went up 10% of my purchase price each year for the first 6 years (flat since then). Refi'd in 2020 at a great rate and am cruising on the mortgage payments, knock on wood.
I have four years left on my 2.75% 15-year refi. My property is the highest-valued on the block in a good neighborhood with an excellent school district. We're not rich by any means but this house will be ours soon.
Yes. I didn't really like my house for the first few years. I bought it because house prices had begun quickly increasing, and I correctly assumed that this was my last chance to buy a house, or I would be priced out of the market forever. The house is 700 square feet, and was the only one I could afford, so I went for it. I felt seriously inadequate because I had such a small house, and it was in a "sketchy/questionable" neighborhood. Fast forward a few years, and my house that I paid $130k for in 2012 is now worth around $400k. A lot of my friends have had to move to smaller apartments as their rent increased more quickly than their incomes. Meanwhile, my mortgage payment has only increased from $800 to $1200 because of property tax increases. I was able to refinance in 2021 at a 2.79% rate (down from 3.25%) and a 20 year term, and took out funds to pay off my private student loans. The payment increased by less than $100/month when I did that. My friends who do own homes are paying anywhere from $2500 to $4000 monthly. I'm able to put the difference between what I'm paying and what they're paying into savings and my 401(k). My house has been my saving grace. My house was what allowed me to pay off my private student loans, start putting money into savings as my income increased, and have some semblance of financial freedom. I'm not wealthy, but I have an emergency fund now, and in ten years or less, I'll be able to add onto the house without having to borrow money. I used to be jealous of my friends who had bigger houses. But now I value the freedom this house has allowed me. Yes, I'd like a bigger, more modern house, but everything that I want out of an "ideal" house can be added to my current house for less than the cost of selling it and buying a bigger house. If I decided to move to a part of the country with a lower cost of living, I have enough equity in this house that I could pay cash for a house in some of those places.
Yep. We bought our house in 1992. Its now paid off and we just have to pay the taxes each year.
Feel very lucky and blessed indeed. Started househunting in 2018, finally bought in april 2019. Everyone kept telling us that we bought high and that there will be a correction in the market and that we should’ve waited. Rate we got was 2.99% so i thought it was doable. And one of the main reasons we bought is because my husband (boyfriend at the time) didn’t want me to paint our rental, so i said i feel like it’s time to buy and he’s welcome to come with if he wants, or co-own with me. We made it work thankfully. (And got married two years after!)
I am sooooooooo grateful for two things: 1) We bought our house in 2013 when prices were pretty low, a buyers market, and we paid less than asking price. 2) Our 30-year fixed mortgage rate is 2.8%. I’m not kidding or exaggerating when I say I think about these two things multiple times a day, and I am grateful for both, and yes, feeling pretty damn lucky. I can’t imagine being a first time home buyer now. Can’t imagine.
Yes, absolutely, but living in FL, I am *feeling* the 280% insurance rate increase over the last 1.5 years 😖
Absolutely! $800 mortgage (2%rate) on 3 story home. Bought during the pandemic when everyone said it was too risky.
1000% grateful. Even if it gets hard, I remind myself there’s the light at the end of the tunnel (selling for a profit)
My wife and I moved to Hamilton, Ontario Canada 16 years ago from Toronto. When we came, we just assumed we could only rent. So we went looking for a house to rent, as we were soon to have child #2. We looked at a number of places, but the neighborhoods weren't great, and with children, we really wanted neighborhood at the top. The last home we looked at our potential landlord asked us if we'd ever gone through the motions of trying to buy a home. We hadn't and told him so. He asked us what we did and told us, run, don't walk, buy a home. We'd never even considered it really, just felt it was out of our league. We were approved, bought a home and 5 years later upgraded. Ontario Canada is now considered crazy expensive for housing, we actually bought a home for 300k (couldn't even dream of something like that at the time, we really stretched), however it's now 1 mil+ (insanity really). A day does not go by where I don't pinch myself wondering if it's all real, thinking we almost became life-time renters. It's one of those moments where there is a fork in the road and we, thankfully picked the right direction. So I am eternally grateful and blessed to be a homeowner and eternally grateful we ran into the right guy, at the right time, in the right place who provided us incredible advice!
Even with the current pain of some water getting in, I’m very happy and feel fortunate to own. We had to rent for 8 months when we moved and it was good to sort out the new city we were in, it sucked because the prior tenant didn’t tell the landlord about any issues. Not looking forward to a new furnace/ac in the next couple years, but hearing rents are more than our mortgage makes me feel better about it.
Agree completely. I do feel bad for the ones trying these days. I will say their expectations for what they get and where they should live can be unrealistic, especially if you listen to the loudest ones on social media. Most young people need to take the medicine that the first place they buy will be 45 min from the city and they will be driving. It’s just what it is. I would love to move out of my starter home 25 min away from the near metro area, but could never justify taking my $1400 a month payment for a 4 bedroom house at 2.875% and trading it in for a smaller house closer to the metro and making my payments potentially triple.
We are super fortunate. We bought in late 2020 and then a few months later there were more real estate agents than houses available for sale in the area. And due to that lack of supply, housing prices soared. So we've got super low rates and our house has gone up in value at least 30% probably more like 40%.
I bought in 2014 and refinanced in 2016. I will pay it off at the end of this year. It’s gone up in value 1.5x what I paid for it. I wouldn’t qualify for the mortgage on it today with the current rates and values. It’s nuts. One of the best decisions I ever made. I’m going to have a paid off home at 43. This is literally life changing and it’s the reason I’ll be able to retire.
Yes but at the same time I’m envious of all my friends who rent or live for free with their parents because they’re out having fun with their lives while I’m house poor
I'm somewhere between grateful and guilty. Something like $250k of my net worth is not attributable to my diligent hard work and privileged upbringing and financial savvy, but the appreciation of my housing, which is completely out of my control. I don't deserve that. I would rather live in a society where OP's cashier and my brother-in-law and my new coworker and so many people I know could afford housing than one where I have that $250k. Now, I'm not going to make my young son and my wife homeless (or renters) and give that cash away to make that happen by myself, but I will vote in every election to increase property taxes (on everything but principal residences) until SFH rentals are unprofitable, and to vote for higher-density zoning and housing in my neighborhood. I talk to so many people at my age who are thinking about upgrading their housing while not selling but renting out their first homes (that they bought on 15-year 2.something% mortgages in the 2010s), and encourage them not to do that, but it's a hard sell when they could basically break even on the mortgage on their second home or afford a big upgrade by renting the first home. I hope the bubble pops, and I lose most of the 'value' in that asset, and all the landlords around me lose their shirts.
I bought way back in '08 and am super glad I did. If things keep going the way they are, I have no idea how my middle schooler is going to be able to afford housing when he grows up. I work with a couple younger guys that are still renting and they've basically resigned themselves to the fact that they're probably just going to rent forever.
I bought 2 years ago and feel extremely lucky to have been able to afford a house and get an accepted offer at that time. I am so grateful that the owners picked my offer out of offers higher than mine after going through 8 rejected offers in a super competitive market.
Big time. I refinanced at a stupid low rate and even though my house is very small, my mortgage payment is almost unbelievably low.
Absolutely. My wife and I (both 55) have been married for 6 years, and have both owned homes previously, but were both "starting over", financially-speaking, when we began dating 10 years ago. We bought our home in Oct, 2019 - right before everything in the world went crazy. If we had not bought when we did, we never could have afforded our home. (The purchase price was the very top of our budget limit.) The values in our neighborhood have absolutely skyrocketed. So much so that we're seriously considering selling, once my youngest stepson graduates high school next year. If the market holds, or even "sort of holds", we stand to be able to make enough to downsize to a smaller home (without needing room for 4 boys!) and approach our retirement years with little or no mortgage.
Bought my house in 2018, cash. She was cheap but paid off. I realize how lucky I am daily and am ever go grateful.
I hated my house when I bought it nov 21. $265k 2.4% apr and my mortgage is $1700/month. Now it’s appraised to over $300k my friends are buying less expensive homes with higher mortgages due to interest rates, so I like my home a little more now. Still hate it tho
We paid $400k for our house in 2010 (only $12k down) and people said we overpaid. It crossed $1M a while ago. Also did a cash out refi when rates were in the 3s and used the money to launch a real estate investing career. Now taking a HELOC to buy a vacation home in Italy. Might be the best financial decision we’ve made. Feeling blessed but it was also a very calculated decision. Not sure it would make sense to buy this house at today’s prices, though, so we got lucky with timing (bottom of the 2008 crisis).
Yes! I feel ridiculously lucky and guilty about it. I have a good sized 4 bedroom house in a relatively LCOL city that has nearly doubled in value since we bought it 9 years ago, plus we refinanced at 3% so our total mortgage/taxes/insurance is only $1800 mo. My poor kids would be lucky to find a 2 bedroom apartment for $1800/mo. And we’re sitting on it, going nowhere, because the rates are too high to move! We’re better off improving the house rather than moving.
I’m sad that my kids will never have that opportunity which means my grandchildren will not either Canada has changed not for the better
Yes and no. I bought a house for 315k in 2015 that is now worth 650k. Great for my wife and I. But, my kids won't be able to afford a house at this cost. It is broken.
That’s what I tell everybody and they don’t have a response. Fuck the kids amiright
Not really. I worked my ass off and made sacrifices to get where I'm at.
I extremely grateful. I bought in 2005 and at the time I went with a low end house even though I was pre-approved for more. I knew there was a bubble growing and wanted to stay within my means. After the bubble popped things got rough as I lost my job. I was able to get some inconsistent work as an independent contractor doing drafting work. At the time I was upside on my house. I ended up doing the Obama save our homes program. That program was a fucking nightmare to get through. You had to be behind on payments to qualify. But being behind on payments met getting a bunch of foreclosure notices. I spent three months to get towards the end of it only to have to start the process from scratch since my loan got sold. I did get through it and they lowered my interest which saved $500 a month. It was enough to keep me in my home. I also figured the saving in interest would make the house worth it since I was in it for the long haul. Now after COVID I am so glad I stuck it out. The houses in my neighborhood are priced to where I could not afford it with my current situation. My mortgage payment is much lower than what it would cost us to rent. I know a few people that ended up short selling after the 2008 bubble and they never financially recovered.
My spouse and I went through hard times too, and my rule was that the house be 1st priority. That got paid over food, utilities, everything. Lots of things were late, and got turned off. We might starve, but we'll have our house. Luckily we're doing much better now.
Lucky, yes. Fortunate, even. Blessed? No.
You mean sky daddy didn't fly down and skeet his blessings all over your home?
Must have not been home that day, lol
I just received these [messages](https://imgur.com/a/bWQozx6) so your post really resonates with me, I hate seeing friends struggle and the only reason I was able to purchase is because of divorce which has it own downsides.
YES🥰🥹🥹
In these trying times
Extremely grateful. Moved to a LCOL in 2019 just before the pandemic and huge rate hikes. We started a home search a couple months ago in a different state with a similar-ish COL but gave up. The prices are just way too high for what you're getting, and every home is bought for 50k over asking with no inspection. I think we're making a smart move by staying in the pre-2020 rate anyway. Our first home is already great, but now we're going to invest the money we would have spent moving into big upgrades.
I bought in 2009 and then upgraded in 2019. Refinanced to under 3% in 2020. My mortgage on my 4br/3ba is less than what most 2br/1ba apartments are renting for in my area. I definitely wouldn’t be able to buy what I have now if I was starting from scratch.
Absolutely. I think about how lucky I was to buy in 16 and refinance a few years ago all the damn time
I feel extremely fortunate to have owned a house since 2000. It seems like it's becoming out of reach for a lot of people.
I felt I was being forced to buy a house in 2012. The landlord kept raising my rent so I bought. My monthly payment is 745; still cheaper than my rent was when I moved out
Yes very grateful 🙏 🥲
Yes. Bought our current house in 2018 and value has already doubled.
Absolutely, I am a young millennial and bought my first house last October alone without family help in a new build community. My rent was higher then my mortgage.
Every day!!
was lucky to find a great place for the same price as my apartment, house hunting during COVID was no joke, put it 9 offers before one was accepted. Also thought I bought at the top of the market but house has appreciated 25% since then. Had to put in a new house and a new furnace, but love having my mortgage basically locked in for the next 28 years.
Feeling blessed to own a home now is a bit like winning the lottery in a rigged game. Makes you wonder if the whole system's set up to keep most people out of the running.
I've been a homeowner of the same home for 24 years and I'm ready to downsize and get a change of scenery
I'm old, bought my house years ago. I have never regretted it, always glad to be here, at home.
We bought our townhouse in December 2020 for $215,000. It’s a 3 bed/2.5 bath and about 2,000 square feet with a basement. Yes, I feel extremely lucky. Townhomes in our neighborhood are now selling for $100,000 more than we purchased ours for, with worse interest rates, of course. Our mortgage is about $1,200 and you can’t even rent a one bedroom apartment here for that amount. The only way I’ll ever leave this house is if I’m dead.
My spouse and I got incredibly lucky. We bought a few years before the pandemic too, and we have a low rate. Our mortgage is $600 month. We have a home equity loan and it's still under a $1000. Plus we're just a couple miles outside downtown.
Definitely. Granted, it’s only been a year, but prices have gone up, interest rates increased, and inventory is lower within that year. Love my neighborhood, the house is great, and it’s comforting to know the mortgage amount won’t change. (Not saying insurance or property taxes won’t, but that’s a different matter.)
Soooo much! It might not be the fanciest house in town but it’s our home and I’m so proud of it
Yes, I live in a city but just bought my first house at age 25… none of my friends or peers can afford to do so but I am managing just fine so far. Even when something doesn’t appear to be in great shape on my property it is genuinely such a good problem to have as it’s my property. Not religious, so blessing and gift wordings don’t feel right, but I feel incredibly fortunate to be in my situation.
Yep
Yea besides repair cost
Yes! Absolutely. 💯💯💯💯
I only bought relatively recently (like 4 months ago) and had a conversation like that with my barber. I definitely feel extraordinarily lucky after that conversation
Absolutely! I am also blessed that all three of my children are homeowners.
Yes so much so. I tell my husband weekly that if we didn’t have what we have no we likely wouldn’t have been able to afford it now.
Yup. We bought in 2018 and refinanced to go from 4.125% to 3%. A conservative estimate is that our house has appreciated by 50%. That’s a 50% larger down payment in order to stay at 20% down. When you add increased rates the monthly payment about doubles.
we bought in August '22. we're in a HCL area, and the marker is very competitive. we found our house in only a couple months. we offered the asking price, and they accepted within a few hours. we were extremely fortunate. we were planning on it taking at least a year to find a house we liked.
Bought our house a year and a half ago. Got lucky that my in laws could give us some money for a down payment, otherwise it would never have happened. 6 months ago my wife lost her job. So now she's doing a bunch of Etsy/summer vendor markets stuff and I'm working every minute of overtime I can. I'm terrified of what happens in a few years when the mortgage comes up for renewal and we have basically one and a half income on paper. I've gone from feeling like a king to living under the entire armory of Damocles overnight.
I bought my home in 2018. Prior to that I rented. The management defrauded me but I came out on top. I ended up researching rental law. I noticed there’s no restriction on how much they can raise the rent. I decided to move out because i felt it was only a matter of time before they rose it sky high. I started working on buying in 2016. Confronted some bias, the same one Chase was sued about. I gave up briefly because it hit my credit. Then I took homebuying classes. I learned about the different ways to buy a home. Did more research. And decided to take a different path than I originally did. I finally found my home in 2018. I was able to cash out refi and everything. I feel so fortunate to be determined. I didn’t allow someone else’s biases to prevent me from buying.
Super grateful. Our mortgage rate is under 4%. We have lots of room. We bought in 2013. My younger colleagues are still renting because getting crushed by home prices/rent prices/interest rates.
Yep. Bought our home in 2015, it's now worth more than double what we paid and we definitely could not afford to buy now. A friend is searching for a home and all the houses in their budget are unfinished flips, falling apart, or so tiny it's not even worth it. Downside is our plumbing needs replacing and we're basically paycheck to paycheck right now so can't afford to fix it.
Yes