Hey Reddit, I'm a 26 years old renter. I've been renting since I moved out from my family for college at 17.
I have zero debts, $15k emergency fund in checking, ~$21k in non-retirement investments, ~$48k in roth IRA and roth 401(k), paid off car that KBB says is like ~$18k, income is like ~$105-110k this year before taxes.
Realistically I'd like my first house to be fairly modern (built within last 10 years), and have been keeping a price in my head of $350k-400k. With the above numbers, unless I utilize my retirement funds (borrow from myself or something), I probably won't have 20% down ($70k-80k) until around 2 years from now tbh.
My personal opinion/idea is to keep renting until like 28/29. I would spend this time renting and saving/investing, but also do occasional travel trips around the USA for a bit on some mini-vacations to get the feel of some areas where I might want to consider a long term living scenario and house/condo purchase.
My dad, especially in recent times after baring witness to the booming real estate markets, thinks I'm squandering my opportunities and time doing this. He recommends I drop 5-10% as down payment, accept PMI in my life, and start reaping the benefits of both the real estate market and gaining equity on a property.
On the side, I'm open minded about getting a condo situation too, it's just HOA in condos is typically so high, it might as well be considered trash money like renting.
Submitted September 21, 2021 at 08:47PM by Bruthar https://ift.tt/3zvHPqD
