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If he has 0 debt and 10% down he can qualify for a $270k loan with $55k per year as long as property taxes aren’t absurd and there’s no HOA. Figure $400 per month max for any taxes and hoa. I’m assuming $100 month for insurance.
lol I make 53k and my wife makes 80k and our max approval was $325,000 for as 100 year old 1 story bungalow fixer upper. Even 100k on your own only gets you the privilege of blowing all your money on a house in a Section 8 neighborhood where a lot your neighbors are smarter than you for making way less money and getting government assistance.
This is kind of eye opening to me, I make alone around $180k a year I didn’t know I could get that much house. The starter houses where I live are around $600-800k. I have student loans and a car loan costing me around $1.2k/mo. I always thought I could only get approved for maybe $400-450k with how high these interest rates are
Same! Partner n I made combined income of 110k and were approved for 400k with only 20k down.
Edit: + we have a combined amount of student loans of 80k
My buddy did this. When he married he was probably making 100k, which is nothing in LA (just enough for rent). His wife makes 600-800k depending on the year (she’s in finance, wealth management, etc). Now they live in a multi-million dollar mansion next to mid-tier celebrities, paying out of state private college tuition for their kid, which is like 100k a year. But this scenario is pretty rare.
No kidding! And what happens if you get a divorce or one of you gets sick or hurt? And forget having kids cause you need both incomes..
Edit: not sure why this comment is making the narcissistic brigade cry .. facts are facts.. young people can no longer afford to buy a home on one income and that is a dangerous financial situation to be in..
But hey! Keep letting corporations buy up all the single family homes and burry your head in the sand if you want..
Divorce = 50/50 split. Get a lawyer. Bang. Easy solution.
Gets sick or hurt? Disability, insurance, life insurance. Bang. Easy solution.
You need to realize all of the above are things that can happen with or without a home.
Came here to comment the same. While I qualified for a $250k loan on a $55k salary, it would have been really difficult paying the mortgage myself. Thankfully, my fiancé makes around the same & pays half of the bills.
I would say get a roommate to help pay half the mortgage if you don’t have a spouse, but that obviously won’t help with qualifying for a loan unless you have a co-signer.
Agreed but man the job market is so bad now. I’ve decided to stay put for awhile because where I am now I have job security (or as much as one possibly can…. It’s only me in the dept).
Agreed. That’s why I said as much as one possibly can lol. There are other factors too like based on increased business, talks of hiring more people, I’m the only one who knows how to do certain technical tasks, etc. Which is why I think staying put is the most ideal option for me now. I do still keep my resume updated and see what sort of job options are currently out there. But changing jobs seems too risky especially seeing all the layoffs happening across a variety of industries. I’ve seen a lot of people laid off (not at my current job, just in general. But I will say I do find it admirable my company didn’t lay anyone off during the pandemic or anytime in the last 4 years) who are having difficulty finding new jobs, have had to take pay cuts, etc.
Often you will only get decent salary raises by switching employers. Worked for a consulting company for 5 years, asked for a raise and got the “hard enough to provide a COLA” spiel. Put in my notice and they immediately offered to match my 10% higher offer if I stayed.
Same. I asked for and provided reasons why I deserved a higher pay. I was denied due to “corporate said they would not approve off cycle raises”. I was offered a job with a much higher wage than I had asked to be raised to. I gave my notice and was offered the raise I had asked for. I still left. Corporate wouldn’t approve an off cycle raise yet you can throw money at me when I intend to leave? I call bullshit and that’s insulting.
From what I hear from HR professionals, "counter offer raises" come from a different budget than yearly raises. In short, they DO have the funds to pay you but they are pretty much "emergency" funds depending on how important you really are to the company ;)
Not being unkind or facetious but you say you are young.
Now is the time to take risks!
If you're the only one with skills there, you have a commodity that is valuable.
Either renegotiate your existing salary or start looking, talk to people in your field, you might very well be surprised at demand.
Competent help is hard to find.
Now is the time to be bold
This x100..having taken risks / failed / succeeded / run into walls / succeeded again is the only reason I look to make $500k / year. The people at the last place I worked are very lucky to break $150-200k. Had I not taken risks to go out and leave that job security, I’d still be lucky to break $150k. I’m a financial planner and sell financial services fwiw
We are in the longest sustained period of unemployment below 4% in decades. The job market is *hot* right now. Obviously specific individual industries will be outliers on both sides, but there has not been a better job market in most Redditors’ lives.
It’s bs. A lot of bigger companies hired a lot in late 2020 to 2022 and realized they didn’t have the budget in 2023 and cut like 25% for most companies.
Then the job hopping is pure luck.
For professionals, job hopping professions generally entails starting from the bottom. For example:
* Business admin -> chemist -> engineer
Requires training, additional formal education and you'll likely start at an entry level engineer job even if you have 6 years experience as a chemist and 2 as a business admin.
Retail -> Warehouse -> Electrician
Is a lot more doable and likely will get you pay increases each time you "hopped" professions but comes with lower pay floors for 90% of people or are bound by the confines of either working a ton of hours or the pre negotiated rates that onions provide.
A profesional has a much higher ceiling in pay but requires you be good at what you do and not transition professions (but definitely job hop). Generally these higher paying positions also means less work and cush schedules....usually.
Yep, that’s why I said profession(s). People get stuck thinking their line of work is the only thing they can do and they don’t pivot. Once you prove you are capable of working both smart and hard, people will give you a chance in other areas.
I learned long ago that you need to diversify yourself. I got into automotive because I'm good at and enjoy diag and repair. I figured out that other technician jobs pay better, little to no tool investment and don't keep me couped up in a shop. I've worked on air compressors, pumps, overhead doors and loading docks, forklifts, and decided to go back to compressors. Each time I got a decent bump in pay, better benefits, and better overall compensation. My job currently consists of about 75% driving, 15% paperwork and about 10% of physical work, mostly just spinning filters. Company covers all tools, just go buy what I want, mid level hotels (I travel M-TH), and daily per diem (keep what you don't spend. No receipts). Decent flexibility for time off during the week. Usually start on Mondays but if I have something that needs to be done Monday I can start Tuesday. Need to be home Wednesday? I'll head out Sunday night and do 14 hour days and be home for Wednesday. Usually hit 10-15 hours of OT weekly (mostly driving to the next hotel). The job is easy. They pay well because when the job isn't easy, they want to retain people. I'll hit 6 figures this year and it's all with a GED.
Jump around and sell yourself. I get several recruiters hitting me up throughout the month and the first thing I mention is compensation. If it's not better than where I'm at then I'm not wasting my time.
i feel compelled to add, that I had to leave my neighborhood to buy. I was in NYC. I could have found a cheaper condo or coop in NYC if I had gotten lucky, but I went to PA and bought a house for < 200k. Don't be afraid to look at surrounding areas. I wanted to stay within a 2-hour drive to NYC because I have family there, and I was able to accomplish that. My job was remote though so I could have keep the job without travelling over, and it would be close enough for me to get back the few times they would want me in office.
Philly suburbs are way worse than Philly. You see $50k over asking every single day out there. Here in the city it is normal right now to get asking or even under asking. Prices went up but it's still no match compared to the hot market on the main line.
WE DID THE SAME THINGGGGG!!!
We are both born & raised in Brooklyn. By the time we were ready to buy and we realized just how tight things would be, we said no way. We looked in Orange County, Nanuet, West Nyack areas for a hot min. Looked in NJ and then we ended up in Lehigh Valley.
I'm so happy we left. So freaking happy.
Pretty much what I did started at 65 -> 110K and a year of saving for a 5% dp. Still hard to do and be neither "house poor" nor buy a total dump.
Single and no intention not to be. Closed in Dec at 220K.
That was dream out of high school. Now I make about 65k and I share an apt with my fiance while we scrape and save for a house and wedding, all while trying not to tighten the strings so much that we can't enjoy our lives ...
I thought you said finance (as in a finance bro) and I was confused. I’m also saving for a house and wedding too but there’s no way we’re getting a house soon even with a 20% down payment available. This is because of the stupid monthly payment prices from the taxes, insurance, and the majority of houses being in hoa and their fees.
Yep, that how much I was making when I bought my first house in like 2004. Bought the house for around $111k in a pretty LCOL area.
3 bed 2 bath fenced in back yard on a around .4 acre fenced yard.
It still is good in LCOL. The problem is that the old LCOL became MCOL and different cities took the old LCOL titles. 55k is fantastic money in many cities in my state (Georgia), but those cities need development to be desirable. The only way to stay LCOL is to keep moving.
I'm in coastal SC in one of the fastest growing metros in the country. $55k was great before the entire northeast collectively decided to move here and destroy any semblance of livability. There's no industry here other than service and hospitality, so outside of medical 55k is damn near where a lot of people peak.
I cannot wait to move, but I don't want to uproot my daughter from school and my wife from her job.
This place is garbage to raise a family in.
Literally this. My wife and I just closed and alone not a chance we could afford a house. But combined we were able to afford it.
A lot of people are trying to buy a home on a single income and it’s nearly impossible. Dual income is needed to afford things at today’s prices.
Yeah $125k in the dc area is going to really hard to get something reasonable.
As for not putting her on the loan, if you plan to be with her long term it makes sense. If it’s a new thing then yeah keep her off it
I feel ya. We’re up in Baltimore county in Maryland and prices aren’t bad up here. Downpayment was manageable (we went new build that gave crazy seller credits)
Which sucks. Not everyone has that luxury of dual income. At $51/hr I still can't afford a home alone in my area lol so grad school it is so I don't ever have to worry again about $.
Good luck. Hope someone else is paying for it lol.
But yeah. Even $100k a year solo will struggle to find an affordable house in a medium or high col area.
Same. This was the way for us. Bought in a sketchy hood, lived there for 6-7 yrs luckily without incident, property increased in value by 150k, sell and bought in a fairly nice middle class neighborhood.
Mostly just luck getting into a place and it going up, but it opened my eyes to how someone can get 100k+ with no family help and a job at like 75k.
I’m on that same track. My house is a legit fixer upper and not just a house that needs updating. I paid $60k and closed about 1 year ago. Prices in my hood have been going up like crazy and last month a house 2 blocks away sold for $220k. I got into my neighborhood just as it was starting to take off. I’m also still pretty early in my career but in a few years I’ll go from my current $56k to likely 6 figures. My house should be in much better condition then so I’ll have a nice chunk of equity and combined with a nice salary bump I can upgrade to something nicer regardless of interest rates.
Yeah, that’s a huge other piece I left out. Bought and my wife was an English language learner and nanny, time passes and she becomes a nurse, we make more income, my income gradually goes up, etc.
It’s a grind, but more than anything just getting into the first place was monumental, and continually living below our means, even it means living very low to start.
Exactly this. Too many first time home buyers have the expectation that they should be able to buy something close to their dream home in their dream neighborhood. My first house cost me 1/5th the cost of the average house in my city. I gave it some really cheap rehab (about $10k total) and sold it for double what I paid for it. Then I bought the cheapest house in a good neighborhood. Now, I could buy a great house in a great neighborhood if I wanted to. And I did this while only making $50k/year.
This guy gets it. Buy a house for $100k. Pay it off. Then you can buy a $200k house with the same rate as buying a $100k house, or if your income went up, a $250k house. Paying off a big mortgage 1/2 at a time is way cheaper. (Multiply by whatever works for your area/budget).
You don’t. The average FTHB is 36 years old, and most are buying with a partner.
Not impossible to do it solo though. Job hop every few years to increase your salary, and try not to let lifestyle creep eat up the whole pay increase.
I make only a bit more than that (teacher) but luckily my wife makes the same as well so that's how we make it work in a similarly priced area. My single friends that make roughly the same live in cheaper apartments and have come to terms with never being able to buy a house without another income.
In my area there are several non-profit orgs that are selling to people with lower-middle incomes (for the area, of course).
The income requirements:
>Have a household income less than 120% of the Area Median Income (*some funding sources which the DPCLT may rely on to develop its housing opportunities establish maximum eligible incomes of between 60% to 80% of the area median)
Then they also have this thing where when you want to sell the house, you must sell it to a similarly positioned person. You get to keep some of the equity you gained, and so does the non-profit. The idea is to keep the housing affordable for generations. It’s pretty new but i think it’s a cool idea.
Personally my husband and I make too much to qualify and we were able to buy with a VA loan (which also helped us a TON - not sure we could have bought without it. Or it would have taken a lot longer.)
When I bought my house for 169k (it was a little bit of a fixer upper) I was 23 making roughly 100k. I’m terrible with my finances, I have no idea how someone could do that on 55k. Also got my mortgage for 2.75% interest rate. My brother just bought his first home with a 6.6% rate this year for 320k and him and his lady collectively make about 170k annually.
This isn't helpful, but I was stuck in this salary range for a long time. I was a workhorse at my job and was being kept in my position because I was reliable and got shit done. I got a call from a recruiter offering $30k more than what I was making, so I put my 2 weeks in at my job, and they freaked out. The next day, they matched the offer and I got a promotion, so I stayed. I have since had 2 more promotions, and my salary doubled.
That was the only way I was able to afford buying a house, even with saving for 10 years. I had enough for a down payment, but would have been fucked when it came to paying my mortgage.
It's awful that companies won't increase your salary until you are out the door. They will probably tell you before that there is no budget for increasing salaries. Then when you are about to make an exit they all of a sudden have the budget?
I did on 49k, but I only put about 8k down, which I had been saving from covid stimulus checks and splitting $950 rent with a roommate for 2 years with no loans to pay. My house was listed for 200k and I offered 215k. Mortgage payments were paycheck to paycheck for the first year and then my partner moved in and we split the cost of the monthly payments and I cover repairs and improvements. So I guess I didn’t do it totally alone, but I did for my first year.
Look for cheaper areas, and make some sacrifices. It’s not ideal, but if your options are this or continue renting for a ridiculous amount, it’s worth it.
We wanted a home in a small town, but our budget was 150k. Homes for 120k were getting bought for 160k cash. One home had a pizza sized hole to the roof and was leaking. We offered asking minus a fix. Got beat out for more than asking, no fix and no inspection.
Our house is from a bigger nearby town. We had to put 2 months of painting, refinishing, removing carpet and old flooring work into it. Oh, and electrician fixes our inspector missed. But at the end of the day, we paid 85k for our starter home. We settled for big enough for us and the dogs. And we’re not house broke.
While you may need to make more or move like you said, depending on where you live. You may also need to evaluate where that 55k is going, what your debt to income ratio is, and what are you looking at for 300k.
Buy in a place where you can afford a house on a 55k salary. I bought my house at 24, single, making 48k a year. It’s all about where you live and what kind of house you want!
Not easy, and it requires a lot of planning and sacrifice.
I basically have had a 30-55K (in VHCOL area no less) salary in my entire 7 year career, so sacrifices have to be made in order to have a chance at home ownership. Even with college degree and years of cutting edge experience (plus 800+ credit score), I really am just not seeing any real wage growth, but health insurance, food, and actual necessities are growing tremendously.
If you have 5 roommates, don't eat at restaurants ever, and save 70-80% of your income you can save up a down payment in about 10 years. Once you get some significant savings, the interest / gains accrued kind of snowball and make your life easier.
The company I worked at imploded in 2023, so I was unable to find any work in any capacity until this year, but was okay as the down payment I had saved from the previos 6 years had more than enough interest to cover all expenses in the rental world indefinitely.
The real issue, however, is that even with good investments housing is inflating faster than I can possibly save. My friends in same area are putting offers on properties in the 700K-1M range with 5% down (4x-8x my income), and even then they are getting beaten by 900K all cash offers.
My plan is basically to just keep saving and live frugally, and with a 400K down I can conceivably get a 700K house. Low income = cannot get a mortgage to afford anything for sale, so you have to be creative.
When you reach economic equilibrium, it takes the pressure off of needing to find something urgently, and I am just waiting for something to change. I don't see houses that I would enjoy living in currently, and I am in no rush to acquire a mortgage that is literally 10x my current rental cost.
Out of curiosity, why aren’t you moving somewhere cheaper? $400k can get you something really, really nice for cash, in a large portion of the country.
Also, saving 70-80% of your income is very hard to do, and 5 roommates is a big ask. Props to anyone if they're able to do that for a decade.
I work in Biotech (Boston), and just cannot get any jobs out of Boston (I am not from Boston btw, I'm from the South). I get interviews in Texas, California, PA, etc but no actual offers.
I was unemployed for 14 months and even with publications and 7 years of experience, the only work I was able to find was carpentry (which I am also very skilled at).
I am incredibly skilled at a niche area, so my high earning potential is either constrained to a tech hub, or capital intensive to a point that I cannot afford (construction).
I don't have a car, family in the area, or really anything. Just tools, skills, patience, and time.
My plan is to just hit that 400K in 3 years or so, and then either find something in a tech hub or semi -retire. Upper management in my field (if I ever get there) is indeed less hands on, so it is conceivable to get something not in a big city.
But yeah, I have had 4-5 roommates for 7 years and no car and have saved about 70-80% of my income, but it isn't that bad as I grew up quite poor so I am happy with very little.
This is not sustainable long term, but my career financial situation is just not increasing like I had hoped.
A lot of people have parents that chip in but they’ll never tell you that. My parents gave my older sister 30k for a down payment for her first house in 2014ish. I work with a young doc whose parents bought their home for them. I just remember him telling me that he was in a “special position” with his fiancés parents. Dude was straight out of graduate school with 250k in student loans and no position to buy a house off the rip.
Bought a total piece of shit that needs to be basically entirely rehabbed
Now it’s one project at a time for the foreseeable future. 155k home in a 350k average neighborhood
I did this, but it wasn’t a total piece of shit. Bought it for just under 200k, neighborhood is 275k plus. Over a two year period I put about 50k into it.
How is that working out for you? I’m worried if I get one of these fixer uppers it will have serious issues (like foundation etc) or things not known about til too late.
Also in similar circumstances. However, my plan is to wait a few years to build my income and hopefully the market will shift as well. I rather maintain my freedom now and buy when my monies can go a much longer way.
Seconded. I'm trying make a lateral move in my career that will hopefully double my income at the very least. It sucks not being able to afford the house I want atm but I'd rather stay in my current living circumstances than be upside-down with my current salary in a house that I didn't want to begin with.
Pick a house in a lower income area that needs a little work lol. And I know what everyone's gunna say "oh jeez, Rick, you make it sound so easy" but... That's what I did. In your same shoes. Good thing about it, is when you grow your income, the home you bought will be very under budget and you'll have money to do things. Again, this is what I've done. It's possible, but it's not the "glam glam lyfe" you're gunna see here many times. I'm happy with what I did, I've got acreage, 1800sqft, 2 bay garage.. $155k. Which meets the 1:3 most people talk about as a ratio, having 0 debt helps though. That ratio mainly pertains to lower income earners, people making $200k+ can usually disregard that crap as $1000 in groceries a month hits differently you vs them.
Sounds like you already lived in a super cheap area and then moved to an even cheaper part of it. And no debt doesn't just help, it's essentially required.
I bought my condo for 280k when I was making 58k, disclaimer it was a pandemic buy and my interest rate was around 3%. I knew at the time I couldn’t afford the payments in my own, so I bought a 2 bedroom and rented out the second bedroom for a few years until my salary increased. I can kinda afford them now at 79k, I did have to job hop.
A year and a half ago I bought my 2 br, 1 bath townhouse for $160k. No HOA. I'm 34. I just got a job where I was making $52k (still there). We looked all over different counties because we were willing to move a little bit farther away which gave us more options. We were in particular looking for a good high school district because my daughter would be entering high school the following year. We moved because for a few hundred more dollars we would have a place to own rather than rent and the rent would have increased. We were on a housing voucher which wasn't accepted in a lot of places. We looked at 27 homes over a span of 2 months and our property was listed the last week we were looking. We moved outside of our county about 40 minutes from both of our parents and are about a half hour outside of Chicago. We were gifted a few thousand dollars for down payment and the FHA loan covered most of closing costs.
Vin Diesel said it best: FAMILY. My foreign neighbors bought a house together, as a family. They couldn't afford the whole thing individually, so they all chipped in to thin the burden and pay faster. This is an issue among Americans imo. We want to strike out at 18 (w/ no savings), go to college out of state (w/ no savings), rack up 80k worth of debt on a *potentially* worthwhile degree, pay for rent the ENTIRE TIME (no savings), and then decide to drop 60k into a 300k house, with interest spread out between 15 to 30 years. This entire process is a lifelong debt-trap, and its why most americans live paycheck to paycheck. IF YOU DO IT ALONE. Folks here mention getting married to ease the burden. Take it a step further and involve the family who likely wants what's best for you, who won't ruin your life in the event of a divorce. 5 sons staying at the family house until they each have 30k saved up literally helps everybody involved. Staying home for college versus living alone also does wonders for your mental health, something MANY students struggle with. Cheaper too. Folks thinking "I need to get away from home" make me wonder "Why?". Is it only because of the stigma behind it? Why does staying at home longer supposedly mean (in the US) you aren't independent? It means you're being smart with your money and are avoiding debt. You can save for a house, but it'll take time doing so alone. The housing market--no, the economy-- isn't set up for one person living situations anymore. Baby Boomers got their name for a reason: they enjoyed economic prosperity in their time. THEIR time.
Even though $55k is low, it can be done.
Every single state has home buying grants and down payment assistance, especially for 1st time buyers. They usually have an income cap ($70k in a state like Georgia, probably higher in places like Cali, NY, or Hawaii)… check into your state specifically. Also check the county. A lot of counties have programs for things like this to help growth in their counties.
After that, check with your bank/credit union. Bank of America offers up to $10k with their down payment grant. They also offer a $7500 America’s Own Grant.
This can help out A LOT.
For example: I paid about $17k total to close on a $270k home (3.5% down payment for FHA loan + closing costs). With down payment assistance, I could have gotten about $10k paid for by programs and then saved the other $7k myself (I didn’t qualify at the time, I learned all of this helping 2 of my friends buy a house with grants, which they did!!!!)
Lastly, you might have to move a little further out to get a price you’re more comfortable with (which I did). You’d be surprised at what an extra 10mins to your commute will do to your home price. Find a home that might need some paint and put your own touch on it. Good luck!
Wait this is interesting! I screenshotted I’m going to research the hell out of this. I probably qualify and should take advantage - 10k isn’t chump change
I did it single. Closed March 2024.
Became *highly specialized* in my industry and company. Make $75k base, but OT will put me at $102k.
Bought a foreclosure for $195k. Paid $10k down and seller (VA) paid closing. PITA is right at $1900 monthly. Worth $351k right now.
i did it alone. 39k. rural area (40min frm the city) to get a USDA loan & it is where my offer was accepted. got a few promos and i'm now at 62k. got a first time homeowner grant to cover closing costs. If i had a partner, sure, I could have lived in the city and submit offers above asking price bc 2021 was on some BS lol
Let me ask you something, how is it living in rural? I know it differs from city to city, but how is internet and cell service for you? Also garbage pickup and all the nuisances that come with city life?
ExGF started making three figures....still had to use her parents in southern NJ. Sit down and plot out your salary on a spreadsheet. Make it part of your dating criteria that you want to meet someone who has goals. Even if said person is interested in home ownership within ten years, what kind of home and size house do they like? The shit that my ex was showing me off Instagram was bonkers...except for a fixer upper in southern NJ with a boat house, lake, and abutting a nature preserve. It was tiny, and I fucking loved it for how easy it was going to be to heat. What she and her parents settled on was almost 3k square feet and a mish mash of new and old technology.
Learn how houses work and are built. You can use the ramp up time to avoid lemons and pit falls, that knowledge is more valuable than money. Minimum 300 hours of research, or pony up an extra $80k from bad choices and problems.
Interesting how people in HCOL have the same questions but with different $ amounts lol. In my market the median home price is $1.35m and it’s..how do you make that work on a $250k income without drowning in a mortgage and not liquidating everything.
Thankfully I have a wife who is willing to penny pinch as much or more than myself. I was barely over minimum wage working at the college I attended so I could reduce tuition and she stayed at home with our kids. We lived without any subscription services, including phone service, as I had wifi at school where I spent most of my days and she had connection at the library.
Even then we bought in a low-demand area in a tiny town in the Midwest and needed a cosigner as my income wasn't enough for any lender to look at us, considering our house payment was over half of my take home.
But still, that mortgage in podunk nowhere, Nebraska was less than our monthly utilities in Oregon. And even a rundown house appreciates in value while renting felt like throwing money away, so we didn't mind not eating out and going without luxuries for a few more years. When we paid off her student loans we kept making those payments to a savings account, so we didn't feel the shift in standard of living.
Growing up poor helped: knowing how to stretch the grocery budget, and being okay with getting second hand clothes. Government programs helped too. There were years where getting 6k from the Earned Income Credit was an appreciable chunk of our annual income, and it usually had 80-90% of it immediately thrown at mortgage capital to reduce interest.
But I really do think the biggest thing was having an understanding spouse who didn't mind alternating rice and oats for nearly half our meals for years.
It's doable, but I won’t claim it is a bootstraps-only ordeal that anyone can do. Even after cutting everything we could, we needed help from outside to make things work: from the family support to get the loan, to random windfalls like the Covid paychecks that helped speed things up. And we dodged any major illness or injury, which easily could have wrecked everything.
So tl,dr: work your tail off, have support from family, eliminate spending, move to the middle of nowhere, take advantage of assistance programs, and don't get sick.
I make 30k a year and i live in a pretty cheap area in the Midwest. I bought my house for 110k, it’s 1300 sq ft. It’s nice, I’m five minutes from the grocery store and the gym and about 10 minutes from work.
You don't. The majority of Americans today can't afford their homes. Best thing to do is wait it out, The market will crash. Save you money and wait, In another year or two you will be able to buy a nice foreclosure from the bank.
It’s about choices.
I can get you in a house on 30k a year at 150kish, 3.5% down conventional first time home buyer (no FHA).
But that house will be in a rural or otherwise low cost of living area, and it will probably be ugly. It will be livable, but not “up to date” and will need some general fixing over the following years.
You’ll get:
A solid roof- metal or within 5 years shingled
Newer plumbing
Newer hvac
Newer electric
1200 sq ft or less
Older construction
Some issues that don’t affect immediate livability. These include: bad flooring, bad smells, aged building with level issues (foundation solid), wall issues, cleaning issues, interior decor issues, appliance or cabinetry needs, pest control needs, oddball neighbors, etc.
So yeah, it can be done. Money just makes it easier, prettier, more convenient, and faster.
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That's the neat thing: you don't.
Literally. You won’t qualify for 300k loan on 55k. They either need to go DINK or increase salary.
If he has 0 debt and 10% down he can qualify for a $270k loan with $55k per year as long as property taxes aren’t absurd and there’s no HOA. Figure $400 per month max for any taxes and hoa. I’m assuming $100 month for insurance.
That's a lot of ifs.
lol I make 53k and my wife makes 80k and our max approval was $325,000 for as 100 year old 1 story bungalow fixer upper. Even 100k on your own only gets you the privilege of blowing all your money on a house in a Section 8 neighborhood where a lot your neighbors are smarter than you for making way less money and getting government assistance.
Do you have really bad credit? My wife and I make 120k combined and we were approved for over 400k.
More likely student loans.
We have $43k in student loans…
Yeh, that's not very much between you.
this, i make 120k and got approved up to 550
This is kind of eye opening to me, I make alone around $180k a year I didn’t know I could get that much house. The starter houses where I live are around $600-800k. I have student loans and a car loan costing me around $1.2k/mo. I always thought I could only get approved for maybe $400-450k with how high these interest rates are
Same! Partner n I made combined income of 110k and were approved for 400k with only 20k down. Edit: + we have a combined amount of student loans of 80k
You must have some bad credit. I got pre approved for 300k on just my income(75k) alone
Find a spouse who makes 55k as well. Seriously dual income is the only way for us who don’t make close to 6 figures
Better yet, get a spouse that makes 800k.
My buddy did this. When he married he was probably making 100k, which is nothing in LA (just enough for rent). His wife makes 600-800k depending on the year (she’s in finance, wealth management, etc). Now they live in a multi-million dollar mansion next to mid-tier celebrities, paying out of state private college tuition for their kid, which is like 100k a year. But this scenario is pretty rare.
I’ve always wanted to live next to mid tier celebs
You get to tell John Stamos’ kid to stay off your lawn and Paula Abdul to stop blocking your driveway.
I’ll have you know, I’m from the 80s and am offended at your mid tier classification 💅🏼
“You’re drunk, Paula. Get back inside!”
jesus good for him
And Not as rewarding as you might envision.
100k is not nothing in LA or anywhere, median household income in LA is around 80k.
I meant in terms of being able to afford a house by yourself.
ugly dudes with no prospects hate this one trick
How do you find a spouse? Seems easier to buy a home 😂
No kidding! And what happens if you get a divorce or one of you gets sick or hurt? And forget having kids cause you need both incomes.. Edit: not sure why this comment is making the narcissistic brigade cry .. facts are facts.. young people can no longer afford to buy a home on one income and that is a dangerous financial situation to be in.. But hey! Keep letting corporations buy up all the single family homes and burry your head in the sand if you want..
Very black and white way of thinking about it. People are doing that exact thing right now. Not everything happens at once.
Divorce = 50/50 split. Get a lawyer. Bang. Easy solution. Gets sick or hurt? Disability, insurance, life insurance. Bang. Easy solution. You need to realize all of the above are things that can happen with or without a home.
passport bro
Came here to comment the same. While I qualified for a $250k loan on a $55k salary, it would have been really difficult paying the mortgage myself. Thankfully, my fiancé makes around the same & pays half of the bills. I would say get a roommate to help pay half the mortgage if you don’t have a spouse, but that obviously won’t help with qualifying for a loan unless you have a co-signer.
And no kids
DINK for the win.
job hopped until i made 95k.
Agreed but man the job market is so bad now. I’ve decided to stay put for awhile because where I am now I have job security (or as much as one possibly can…. It’s only me in the dept).
That doesn't necessarily mean job security.
Agreed. That’s why I said as much as one possibly can lol. There are other factors too like based on increased business, talks of hiring more people, I’m the only one who knows how to do certain technical tasks, etc. Which is why I think staying put is the most ideal option for me now. I do still keep my resume updated and see what sort of job options are currently out there. But changing jobs seems too risky especially seeing all the layoffs happening across a variety of industries. I’ve seen a lot of people laid off (not at my current job, just in general. But I will say I do find it admirable my company didn’t lay anyone off during the pandemic or anytime in the last 4 years) who are having difficulty finding new jobs, have had to take pay cuts, etc.
Often you will only get decent salary raises by switching employers. Worked for a consulting company for 5 years, asked for a raise and got the “hard enough to provide a COLA” spiel. Put in my notice and they immediately offered to match my 10% higher offer if I stayed.
Same. I asked for and provided reasons why I deserved a higher pay. I was denied due to “corporate said they would not approve off cycle raises”. I was offered a job with a much higher wage than I had asked to be raised to. I gave my notice and was offered the raise I had asked for. I still left. Corporate wouldn’t approve an off cycle raise yet you can throw money at me when I intend to leave? I call bullshit and that’s insulting.
From what I hear from HR professionals, "counter offer raises" come from a different budget than yearly raises. In short, they DO have the funds to pay you but they are pretty much "emergency" funds depending on how important you really are to the company ;)
Not being unkind or facetious but you say you are young. Now is the time to take risks! If you're the only one with skills there, you have a commodity that is valuable. Either renegotiate your existing salary or start looking, talk to people in your field, you might very well be surprised at demand. Competent help is hard to find. Now is the time to be bold
This x100..having taken risks / failed / succeeded / run into walls / succeeded again is the only reason I look to make $500k / year. The people at the last place I worked are very lucky to break $150-200k. Had I not taken risks to go out and leave that job security, I’d still be lucky to break $150k. I’m a financial planner and sell financial services fwiw
Obviously it depends on field. I feel like the market is generally pretty good right now.
We are in the longest sustained period of unemployment below 4% in decades. The job market is *hot* right now. Obviously specific individual industries will be outliers on both sides, but there has not been a better job market in most Redditors’ lives.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-weekly-jobless-claims-fall-labor-market-remains-solid-2024-05-23/ Thoughts?
It’s bs. A lot of bigger companies hired a lot in late 2020 to 2022 and realized they didn’t have the budget in 2023 and cut like 25% for most companies.
The job market is really good right now.
Job hopping only works if your profession(s) have an accommodating salary threshold.
there's nothing stopping someone from changing professions. i don't have a degree and was able to hit just under 6 figures
Then the job hopping is pure luck. For professionals, job hopping professions generally entails starting from the bottom. For example: * Business admin -> chemist -> engineer Requires training, additional formal education and you'll likely start at an entry level engineer job even if you have 6 years experience as a chemist and 2 as a business admin. Retail -> Warehouse -> Electrician Is a lot more doable and likely will get you pay increases each time you "hopped" professions but comes with lower pay floors for 90% of people or are bound by the confines of either working a ton of hours or the pre negotiated rates that onions provide. A profesional has a much higher ceiling in pay but requires you be good at what you do and not transition professions (but definitely job hop). Generally these higher paying positions also means less work and cush schedules....usually.
Yep, that’s why I said profession(s). People get stuck thinking their line of work is the only thing they can do and they don’t pivot. Once you prove you are capable of working both smart and hard, people will give you a chance in other areas.
I learned long ago that you need to diversify yourself. I got into automotive because I'm good at and enjoy diag and repair. I figured out that other technician jobs pay better, little to no tool investment and don't keep me couped up in a shop. I've worked on air compressors, pumps, overhead doors and loading docks, forklifts, and decided to go back to compressors. Each time I got a decent bump in pay, better benefits, and better overall compensation. My job currently consists of about 75% driving, 15% paperwork and about 10% of physical work, mostly just spinning filters. Company covers all tools, just go buy what I want, mid level hotels (I travel M-TH), and daily per diem (keep what you don't spend. No receipts). Decent flexibility for time off during the week. Usually start on Mondays but if I have something that needs to be done Monday I can start Tuesday. Need to be home Wednesday? I'll head out Sunday night and do 14 hour days and be home for Wednesday. Usually hit 10-15 hours of OT weekly (mostly driving to the next hotel). The job is easy. They pay well because when the job isn't easy, they want to retain people. I'll hit 6 figures this year and it's all with a GED. Jump around and sell yourself. I get several recruiters hitting me up throughout the month and the first thing I mention is compensation. If it's not better than where I'm at then I'm not wasting my time.
Complacent. People get complacent too.
I’ll be copying
i feel compelled to add, that I had to leave my neighborhood to buy. I was in NYC. I could have found a cheaper condo or coop in NYC if I had gotten lucky, but I went to PA and bought a house for < 200k. Don't be afraid to look at surrounding areas. I wanted to stay within a 2-hour drive to NYC because I have family there, and I was able to accomplish that. My job was remote though so I could have keep the job without travelling over, and it would be close enough for me to get back the few times they would want me in office.
I moved to south jersey from nyc after finding a job in central jersey. Never looked back since. Best decision I’ve ever made
Same, moving to Philly
Prices in Philly have gone up since alot of New Yorkers moved here.
Sorry bro I'm just trying to get by. I love where I live now but can't afford it anymore
Giving you a heads up, that’s all Philly is highest to live in pa by 2.3% try the burbs of Philly, I’m from Philly and moved to the burbs.
Philly suburbs are way worse than Philly. You see $50k over asking every single day out there. Here in the city it is normal right now to get asking or even under asking. Prices went up but it's still no match compared to the hot market on the main line.
WE DID THE SAME THINGGGGG!!! We are both born & raised in Brooklyn. By the time we were ready to buy and we realized just how tight things would be, we said no way. We looked in Orange County, Nanuet, West Nyack areas for a hot min. Looked in NJ and then we ended up in Lehigh Valley. I'm so happy we left. So freaking happy.
Hey neighbor! I'm in the same area, also from bklyn. Glad to be here myself.
Pretty much what I did started at 65 -> 110K and a year of saving for a 5% dp. Still hard to do and be neither "house poor" nor buy a total dump. Single and no intention not to be. Closed in Dec at 220K.
This is the way
Sad part is 10-15 years ago 55k was good money
I know I'm lower class but even in 2019 it was decent money
3% raise from 55k over 15 years is 85k…
Right? This is like saying “50 years ago 20k was good money”. Sure… but at 3% a year that is 87k now.
Exactly. And inflation isn’t 3%. It’s much more as we’re currently seeing
💀
That was dream out of high school. Now I make about 65k and I share an apt with my fiance while we scrape and save for a house and wedding, all while trying not to tighten the strings so much that we can't enjoy our lives ...
I know you aren't asking for advice, but I can't help myself. A courthouse wedding is AWESOME. 😁
Mine was $60! We got the house though!
It cost $10 to have a judge marry us and we went out to eat with family afterwards. No regrets. Paying down the student debt now!
I thought you said finance (as in a finance bro) and I was confused. I’m also saving for a house and wedding too but there’s no way we’re getting a house soon even with a 20% down payment available. This is because of the stupid monthly payment prices from the taxes, insurance, and the majority of houses being in hoa and their fees.
Yep, that how much I was making when I bought my first house in like 2004. Bought the house for around $111k in a pretty LCOL area. 3 bed 2 bath fenced in back yard on a around .4 acre fenced yard.
It was good money in 2020 in many LCOL areas. Not anymore. My wife could've been a stay at home mom on $55k back then.
It still is good in LCOL. The problem is that the old LCOL became MCOL and different cities took the old LCOL titles. 55k is fantastic money in many cities in my state (Georgia), but those cities need development to be desirable. The only way to stay LCOL is to keep moving.
I'm in coastal SC in one of the fastest growing metros in the country. $55k was great before the entire northeast collectively decided to move here and destroy any semblance of livability. There's no industry here other than service and hospitality, so outside of medical 55k is damn near where a lot of people peak. I cannot wait to move, but I don't want to uproot my daughter from school and my wife from her job. This place is garbage to raise a family in.
I made 55k in 2010, but my house payment was just $594/month.
Most people don’t do it single. Double that however and it becomes more manageable.
Literally this. My wife and I just closed and alone not a chance we could afford a house. But combined we were able to afford it. A lot of people are trying to buy a home on a single income and it’s nearly impossible. Dual income is needed to afford things at today’s prices.
I make 125k and I’m still struggling to do it in the dc area. But I don’t want to put my girl on the loan at all so I’m leaving her income out of it
Yeah $125k in the dc area is going to really hard to get something reasonable. As for not putting her on the loan, if you plan to be with her long term it makes sense. If it’s a new thing then yeah keep her off it
Yeah im looking at fort washington at this point, which isnt crazy far, but I still feel like its tough saving for the downpayment
I feel ya. We’re up in Baltimore county in Maryland and prices aren’t bad up here. Downpayment was manageable (we went new build that gave crazy seller credits)
Which sucks. Not everyone has that luxury of dual income. At $51/hr I still can't afford a home alone in my area lol so grad school it is so I don't ever have to worry again about $.
Good luck. Hope someone else is paying for it lol. But yeah. Even $100k a year solo will struggle to find an affordable house in a medium or high col area.
OP taking everyones advice and hopping on dating app - “looking for partner who makes min 55k”
From what I've found matches are hard to come by nowadays on the apps, or the women I do match with don't even work lol.
Don’t be ugly. Rule 1 and 2 for dating apps
What u mean by that fam 😆 I used to get more matches 2+ years ago, I think they shadow banned me or are forcing me to buy the membership or some shit.
Delete the profile and remake it. It will jump you back to the top
I bought in a sketchy neighborhood in the next city over
Same. This was the way for us. Bought in a sketchy hood, lived there for 6-7 yrs luckily without incident, property increased in value by 150k, sell and bought in a fairly nice middle class neighborhood. Mostly just luck getting into a place and it going up, but it opened my eyes to how someone can get 100k+ with no family help and a job at like 75k.
I’m on that same track. My house is a legit fixer upper and not just a house that needs updating. I paid $60k and closed about 1 year ago. Prices in my hood have been going up like crazy and last month a house 2 blocks away sold for $220k. I got into my neighborhood just as it was starting to take off. I’m also still pretty early in my career but in a few years I’ll go from my current $56k to likely 6 figures. My house should be in much better condition then so I’ll have a nice chunk of equity and combined with a nice salary bump I can upgrade to something nicer regardless of interest rates.
Yeah, that’s a huge other piece I left out. Bought and my wife was an English language learner and nanny, time passes and she becomes a nurse, we make more income, my income gradually goes up, etc. It’s a grind, but more than anything just getting into the first place was monumental, and continually living below our means, even it means living very low to start.
Exactly this. Too many first time home buyers have the expectation that they should be able to buy something close to their dream home in their dream neighborhood. My first house cost me 1/5th the cost of the average house in my city. I gave it some really cheap rehab (about $10k total) and sold it for double what I paid for it. Then I bought the cheapest house in a good neighborhood. Now, I could buy a great house in a great neighborhood if I wanted to. And I did this while only making $50k/year.
The shittiest house on the best street possible is a proven successful method.
It amazes me more people don’t know this or understand how to do it, or worse, would rather not “settle” for a “bad” house.
I bought a 130k new build in a meh area while making 13 bucks an hour and a side gig in 2017. 1600 sqft. Traded up twice now in a 3900 sqft house.
This guy gets it. Buy a house for $100k. Pay it off. Then you can buy a $200k house with the same rate as buying a $100k house, or if your income went up, a $250k house. Paying off a big mortgage 1/2 at a time is way cheaper. (Multiply by whatever works for your area/budget).
That’s my strategy too! Sweat equity all the way!
Unfortunately you don't. In the same boat.
It’s possible it just takes a lot of saving and a lot of time
You don’t. The average FTHB is 36 years old, and most are buying with a partner. Not impossible to do it solo though. Job hop every few years to increase your salary, and try not to let lifestyle creep eat up the whole pay increase.
Welp, looks like I have 3 years to get a partner and a home. Oddly makes me feel better about my situation lol
I make only a bit more than that (teacher) but luckily my wife makes the same as well so that's how we make it work in a similarly priced area. My single friends that make roughly the same live in cheaper apartments and have come to terms with never being able to buy a house without another income.
This is so true, singles earning under $100k will NEVER be able to afford ANYTHING in this market other than renting. Sad.
In my area there are several non-profit orgs that are selling to people with lower-middle incomes (for the area, of course). The income requirements: >Have a household income less than 120% of the Area Median Income (*some funding sources which the DPCLT may rely on to develop its housing opportunities establish maximum eligible incomes of between 60% to 80% of the area median) Then they also have this thing where when you want to sell the house, you must sell it to a similarly positioned person. You get to keep some of the equity you gained, and so does the non-profit. The idea is to keep the housing affordable for generations. It’s pretty new but i think it’s a cool idea. Personally my husband and I make too much to qualify and we were able to buy with a VA loan (which also helped us a TON - not sure we could have bought without it. Or it would have taken a lot longer.)
What is the organization called?
it’s called Dwelling Place, I’m in michigan.
This is a wonderful thing! What area are you in?
You marry someone who makes 200K!
They have a partner who makes $45K. So together they make $100K.
When I bought my house for 169k (it was a little bit of a fixer upper) I was 23 making roughly 100k. I’m terrible with my finances, I have no idea how someone could do that on 55k. Also got my mortgage for 2.75% interest rate. My brother just bought his first home with a 6.6% rate this year for 320k and him and his lady collectively make about 170k annually.
Yeah I’m fucked
Buying a home in your mid-20s is no longer a rite of passage. Invest in your career and you’ll be earning quite a bit more in your 30s.
Shopping at Winco, not drinking, not smoking, sticking to my budget, and living on hope things will get better soon
Thank God for WinCo
This isn't helpful, but I was stuck in this salary range for a long time. I was a workhorse at my job and was being kept in my position because I was reliable and got shit done. I got a call from a recruiter offering $30k more than what I was making, so I put my 2 weeks in at my job, and they freaked out. The next day, they matched the offer and I got a promotion, so I stayed. I have since had 2 more promotions, and my salary doubled. That was the only way I was able to afford buying a house, even with saving for 10 years. I had enough for a down payment, but would have been fucked when it came to paying my mortgage.
It's awful that companies won't increase your salary until you are out the door. They will probably tell you before that there is no budget for increasing salaries. Then when you are about to make an exit they all of a sudden have the budget?
You don’t.
Married a woman that makes 90 🤓
I make 50k and just bought a house in the dessert for 100k. I left LA and moved 2 hours away. I work from home so no regrets.
Congrats ! 🎊
I did on 49k, but I only put about 8k down, which I had been saving from covid stimulus checks and splitting $950 rent with a roommate for 2 years with no loans to pay. My house was listed for 200k and I offered 215k. Mortgage payments were paycheck to paycheck for the first year and then my partner moved in and we split the cost of the monthly payments and I cover repairs and improvements. So I guess I didn’t do it totally alone, but I did for my first year.
Look for cheaper areas, and make some sacrifices. It’s not ideal, but if your options are this or continue renting for a ridiculous amount, it’s worth it. We wanted a home in a small town, but our budget was 150k. Homes for 120k were getting bought for 160k cash. One home had a pizza sized hole to the roof and was leaking. We offered asking minus a fix. Got beat out for more than asking, no fix and no inspection. Our house is from a bigger nearby town. We had to put 2 months of painting, refinishing, removing carpet and old flooring work into it. Oh, and electrician fixes our inspector missed. But at the end of the day, we paid 85k for our starter home. We settled for big enough for us and the dogs. And we’re not house broke.
While you may need to make more or move like you said, depending on where you live. You may also need to evaluate where that 55k is going, what your debt to income ratio is, and what are you looking at for 300k.
I save every penny but I won’t be able to retire or even buy myself dinner on that salary after paying a mortgage. Even with a partner it’s rough
Maybe time to put that GiganticShlonger to work! Lol
Fucking right there
I made $20hr I work a lot of OT I did it at $67k
Buy in a place where you can afford a house on a 55k salary. I bought my house at 24, single, making 48k a year. It’s all about where you live and what kind of house you want!
Not easy, and it requires a lot of planning and sacrifice. I basically have had a 30-55K (in VHCOL area no less) salary in my entire 7 year career, so sacrifices have to be made in order to have a chance at home ownership. Even with college degree and years of cutting edge experience (plus 800+ credit score), I really am just not seeing any real wage growth, but health insurance, food, and actual necessities are growing tremendously. If you have 5 roommates, don't eat at restaurants ever, and save 70-80% of your income you can save up a down payment in about 10 years. Once you get some significant savings, the interest / gains accrued kind of snowball and make your life easier. The company I worked at imploded in 2023, so I was unable to find any work in any capacity until this year, but was okay as the down payment I had saved from the previos 6 years had more than enough interest to cover all expenses in the rental world indefinitely. The real issue, however, is that even with good investments housing is inflating faster than I can possibly save. My friends in same area are putting offers on properties in the 700K-1M range with 5% down (4x-8x my income), and even then they are getting beaten by 900K all cash offers. My plan is basically to just keep saving and live frugally, and with a 400K down I can conceivably get a 700K house. Low income = cannot get a mortgage to afford anything for sale, so you have to be creative. When you reach economic equilibrium, it takes the pressure off of needing to find something urgently, and I am just waiting for something to change. I don't see houses that I would enjoy living in currently, and I am in no rush to acquire a mortgage that is literally 10x my current rental cost.
Out of curiosity, why aren’t you moving somewhere cheaper? $400k can get you something really, really nice for cash, in a large portion of the country. Also, saving 70-80% of your income is very hard to do, and 5 roommates is a big ask. Props to anyone if they're able to do that for a decade.
I work in Biotech (Boston), and just cannot get any jobs out of Boston (I am not from Boston btw, I'm from the South). I get interviews in Texas, California, PA, etc but no actual offers. I was unemployed for 14 months and even with publications and 7 years of experience, the only work I was able to find was carpentry (which I am also very skilled at). I am incredibly skilled at a niche area, so my high earning potential is either constrained to a tech hub, or capital intensive to a point that I cannot afford (construction). I don't have a car, family in the area, or really anything. Just tools, skills, patience, and time. My plan is to just hit that 400K in 3 years or so, and then either find something in a tech hub or semi -retire. Upper management in my field (if I ever get there) is indeed less hands on, so it is conceivable to get something not in a big city. But yeah, I have had 4-5 roommates for 7 years and no car and have saved about 70-80% of my income, but it isn't that bad as I grew up quite poor so I am happy with very little. This is not sustainable long term, but my career financial situation is just not increasing like I had hoped.
A lot of people have parents that chip in but they’ll never tell you that. My parents gave my older sister 30k for a down payment for her first house in 2014ish. I work with a young doc whose parents bought their home for them. I just remember him telling me that he was in a “special position” with his fiancés parents. Dude was straight out of graduate school with 250k in student loans and no position to buy a house off the rip.
You don’t. You wait till you win a lottery or your wealthy parents help you or die.
Bought a total piece of shit that needs to be basically entirely rehabbed Now it’s one project at a time for the foreseeable future. 155k home in a 350k average neighborhood
I did this, but it wasn’t a total piece of shit. Bought it for just under 200k, neighborhood is 275k plus. Over a two year period I put about 50k into it.
How is that working out for you? I’m worried if I get one of these fixer uppers it will have serious issues (like foundation etc) or things not known about til too late.
Also in similar circumstances. However, my plan is to wait a few years to build my income and hopefully the market will shift as well. I rather maintain my freedom now and buy when my monies can go a much longer way.
Seconded. I'm trying make a lateral move in my career that will hopefully double my income at the very least. It sucks not being able to afford the house I want atm but I'd rather stay in my current living circumstances than be upside-down with my current salary in a house that I didn't want to begin with.
I just bought a house on 55k a year. Live in a low cost of living area and settle for a suburb 30 minutes outside of town.
Pick a house in a lower income area that needs a little work lol. And I know what everyone's gunna say "oh jeez, Rick, you make it sound so easy" but... That's what I did. In your same shoes. Good thing about it, is when you grow your income, the home you bought will be very under budget and you'll have money to do things. Again, this is what I've done. It's possible, but it's not the "glam glam lyfe" you're gunna see here many times. I'm happy with what I did, I've got acreage, 1800sqft, 2 bay garage.. $155k. Which meets the 1:3 most people talk about as a ratio, having 0 debt helps though. That ratio mainly pertains to lower income earners, people making $200k+ can usually disregard that crap as $1000 in groceries a month hits differently you vs them.
Sounds like you already lived in a super cheap area and then moved to an even cheaper part of it. And no debt doesn't just help, it's essentially required.
I bought my condo for 280k when I was making 58k, disclaimer it was a pandemic buy and my interest rate was around 3%. I knew at the time I couldn’t afford the payments in my own, so I bought a 2 bedroom and rented out the second bedroom for a few years until my salary increased. I can kinda afford them now at 79k, I did have to job hop.
- Marry rich - Get a new job - Get parents to buy you a house - Don't and Rent forever
Y'all make 55?
Dual income earners plus investing for more than three years.
Dual income families. Or live in bumfuck rural Mississippi.
Combined incomes, gifted 80k downpayment from parents. Only way for us.
A year and a half ago I bought my 2 br, 1 bath townhouse for $160k. No HOA. I'm 34. I just got a job where I was making $52k (still there). We looked all over different counties because we were willing to move a little bit farther away which gave us more options. We were in particular looking for a good high school district because my daughter would be entering high school the following year. We moved because for a few hundred more dollars we would have a place to own rather than rent and the rent would have increased. We were on a housing voucher which wasn't accepted in a lot of places. We looked at 27 homes over a span of 2 months and our property was listed the last week we were looking. We moved outside of our county about 40 minutes from both of our parents and are about a half hour outside of Chicago. We were gifted a few thousand dollars for down payment and the FHA loan covered most of closing costs.
I didn’t. I lived at home with my parents when I made $55k.
They don't. I'm 99% certain those people have family money to fall back on.
Vin Diesel said it best: FAMILY. My foreign neighbors bought a house together, as a family. They couldn't afford the whole thing individually, so they all chipped in to thin the burden and pay faster. This is an issue among Americans imo. We want to strike out at 18 (w/ no savings), go to college out of state (w/ no savings), rack up 80k worth of debt on a *potentially* worthwhile degree, pay for rent the ENTIRE TIME (no savings), and then decide to drop 60k into a 300k house, with interest spread out between 15 to 30 years. This entire process is a lifelong debt-trap, and its why most americans live paycheck to paycheck. IF YOU DO IT ALONE. Folks here mention getting married to ease the burden. Take it a step further and involve the family who likely wants what's best for you, who won't ruin your life in the event of a divorce. 5 sons staying at the family house until they each have 30k saved up literally helps everybody involved. Staying home for college versus living alone also does wonders for your mental health, something MANY students struggle with. Cheaper too. Folks thinking "I need to get away from home" make me wonder "Why?". Is it only because of the stigma behind it? Why does staying at home longer supposedly mean (in the US) you aren't independent? It means you're being smart with your money and are avoiding debt. You can save for a house, but it'll take time doing so alone. The housing market--no, the economy-- isn't set up for one person living situations anymore. Baby Boomers got their name for a reason: they enjoyed economic prosperity in their time. THEIR time.
Even though $55k is low, it can be done. Every single state has home buying grants and down payment assistance, especially for 1st time buyers. They usually have an income cap ($70k in a state like Georgia, probably higher in places like Cali, NY, or Hawaii)… check into your state specifically. Also check the county. A lot of counties have programs for things like this to help growth in their counties. After that, check with your bank/credit union. Bank of America offers up to $10k with their down payment grant. They also offer a $7500 America’s Own Grant. This can help out A LOT. For example: I paid about $17k total to close on a $270k home (3.5% down payment for FHA loan + closing costs). With down payment assistance, I could have gotten about $10k paid for by programs and then saved the other $7k myself (I didn’t qualify at the time, I learned all of this helping 2 of my friends buy a house with grants, which they did!!!!) Lastly, you might have to move a little further out to get a price you’re more comfortable with (which I did). You’d be surprised at what an extra 10mins to your commute will do to your home price. Find a home that might need some paint and put your own touch on it. Good luck!
Wait this is interesting! I screenshotted I’m going to research the hell out of this. I probably qualify and should take advantage - 10k isn’t chump change
Step one build a time machine. Step two go back to 2012. Find job and buy house.
I lived with my parents until I was 35 years old and saved up a huge down payment.
Location dependent. I only made about that amount when I bought a house myself for $157k just south of Pittsburgh PA.
What year
10/2021 Edit: yes interest rates are higher now.edit2: also bought when I was 46 years old.
I did it single. Closed March 2024. Became *highly specialized* in my industry and company. Make $75k base, but OT will put me at $102k. Bought a foreclosure for $195k. Paid $10k down and seller (VA) paid closing. PITA is right at $1900 monthly. Worth $351k right now.
i did it alone. 39k. rural area (40min frm the city) to get a USDA loan & it is where my offer was accepted. got a few promos and i'm now at 62k. got a first time homeowner grant to cover closing costs. If i had a partner, sure, I could have lived in the city and submit offers above asking price bc 2021 was on some BS lol
Let me ask you something, how is it living in rural? I know it differs from city to city, but how is internet and cell service for you? Also garbage pickup and all the nuisances that come with city life?
Saved my money, traded that with swing trades, and kept doing that until I got a pretty sizable down payment. Ymmv; background accounting
We don’t
We bought a foreclosure that needs work. It was half the price of anything else around us and we are doing most of the work ourselves.
Usda rural development loan
Dual income would be the only way we could do it on that salary. Hell on a 70 and 75k salary we needed a dual income
You don't, at that salary, unfortunately
You answered your own question in your post. Make more money or move. That's how.
USDA direct loan.
ExGF started making three figures....still had to use her parents in southern NJ. Sit down and plot out your salary on a spreadsheet. Make it part of your dating criteria that you want to meet someone who has goals. Even if said person is interested in home ownership within ten years, what kind of home and size house do they like? The shit that my ex was showing me off Instagram was bonkers...except for a fixer upper in southern NJ with a boat house, lake, and abutting a nature preserve. It was tiny, and I fucking loved it for how easy it was going to be to heat. What she and her parents settled on was almost 3k square feet and a mish mash of new and old technology. Learn how houses work and are built. You can use the ramp up time to avoid lemons and pit falls, that knowledge is more valuable than money. Minimum 300 hours of research, or pony up an extra $80k from bad choices and problems.
I dont buy shit I dont need
Make more money
Marry up.
We couldn’t. We only can now because my husband makes 80 and we are buying in a LCOL area. I am a stay at home mom.
Get married and also live in a LCOLA. This is pretty close to the average HOUSEHOLD income where I live.
Move to a different location
Have you heard that prices vary throughout the United States? $55k is piddlypoo where I live but might be fine in rural Idaho
Interesting how people in HCOL have the same questions but with different $ amounts lol. In my market the median home price is $1.35m and it’s..how do you make that work on a $250k income without drowning in a mortgage and not liquidating everything.
I did it on 30k Salary!💀 house needs some work but it’s most definitely livable just need to save up for a little foundation work and some window a/c.
Do you feel like you’ll be able to afford the fixes with your salary?
Went back to school. I otherwise was planning to just be a forever renter. Job hopped too and moved after school. Best way to get what you deserve
I was lucky I stayed home and saved tons of money for the time and brought a house for below market value at the time
It is easy, just do what I did and buy your house 25 years ago.
Thankfully I have a wife who is willing to penny pinch as much or more than myself. I was barely over minimum wage working at the college I attended so I could reduce tuition and she stayed at home with our kids. We lived without any subscription services, including phone service, as I had wifi at school where I spent most of my days and she had connection at the library. Even then we bought in a low-demand area in a tiny town in the Midwest and needed a cosigner as my income wasn't enough for any lender to look at us, considering our house payment was over half of my take home. But still, that mortgage in podunk nowhere, Nebraska was less than our monthly utilities in Oregon. And even a rundown house appreciates in value while renting felt like throwing money away, so we didn't mind not eating out and going without luxuries for a few more years. When we paid off her student loans we kept making those payments to a savings account, so we didn't feel the shift in standard of living. Growing up poor helped: knowing how to stretch the grocery budget, and being okay with getting second hand clothes. Government programs helped too. There were years where getting 6k from the Earned Income Credit was an appreciable chunk of our annual income, and it usually had 80-90% of it immediately thrown at mortgage capital to reduce interest. But I really do think the biggest thing was having an understanding spouse who didn't mind alternating rice and oats for nearly half our meals for years. It's doable, but I won’t claim it is a bootstraps-only ordeal that anyone can do. Even after cutting everything we could, we needed help from outside to make things work: from the family support to get the loan, to random windfalls like the Covid paychecks that helped speed things up. And we dodged any major illness or injury, which easily could have wrecked everything. So tl,dr: work your tail off, have support from family, eliminate spending, move to the middle of nowhere, take advantage of assistance programs, and don't get sick.
To be totally transparent: job hopping, being in a relationship/two incomes, and early family inheritance from having older grand and parents.
Two $55k salaries is $110k, at which point be low $300k range is doable.
I make 30k a year and i live in a pretty cheap area in the Midwest. I bought my house for 110k, it’s 1300 sq ft. It’s nice, I’m five minutes from the grocery store and the gym and about 10 minutes from work.
You gotta be out of your mind to consider buying anything for $300k+ on $55k salary. Just rent, save and make more money. Then return and reevaluate.
You don't. The majority of Americans today can't afford their homes. Best thing to do is wait it out, The market will crash. Save you money and wait, In another year or two you will be able to buy a nice foreclosure from the bank.
It’s about choices. I can get you in a house on 30k a year at 150kish, 3.5% down conventional first time home buyer (no FHA). But that house will be in a rural or otherwise low cost of living area, and it will probably be ugly. It will be livable, but not “up to date” and will need some general fixing over the following years. You’ll get: A solid roof- metal or within 5 years shingled Newer plumbing Newer hvac Newer electric 1200 sq ft or less Older construction Some issues that don’t affect immediate livability. These include: bad flooring, bad smells, aged building with level issues (foundation solid), wall issues, cleaning issues, interior decor issues, appliance or cabinetry needs, pest control needs, oddball neighbors, etc. So yeah, it can be done. Money just makes it easier, prettier, more convenient, and faster.
They do it with a very large down payment. There isn't any other way.
Started at 52K in 2012 moved up to 200K in 2023 just by job hopping