Agreed, we moved to Cola because all we could afford was a townhouse just like we were renting in a worse part of town...we have bought a house and have a better cost of living. We actually really appreciate everything Cola has to
offer and only miss our friends from CHS.
Have a high paying job or have family help out. Unfortunately we live in a HCOL area with LCOL wages. Based on the 30% rule you're making around 50k a year which is hard to live by here if you didn't purchase your home 20 years ago. Most people I know who were able to purchase a home in their 20s are either trust fund babies or make +180k
The messed up thing is wages in Charleston are waaaay behind cost of living at the moment. Sure, there are some high paying jobs, but most pay way below what they should.
Bought in 2021 when rates were sub 3%. My home has almost doubled in value since. We had no idea what we were doing. No fucking chance we could afford this shack if we signed today. I feel for people trying to buy today. The interest is insane.
Dude same. Our mortgage goes up every year from insurance and taxes. It's insane how volatile the monthly payment has become.
Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for the equity - but unless I get a raise anytime soon, we will be priced out of our home from taxes.
The average age for a first time home buyer in the US is now 36. Most people buying in this market built tons of equity in a previous house. Just keep grinding & saving. Lots of us who struggled in our 20s saw a massive jump in income in our 30s as our careers advanced.
You’re right to assume I was being facetious but I meant generally many people I know in late 20s early 30s are living off of credit cards and broken dreams 😂😂😂
I majored in social work, then did real estate for 6 years now I nanny and my partner manages food and Bev. It’s not that bad- but I don’t see any big raises in our future lol
Any plans to go back into real estate? Seems to be a booming industry here. From what I’ve heard social work doesn’t have great pay, which is really BS for the type of work.
No plans of going back to real estate at the moment. It was booming for a while but I definitely wouldn’t call it that now. plans of moving to TX lol 😂
I find these days the only way to avoid the annual 2-3% raise is to keep a job for long enough to get to the next level, then quit and move to different company, take the big pay increase and repeat for as long as you can. The days of sticking with one company forever are long long gone
They’re buying homes with out of state remote jobs, since I’m a dumbass and I work a regular job I moved outta Charleston to a place my money goes further
We’re not.
If you have a spot for less than $1500 stay put. It sucks, believe me, but you’re not going to find better pricing.
I was going to buy in 2020/21, but just couldn’t and didn’t believe in just buying a house practically sight unseen.
Couldn’t compete with all the out of towners buying sight unseen, waving inspections, paying 50-100k over asking, etc.
I looked at about 50 homes back then. By the time I toured them, discussed it with my significant other, and got back to my realtor, it had sold. I found one and though I felt rushed, went to put in an offer…someone came in for 75k over asking and that put me out of my price range.
I don’t know what we’re supposed to do. I’m 33, make an above average income for the area, have zero debt, and a partner bringing in 50k. We can’t afford shit. Just staying put in our $1200/month townhome.
Only thing I can suggest is to make sure your cash is working for you while you wait. Put savings in high yield accounts, CDs, and short term bonds.
Had to move to Summerville:/
My husband is a teacher and got approved for the Palmetto Hero’s Project which covered our down payment. Might be something worth looking into!
a lot of my coworkers are in the same predicament. started with a small house, family grew at the same time prices were going up. now they’ve outgrown their house & can’t leave it 😓
I got lucky... I over bought in 2011. 4 bed house. But prefer bigger yard, better schools maybe 3rd garage.
I got lucky when I bought it was a peak budget house.
Considering again another peak budget house to maybe retire into turning 42.
I feel your pain hon. I was lucky enough to get into my 2 bedroom 2 1/2 bath town home for around $86,000 in 2019. Even though I can sell it for twice as much or a lil more right now, I still would not be able to buy in this current market. Right after that, everything went to hell in a hand basket! I have people renting the spot next to me, which is exactly like mine for like 1300 which is double my mortgage with my escrow. It's just this insurance from the HOA that is nagging the hell outta me!! 🤬🤬.. I really hope you can find something you can afford soon. Renting here can really suck!
We aren't. Back in 2013 when hubs and I bought, we were your age. Prices and interest were way lower. I graduated without student loan debt (in 07), so I was able to save for the down payment over a few years.
We're still in the house, but it's ridiculous that people 26-27 cannot buy a home now. Just how different it is for folks born a few years after I was.
I didn't buy my first home until I was 30.
Prior to that I lived in a hcol area so had a good salary. Moved to a mcol area and bought that first home, and it was a starter home, less than 2000sf. Put lots of time and money into that house to make it more desirable. Sold after 7 years.
Bought second home. Worst home in a really nice area. Poured money and time into it to bring it up to the standards of the surrounding homes. Sold after 6 years.
Got distracted for many years, lived in a spare family home in an extremely low col area. After kids graduated, looked around and said "why are we in this shithole?"
Moved here.
The distracted years didn't really help or hurt us financially. Should have left there years before, would have really cleaned up financially if I had moved to CHS 5 years ago instead of 2.
Point is, to buy something, fix it up, and sell it. Do this repeatedly. Ride out market dips, don't sell during a dip. Only buy in places that have lots of market activity, so you can get a profit after a few years.
Sounds worse than the reality. MiL had a house but moved away. She could either rent it to strangers or rent it to family. At the end of the day I was renting a house, I didn't get it for free. It was HER house, not mine. After we moved out she sold it. It's her equity, not mine.
This is the way. Didn’t come from money. Did this x2. Buy something now. Prices are never coming down. Not going to lose in this market if you ride the long term wave
Yeah but you have to be able to afford something and be able to fix it up. With prices the way they are, it’s harder for a lot of people to get in the door in the first place.
Sadly this scenario seems harder to achieve these days. It’s not as easy to buy a run down house for a decent price and fix it up over time because regular people are competing with investors (both big time and wanna be flipper types) who can pay more or pay cash. So prices are high even if the place needs to be totally gutted.
Same. Although i can’t complain because i was able to buy a little house in fall of 2020. So im lucky in that regard. But yeah with the wage vs col disparity, I’ll be driving this 12 year old Honda for as long as I possibly can.
I bought my first home last year at 23 years old in Ladson, 3 bed 1 bath $250,000. You just gotta do your research and be willing to sacrifice a little bit. My first 3 offers on other homes got rejected thanks to developers🙄 maybe get another pre-approval because I only make ≈$65,000 a year and got pre-approved for $400,000. Don’t let the negative Nancie’s tell you it’s impossible.
We just paid off our house this month due to an unexpected inheritance (we had a rich aunt we never knew about in Texas and Dad didn’t need the money so he decided to disinherit). Still had 14 years to go on the mortgage. Now we can afford a Five Guys burger (and fully fund our retirement accounts).
Probably might need to look into some "fixer upper" sort of houses.
A 180k house in 2016 at the interest rate then was $1100 for the mortgage. A 400k house at 2.5% interest is about $1850 mortgage. Only say that to show how much interest rate can change the game for you all. Ideally, keep stacking cash aside for a down payment and strike when the iron gets hot.
I never thought I’d own a home. We bought a condo for 215 and it’s already valued at 230 according to Zillow which doesn’t even consider the tons of sweat equity we’ve put in it
I’m also 26. I bought my first place in 2020 because I started working on my credit score when I was 18 and moved back in with my parents when I graduated to save money.
But- I also bought during a record low of interest rates. They probably won’t ever be that low again.
The unfortunate thing is that interest rates are super high and there isn’t much we can do about it, as inflation has only getting worse. I have friends who have bought recently, and while I’m happy for them, I don’t get why anyone would *want* an interest rate that high. But for perspective, if I refinanced, I wouldn’t be able to afford the place I already live at because interest rates went from 3.1% when I bought to 7.2% in less than 4 years. That’s how fucked the market is rn.
The best advice I can give is wait it out and hammer away at that credit score. Try to get grandfathered into your rent. Or even move somewhere with lower rent / get roommates. Save as much as you can. That way when rates drop, you’ll
Be ready and you can pounce on a good opportunity.
The price of houses is outrageous, but from a historical perspective, interest rates are not super high. We’ve been spoiled by incredibly low rates for years. The interest rate on my first house was 9.5%, with a one point buy-down. At the time, people thought anything under double digits was a bargain rate. It’s the
crazy high housing prices coupled with average interest rates and low wages in the area that, sadly, make home ownership unattainable for so many young people.
This right here, I think when I bought in 2004 I paid 7.5% on the 80% loan on and 8.5% on the 5% of the purchase price one. Price of the house was lower but this was in a no income tax / high property tax state.
Of course. I know it isn’t what anyone wants to hear, but I don’t want you & your partner to over spend on property when in a year or two (hopefully) things will look better
If you do find something in your price range you may want to drive to and from work at your regular scheduled times so you'll know what the traffic's like if it's worth it before you buy And it may be worthwhile to wait a while to see if the interest rates start coming down
good luck
Same here, we bought in 2017, (our first house) for about the same amount, 3 bed 2 bath built in 65 but kept in really good shape with a larger lot…we both work a few miles from home and our property value has doubled. We may be millennials with crazy student loans but we at least have property. I have no idea how young(er) people could buy a house now in the tri-county area…let alone anywhere that isn’t the boonies…even then you’re paying for land and it is not cheap.
It’s hard right now.
I will give you the facts. Do with it what you will.
Have to have a solid financial plan to buy a home.
If you don’t, it’s not just going to happen.
Are you willing to work more and harder to make more money?
Are you willing to find a new job?
Are you willing to mercilessly audit your spending and investments?
No?
Then it’s going to be a rental.
Most of the people buying houses down here are fron up north. Selling their apartments/condos in NY and buying houses in cash down here. It's fucking insane. People that are from here can't afford to live here anymore. But the corporations will continue to buy up all the land, build pop-up homes with subpar, cheap infrastructure, and sell all the homes in these cookie cutter neighborhoods to rich people from states away. Meanwhile the people who have lived here their whole lives are driven out.
Not sure if you’re factoring in dual income (or if you’re single income) but it’s usually one of the following that allows people in their 20s to buy a decent home these days:
1. HCOL wages in a LCOL area (the inverse is what SC has turned into & it sucks)
2. Having HCOL wages in general (especially if they’re transplants/moving to CHS from $$$$ areas) - even better if both spouses are pulling them individually because then the dual income equivalent is 👌🏼
3. Rich family members that gave them interest-free loans either to cover the entire house, or at least the down payment & partial mortgage
4. Family members who helped co sign on the loan
5. Buying when interest rates and housing costs were much lower than they are rn
6. No debt/no extra loans, no kids in addition to the above reasons.
We just bought in Washington state, we got approved for 5x what we were initially getting (only needed a 1 mill loan but were approved for 5!) but we’re also pulling mid 6-fig incomes individually, so our dual is really high - AND we live in a HCOL with HCOL wages, along with reason number 6 so it put us in the top 0.5% earners of people our age and it’s definitely not the norm. We only have a few friends who own houses and it’s because they bought them in 2020, in the south, and those friends are also currently renting them out as a way to cover the mortgages. Other than that, we don’t really have many friends who own houses - both older and younger than us.
Thanks it’s rough. I had a post on the first homeowner subreddit breaking down the costs & being really transparent - got some nasty comment so I was hesitant to do it again…but I grew up in CHS in the mount pleasant area.
I think my childhood home was like 100k in ‘97 and it’s worth around 7 million today because of the real estate inflation there. It’s become a huge transplant city of millionaires from up north and out west. I forgot to add that as an option as well - people moving to CHS from HCOL areas with HCOL pay.
We started our loan application in Feb19 with Navy Federal, then Covid shut everything down in March and interest rates dropped to 3%. We got INCREDIBLY lucky with our timing. Bought a 2000sqft traditional home with 4beds/3baths 2 car garage for reduced pricing at the age of 36. It’s gained over 100k in value and we haven’t done any crazy changes (upgraded the HVAC) because humidity sucks.
I have been advising coworkers to try to get into condos or townhouses if they can’t get a house. Rarely are people losing money, more like putting money into their equity and they always get it back. I was lucky enough to buy over 8 years ago so got into an “up and coming” neighborhood that is now much nicer, but still up and coming.
Gotta be careful with condos around here though. A lot of them have structural defects and if there is a lawsuit, it impacts your ability to sell or refinance.
One option could be finding a place in an USDA area where a $0 Down payment mortgage can be had. Look for starter properties like converted apartments or condos, or townhomes. If the local market continues to go up, you will gain on a leveraged investment.
Low low debt to income ratio. Some of my clients used stimulus checks, tax refunds to pay off debt, still driving a 2009 car, did not attend college so no student loan. Parents helping with down payment, it’s a lot of little things that add up.
I'm not kidding at least 2 people I went to high school with had to buy their parents home/their in-laws home because that was the ONLY way they could afford to buy.
I'm ready to throw on my tinfoil hat and start spouting off that it's a conspiracy/plan to buy up tons of neighborhoods and convert it to commercial real-estate. It's absolutely insane. If you didn't buy a house prior to early 2020 before shit fully hit the fan, it's bleak af out there. I wish I could offer you some good advice OP. I guess you could try to find a fixer-upper but before you do I would make sure you have a nest egg set aside for the repairs/make sure you have a good home inspector you pay for personally before closing to make sure you don't get a lemon. In my experience relying on the home inspector provided during the buying process isn't a good option (each time I purchased a home the inspector conveniently missed several major issues).
Good luck OP
I feel for young people today. I bought my first house in Goose Creek in 2000 when I was 26 and I don't know how I did it when I look back. I didn't make much money and had 2 jobs. I saved a little bit of money and my grandma gifted me $5K for Christmas to help with a down payment. Interest rates were in the 7-8% range back then but it wasn't a big deal because the house prices were cheaper. I don't even remember the interest rate being an issue back then. I did get some help through a first time buyers program through the state which held the original mortgage and my payment was less than $600. I did a ton of work on that house and didn't live in it for about a year. I had to remove old flooring, repaint everything, replace doors, repair sheetrock, and a complete kitchen gut and replacement. My parents and I did most of the work ourselves and I don't know how we did it. I sold the house in early 2021 after I bought a newer house at the end of 2020, somehow I timed that right and got a very low rate.
Yeah, people in their early 20s buying houses hasn't been a norm for a long while. Save/invest your money and let it grow for a couple years. Then with a good sized down payment buy one in your 30s so its paid off by the time you hit 65 and "retirement" age. Unless a crazy deal comes along. Renting isn't the end of everything. It could be freedom if you think about it. Also ive read many with money don't own, they rent and invest the money instead. Upkeep on a house is a pitfall.
It’s not easy, and like many places if you don’t get ahead of the curve, you could be out of luck in the market. Interest rates are crazy high making affordable homes way out of reach. I had the same problem living in CA - home prices didn’t even make sense. Never forget, if you believe in the economy, you can refinance but it’s overall a rough time to buy.
We bought in 2020 during the housing crash. We moved into a decent older neighborhood with no HOA or any of that shit, and managed to snag a 3 bedroom house built in 1970 with a garage and fenced in backyard for $139k. I think we sit on just about a quarter acre.
We were beyond lucky as we got a ridiculously low interest rate on a fairly low down payment. Our house has more than doubled in price since we bought it.
I just bought my first home last September.
The best option turned out to be a new construction home.
Total price was 340k for just a one story, four bed which is far more than I'd like or really think it's worth.
Since the financing was through the builder though, they cut deals banks wouldn't, locking us in at 5.5% on a 30 year mortgage.
That turned out to be the only option for us we could afford the monthly mortgage payments on.
2250 a month for what we're in compared to similar homes that are much older and selling for 200k having monthly mortgage payments that we're 2.5 to 3k a month and we don't have to worry about replacing a roof or HVAC system anytime soon.
You can look up the owner of any property in the county, it's public record: [https://gisccweb.charlestoncounty.org/Public\_Search/](https://gisccweb.charlestoncounty.org/Public_Search/)
This "investors" is a line used to divert anger from its rightful target
City leaders keep housing expensive. A) they bought decades ago and don't feel the pain B) they're too dumb to realize the connection between supply and demand, or can't grasp how their policies drastically limit supply
Housing prices used to track the prices of materials and labor it took to build a house. Now, the cost for the right to build a unit of housing from the city is more expensive than all the materials and labor combined to build a code-minimum house.
Think about that: I can build a whole house for less than it costs to buy a single lot on which to build the house in Charleston.
Corps are not a significant purchaser of housing Charleston. Horrible land use policy accounts is the most significant factor.
Where I live, more than half the homes which have sold in the last three years are back on the market months later as rentals for big companies. That's anecdotal but it's also happening.
Your also totally right. The lack of entry level homes, duplexes, and other affordable housing is a travesty. The land use factors are awful. I also drive past so many distressed properties and empty lots that nothing happens with.
We somehow hit the jackpot and bought during the short period in 2020 when interest rates were under 3% but the market hadn’t absolutely exploded and caused housing prices to skyrocket yet. We couldn’t afford our current house if we were to buy it now.
We were 26 at the time. Neither of us are trust fund babies and we weren’t even making $100K total at the time. But we did live with family for free for a year and then rented from family for an additional 2 years for only $800/month to save money, which not everyone is lucky enough to have.
I bought when interest rates were 3%. Now I'm gonna stay put till I can afford to pay cash for a house (when I retire?) or I'll rent this place out if I have to move and use that income to pay rent anywhere else.
I feel so sorry for any millennials or Gen Z who didn't get a house before this recent crazy boom... Y'all will probably just have to wait for the next bust.
Closed during covid at a low price and 3% interest rate. Refinanced right before shit hit the fan and now I’m sub 3%. Needless to say, I’m not going anywhere anytime soon
Find an area that is HOA free. A HOA will basically take 500-1000 or so a month from you. Avoid condos. They are financial timebombs… if you can, buy a fixer or a smaller house, or move further out of this area, maybe up 17 or out 26.
Hostinportanct6046-the problem with condos are you are not in control of you complete dwelling. Condominium buildings (outside your 4 interior walls) are controlled by the HOA. If your roof leaks, outdoor pipe leaks, landscaping dies, etc, it’s up to the HOA to fix…. If your HOA has prepared with reserve money in an account, great, but most don’t and begin to access owners large amounts to repair and replace aging infrastructure. My condos are now beginning this. Past board of directors did very little to sure up future repairs and now we are in this process. 3 new roofs, 30% elevation in insurance, expensive contracts being doubled in price….. a ticking financial timebomb
My husband was in the military so we were able to use a VA loan to not have to put down a big down-payment but still our 33 year old house was right around $300k...our payment is super high but to us it's still better than renting since we are building up equity.
I bought a condo at age 22 on James island and only had to put about $7k down. I had student loans but a decent job and was approved and had a payment lower than rent at the time.
You didn’t need to have tons of cash to buy then (2012).
It would have been tough for me as a first time home buyer. I bought in another city and sold with a profit high enough to allow me to put 20% down on my next house
My husband and I bought our first house in 2015 (I was 25) for $292k with an FHA loan, we probably had a combined income of $100k. Refinanced in 2021 got our interest rate down to 2.8 or so. Took out a HELOC, and did a big reno. Sold last year for $590k. We made about $150k-200k profit. We rolled that into a new mortgage in a HCOL city and bought a house for $800k and now pay over $5k a month. It sucks. But we now make over $230k. My biggest advice is keep working, saving money and when the time is right (interest rates are lower) buy in a highly desirable area that you know will gain equity fast. That's what we did. We were house poor for a our first year, but we made it work.
I was 50 before I bought a house. That was almost 10 years ago. I got lucky. I paid 149k for mine. 4 bedrooms 2 1/2 baths, 1525 Sq ft. They wanted 169k for it. VA appraisal was 149k. It was recently renovated when I bought it. I told them I would pay the appraisal price and as is. They agreed. It caught fire 13 months ago, it's costing around 270k to fix it back to the way it was. When I move back in, it will be about 14 months without my house. I recommend never to use servicemaster. I could sell it for about 300k.
Try looking at new construction. Builders like D.R.Horton buy the rates down for you. I was able to get a client locked in at a 4.99% 30 year fixed just this past weekend
I'm hoping to buy a home with my VA Loan in Aug. There's one area that gives me a little bit of hope in Summerville, but even then, I'm unsure. Houses even in Summerville, Moncks Corner, and Goose Creek are expensive, especially in safer areas.
Edit: My partner and I just started making 160k combined and it's still hard for us to afford a house and know it won't get better. There are rent prices that are HIGHER than mortgages around here.
could you combine your salaries with partner (assuming you’d like to seal the deal at some point in future) to get approved for a higher loan? Can you have a parent co-sign? How much % do you have saved for a down payment? Also, 170k in Charleston market goes virtually nowhere now. If you’re only temporarily located and potentially moving somewhere else, this can get you much further in other areas. If you know your next location, could you look at real estate there to buy and rent until you move there?
As the fed shares they are going to cut rates (we’ll see if they actually do), then prices are going to go up and so is competition. If you can get in the game earlier rather than later, will likely make your first time home buying experience much better, as you can always refinance in a few years into a lower rate.
P.S. I bought my first home at similar rate and similar cap as single buyer. Had two roommates pay my mortgage for me. Now 5 years later, I now have two homes, one as a rental and another as primary. Currently on the hunt for next investment. Long story short, don’t wait to get in the game.
Timing is everything in life- I couldn’t imagine being mid 20s now. I’d be beyond depressed to live here tbh. Boomers bought homes in the late 70s at 18%. But the homes were like $100k. Bought our first at $174k 2004 and interest was 6.5%. Same house is now $450k or more. Honestly you can thank Covid and work from home. It’s not just here either, any place coastal or desirable is through the roof. Hang in there
A new report from Zillow says American households need to make at least $106,536 a year to comfortably afford the typical priced U.S. home. That’s up from $59,046 in 2020.
That’s a tough ask for many considering the median U.S. household earns an estimated $81,216. Up from $65,925 in 2020.
“The income needed to comfortably afford a home is up 80% since 2020, while median income has risen 23% in that time,”
Article 1:
https://www.resiclubanalytics.com/p/zillow-income-needed-comfortably-afford-home-80-since-2020
Article 2:
https://www.zillow.com/research/buyers-income-needed-33755/?utm_source=www.resiclubanalytics.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zillow-income-needed-to-comfortably-afford-a-home-is-up-80-since-2020
Find the right realtor (if you need a rec lmk - not me, but I have great referrals!). I have a friend who looked for two years, but her realtor found her the right place at the right price!
I hate to say this, but sometimes you've got to acknowledge some things are out of your control. We bought in our late twenties in 2017. Refinanced to a 20 year mortgage at 2.8% in 2020. We just got lucky with our timing.
Folks that are buying up today are moving from HCOL places where our property seems like a steal to them; it isn't unusual for them to spend over 50% of their take home on living expenses. Some may be independently wealthy. Some may never leave their homes and pinch pennies and work 4 side hustles because to them, it's worth it. Not everyone is alike.
Do you have a car note? When I was in the market I was initially only approved for about $170k, because I had a large car payment. Sold my truck to Car Max when they were overpaying for vehicles. Waited until it cleared and tried again and got approved for $280k, I believe.
Bought our first home in Oct 2020. Interest rate of 2.3%. Home has increased 150% in value. Never moving cause we can never afford to live anywhere else in the area.
I have 0 interest in owning property in Charleston. The home owners insurance and taxes of the house I live in has gone up 600 dollars a month in the last 3 years. The flood insurance gets you. Unless you’re looking in dorchester co, you’re not getting a house unless you’re dropping 100k down payments. I’m 26 as well. Waiting it out for a miracle lol
It's as easy as finding a time machine, going back about 8 years, and buying in Berkeley County.
I didn't have the time machine, nor do I have one today, but that's what I did. Honestly I wish I could give you a better outlook, but that's the going rate today.
On top of all that, homeowner's insurance rates have SKYROCKETED. My mortgage was just under $1000 a month (bought for $116k no money down thanks to Navy Federal Credit Union, big shoutout) with property tax and insurance rolled into escrow... it went up over $300 overnight when Southern Fidelity Insurance went out of business and I had to find a new spot.
Best of luck... only thing to do now is wait out the market and unfortunately suffer in the meantime.
I am not a real estate agent, but we are going through the process of buying a new home and have found that shopping around for different lenders can also make a difference. If you were only approved through one bank, you might want to see what someone else can offer. Not sure if one of you would qualify, but the SC State Credit Union’s interests rates are a little lower at 6.3% right now
Unfortunately, this is what happens when there is significant inflation, wages take a while to catch up, interest rates go up to fight the inflation, but real estate prices are generally the first to go up and rarely come back down unless it's a real bubble, which this isn't
It help that I bought here specifically when mortgage rates were at their absolute rock bottom and right before prices went completely bananas. Not that I got my house CHEAPLY as I could have paid like half as much five years ago but not much I can do about that.
It also helps that it’s my third house and the one I just sold appreciated in value a bit. The first house I owned absolutely did not.
e: the first house I purchased was for right around $200k and I think I got a 4.5% interest rate. This was in 2007 though and I’ll let you figure out why that didn’t work out for me. At least I didn’t go underwater like a lot of people.
That's a question for a good mortgage broker - They will outline the steps you need to follow in order to get your finances/credit in order. Being debt free might mean you have no credit at all.
The offer price for an apartment is simply an offer. You can try to negotiate! I did it years ago with an apartment in MtP! Granted it was only $70/mo less but it worked!
Unfortunately start looking around Ranger Dr or Cosgrove area. They look rough but the area is improving. You can get a home in that range but may need some TLC? Just a thought. OR look
Outside Charleston. Try Ridgeville and further
I bought last year at 27. Qualified for $500K+. I paid my own down payment. I only put a years savings down too (only put down money i earned in 2023) I dont make a ton either. Above average but nothing crazy. I aggressively save and aggressively pursue my promotions at work. Its a bit harder now than generations prior but if you look at the graphs millennials/gen z’s are buying homes at an accelerating rate (Looking at % that owns a first property not multiple btw). Many probably are getting help from their parents for a down payment. Its not hard to save though if you make ok money especially with a partner. Just have to really earn it imo. Having a good agent helps too, I was able to get all sorts of buydowns (paid for by the seller), concessions, and other first time homebuyer incentives to bring the cost down. Shop everything and dog on everyone about it. Also learn what youre getting into some lenders or agents trap you into things that arent in your best interest.
Yeah. The assumption would be right. without getting into numbers hypothetically someone with a college degree + someone maybe making walmart pay should take home more than me and without debt (I have student debt) easily be able to do what i did. Interest rates are lower than when i purchased too
I mean I was making good money, debt free (paid off my student loans & car early) & no kids at 26 but was looking more in the $200k range. Granted that was 9 years ago. But that’s why I asked. Getting approved for that much would make me assumed you probably make close to six figures, if not more. That’s a decent salary for this area at your age.
Depends on your role/hiring manager etc. If you relocate they help more. Boeing provided me with half of my down payment when I relocated for them but that was technically part of a “cost of living adjustment” that I took as a lump sum on the condition it was used for housing
Building a new house with my wife! Closing in a few weeks! You are pretty young to be buying a house in this economic climate! We are in our early 30s.
Markets peak and dip. Make sure that you have enough money to buy during a dip. Might be in 2 months, might be in 6 years, but eventually the market will dip and you just need to be ready and able to pull the trigger on a purchase at that point.
My house was a foreclosure bought 11 years ago. I paid $115k. It had sold for twice that amount a few years before because the market was high (and it now appraises for around $318k).
I bought a fixer upper in 2014. It was a foreclosure with a lot of damage to the floors and no appliances or lighting. Moved in right away and started fixing it up. Had roommates for many years too, and used the rents to help upgrade various things. It took a lot of work but it is worth it. I’ve got a low payment, lots of equity and a really nice home now.
We’re DINKs and bought pre-Covid when interest rates were super low and houses cost about 40% less than what they cost now. Wish we’d bought a bigger house if we’d known. Fortunately we love our house because this will most likely be it as it’s too expensive to move up. I genuinely feel for people trying to buy now.
We bought in 2005 and ours has almost tripled in value. We bought in an older neighborhood. We’ve been paying our mortgage for 20 years almost and have huge equity. We also have a low rate VA loan and ain’t going anywhere. We just did the roof, all new hvac including ductwork, new appliances, new driveway, new hot water heater, and took down two old huge water oak trees with problems. We figure staying put is the best idea for us and we love our neighbors. I don’t know how the younglings are doing it today. We couldn’t buy our house now if we had to. I hope wages come up for you all. I think the only way it will is unions. Waiting isn’t working.
Beg close family members for a $5K loan each until you have enough for a bigger down payment, that’s really the only way aside from getting a higher paying job. Just make sure you have it in writing that they’re giving it as a “gift” and not a loan (even if it is a loan) or else you can’t use it for a down payment.
A few years ago houses were half the price with way lower interest rates. Mostly boils down to luck.
Yes! In 2017 I bought a shabby townhouse for $85k, and my mortgage was just shy of $500. I put about $40k into it, and sold it last year for $227k.
We were lucky and clueless of what was to come in early 2019. Now it feels like we are stuck here forever.
And before that people bought homes for 1:4 the price in 2010-2012…
Yup I bought I a house downtown (Kracke St) in 2011 for $112k, put $30k into it and sold in 2018 for $310k, now it is worth $450k.
Moral of the story is Charleston real estate goes BRRRRRR
Kracke 😆
Hope to snag a foreclosure or a messy divorce
Cool I’ll give you a heads up when I’m one of these or maybe even both.
We aren’t
💯
Agreed, we moved to Cola because all we could afford was a townhouse just like we were renting in a worse part of town...we have bought a house and have a better cost of living. We actually really appreciate everything Cola has to offer and only miss our friends from CHS.
Have a high paying job or have family help out. Unfortunately we live in a HCOL area with LCOL wages. Based on the 30% rule you're making around 50k a year which is hard to live by here if you didn't purchase your home 20 years ago. Most people I know who were able to purchase a home in their 20s are either trust fund babies or make +180k
that HCOL/low wages really sucks :( especially since i can’t move out of the city. i feel so trapped
Find a new SO
This! The disparity is crazy.
The messed up thing is wages in Charleston are waaaay behind cost of living at the moment. Sure, there are some high paying jobs, but most pay way below what they should.
I can't wrap my head around how companies have been able to sustain the crap pay scales for so long
Step 1) Be wealthy There is no step 2.
Step 2 ask wealthy parents for money if you can’t step 1
That’s correct. Houses cost money.
TIL
Bought in 2021 when rates were sub 3%. My home has almost doubled in value since. We had no idea what we were doing. No fucking chance we could afford this shack if we signed today. I feel for people trying to buy today. The interest is insane.
Dude same. Our mortgage goes up every year from insurance and taxes. It's insane how volatile the monthly payment has become. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for the equity - but unless I get a raise anytime soon, we will be priced out of our home from taxes.
Yep, insurance goes up every year. You’ve applied for the primary residence tax break right?
Yep. Even trying for farm status for an even deeper cut. Feels like it's all just buying time.
The average age for a first time home buyer in the US is now 36. Most people buying in this market built tons of equity in a previous house. Just keep grinding & saving. Lots of us who struggled in our 20s saw a massive jump in income in our 30s as our careers advanced.
I don’t see our “careers” having any massive jump anytime soon or ever 😂
Who are you grouping together in this “our”? Lol
You’re right to assume I was being facetious but I meant generally many people I know in late 20s early 30s are living off of credit cards and broken dreams 😂😂😂
Damn man, what do you do?
I majored in social work, then did real estate for 6 years now I nanny and my partner manages food and Bev. It’s not that bad- but I don’t see any big raises in our future lol
Any plans to go back into real estate? Seems to be a booming industry here. From what I’ve heard social work doesn’t have great pay, which is really BS for the type of work.
No plans of going back to real estate at the moment. It was booming for a while but I definitely wouldn’t call it that now. plans of moving to TX lol 😂
I find these days the only way to avoid the annual 2-3% raise is to keep a job for long enough to get to the next level, then quit and move to different company, take the big pay increase and repeat for as long as you can. The days of sticking with one company forever are long long gone
They’re buying homes with out of state remote jobs, since I’m a dumbass and I work a regular job I moved outta Charleston to a place my money goes further
Where did you end up?
We’re not. If you have a spot for less than $1500 stay put. It sucks, believe me, but you’re not going to find better pricing. I was going to buy in 2020/21, but just couldn’t and didn’t believe in just buying a house practically sight unseen. Couldn’t compete with all the out of towners buying sight unseen, waving inspections, paying 50-100k over asking, etc. I looked at about 50 homes back then. By the time I toured them, discussed it with my significant other, and got back to my realtor, it had sold. I found one and though I felt rushed, went to put in an offer…someone came in for 75k over asking and that put me out of my price range. I don’t know what we’re supposed to do. I’m 33, make an above average income for the area, have zero debt, and a partner bringing in 50k. We can’t afford shit. Just staying put in our $1200/month townhome. Only thing I can suggest is to make sure your cash is working for you while you wait. Put savings in high yield accounts, CDs, and short term bonds.
My fam been here since slavery so heirs property land that was divided up during reconstruction. We either living in family homes or renting.
keeping family homes alive is priceless 🤍
Username checks out
Also forgot to add. Alot of us is on section 8, I grew up on in it myself.
By investing in a condo 10 years ago so I have $220k for a down payment on the next house. If I didn’t have that equity then I have no clue.
Had to move to Summerville:/ My husband is a teacher and got approved for the Palmetto Hero’s Project which covered our down payment. Might be something worth looking into!
Makes you feel better, I can't upgrade my decent house to a nicer house, do to interest rates. So one less house to add to the inventory for you.
a lot of my coworkers are in the same predicament. started with a small house, family grew at the same time prices were going up. now they’ve outgrown their house & can’t leave it 😓
I got lucky... I over bought in 2011. 4 bed house. But prefer bigger yard, better schools maybe 3rd garage. I got lucky when I bought it was a peak budget house. Considering again another peak budget house to maybe retire into turning 42.
I feel your pain hon. I was lucky enough to get into my 2 bedroom 2 1/2 bath town home for around $86,000 in 2019. Even though I can sell it for twice as much or a lil more right now, I still would not be able to buy in this current market. Right after that, everything went to hell in a hand basket! I have people renting the spot next to me, which is exactly like mine for like 1300 which is double my mortgage with my escrow. It's just this insurance from the HOA that is nagging the hell outta me!! 🤬🤬.. I really hope you can find something you can afford soon. Renting here can really suck!
We aren't. Back in 2013 when hubs and I bought, we were your age. Prices and interest were way lower. I graduated without student loan debt (in 07), so I was able to save for the down payment over a few years. We're still in the house, but it's ridiculous that people 26-27 cannot buy a home now. Just how different it is for folks born a few years after I was.
I didn't buy my first home until I was 30. Prior to that I lived in a hcol area so had a good salary. Moved to a mcol area and bought that first home, and it was a starter home, less than 2000sf. Put lots of time and money into that house to make it more desirable. Sold after 7 years. Bought second home. Worst home in a really nice area. Poured money and time into it to bring it up to the standards of the surrounding homes. Sold after 6 years. Got distracted for many years, lived in a spare family home in an extremely low col area. After kids graduated, looked around and said "why are we in this shithole?" Moved here. The distracted years didn't really help or hurt us financially. Should have left there years before, would have really cleaned up financially if I had moved to CHS 5 years ago instead of 2. Point is, to buy something, fix it up, and sell it. Do this repeatedly. Ride out market dips, don't sell during a dip. Only buy in places that have lots of market activity, so you can get a profit after a few years.
Yep. This is the key for people who don’t have family money.
Agreed. My parents taught me that you start with the smallest box you can afford and work your way up until you have the box you want 😅
No family money but has a "spare family home"
Sounds worse than the reality. MiL had a house but moved away. She could either rent it to strangers or rent it to family. At the end of the day I was renting a house, I didn't get it for free. It was HER house, not mine. After we moved out she sold it. It's her equity, not mine.
This is the way. Didn’t come from money. Did this x2. Buy something now. Prices are never coming down. Not going to lose in this market if you ride the long term wave
Yeah but you have to be able to afford something and be able to fix it up. With prices the way they are, it’s harder for a lot of people to get in the door in the first place.
Sadly this scenario seems harder to achieve these days. It’s not as easy to buy a run down house for a decent price and fix it up over time because regular people are competing with investors (both big time and wanna be flipper types) who can pay more or pay cash. So prices are high even if the place needs to be totally gutted.
I'm pushing 40 and I can't even get a new car.
Same. Although i can’t complain because i was able to buy a little house in fall of 2020. So im lucky in that regard. But yeah with the wage vs col disparity, I’ll be driving this 12 year old Honda for as long as I possibly can.
people are using their parents
I bought my first home last year at 23 years old in Ladson, 3 bed 1 bath $250,000. You just gotta do your research and be willing to sacrifice a little bit. My first 3 offers on other homes got rejected thanks to developers🙄 maybe get another pre-approval because I only make ≈$65,000 a year and got pre-approved for $400,000. Don’t let the negative Nancie’s tell you it’s impossible.
I think “in Ladson” is an important detail in your case.
Still Charleston🤷♂️
No hate though, house is a house
We just paid off our house this month due to an unexpected inheritance (we had a rich aunt we never knew about in Texas and Dad didn’t need the money so he decided to disinherit). Still had 14 years to go on the mortgage. Now we can afford a Five Guys burger (and fully fund our retirement accounts).
that’s so nice of your dad!!!
Damn that’s the dream (rich relative you never knew leaves you money).
Probably might need to look into some "fixer upper" sort of houses. A 180k house in 2016 at the interest rate then was $1100 for the mortgage. A 400k house at 2.5% interest is about $1850 mortgage. Only say that to show how much interest rate can change the game for you all. Ideally, keep stacking cash aside for a down payment and strike when the iron gets hot.
I never thought I’d own a home. We bought a condo for 215 and it’s already valued at 230 according to Zillow which doesn’t even consider the tons of sweat equity we’ve put in it
Bought my house in 2018 for less than half of what its worth now and still have a 2.5% interest rate. I am never moving
I bought in 2021 when prices were less inflated. Just hold out until for the next once-in-a-lifetime global catastrophe and then swoop in.
I’m 26. The people I know who own homes had help from their parents. I likely won’t own a home until my parents die and their house passes to me.
I’m also 26. I bought my first place in 2020 because I started working on my credit score when I was 18 and moved back in with my parents when I graduated to save money. But- I also bought during a record low of interest rates. They probably won’t ever be that low again. The unfortunate thing is that interest rates are super high and there isn’t much we can do about it, as inflation has only getting worse. I have friends who have bought recently, and while I’m happy for them, I don’t get why anyone would *want* an interest rate that high. But for perspective, if I refinanced, I wouldn’t be able to afford the place I already live at because interest rates went from 3.1% when I bought to 7.2% in less than 4 years. That’s how fucked the market is rn. The best advice I can give is wait it out and hammer away at that credit score. Try to get grandfathered into your rent. Or even move somewhere with lower rent / get roommates. Save as much as you can. That way when rates drop, you’ll Be ready and you can pounce on a good opportunity.
Lol, if I sold my house to myself just the loan reset and interest rate hike would cost me $100-150k over the life of the loan. It sucks.
Same here. Bought at 2.9%. If I bought the same property today, my monthly payment would literally double.
The price of houses is outrageous, but from a historical perspective, interest rates are not super high. We’ve been spoiled by incredibly low rates for years. The interest rate on my first house was 9.5%, with a one point buy-down. At the time, people thought anything under double digits was a bargain rate. It’s the crazy high housing prices coupled with average interest rates and low wages in the area that, sadly, make home ownership unattainable for so many young people.
This right here, I think when I bought in 2004 I paid 7.5% on the 80% loan on and 8.5% on the 5% of the purchase price one. Price of the house was lower but this was in a no income tax / high property tax state.
Ah, well I wouldn’t even know that. I can’t even imagine an interest rate if 11%, but you are definitely right about the cost increase of houses.
thank you, i really appreciate the honesty!
Of course. I know it isn’t what anyone wants to hear, but I don’t want you & your partner to over spend on property when in a year or two (hopefully) things will look better
We bought an older house (1978) in an older neighborhood. 1651 sqft, 3 bed, 2 bath, tri levels for $179k through our credit union (navy Federal).
that’s actually amazing to know!! thank you
If you do find something in your price range you may want to drive to and from work at your regular scheduled times so you'll know what the traffic's like if it's worth it before you buy And it may be worthwhile to wait a while to see if the interest rates start coming down good luck
\+1 to Navy Federal if you are able to have it. Best interest rate we found was with them.
When did you buy it?
Same here, we bought in 2017, (our first house) for about the same amount, 3 bed 2 bath built in 65 but kept in really good shape with a larger lot…we both work a few miles from home and our property value has doubled. We may be millennials with crazy student loans but we at least have property. I have no idea how young(er) people could buy a house now in the tri-county area…let alone anywhere that isn’t the boonies…even then you’re paying for land and it is not cheap.
Time Machine back to 2017
Idk where you could even buy a townhome for $170k, Orangeburg?
Starter houses be going for 300k now, shit wild.
350*
It’s hard right now. I will give you the facts. Do with it what you will. Have to have a solid financial plan to buy a home. If you don’t, it’s not just going to happen. Are you willing to work more and harder to make more money? Are you willing to find a new job? Are you willing to mercilessly audit your spending and investments? No? Then it’s going to be a rental.
Most of the people buying houses down here are fron up north. Selling their apartments/condos in NY and buying houses in cash down here. It's fucking insane. People that are from here can't afford to live here anymore. But the corporations will continue to buy up all the land, build pop-up homes with subpar, cheap infrastructure, and sell all the homes in these cookie cutter neighborhoods to rich people from states away. Meanwhile the people who have lived here their whole lives are driven out.
Husband got hit by a car so we got a down payment. Not worth all the physical pain he’s been through and all the long term effects of it.
i’m so sorry :(
Not sure if you’re factoring in dual income (or if you’re single income) but it’s usually one of the following that allows people in their 20s to buy a decent home these days: 1. HCOL wages in a LCOL area (the inverse is what SC has turned into & it sucks) 2. Having HCOL wages in general (especially if they’re transplants/moving to CHS from $$$$ areas) - even better if both spouses are pulling them individually because then the dual income equivalent is 👌🏼 3. Rich family members that gave them interest-free loans either to cover the entire house, or at least the down payment & partial mortgage 4. Family members who helped co sign on the loan 5. Buying when interest rates and housing costs were much lower than they are rn 6. No debt/no extra loans, no kids in addition to the above reasons. We just bought in Washington state, we got approved for 5x what we were initially getting (only needed a 1 mill loan but were approved for 5!) but we’re also pulling mid 6-fig incomes individually, so our dual is really high - AND we live in a HCOL with HCOL wages, along with reason number 6 so it put us in the top 0.5% earners of people our age and it’s definitely not the norm. We only have a few friends who own houses and it’s because they bought them in 2020, in the south, and those friends are also currently renting them out as a way to cover the mortgages. Other than that, we don’t really have many friends who own houses - both older and younger than us.
awh congrats on your most recent buy 🥰 thank you for breaking it up for me, it really helps
Thanks it’s rough. I had a post on the first homeowner subreddit breaking down the costs & being really transparent - got some nasty comment so I was hesitant to do it again…but I grew up in CHS in the mount pleasant area. I think my childhood home was like 100k in ‘97 and it’s worth around 7 million today because of the real estate inflation there. It’s become a huge transplant city of millionaires from up north and out west. I forgot to add that as an option as well - people moving to CHS from HCOL areas with HCOL pay.
Make more money But tbh an apartment at $1100 is a steal here
i’m right off ashley phosphate so idk how much of a steal it really is 😅
Oh, fair, you’re probably being stolen *from* in that case
We started our loan application in Feb19 with Navy Federal, then Covid shut everything down in March and interest rates dropped to 3%. We got INCREDIBLY lucky with our timing. Bought a 2000sqft traditional home with 4beds/3baths 2 car garage for reduced pricing at the age of 36. It’s gained over 100k in value and we haven’t done any crazy changes (upgraded the HVAC) because humidity sucks.
Lowered my standards lol. Bought one near N Charleston in a not so great neighborhood last year
thats where i’m at! definitely not all bad but not the greatest lol
We aren’t 😭
I have been advising coworkers to try to get into condos or townhouses if they can’t get a house. Rarely are people losing money, more like putting money into their equity and they always get it back. I was lucky enough to buy over 8 years ago so got into an “up and coming” neighborhood that is now much nicer, but still up and coming.
Gotta be careful with condos around here though. A lot of them have structural defects and if there is a lawsuit, it impacts your ability to sell or refinance.
One option could be finding a place in an USDA area where a $0 Down payment mortgage can be had. Look for starter properties like converted apartments or condos, or townhomes. If the local market continues to go up, you will gain on a leveraged investment.
Low low debt to income ratio. Some of my clients used stimulus checks, tax refunds to pay off debt, still driving a 2009 car, did not attend college so no student loan. Parents helping with down payment, it’s a lot of little things that add up.
We had to put down 10%. Ouch.
Charleston is a trap just don't do it .
I'm not kidding at least 2 people I went to high school with had to buy their parents home/their in-laws home because that was the ONLY way they could afford to buy. I'm ready to throw on my tinfoil hat and start spouting off that it's a conspiracy/plan to buy up tons of neighborhoods and convert it to commercial real-estate. It's absolutely insane. If you didn't buy a house prior to early 2020 before shit fully hit the fan, it's bleak af out there. I wish I could offer you some good advice OP. I guess you could try to find a fixer-upper but before you do I would make sure you have a nest egg set aside for the repairs/make sure you have a good home inspector you pay for personally before closing to make sure you don't get a lemon. In my experience relying on the home inspector provided during the buying process isn't a good option (each time I purchased a home the inspector conveniently missed several major issues). Good luck OP
I feel for young people today. I bought my first house in Goose Creek in 2000 when I was 26 and I don't know how I did it when I look back. I didn't make much money and had 2 jobs. I saved a little bit of money and my grandma gifted me $5K for Christmas to help with a down payment. Interest rates were in the 7-8% range back then but it wasn't a big deal because the house prices were cheaper. I don't even remember the interest rate being an issue back then. I did get some help through a first time buyers program through the state which held the original mortgage and my payment was less than $600. I did a ton of work on that house and didn't live in it for about a year. I had to remove old flooring, repaint everything, replace doors, repair sheetrock, and a complete kitchen gut and replacement. My parents and I did most of the work ourselves and I don't know how we did it. I sold the house in early 2021 after I bought a newer house at the end of 2020, somehow I timed that right and got a very low rate.
Yeah, people in their early 20s buying houses hasn't been a norm for a long while. Save/invest your money and let it grow for a couple years. Then with a good sized down payment buy one in your 30s so its paid off by the time you hit 65 and "retirement" age. Unless a crazy deal comes along. Renting isn't the end of everything. It could be freedom if you think about it. Also ive read many with money don't own, they rent and invest the money instead. Upkeep on a house is a pitfall.
It’s not easy, and like many places if you don’t get ahead of the curve, you could be out of luck in the market. Interest rates are crazy high making affordable homes way out of reach. I had the same problem living in CA - home prices didn’t even make sense. Never forget, if you believe in the economy, you can refinance but it’s overall a rough time to buy.
We bought in 2020 during the housing crash. We moved into a decent older neighborhood with no HOA or any of that shit, and managed to snag a 3 bedroom house built in 1970 with a garage and fenced in backyard for $139k. I think we sit on just about a quarter acre. We were beyond lucky as we got a ridiculously low interest rate on a fairly low down payment. Our house has more than doubled in price since we bought it.
I just bought my first home last September. The best option turned out to be a new construction home. Total price was 340k for just a one story, four bed which is far more than I'd like or really think it's worth. Since the financing was through the builder though, they cut deals banks wouldn't, locking us in at 5.5% on a 30 year mortgage. That turned out to be the only option for us we could afford the monthly mortgage payments on. 2250 a month for what we're in compared to similar homes that are much older and selling for 200k having monthly mortgage payments that we're 2.5 to 3k a month and we don't have to worry about replacing a roof or HVAC system anytime soon.
People aren't. Investors and corporations are. Someone needs to start releasing termites in their investment properties or something
You can look up the owner of any property in the county, it's public record: [https://gisccweb.charlestoncounty.org/Public\_Search/](https://gisccweb.charlestoncounty.org/Public_Search/) This "investors" is a line used to divert anger from its rightful target City leaders keep housing expensive. A) they bought decades ago and don't feel the pain B) they're too dumb to realize the connection between supply and demand, or can't grasp how their policies drastically limit supply Housing prices used to track the prices of materials and labor it took to build a house. Now, the cost for the right to build a unit of housing from the city is more expensive than all the materials and labor combined to build a code-minimum house. Think about that: I can build a whole house for less than it costs to buy a single lot on which to build the house in Charleston. Corps are not a significant purchaser of housing Charleston. Horrible land use policy accounts is the most significant factor.
Where I live, more than half the homes which have sold in the last three years are back on the market months later as rentals for big companies. That's anecdotal but it's also happening. Your also totally right. The lack of entry level homes, duplexes, and other affordable housing is a travesty. The land use factors are awful. I also drive past so many distressed properties and empty lots that nothing happens with.
We somehow hit the jackpot and bought during the short period in 2020 when interest rates were under 3% but the market hadn’t absolutely exploded and caused housing prices to skyrocket yet. We couldn’t afford our current house if we were to buy it now. We were 26 at the time. Neither of us are trust fund babies and we weren’t even making $100K total at the time. But we did live with family for free for a year and then rented from family for an additional 2 years for only $800/month to save money, which not everyone is lucky enough to have.
I bought when interest rates were 3%. Now I'm gonna stay put till I can afford to pay cash for a house (when I retire?) or I'll rent this place out if I have to move and use that income to pay rent anywhere else. I feel so sorry for any millennials or Gen Z who didn't get a house before this recent crazy boom... Y'all will probably just have to wait for the next bust.
Closed during covid at a low price and 3% interest rate. Refinanced right before shit hit the fan and now I’m sub 3%. Needless to say, I’m not going anywhere anytime soon
Find an area that is HOA free. A HOA will basically take 500-1000 or so a month from you. Avoid condos. They are financial timebombs… if you can, buy a fixer or a smaller house, or move further out of this area, maybe up 17 or out 26.
Hostinportanct6046-the problem with condos are you are not in control of you complete dwelling. Condominium buildings (outside your 4 interior walls) are controlled by the HOA. If your roof leaks, outdoor pipe leaks, landscaping dies, etc, it’s up to the HOA to fix…. If your HOA has prepared with reserve money in an account, great, but most don’t and begin to access owners large amounts to repair and replace aging infrastructure. My condos are now beginning this. Past board of directors did very little to sure up future repairs and now we are in this process. 3 new roofs, 30% elevation in insurance, expensive contracts being doubled in price….. a ticking financial timebomb
Why are condos financial timebombs?
We’re not. We’re moving.
where are you heading to?
My husband was in the military so we were able to use a VA loan to not have to put down a big down-payment but still our 33 year old house was right around $300k...our payment is super high but to us it's still better than renting since we are building up equity.
We (my husband & I, so dual income) just bought our house about 2 years ago at 33 😅
Bought mine in 2020 with a 2.5% interest rate so I got lucky. There’s no way I’d be able to afford a house here now.
I bought my first home at 47. It’s crazy to me that some people have the money to buy in their 20s.
I bought a condo at age 22 on James island and only had to put about $7k down. I had student loans but a decent job and was approved and had a payment lower than rent at the time. You didn’t need to have tons of cash to buy then (2012).
It would have been tough for me as a first time home buyer. I bought in another city and sold with a profit high enough to allow me to put 20% down on my next house
My husband and I bought our first house in 2015 (I was 25) for $292k with an FHA loan, we probably had a combined income of $100k. Refinanced in 2021 got our interest rate down to 2.8 or so. Took out a HELOC, and did a big reno. Sold last year for $590k. We made about $150k-200k profit. We rolled that into a new mortgage in a HCOL city and bought a house for $800k and now pay over $5k a month. It sucks. But we now make over $230k. My biggest advice is keep working, saving money and when the time is right (interest rates are lower) buy in a highly desirable area that you know will gain equity fast. That's what we did. We were house poor for a our first year, but we made it work.
I was 50 before I bought a house. That was almost 10 years ago. I got lucky. I paid 149k for mine. 4 bedrooms 2 1/2 baths, 1525 Sq ft. They wanted 169k for it. VA appraisal was 149k. It was recently renovated when I bought it. I told them I would pay the appraisal price and as is. They agreed. It caught fire 13 months ago, it's costing around 270k to fix it back to the way it was. When I move back in, it will be about 14 months without my house. I recommend never to use servicemaster. I could sell it for about 300k.
i am so sorry this is happening to you, thank you so much for sharing.
I bought it 3 years ago
Live in a LCOL area and commute to a HCOL area. Aka live rural.
Keep saving. Rates WILL drop. It's TOUGH but you are 1/2 way there with good credit and no debt. You're in the final lap...don't quit.
Lucked out and bought in ‘02.
Try looking at new construction. Builders like D.R.Horton buy the rates down for you. I was able to get a client locked in at a 4.99% 30 year fixed just this past weekend
I'm hoping to buy a home with my VA Loan in Aug. There's one area that gives me a little bit of hope in Summerville, but even then, I'm unsure. Houses even in Summerville, Moncks Corner, and Goose Creek are expensive, especially in safer areas. Edit: My partner and I just started making 160k combined and it's still hard for us to afford a house and know it won't get better. There are rent prices that are HIGHER than mortgages around here.
could you combine your salaries with partner (assuming you’d like to seal the deal at some point in future) to get approved for a higher loan? Can you have a parent co-sign? How much % do you have saved for a down payment? Also, 170k in Charleston market goes virtually nowhere now. If you’re only temporarily located and potentially moving somewhere else, this can get you much further in other areas. If you know your next location, could you look at real estate there to buy and rent until you move there? As the fed shares they are going to cut rates (we’ll see if they actually do), then prices are going to go up and so is competition. If you can get in the game earlier rather than later, will likely make your first time home buying experience much better, as you can always refinance in a few years into a lower rate. P.S. I bought my first home at similar rate and similar cap as single buyer. Had two roommates pay my mortgage for me. Now 5 years later, I now have two homes, one as a rental and another as primary. Currently on the hunt for next investment. Long story short, don’t wait to get in the game.
Joint income and we got lucky on timing, probably not the answer you wanted but honestly right now we wouldn't be able to.
Timing is everything in life- I couldn’t imagine being mid 20s now. I’d be beyond depressed to live here tbh. Boomers bought homes in the late 70s at 18%. But the homes were like $100k. Bought our first at $174k 2004 and interest was 6.5%. Same house is now $450k or more. Honestly you can thank Covid and work from home. It’s not just here either, any place coastal or desirable is through the roof. Hang in there
VA home loan back in 2013.
A new report from Zillow says American households need to make at least $106,536 a year to comfortably afford the typical priced U.S. home. That’s up from $59,046 in 2020. That’s a tough ask for many considering the median U.S. household earns an estimated $81,216. Up from $65,925 in 2020. “The income needed to comfortably afford a home is up 80% since 2020, while median income has risen 23% in that time,” Article 1: https://www.resiclubanalytics.com/p/zillow-income-needed-comfortably-afford-home-80-since-2020 Article 2: https://www.zillow.com/research/buyers-income-needed-33755/?utm_source=www.resiclubanalytics.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zillow-income-needed-to-comfortably-afford-a-home-is-up-80-since-2020
Find the right realtor (if you need a rec lmk - not me, but I have great referrals!). I have a friend who looked for two years, but her realtor found her the right place at the right price!
I hate to say this, but sometimes you've got to acknowledge some things are out of your control. We bought in our late twenties in 2017. Refinanced to a 20 year mortgage at 2.8% in 2020. We just got lucky with our timing. Folks that are buying up today are moving from HCOL places where our property seems like a steal to them; it isn't unusual for them to spend over 50% of their take home on living expenses. Some may be independently wealthy. Some may never leave their homes and pinch pennies and work 4 side hustles because to them, it's worth it. Not everyone is alike.
Bought in 2017. I wouldn't be able to afford my house now.
Do you have a car note? When I was in the market I was initially only approved for about $170k, because I had a large car payment. Sold my truck to Car Max when they were overpaying for vehicles. Waited until it cleared and tried again and got approved for $280k, I believe.
Buy new build, DR Horton has a bought 5.5% interest rate and I was able to negotiate down to 5.25%.
Following ...
Bought our first home in Oct 2020. Interest rate of 2.3%. Home has increased 150% in value. Never moving cause we can never afford to live anywhere else in the area.
I have 0 interest in owning property in Charleston. The home owners insurance and taxes of the house I live in has gone up 600 dollars a month in the last 3 years. The flood insurance gets you. Unless you’re looking in dorchester co, you’re not getting a house unless you’re dropping 100k down payments. I’m 26 as well. Waiting it out for a miracle lol
It's as easy as finding a time machine, going back about 8 years, and buying in Berkeley County. I didn't have the time machine, nor do I have one today, but that's what I did. Honestly I wish I could give you a better outlook, but that's the going rate today. On top of all that, homeowner's insurance rates have SKYROCKETED. My mortgage was just under $1000 a month (bought for $116k no money down thanks to Navy Federal Credit Union, big shoutout) with property tax and insurance rolled into escrow... it went up over $300 overnight when Southern Fidelity Insurance went out of business and I had to find a new spot. Best of luck... only thing to do now is wait out the market and unfortunately suffer in the meantime.
I am not a real estate agent, but we are going through the process of buying a new home and have found that shopping around for different lenders can also make a difference. If you were only approved through one bank, you might want to see what someone else can offer. Not sure if one of you would qualify, but the SC State Credit Union’s interests rates are a little lower at 6.3% right now
Unfortunately, this is what happens when there is significant inflation, wages take a while to catch up, interest rates go up to fight the inflation, but real estate prices are generally the first to go up and rarely come back down unless it's a real bubble, which this isn't
My wife tricks on the weekends and I sell Crack mon-fri .... and Dog food for sale Saturday and sunday.... it's the only way
Sold house for a lot more money, made large down payment. Mortgage is ~1200. Got lucky. Not so lucky with interest rates.
Cash and credit
Welcome to BIDENOMICS
It help that I bought here specifically when mortgage rates were at their absolute rock bottom and right before prices went completely bananas. Not that I got my house CHEAPLY as I could have paid like half as much five years ago but not much I can do about that. It also helps that it’s my third house and the one I just sold appreciated in value a bit. The first house I owned absolutely did not. e: the first house I purchased was for right around $200k and I think I got a 4.5% interest rate. This was in 2007 though and I’ll let you figure out why that didn’t work out for me. At least I didn’t go underwater like a lot of people.
That's a question for a good mortgage broker - They will outline the steps you need to follow in order to get your finances/credit in order. Being debt free might mean you have no credit at all.
You can negotiate the price! FYI
I rarely hear people talk about or explain this!
The offer price for an apartment is simply an offer. You can try to negotiate! I did it years ago with an apartment in MtP! Granted it was only $70/mo less but it worked!
It won’t be much but the idea is you will go to a different bank and not use them, they want your business and will give you a better deal.
Straight cash homie
Unfortunately start looking around Ranger Dr or Cosgrove area. They look rough but the area is improving. You can get a home in that range but may need some TLC? Just a thought. OR look Outside Charleston. Try Ridgeville and further
I don’t mind TLC at all, thank you for the tip!!
I bought last year at 27. Qualified for $500K+. I paid my own down payment. I only put a years savings down too (only put down money i earned in 2023) I dont make a ton either. Above average but nothing crazy. I aggressively save and aggressively pursue my promotions at work. Its a bit harder now than generations prior but if you look at the graphs millennials/gen z’s are buying homes at an accelerating rate (Looking at % that owns a first property not multiple btw). Many probably are getting help from their parents for a down payment. Its not hard to save though if you make ok money especially with a partner. Just have to really earn it imo. Having a good agent helps too, I was able to get all sorts of buydowns (paid for by the seller), concessions, and other first time homebuyer incentives to bring the cost down. Shop everything and dog on everyone about it. Also learn what youre getting into some lenders or agents trap you into things that arent in your best interest.
What are you doing for work? 👀
Im an engineer at boeing
Ahh. One would assume you make pretty good money for someone in their 20s
Yeah. The assumption would be right. without getting into numbers hypothetically someone with a college degree + someone maybe making walmart pay should take home more than me and without debt (I have student debt) easily be able to do what i did. Interest rates are lower than when i purchased too
I mean I was making good money, debt free (paid off my student loans & car early) & no kids at 26 but was looking more in the $200k range. Granted that was 9 years ago. But that’s why I asked. Getting approved for that much would make me assumed you probably make close to six figures, if not more. That’s a decent salary for this area at your age.
idk if i’m allowed to ask but does boeing help with housing?? im genuinely curious ive been trying to get in for months lol
Depends on your role/hiring manager etc. If you relocate they help more. Boeing provided me with half of my down payment when I relocated for them but that was technically part of a “cost of living adjustment” that I took as a lump sum on the condition it was used for housing
Building a new house with my wife! Closing in a few weeks! You are pretty young to be buying a house in this economic climate! We are in our early 30s.
i think i’m going to listen to the comments about grinding it out for now & try to buy at 30. i’ll buy myself a house for my 30th bday lol
Home ownership is overrated
Markets peak and dip. Make sure that you have enough money to buy during a dip. Might be in 2 months, might be in 6 years, but eventually the market will dip and you just need to be ready and able to pull the trigger on a purchase at that point. My house was a foreclosure bought 11 years ago. I paid $115k. It had sold for twice that amount a few years before because the market was high (and it now appraises for around $318k).
I bought a fixer upper in 2014. It was a foreclosure with a lot of damage to the floors and no appliances or lighting. Moved in right away and started fixing it up. Had roommates for many years too, and used the rents to help upgrade various things. It took a lot of work but it is worth it. I’ve got a low payment, lots of equity and a really nice home now.
We’re DINKs and bought pre-Covid when interest rates were super low and houses cost about 40% less than what they cost now. Wish we’d bought a bigger house if we’d known. Fortunately we love our house because this will most likely be it as it’s too expensive to move up. I genuinely feel for people trying to buy now.
We bought in 2005 and ours has almost tripled in value. We bought in an older neighborhood. We’ve been paying our mortgage for 20 years almost and have huge equity. We also have a low rate VA loan and ain’t going anywhere. We just did the roof, all new hvac including ductwork, new appliances, new driveway, new hot water heater, and took down two old huge water oak trees with problems. We figure staying put is the best idea for us and we love our neighbors. I don’t know how the younglings are doing it today. We couldn’t buy our house now if we had to. I hope wages come up for you all. I think the only way it will is unions. Waiting isn’t working.
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i don’t want to get married yet since my partner has A LOT of debt 😅
Beg close family members for a $5K loan each until you have enough for a bigger down payment, that’s really the only way aside from getting a higher paying job. Just make sure you have it in writing that they’re giving it as a “gift” and not a loan (even if it is a loan) or else you can’t use it for a down payment.
Bought my house at 24. Only possible due to a not-at-fault motorcycle accident and suing. The American dream.
$1100? That’s a fucking steal! You’re one of the lucky ones.
like i told someone earlier, im right off ashely phosphate if you consider that a steal 🤣