I'm 33 and looking to buy a House/Condo in the next 6-18 months (cause of the low interest rates).
I live in L.A. County and it seems like you basically need $200,000+ in cash for a down payment (and all the other associated costs) to get any house you'd actually want to live in here and not have the monthly payments be insane.
It feels like getting to a couple hundred thousand for a down payment on a home without draining all my money (while still saving for retirement) is really hard before I hit 40. Feels like with all these people buying houses that there is something I'm missing.
Is there something I should be doing that I'm not? Or maybe something I'm getting wrong?
My situation
I've got a good job with a decent salary, have always lived below my means, and have always saved as much money as possible (usually 20% or more of my after tax income each year). I'm debt free. I started investing in index funds (VTSAX and VOO) a couple years ago. I dumped a bunch more cash into ETF's when the stock market dropped about a year ago and that turned out well for me. I've got a solid credit score and I live with roommates so I don't throw all my money away on rent. I cook most of my meals and do all the other little things people normally recommend to save money here and there. I started playing around with a thousand dollars and investing in individual stocks and that has gone well for me so far (figure if I fuck up and a chunk of my initial cash vaporizes it's not a huge loss). I'm not married and my family is not well off so buying a place is all on me if I want to go down that road.
BTW: This is my first post asking for feedback. I really have learned a lot from this community and am a big fan!
Submitted February 18, 2021 at 08:05PM by BlackMarketMtnDew https://ift.tt/3k9bsbh
