In Europe the situation is kind of the same as in the USA. Prices continue to increase, at a lower pace since the 2022 interest rates increases. Some countries, like Germany, have a long tradition of renting culture, others favour being homeowners (south of Europe). Buying a house, or apartment, is possible but, as you say, it requires a lot of sacrifices... And most people don't want to make those sacrifices.
So glad you posted this. People keep asking when I am going to stop throwing money away on my affordable 1 bdrm apartment and get an unaffordable mortgage (aka a terrible way to buy a home). The non mobile home price here is $450k. With property tax I would have to put down $225 for the mortgage to fit in the 25-30% of take home range. By the time I save that I may as well stay in my one bdrm, invest it all, get rich, and then consider a house.
Renting can certainly be the best option. Getting too much home to soon leads to mortgage poverty. We rented a few years, then purchased a home and felt the crunch of the larger demands on the budget. Went back to renting a few years, then purchased a very modest home. Finally 35 years into the journey we purchased the home we imagined all along. Sacrifice generally has a large payback.
Great topic. thx. ❤ I can’t comment on the entire US, just my personal experience. I’m retired and have owned my current home since 1997. Paid it off a decade ago. (15 year mortgage) I’ve owned 3 houses in my life. When I bought my first house it was $53K and my yearly salary was ~30K. Made a small down payment of just a few thousand dollars. First houses are always the hardest. You don’t have equity from a previous home sale to “rollover” into the new home. With my last house we had a huge amount of equity that brought the mortgage down quite a bit and we could afford going for a 15 year mortgage. And, because of this we weren’t required to pay for mortgage insurance or escrow. Also, having a 15 year mortgage brought the interest rate “down” to “only” 5.75%. 😂 I know folks are complaining about interest rates now, but that 5.75% was the lowest I’d ever had. My first home mortgage was a 30 year at 12%. 😮 As for home prices now. I do think they have really outpaced income. My home purchases were all for homes that were priced around 2x my yearly income. My current home was actually a bit less than 2x my yearly salary at the time. Our home is now valued at 4x its original price. Would my income have kept pace with that? No. If I was still working today and kept the same income growth as before I retired, my yearly salary would only cover 25% of the value of my home. I live in a suburb of an expensive city like the ones referenced in the video. So, prices have really spiked in my region, but not like a friend of mine that lives downtown in that city. His home is 3x the value of mine with 1/2 the size. 😮 Location really matters. You have to decide if the cost is worth your lifestyle goals. 👍 To be fair, technology, materials and amenities in homes have also drastically improved. So, that has pushed up valuations. In many ways, comparisons my first house with my last is apples to oranges. Kinda like comparing the cost of my phones over the years. My first phone was a corded touchtone phone connected to a landline with a phone plan that charged extra by the minute for long distance calls vs my smart phone which is a powerful computer with service basically everywhere and applications I could only dream of back when a “mobile” phone was one with an extra long cord that you could drag over to your bed or to another room. 🤣 So, while yes, homes have gotten far more expensive. We are also demanding more and better features in our homes these days than we did 20 or 40 years ago.
If you started out in the 70s , assumedly and was making 30k you’ve likely always been a very high earner. Most back then weren’t even making 10k a year.
Nice video. Your delivery is very good, Erin. My down-payment, in the UK, was 10%. I had saved it in about 5 years of working. Being in the armed forces helped me save, as my living expenses were very low.
I start out with 3% down 35+ years ago. Refinance in about 2-3 years (asap) to get rid of PMI. Now, I am on my 3rd house with interest of about 5.5%. Elected for investment over paying it off.
$128,000??? Ouch... Hold on, let me check the couch... ... OK, $0.45!!! Not quite there tho... I'm gonna need to check the car seats too.. I hate that....
We are moving for my wife's work, I'm an Engineer, (used to work construction) and do different types of modeling and analysis work. I can work from anywhere. Was looking at home prices. 1300 sq ft homes. Packed in on tiny less than lots for $550k+. Lots are expensive, $60k-100k for .25 acres, with city water and sewer. I could buy a much larger lot, build my own 3000 sq ft house on it for less than $350k all in. That house would list for $750k-850k. I'm doing that.. unless the prices crash first.
I hope you have fun designing and building your very own home! I hope your wife loves her new position, and how great is it that you have the flexibility to work from anywhere!
@ErinTalksMoney , housing costs are INSANE. if it stays that way, I'll make use of the section 121 capital gains tax exemption on selling one's primary residence. Build a house. Live in it at least 2 in 5 years. Build another house, move into it. Sell the first house. 121 Cap gains exclusion is ($250k single, $500k married)
Wow, this was very will presented and, it was also very detailed. Have lived in Southern California for over 40-years and yes, home ownership is still affordable (but not necessarily your dream home). As you stated, if you want a single family home with a yard and in a nice area of your City, these type of homes may be currently out of the price range for a first-time homeowner. I started by owning a 2-bedroom condo and later worked my way up to a 4-bedroom house. In today's market if, you want a $600,000 property 20 percent down would be $120,000 and at 6% interest your 30-year loan monthly payment would be $3,300; and 10 percent down would be $60,000 and yield a monthly payment of $3,700 (but you also have to add in the monthly cost of PMI). Next time you present a video on this topic, please explain to others what is PMI (smile ... smile).
@@adrian3747_ Yes, you are 100 percent correct. If, your down payment on a home loan is 20 percent or more the requirement for PMI insurance goes away. Guess on my comment post, I should have after my 20 percent example written in parentheses that "no PMI insurance is needed" (smile ... smile).
Was going to say the same thing, we rented in bad neighborhoods, then bought a small 2 bedroom condo at age 25. After 5 years we bought our first (and still last) house. Wasn't a "dream" home but we made it ours over the years. Lots of work and lots of sacrifice but it is doable. Bought the condo for $100K on a 2% down FHA, was only making about 20k/yr at the time . 5 years later we bought the house for $300k, used a loan from my 401k and equity from condo to avoid PMI. At that point we had a household income of about 45k.
Born and raised in Florida and we saw a awful awful population explosion in mid 2020 and home values exploded August of 2020 thru the next 12 months. Homes in my neighborhood in early 2020 weee in the 130k and now sell for 350k. Hell double wide manufactured homes on .10 acre are selling for 200k. 🤦🏼♂️
I like your perspective on this topic. Home ownership is difficult to afford for many right now, but it's not impossible. There are many ways to make home ownership more affordable, such as house hacking, getting a government loan or down payment assistance. Where there's a will, there's a way.
In December 2013, I went under contract for a new construction. By June 2014, we had 14% down and closing costs covered in cash separate from the down payment. My mortgage was about 29% of my take home. May 2021, we sold our home for double our initial purchase price. We spend some, but ultimately put down 45% on a new construction home closing in November 2021. We were lucky to live with family rent free for the few months but nonetheless it is just flat out living under your means, sacrificing for a while. Increase the income, decrease spending, and increase savings. In the end, our mortgage now is about 18-20% of our take home pay. We are saving about 33% of our pay in savings, retirement, and extra on mortgage. We have had a substantial income increase over the last 3-4 years. And we still get to splurge way way more than ever before. It’s not impossible to buy a quality home, people as a whole are not as willing to sacrifice for the long term investment. But a YOLO or living for the now. Now that we are doing extremely well, we are able to live more in the now.
"Abject failure." (Describe the general US housing situation in 2024.) Even if you get into a home these days, what's the likelihood it's going to continue going up (increasing owner equity), who is going to pay the inflated costs in a future sale? An investor group? Ai? Curious at what point a home simply too expensive to justify it in any reality? Would love a consensus model for assessing this. Thanks as always Erin, love the channel and appreciate your insights.
As a single income factory worker. 125k down-payment sounds right at or just below what's needed for avg homes in my area. 230k is a rough estimate of avg starter homes. While 300-400k is most common prices of homes in general close by.
Recently bought my first home. I'm 25 and have been working ~3 years. 30 mins from downtown san antonio, New build, 250k, $0 down, $0 closing, builder bought my interest down from 7.1% to 5.5%, came with all the appliances, and a garage door opener. I bought it using a usda rural loan. Mortgage, insurance, pmi, hoa, taxes, comes out to $1930. Plan is to refinance in 2-5 years after contributing extra to the principle so the overall monthly isnt so much.
I have always kept my housing expenses less than 20% of my take home pay. My parents had much nicer houses than I have so far, but the cost of living was less for them. I am more debt adverse than my parents were. I am not in a highly inflated housing market but inflation is a factor. I had nothing down on my first house, and 80k down on my second house. My third house will be in the future and will be the house we retire in, and I will likely have over 250k as a down payment.
What is the 25th percentile of home prices? Do first time homebuyers need to buy a house at the median, or should that median home be dominated by people who are more median in their life cycle? People used to talk about buying a "starter" home that was assumed to be small and without fancy appointments.
Home ownership will be a real struggle for 1st time home buyers. However some of the large home builders are still offering attractive mortgage rates which makes things more attainable, but still expensive compared to just a few years ago. I think if you want a home, you have to laser focus on saving every penny and get a starter or fixer-upper. Homes aren't going to get cheaper. This isn't a bubble. Better to buy sooner than later assuming that your finances allow it.
as far as I am concerned, first time buyers always struggle for a few years. It was like that when my folks bought in 1952 and when I bought in 1977. In 77 we did 10% down and sucked it up. We bought a smaller home 10 miles farther away and got it cheaper. Took an equity loan and made changes then paid that off. Not much has changed, other than the numbers being 10 times larger than 45 years ago.
@@rupe53 I agree. The difference is current first time homebuyers are seeing increased interest rates as well as increased prices. I don't know that we have ever seen such rapid increase of both rates and home cost at the same time and in such a short window.. The value of my old home increased more in 2yrs than it did in the 15yrs before it... Truth be told, MOST people probably could not afford the house that they currently live in if they had to buy it at todays prices and rates. I think that is where the problem lies.
I think you should reduce your monthly expenses so that you are able to invest and grow your money. If buying a home allows you to do that, then buy one. I made it a goal to buy an apartment: it was easier to achieve, and after paying it off, it made it easier to buy a bigger home if I wanted one. I think it's a good idea to buy a home or apartment before investing in other assets.
It depends. I know 4 gen z who have bought houses for their first time in the last 2 years. One couple bought a house that should be fine for many years. One bought a starter house. I don't know details of the other two. Midwest.
Another great video. I will say that anyone using a 401k loan to help with their down payment on a home is making a big mistake. You’re essentially paying taxes twice on that money. You’re paying it back with after-tax dollars and then paying tax again when you withdraw the money. Don’t do that.
It's imperative for young people to avoid student loans. And to choose degrees which have value in the market place. At 22 you can have the $128k by the time you turn 26. If married to someone with the same values, 2 years is realistic.
There is a brick dupplex for $69,900 on 332 prospect zip 61104. Has been on zillow for two days. First time home buyer could buy it for $2,097 down payment plus an additional roghly $2,000 im closing costs. Mortgage payment would be around $700 a month. Since it’s a duplex you can rent one unit for $850. That covers the mortgage payment
You don't need to have any down payment if you something called collateral. You would pay more interest but you don't NEED any down payment if you have a good income and collateral.
The housing environment is getting more difficult for the first time home buyer...I feel for you. Unfortunately, some sort of assistance is needed for most if they can get it. Depending on all sorts of other personal circumstances, I would always shoot for at least the 20% to avoid the PMI...which should fall under the "junk fees" category. PMI is how mortgage lenders are trying to make more money off you.
I can speak to PMI at least from my personal perspective. I love the idea of avoiding any unnecessary fees. In my case, I did not put 20% down on this home, I only put 10% down, so I do pay PMI. Ultimately my PMI comes out to $20 a month, and to me it was more beneficial to pay the PMI for a brief duration of time than it was to withdraw investments and have to pay taxes on them. 100%, I totally agree that you should avoid excessive fees whenever possible.
My wife’s aunt just bought a small house with a one car garage in Wisconsin for $150k. They are out there but move fast because they are great starter homes and rental properties.
Zillow... such a weird lens for illustrating how unaffordable housing is. How about - if we use median home prices per square foot, today's interest rates, median incomes and net worth the median home new home purchase would be 364 square feet in Los Angeles.....
"Attainable" - Yes. "Affordable" - No, and objectively so. Housing is the least affordable it's ever been for any generation - ever. Unfortunately I don't think that's likely to change. It seems like every other person I talk to is saving up for a down payment. They all say they're waiting for the market to cool before buying. All of that demand means the market is unlikely to drop any time soon. It's a huge problem - and it gives corporations an absurd amount of leverage over the general population.
It’s out of control, plus the new proposed 44% unrealized gains tax when you sale… if you can afford it buy now at reasonable prices, make it a rental property later, no one will sale starting in a few years. You’ll lose to much in a sale….
A paid for home is a huge plus in retirement. It is amazing spending one extra principle per year and the interest that you save. I enjoy your channel Erin.
I hate to say this, but housing everywhere needs to crash, boomers need to pass on, or/and we need legislation around corporate investors for people to afford anything. I can’t believe an entire generation was handed so much by a generation that worked hard before them.. and then squandered it on a massive scale.
Paid off my house in 2023 (took me 18 years to pay off mortgage) and have been pounding money into savings/CD's to save up for a solid 50%+ down payment on my next home. It can be done!
This is a basic concept, and I don't understand why people complicate it. Simply buy an affordable house. Look for a house priced under $150,000. As first-time home buyers, we don't need more than that. If you have to rent out a few rooms in your house to afford the mortgage, it means you can't actually afford the mortgage. In the video, she talks about renting out two rooms so to end up paying $500 per month. Instead, consider getting a house without the extra rooms so that you have to pay less and don't have to rely on other people.
But mom, I want the granite counter tops and chef's kitchen and the BMW in the driveway and Starbucks 3 times days. And I want it all NOW and it has to be in the first house! And, cutest dog evah!
Metro area, right there is the problem. If you choose to live in a "metro area" then you should be prepared for it to cost an arm and a leg. Luckily I hate the city. You could not pay me to live in a city. So this is not an issue for me.
Often some people "choose" the city because that's where their job and/or family is. Also cities generate most of the country's GDP, so if the people who work there can't afford to live there, the economy is worse for _everyone_ including those in rural areas.
The problem is your mortgage + PMI payment need to stay around 40% or less to get a traditional loan. That might not be possible unless you have a high income with such a small down payment or collateral/a cosigner.
Move further away into the country. Buy a lot and build at your own pace without fighting 3000 people every time a house comes available. This is what my wife and I did in 2021 31/29 years old. Now we have a 5b 3bath house with a massive garage. This was our first house, no down payment assistance, and we did put 20% down, but 20% on a new build is a bit different because you dont need the full 20% down all at once, but rather over the span of the construction.
The USA has a higher percentage of homeowners aged 65 and older than at any time before in its history. Within ten years, many if not most of those homeowners will be dead. When they die, their homes will be either inherited or sold. In other words, either the demand for homes will nosedive in ten years, or the supply of homes will skyrocket. Either way, that is going to flatten or even depress home prices.
A $128K down payment is irrational for most first time home buyers. That's more than the entire market value of the house I bought in 2016 as my first and only home that I still live in.
That would be a $600K+ house. A first time buyer should buy a condo for less than half the price, pay it off, sell it and use the money as a big down payment for a good house.
@@vchap01 The issue with condos is the appreciation is not as fast as a Single-Family Home (SFH). So, you can get further behind as SFH prices keep climbing at a faster rate.
Yahoo Finance Reported that baby boomers will be leaving an estimated $68 trillion dollars in inheritances to their kids. 128K will be chump change with these large inheritances. Unfortunately, my parents are deceased.
One thing many first time home buyers forget is that they're called "starter homes" for a reason. Many expect to get something comparable to what their parents had when they still lived with their parents. Forgetting that that one may have been the second, third, or even fourth hone their parents owned and that they upgraded every time. You're probably not going to get that three bedroom with a den, large great room, and a pool within your budget for a first home. Make sure to manage your expectations.
while true, there aren't many 'starter' homes priced properties, nevermind starter homes themselves. if measured as a % of the 'household' income, vanishingly few properties exist. or they exist in undesireable places
@@pgplaysvidya Yeah, but that is still a problem with expectations. Living in a desirable area is of course going to come with a large price premium. As expensive as many places are to live they are still far outnumbered by the places where it is much less expensive to live. Prices are crazy and out of control in many areas because people refuse to consider living elsewhere, if you want to live their you'll have to put up with them distorting the market.
Problem is most of those old starter homes got added onto. There aren't many "starter homes" to buy and many are being bought for the land to build a bigger house on.
@@Kayla11113 Danger isn't the only thing that lowers home values. In fact, the biggest factor is proximity to interesting things. Move farther away from interesting things and you'll be golden.
Depends where in the Midwest. I was just visiting family in the midwest (Wisconsin), and they were talking about the house down the street that sold for $1M+ in a few days.
@@JBoy340a I mean of course you can find expensive homes anywhere. You can find homes in the Cincinnati Metro from 125k into the multimillions. But that's very different from the low end being 750k+ like it is a lot of places.
In most areas I don’t think they will. As interest rates drop house prices rise. Only two times has the housing market crashed. Great Depression and Great Recession. Either the supply had to increase rapidly or the demand has to drop.
Buying a trailer/mobile home is a option. People used to say it was a bad investment. My moms mobile home was bought 22 years ago in loke a month or 2. It was 40,000 for double wide. Now that same mobile home is 100,000. Buying it new is like110- 150k in my area depending on the one you pick
You ultimately lose out on the land rental prices, since you own the home but not the land. The land rent rises with inflation, so that in some sense negates the advantage of having a fixed-rate mortgage.
Maybe a year ago, I used to think your videos are so polished, easy to follow, logical, pragmatic, damn useful. Somehow, you've upped your game, the depth of detail is better without becoming overwhelming. Don't know how you manage it, especially with a baby and Peanut to attend to as well. You're doing a public service, really. Hope it's paying you well.
Thanks so much for the kind words! Admittedly, I now have a wonderful video editor who helps out with these videos and making them look much better than I could on my own. But I’m having a lot of fun with this channel. 😊
This is basic and I don't know why folks complicate this. Just buy a cheap house. Look for a house under 150k. We don't need more than that for a first-time home
In Europe the situation is kind of the same as in the USA. Prices continue to increase, at a lower pace since the 2022 interest rates increases.
Some countries, like Germany, have a long tradition of renting culture, others favour being homeowners (south of Europe).
Buying a house, or apartment, is possible but, as you say, it requires a lot of sacrifices... And most people don't want to make those sacrifices.
So glad you posted this. People keep asking when I am going to stop throwing money away on my affordable 1 bdrm apartment and get an unaffordable mortgage (aka a terrible way to buy a home). The non mobile home price here is $450k. With property tax I would have to put down $225 for the mortgage to fit in the 25-30% of take home range. By the time I save that I may as well stay in my one bdrm, invest it all, get rich, and then consider a house.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with renting!
Renting can certainly be the best option. Getting too much home to soon leads to mortgage poverty. We rented a few years, then purchased a home and felt the crunch of the larger demands on the budget. Went back to renting a few years, then purchased a very modest home. Finally 35 years into the journey we purchased the home we imagined all along. Sacrifice generally has a large payback.
Great topic. thx. ❤
I can’t comment on the entire US, just my personal experience.
I’m retired and have owned my current home since 1997. Paid it off a decade ago. (15 year mortgage)
I’ve owned 3 houses in my life. When I bought my first house it was $53K and my yearly salary was ~30K. Made a small down payment of just a few thousand dollars.
First houses are always the hardest. You don’t have equity from a previous home sale to “rollover” into the new home.
With my last house we had a huge amount of equity that brought the mortgage down quite a bit and we could afford going for a 15 year mortgage. And, because of this we weren’t required to pay for mortgage insurance or escrow.
Also, having a 15 year mortgage brought the interest rate “down” to “only” 5.75%. 😂
I know folks are complaining about interest rates now, but that 5.75% was the lowest I’d ever had. My first home mortgage was a 30 year at 12%. 😮
As for home prices now. I do think they have really outpaced income. My home purchases were all for homes that were priced around 2x my yearly income.
My current home was actually a bit less than 2x my yearly salary at the time. Our home is now valued at 4x its original price. Would my income have kept pace with that? No.
If I was still working today and kept the same income growth as before I retired, my yearly salary would only cover 25% of the value of my home.
I live in a suburb of an expensive city like the ones referenced in the video. So, prices have really spiked in my region, but not like a friend of mine that lives downtown in that city. His home is 3x the value of mine with 1/2 the size. 😮
Location really matters. You have to decide if the cost is worth your lifestyle goals. 👍
To be fair, technology, materials and amenities in homes have also drastically improved. So, that has pushed up valuations.
In many ways, comparisons my first house with my last is apples to oranges. Kinda like comparing the cost of my phones over the years.
My first phone was a corded touchtone phone connected to a landline with a phone plan that charged extra by the minute for long distance calls vs my smart phone which is a powerful computer with service basically everywhere and applications I could only dream of back when a “mobile” phone was one with an extra long cord that you could drag over to your bed or to another room. 🤣
So, while yes, homes have gotten far more expensive. We are also demanding more and better features in our homes these days than we did 20 or 40 years ago.
If you started out in the 70s , assumedly and was making 30k you’ve likely always been a very high earner. Most back then weren’t even making 10k a year.
Thank you so much for sharing this!!!
Nice video. Your delivery is very good, Erin.
My down-payment, in the UK, was 10%. I had saved it in about 5 years of working. Being in the armed forces helped me save, as my living expenses were very low.
Thank you!
I start out with 3% down 35+ years ago. Refinance in about 2-3 years (asap) to get rid of PMI. Now, I am on my 3rd house with interest of about 5.5%. Elected for investment over paying it off.
$128,000??? Ouch... Hold on, let me check the couch...
...
OK, $0.45!!! Not quite there tho... I'm gonna need to check the car seats too.. I hate that....
😂😂 you might have to drive that car through a bank
We are moving for my wife's work, I'm an Engineer, (used to work construction) and do different types of modeling and analysis work. I can work from anywhere.
Was looking at home prices.
1300 sq ft homes. Packed in on tiny less than lots for $550k+.
Lots are expensive, $60k-100k for .25 acres, with city water and sewer.
I could buy a much larger lot, build my own 3000 sq ft house on it for less than $350k all in. That house would list for $750k-850k.
I'm doing that.. unless the prices crash first.
I hope you have fun designing and building your very own home! I hope your wife loves her new position, and how great is it that you have the flexibility to work from anywhere!
@ErinTalksMoney , housing costs are INSANE. if it stays that way, I'll make use of the section 121 capital gains tax exemption on selling one's primary residence.
Build a house. Live in it at least 2 in 5 years.
Build another house, move into it.
Sell the first house.
121 Cap gains exclusion is ($250k single, $500k married)
Wow, this was very will presented and, it was also very detailed. Have lived in Southern California for over 40-years and yes, home ownership is still affordable (but not necessarily your dream home). As you stated, if you want a single family home with a yard and in a nice area of your City, these type of homes may be currently out of the price range for a first-time homeowner. I started by owning a 2-bedroom condo and later worked my way up to a 4-bedroom house. In today's market if, you want a $600,000 property 20 percent down would be $120,000 and at 6% interest your 30-year loan monthly payment would be $3,300; and 10 percent down would be $60,000 and yield a monthly payment of $3,700 (but you also have to add in the monthly cost of PMI). Next time you present a video on this topic, please explain to others what is PMI (smile ... smile).
i thought there’s no PMI if u put 20% down?
@@adrian3747_ Yes, you are 100 percent correct. If, your down payment on a home loan is 20 percent or more the requirement for PMI insurance goes away. Guess on my comment post, I should have after my 20 percent example written in parentheses that "no PMI insurance is needed" (smile ... smile).
Was going to say the same thing, we rented in bad neighborhoods, then bought a small 2 bedroom condo at age 25. After 5 years we bought our first (and still last) house. Wasn't a "dream" home but we made it ours over the years. Lots of work and lots of sacrifice but it is doable. Bought the condo for $100K on a 2% down FHA, was only making about 20k/yr at the time . 5 years later we bought the house for $300k, used a loan from my 401k and equity from condo to avoid PMI. At that point we had a household income of about 45k.
Born and raised in Florida and we saw a awful awful population explosion in mid 2020 and home values exploded August of 2020 thru the next 12 months. Homes in my neighborhood in early 2020 weee in the 130k and now sell for 350k. Hell double wide manufactured homes on .10 acre are selling for 200k. 🤦🏼♂️
Wow!
That's great news
Yes, I bought a townhome 10 miles outside Raleigh for $325,000.
I like your perspective on this topic. Home ownership is difficult to afford for many right now, but it's not impossible. There are many ways to make home ownership more affordable, such as house hacking, getting a government loan or down payment assistance. Where there's a will, there's a way.
In December 2013, I went under contract for a new construction. By June 2014, we had 14% down and closing costs covered in cash separate from the down payment. My mortgage was about 29% of my take home. May 2021, we sold our home for double our initial purchase price. We spend some, but ultimately put down 45% on a new construction home closing in November 2021. We were lucky to live with family rent free for the few months but nonetheless it is just flat out living under your means, sacrificing for a while. Increase the income, decrease spending, and increase savings. In the end, our mortgage now is about 18-20% of our take home pay. We are saving about 33% of our pay in savings, retirement, and extra on mortgage. We have had a substantial income increase over the last 3-4 years. And we still get to splurge way way more than ever before.
It’s not impossible to buy a quality home, people as a whole are not as willing to sacrifice for the long term investment. But a YOLO or living for the now. Now that we are doing extremely well, we are able to live more in the now.
Aww... Peanut wanted a hug 🥺
"Abject failure." (Describe the general US housing situation in 2024.) Even if you get into a home these days, what's the likelihood it's going to continue going up (increasing owner equity), who is going to pay the inflated costs in a future sale? An investor group? Ai? Curious at what point a home simply too expensive to justify it in any reality? Would love a consensus model for assessing this.
Thanks as always Erin, love the channel and appreciate your insights.
People said the same thing every time prices go up. And yet they keep go up and up, and homes keep getting sold.
12:05 Peanut!
As a single income factory worker. 125k down-payment sounds right at or just below what's needed for avg homes in my area. 230k is a rough estimate of avg starter homes. While 300-400k is most common prices of homes in general close by.
Recently bought my first home. I'm 25 and have been working ~3 years. 30 mins from downtown san antonio, New build, 250k, $0 down, $0 closing, builder bought my interest down from 7.1% to 5.5%, came with all the appliances, and a garage door opener. I bought it using a usda rural loan. Mortgage, insurance, pmi, hoa, taxes, comes out to $1930. Plan is to refinance in 2-5 years after contributing extra to the principle so the overall monthly isnt so much.
That’s awesome congratulations!! Thank you for sharing.
Here in Los Angeles, a 5% down payment is very normal and popular. My down payment was 18% on my condo here.
Kinda scary, hefty down payment 'assistance' followed by a ton of defaults was a big factor in the last downturn.
Do they require PMI with those low downpayments? If so, what is the rate?
I'm so glad that I am an Army Vet. So many good things after retirement. Nice 🐕!!!
at least 20% to avoid MIP
I have always kept my housing expenses less than 20% of my take home pay. My parents had much nicer houses than I have so far, but the cost of living was less for them. I am more debt adverse than my parents were. I am not in a highly inflated housing market but inflation is a factor. I had nothing down on my first house, and 80k down on my second house. My third house will be in the future and will be the house we retire in, and I will likely have over 250k as a down payment.
What is the 25th percentile of home prices? Do first time homebuyers need to buy a house at the median, or should that median home be dominated by people who are more median in their life cycle? People used to talk about buying a "starter" home that was assumed to be small and without fancy appointments.
Home ownership will be a real struggle for 1st time home buyers. However some of the large home builders are still offering attractive mortgage rates which makes things more attainable, but still expensive compared to just a few years ago. I think if you want a home, you have to laser focus on saving every penny and get a starter or fixer-upper. Homes aren't going to get cheaper. This isn't a bubble. Better to buy sooner than later assuming that your finances allow it.
as far as I am concerned, first time buyers always struggle for a few years. It was like that when my folks bought in 1952 and when I bought in 1977. In 77 we did 10% down and sucked it up. We bought a smaller home 10 miles farther away and got it cheaper. Took an equity loan and made changes then paid that off. Not much has changed, other than the numbers being 10 times larger than 45 years ago.
@@rupe53 I agree. The difference is current first time homebuyers are seeing increased interest rates as well as increased prices. I don't know that we have ever seen such rapid increase of both rates and home cost at the same time and in such a short window.. The value of my old home increased more in 2yrs than it did in the 15yrs before it...
Truth be told, MOST people probably could not afford the house that they currently live in if they had to buy it at todays prices and rates. I think that is where the problem lies.
I think you should reduce your monthly expenses so that you are able to invest and grow your money. If buying a home allows you to do that, then buy one. I made it a goal to buy an apartment: it was easier to achieve, and after paying it off, it made it easier to buy a bigger home if I wanted one.
I think it's a good idea to buy a home or apartment before investing in other assets.
It depends. I know 4 gen z who have bought houses for their first time in the last 2 years. One couple bought a house that should be fine for many years. One bought a starter house. I don't know details of the other two. Midwest.
Hi Erin, hi Peanut ! Love this video! Have a great week Erin 😊
Thank you! You too!
Another great video. I will say that anyone using a 401k loan to help with their down payment on a home is making a big mistake. You’re essentially paying taxes twice on that money. You’re paying it back with after-tax dollars and then paying tax again when you withdraw the money. Don’t do that.
It's imperative for young people to avoid student loans. And to choose degrees which have value in the market place. At 22 you can have the $128k by the time you turn 26. If married to someone with the same values, 2 years is realistic.
There is a brick dupplex for $69,900 on 332 prospect zip 61104. Has been on zillow for two days. First time home buyer could buy it for $2,097 down payment plus an additional roghly $2,000 im closing costs. Mortgage payment would be around $700 a month. Since it’s a duplex you can rent one unit for $850. That covers the mortgage payment
You don't need to have any down payment if you something called collateral. You would pay more interest but you don't NEED any down payment if you have a good income and collateral.
The housing environment is getting more difficult for the first time home buyer...I feel for you. Unfortunately, some sort of assistance is needed for most if they can get it. Depending on all sorts of other personal circumstances, I would always shoot for at least the 20% to avoid the PMI...which should fall under the "junk fees" category. PMI is how mortgage lenders are trying to make more money off you.
I can speak to PMI at least from my personal perspective. I love the idea of avoiding any unnecessary fees. In my case, I did not put 20% down on this home, I only put 10% down, so I do pay PMI. Ultimately my PMI comes out to $20 a month, and to me it was more beneficial to pay the PMI for a brief duration of time than it was to withdraw investments and have to pay taxes on them. 100%, I totally agree that you should avoid excessive fees whenever possible.
Thank you, it was a good result
Can you do a video on The Money Guy's Financial Order of Operations? It is in their book and talked about often on their RUclips Channel
I haven’t watches the video yet, but you can buy a humble 3 bedroom home in Oklahoma for $128,000.
My wife’s aunt just bought a small house with a one car garage in Wisconsin for $150k. They are out there but move fast because they are great starter homes and rental properties.
But then we would have to live in Oklahoma. My wife's family all live in Texas. How would we explain that? 😉
@@bryanwhitton1784 The further away from the in-laws the better lol jk.
@@ehderguyyashootadeerorno2313 Well, if that is the case then we will stay where we are. California also has better weather.
@@bryanwhitton1784Boomer Sooner! then watch their heads explode.
Zillow... such a weird lens for illustrating how unaffordable housing is. How about - if we use median home prices per square foot, today's interest rates, median incomes and net worth the median home new home purchase would be 364 square feet in Los Angeles.....
I think this was the lens that provided the most attention grabbing headline
"Attainable" - Yes. "Affordable" - No, and objectively so. Housing is the least affordable it's ever been for any generation - ever.
Unfortunately I don't think that's likely to change. It seems like every other person I talk to is saving up for a down payment. They all say they're waiting for the market to cool before buying. All of that demand means the market is unlikely to drop any time soon. It's a huge problem - and it gives corporations an absurd amount of leverage over the general population.
It’s out of control, plus the new proposed 44% unrealized gains tax when you sale… if you can afford it buy now at reasonable prices, make it a rental property later, no one will sale starting in a few years. You’ll lose to much in a sale….
Affordable is such a subjective term though. I bought a townhome in 2022, 2100 sq ft. 3% down. Monthly payments of $965 including taxes and insurance.
A paid for home is a huge plus in retirement. It is amazing spending one extra principle per year and the interest that you save. I enjoy your channel Erin.
Thanks so much! 🙏
Awww, hey Peanut ❤
I hate to say this, but housing everywhere needs to crash, boomers need to pass on, or/and we need legislation around corporate investors for people to afford anything. I can’t believe an entire generation was handed so much by a generation that worked hard before them.. and then squandered it on a massive scale.
Paid off my house in 2023 (took me 18 years to pay off mortgage) and have been pounding money into savings/CD's to save up for a solid 50%+ down payment on my next home. It can be done!
and then the rat race continue forever.
@@GMcDerm Nah. Appreciate the snark, but nope....no rat race at all here.
You may have to buy a “ fixer upper” or a home with a few flaws.
Very true!
That is typically the route most people need to start!
This is a basic concept, and I don't understand why people complicate it. Simply buy an affordable house. Look for a house priced under $150,000. As first-time home buyers, we don't need more than that. If you have to rent out a few rooms in your house to afford the mortgage, it means you can't actually afford the mortgage. In the video, she talks about renting out two rooms so to end up paying $500 per month. Instead, consider getting a house without the extra rooms so that you have to pay less and don't have to rely on other people.
5%
I am not a conservative. However, in many cases it comes down to priorities. Nice clothes, cars, meals and vacations can easily repace home ownership
Never stop including these outtakes. I'll watch videos I'm otherwise uninterested in just for this lol
I'd argue that you need about 60% down to get the same mortgage as rent......at least in my area....
Is 30% of income for housing costs the gross income or net income (take home?)
But mom, I want the granite counter tops and chef's kitchen and the BMW in the driveway and Starbucks 3 times days. And I want it all NOW and it has to be in the first house!
And, cutest dog evah!
Metro area, right there is the problem. If you choose to live in a "metro area" then you should be prepared for it to cost an arm and a leg.
Luckily I hate the city. You could not pay me to live in a city. So this is not an issue for me.
Often some people "choose" the city because that's where their job and/or family is. Also cities generate most of the country's GDP, so if the people who work there can't afford to live there, the economy is worse for _everyone_ including those in rural areas.
Most people do not put 20% down on their rirst home, not even 10% I think the average is around 7%
The problem is your mortgage + PMI payment need to stay around 40% or less to get a traditional loan. That might not be possible unless you have a high income with such a small down payment or collateral/a cosigner.
good luck making the 6 figures outside of a larger market
Great reality check..
Move further away into the country. Buy a lot and build at your own pace without fighting 3000 people every time a house comes available. This is what my wife and I did in 2021 31/29 years old. Now we have a 5b 3bath house with a massive garage. This was our first house, no down payment assistance, and we did put 20% down, but 20% on a new build is a bit different because you dont need the full 20% down all at once, but rather over the span of the construction.
81% down payment in LA? Seems like a scam! 😲
The Seattle metro (Eastside) is actually over $1M 😂
Might as well just save up for most of the cost of a home. Or just rent forever.
Def not affordable. I used to buy rentals but there is no profit in it anymore.
It's hard to find the perfect home. My perfect home would be at least ten miles from civilization with an HEB one block away.
🤣🤣
Hmm. Seems you have some conflicting requirements. H-E-B did not get big by not having a lot of customers nearby.
How are we in a housing shortage if no one can afford them
NEVER EVER TAKE MONEY FROM YOUR 401K
Love the caps, I think you could’ve even added an “!” 😊
The USA has a higher percentage of homeowners aged 65 and older than at any time before in its history. Within ten years, many if not most of those homeowners will be dead. When they die, their homes will be either inherited or sold. In other words, either the demand for homes will nosedive in ten years, or the supply of homes will skyrocket. Either way, that is going to flatten or even depress home prices.
thanks for the Peanut sighting
A $128K down payment is irrational for most first time home buyers. That's more than the entire market value of the house I bought in 2016 as my first and only home that I still live in.
That would be a $600K+ house. A first time buyer should buy a condo for less than half the price, pay it off, sell it and use the money as a big down payment for a good house.
@@vchap01 The issue with condos is the appreciation is not as fast as a Single-Family Home (SFH). So, you can get further behind as SFH prices keep climbing at a faster rate.
Yahoo Finance Reported that baby boomers will be leaving an estimated $68 trillion dollars in inheritances to their kids. 128K will be chump change with these large inheritances. Unfortunately, my parents are deceased.
One thing many first time home buyers forget is that they're called "starter homes" for a reason. Many expect to get something comparable to what their parents had when they still lived with their parents. Forgetting that that one may have been the second, third, or even fourth hone their parents owned and that they upgraded every time. You're probably not going to get that three bedroom with a den, large great room, and a pool within your budget for a first home. Make sure to manage your expectations.
while true, there aren't many 'starter' homes priced properties, nevermind starter homes themselves. if measured as a % of the 'household' income, vanishingly few properties exist. or they exist in undesireable places
@@pgplaysvidya Yeah, but that is still a problem with expectations. Living in a desirable area is of course going to come with a large price premium. As expensive as many places are to live they are still far outnumbered by the places where it is much less expensive to live. Prices are crazy and out of control in many areas because people refuse to consider living elsewhere, if you want to live their you'll have to put up with them distorting the market.
@@whorhaydelfuego7190You shouldn’t have to live in a dangerous place to afford a home.
Problem is most of those old starter homes got added onto. There aren't many "starter homes" to buy and many are being bought for the land to build a bigger house on.
@@Kayla11113 Danger isn't the only thing that lowers home values. In fact, the biggest factor is proximity to interesting things. Move farther away from interesting things and you'll be golden.
Zillion!!! What a joke. They never give you the full story. Plenty of places to buy homes for less than $453,000. Not everyone lives in the city
I think 30% is to high it should be 25% of your budget
That down payment is within about 10k of my entire mortgage amount 😂😂 god I love the Midwest
I love the Midwest too!
Depends where in the Midwest. I was just visiting family in the midwest (Wisconsin), and they were talking about the house down the street that sold for $1M+ in a few days.
@@JBoy340a I mean of course you can find expensive homes anywhere. You can find homes in the Cincinnati Metro from 125k into the multimillions. But that's very different from the low end being 750k+ like it is a lot of places.
Home prices are way too high and desperately need to come down.
In most areas I don’t think they will. As interest rates drop house prices rise. Only two times has the housing market crashed. Great Depression and Great Recession. Either the supply had to increase rapidly or the demand has to drop.
Buying a trailer/mobile home is a option. People used to say it was a bad investment. My moms mobile home was bought 22 years ago in loke a month or 2. It was 40,000 for double wide. Now that same mobile home is 100,000. Buying it new is like110- 150k in my area depending on the one you pick
You ultimately lose out on the land rental prices, since you own the home but not the land. The land rent rises with inflation, so that in some sense negates the advantage of having a fixed-rate mortgage.
Huh? I thought the USA is where everyone is a billionaire. 😊
😂
Maybe a year ago, I used to think your videos are so polished, easy to follow, logical, pragmatic, damn useful. Somehow, you've upped your game, the depth of detail is better without becoming overwhelming. Don't know how you manage it, especially with a baby and Peanut to attend to as well. You're doing a public service, really. Hope it's paying you well.
Thanks so much for the kind words! Admittedly, I now have a wonderful video editor who helps out with these videos and making them look much better than I could on my own. But I’m having a lot of fun with this channel. 😊
This is basic and I don't know why folks complicate this. Just buy a cheap house. Look for a house under 150k. We don't need more than that for a first-time home
First
Great video! I probably could have done without the loud dog barking at the end, though.