When did you buy your first house?

[Irving]

I've been seeing signs for 3 bed 1 bath for $1,700 and another for $1,800! Unbelievable.

Point me to a 3 bed 2 bath condo and I'll see how quick we could snatch it up.

Hell at only $50,000 it'd be better to put a down payment on 5-10 of them then to buy just one outright.

[kwando]

Word of advice for anyone, unless you are paying cash, don't buy a condo. There was a law passed a little while back that is causing all condos to plummet in price. Basically if a certain percentage of condos in a complex are not owner occupied, then any unit in that complex no longer qualifies for federal loans. Which means that it restricts the buyers for that unit. Which drives down prices and then makes the units more attractive to investors. Which makes it impossible to fix that situation. Buy a condo to rent it. But do not buy one and expect it to rise in value at all. Well that is until the rescind that law.

My friend JUST went through this exact scenario. Had everything lined up, even paid for the inspection but his FHA loan fell through. He's a first time buyer and has been looking for months!

[Sawin]

Broomfield, CO in 2009 to take advantage of the "first time home buyers credit". I was 25 years old, single, and got an FHA loan at 4.75%. Only had to put down 3.5%. The mortgage and HOA together were only $80 more per month than my rent was at the time. I'm still there, have solid equity now, and intend to make it a rental in the next few years.

[nynco]

I've been seeing signs for 3 bed 1 bath for $1,700 and another for $1,800! Unbelievable.

Point me to a 3 bed 2 bath condo and I'll see how quick we could snatch it up.

Hell at only $50,000 it'd be better to put a down payment on 5-10 of them then to buy just one outright.

You are missing my point. You can't put a down payment on them, you need cash or finance from a non gov loan. Which not many lenders do that. I know for a fact that there are 50K units out there. You need to get in good with a Realtor that does short sales, or be prepared to buy at auctions.

[Bailey Guns]

Bought my first house in AZ in 1983 after I got back from overseas. Brand new (we watched it being built) ranch-style, 3BR, 2BA, etc. $63K at a "bargain" VA loan rate of 13.75%. Only lived there for 1.5 years before the next PCS.

By the way...

Any of you potential home-buyers looking for a nice place with some acreage and a 1200 sq ft shop/garage? Mine will be going on the market soon at a "bargain" pre-listing price of $465K. 16 acres and you can shoot in your front (or back) yard!

[Tim K]

I was 27 or 28 years old. My wife and I built it, and did much of the work ourselves to save money. I learned my current trade building it, so it was quite a formative experience. We're still in it, as a matter of fact, 19 years later.

[ThunderSquirrel]

I was 23 and bought it when I was single. 0 down, and after a refi, i have a 1.25% rate. Not the biggest house out there, but can't beat a $406 mortgage.

[Fromk]

Moved into my first house last May on my own at the age of 31. Something I could never have accomplished if I was still stuck in California.

[kawiracer14]

I rent and when shit breaks I don't worry about it! :-)

[TheWeeze]

Just bought my first one in June in Broomfield. I was 29, the wife was 26