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I bought my first home when I was 25. Actually, I bought 2 flats and converted the building back into the original house over the course of approx 7 years before moving in! The property was owned by a mother and daughter. The daughter (in her 60s) owned the upper 2 floored flat, and the mother(80s) owned the ground floor flat. They had reached a point they were downsizing and put both on the market together.
I was obviously fortunate enough to be in the heart of the Oil industry, so benefited from company share schemes etc. I dumped a load of them over the course of a few years to generate a deposit which was 26% of the purchase price of the properties, which meant that I also triggered a < 80% LTV band lower mortgage rate.
I was also in no rush to move (was staying at parents and was offshore half the year), so after seeing the property and then noticing it wasn't selling because of the renovation work required, I made an offer 5% below market value and gave them 5 days to accept or I walked away. They accepted.
I was also sensible in the fact I didn't cripple myself with an excessive mortgage, I only took 63% of what the bank offered me, and elected to fund the renovation progressively using maturing share schemes, and knowing that I could always go back to the bank for more mortgage if things became desperate.
This meant that now, I could if I wanted, pay off my mortgage tomorrow, but because I am using an offset account, I am effectively interest free on the mortgage and can use my capital for other investments as I see fit. As the mortgage rates fell over time, I also did not lower my monthly payments, this means that now for every 3 months mortgage payments, I actually pay for 4. so the capital repayment falls quicker. In all I am currently forecasting to pay my mortgage off about 7 years early and saved about 12to15K in interest payments. And with the housing prices increase, it is now about 3.5 to 4x the original value.
So, all I would say, is put a little aside each month (no matter how small) to get that deposit up, and then overpay or offset whenever possible.
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Not buying one.
I don't need the risc nor the overhead 
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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30, but that was 30 years ago and I had help from the inlaws!
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity
RAH
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40 - and it took a massive collapse in the housing market in Ireland before the bottom rung was within my reach.
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22 and was looking good to own it by 32.
Then Missus turned the wastage meter up to a level I couldn't sustain. Never owned one since.
Where in Oz are you? Should catch up for a drink.
Michael Martin
Australia
"I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible."
- Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004
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Michael Martin wrote: Where in Oz are you?
Sydney
Zen and the art of software maintenance : rm -rf *
Maths is like love : a simple idea but it can get complicated.
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virang_21 wrote: Sydney
I live in the North Western suburbs, Mount Druitt. I'm in the CBD working Thursdays and Fridays the next 3 weeks if you want to catch up for a coffee.
Michael Martin
Australia
"I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible."
- Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004
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27, but back then in the UK banks were offering 100% mortgages, and my brother was selling them, eased the process somewhat.
Still in the same place, it has doubled in value over those 14 years, interest rates have been slashed, my salary has tripled.
I'm still skint at the end of each month, but it's the wife, and to a lesser extent child, and this month dog, that are the cause of that.
Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.
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Perhaps you should add to your question: and did you have help (e.g. from parents, an inheritance, etc)?
"I'm never quite so stupid as when I'm being smart." - Linus van Pelt.
"If you were as smart as you think you are, you wouldn't think you were so smart!" - Charlie Brown.
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Bought my condo at 35.
It was the right property at the the right location at the right price.
I'd rather be phishing!
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25, but since it still had to be built at the time, and during the build it sort of sank in the ground because there has been a mistake in the foundation so they started over (no additional costs for me), I didn't go and live there until I was 27. I'm 28 now, I've been living here almost 1.5 years 
Prices in the Netherlands used to be very high, but we've got this weird system where you get a part of your mortgage rent back in taxes (mortgage relief). Which led to all sorts of weird mortgage types that fully exploited this tax break (like not paying your mortgage for 30 years and then pay the entire sum all at once, making you pay maximum rent, but also get maximum return). Many people also still have their "redemption-free" mortgage, a small (€50000) rest fee they don't have to pay so they'll keep paying rent, but also keep getting tax returns.
It's a crazy system that was once meant to stimulate house sales. It costs the government A LOT of money and they want to stop it now. A lot of mortgage types are already banned, so in 28 years we'll have no weird mortgage types anymore (as the average mortgage length is 30 years). The tax return is also slowly getting less, but many people depend on this tax break so stopping it immediately would result in many people losing their homes. The last elections were all about the mortgage relief, were you for or against?
That said, prices are still pretty high, depending on where you live. I live in a rural area and €200000 gives you a decent terraced house.
In Rotterdam that same amount gives you a small apartment.
In some neighborhoods it gives you nothing at all.
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Here where I live an appartment will cost you at least 200000 € and a house easily half a million. Renting is expensive as well, so the only realistic chance is to buy something small, rent it and use it to finance your next purchase, rent it as well and go on until your income as landlord easily pays for whatever you want to have. But of course, you need a little money to begin with.
The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a f***ing golf cart.
"I don't know, extraterrestrial?"
"You mean like from space?"
"No, from Canada."
If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.
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I was 31, and it took every bit of forced savings - putting loose change into a CD the wife couldn't touch for a year. At that, I could only afford a 50 year old, run down repo that leaked wind and cold. The loan payment took most of an entire paycheck, roughly half my income. Good luck to you! 
Will Rogers never met me.
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I bought my first house with my then-wife when I was 33 or so. She had the money for the downpayment, I had the income for making the mortgage payments. After a relatively painless divorce, it was 20 years later (just this last December) that I bought a house again. It's a bit of a fixer-upper, but it's the right size for my girlfriend and I and two cats, it's by a beautiful stream, and we can walk to the Nature Conservancy just up the road.
The mortgage payment is 1/2 what I was paying for rent for similarly sized place, and because I work remotely, I can live in rural New York where the housing costs are significantly lower than any urban or suburban area near any tech industries. Needed only 5% down (though I pay a PMI for that, but it's pretty small) and by making extra principle payments each month, I'm hoping to have it paid off in 15-20 years.
Marc
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To buy a house like the one I live in, I will have to save the same money I pay for rent over 50 years...
So probably never...(and I'm 44 this year)
(To be sure the bank will happily give me the money for a 30 year period, but in that case the payback will be 3 times my monthly rent...A kind of enslavement...)
Skipper: We'll fix it.
Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this?
Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.
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I am going on 64 and have never owned a home. Right now I do not see any advantage - if I have a problem, the landlord/owner pays for it, not me. BUT - the wife has her heart set on owning something, just so she can repaint, knock down walls, etc. I figure to buy in the next year, but do not expect to ever pay it off before I shuffle off the coil. If/when I retire, I would probably go to the Dominican Republic to buy, since that is where she was born, and my social security check would be considered upper middle class there.
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27, and looking to pay off the mortgage outright after 6 years.
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virang_21 wrote:
How long did it takes you to buy your first home ?
How long from when? Birth? Marriage? Time from paying earnest money to signing contract? Some other milestone?
Regardless, my wife and I were both 25. Down payment was next to nothing since it was our first house; The bank didn't care.
"One man's wage rise is another man's price increase." - Harold Wilson
"Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons
"You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him." - James D. Miles
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I bought it when it was almost 60 years old, but I don't see how that information can help you.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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- It were different back then, what with 15%+ mortgages and then only if you actually had a relationship with the building society and at least a 10% deposit. Ah, magical days.
TBF, the place was £19250 and I sold it 6 months later for £27500 (property shortage as I recall). But that was in 1873 and we all wore stovepipe hats.
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25 and the wife to be was 19, in the islands just across from the land down under. A small box on an undeveloped section for $64k. 1986 and interest rates were 20%. Most of our furniture was borrowed or cast-offs from family and friends. Life was exceedingly minimalistic for a year or two while I worked massive amounts of overtime and pumped it all into repayments.
A few years later (while living/working in Melbourne and renting house) prices started to slump. Eventually sold, probably broke even.
But after moving back to NZ, we've ended up (15 years ago) with a large old farmhouse on 2 acres we got for a shade over $300k, 10km from town (and 75km from work, so that's a fair bit of commuting each day). Value has seriously increased and am having to constantly tell the bank that no, I'm not really interested in buying more property - although a holiday home in France or Italy is on the wife's (same one) radar.
There's no point looking at stuff you haven't a hope in hell of gathering a deposit for. Look further out even if you end up with a serious commute. Make a plan, figure out a budget for saving and stick to it. Nothing comes on a plate unless you inherit it.
If your neighbours don't listen to The Ramones, turn it up real loud so they can.
“We didn't have a positive song until we wrote 'Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue!'” ― Dee Dee Ramone
"The Democrats want my guns and the Republicans want my porno mags and I ain't giving up either" - Joey Ramone
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