• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

I just bought my first house for 219K at age 32.

FunkMiller

Gold Member
Jesus H Christ, obvs you back onto a 5* golf course and overlook the ocean

:messenger_tears_of_joy: You're not far off. It's obscenely expensive. I can afford to rent there because I have a place in London that I can rent out for a good amount. Buying's completely off the cards though. The kind of place I'll be renting is a good 2 million US, let alone anything bigger. And that's close to Bondi. Head west up into places like Point Piper and it becomes even more ridiculous.
 

Rran

Member
I discussed the details with my mortgage lender and he said I could make as many payments as I wanted. All I would have to do is make sure the extra payments are going to the principal balance of the loan and not the interest. Doing this could cut my loan down to five years or more depending on how much I pay. Plus, it will help out when we decide to refinance.
This is what we did too. A 30-year mortgage but we paid at least double every month (so effectively 15-year with some wiggle room if times got tough). If we came into some extra money we'd throw it towards the mortgage as well and ended up paying off the whole thing in under a decade. Make sure you clarify the amount is going towards principal balance and not the interest and you'll save thousands of dollars. Make paying off the mortgage a priority and you'll be in good shape!
 
Last edited:

6502

Member
Congrats op.

advice: Build up a few months of savings before tackling anything more than a grand to secure yourself against future job issues.
Don't let the wife nag you into spending on your card or taking out loans "for the house" etc.

I didn't and I worked like a dog for nearly 2 decades. If I stayed as I was above before I caved in my life would have been far easier.
 
Last edited:

Topher

Gold Member
Congrats OP! Enjoy your new home!

Congrats OP. My dumb ass is about to move to the Sydney Eastern suburbs, where a 3 bed 2 bath with that amount of space would cost about

*checks notes*

3.9 million US dollars.

Luckily I'm only renting.

Good God! Paid $270k for my 2200sq ft house in the Atlanta, GA suburbs in 2018. House prices have shot up since then. Zillow now estimates it to be worth $430k. How in the hell does anyone buy a 3 bed 2 bath house for $3.9 million?
 

Topher

Gold Member
Congrats op.

advice: Build up a few months of savings before tackling anything more than a grand to secure yourself against future job issues.
Don't let the wife nag you into spending on your card or taking out loans "for the house" etc.

I didn't and I worked like a dog for nearly 2 decades. If I stayed as I was above before I caved in my life would have been far easier.

Excellent advice. Definitely need an emergency fund that you never ever touch because there will be things that will have to be fixed/replaced. I'm currently putting money back for a new roof that I'm expecting to have to replace in about 10 years.
 
Last edited:

FunkMiller

Gold Member
How in the hell does anyone buy a 3 bed 2 bath house for $3.9 million?

If you want to live in the best part of a major city, that's kind of the way it goes unfortunately. Location is always the driving factor of cost. Sydney's eastern suburbs are much the same as London north west or Tribeca in NY. It's dumb as shit, but there you go.
 
Last edited:

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
How in the hell does anyone buy a 3 bed 2 bath house for $3.9 million?
Vancouver has waterfront condos (they skew big though, so not tiny 1 bed 1 bath units) that can be $5M. Good views, good cities, and a populace with bottomless pockets will do that. If you skim the link, there's a townhouse downtown going for $10.8M.

 
Last edited:

Topher

Gold Member
If you want to live in the best part of a major city, that's kind of the way it goes unfortunately. Location is always the driving factor of cost. Sydney's eastern suburbs are much the same as London north west or Tribeca in NY. It's dumb as shit, but there you go.

Ok.....but you said suburbs. If I tried to buy a house actually in Atlanta then yeah, talking about some major cash, but the suburbs are generally much cheaper here. Maybe I'm not following.
 

Winter John

Member
What you wanna get now is a cat for the mice, and a couple of dogs for the cat to boss around. My only other tip is to stand your ground when she tries to make you sleep on the sofa. Trust me on this. There is no sweeter moment than when she grabs the duvet and storms out. It is pure and total victory.
 
Congrats op.

advice: Build up a few months of savings before tackling anything more than a grand to secure yourself against future job issues.
Don't let the wife nag you into spending on your card or taking out loans "for the house" etc.

I didn't and I worked like a dog for nearly 2 decades. If I stayed as I was above before I caved in my life would have been far easier.
Yeah definitely, that is always good advice. Unfortunately, we do have to spend some money to fix up the house and buy appliances but I always intend to have at least 10k in the savings account for emergencies.
 

FunkMiller

Gold Member
Ok.....but you said suburbs. If I tried to buy a house actually in Atlanta then yeah, talking about some major cash, but the suburbs are generally much cheaper here. Maybe I'm not following.

Ah, I see. It’s called the ‘eastern suburbs’ but it’s still close to the centre of the city. Hence the prices! Same goes for NW London. Leafy, pretty places with lots of space and greenery. I don’t think the US does suburbs close to the city in quite the same way!
 

kurisu_1974

is on perm warning for being a low level troll
I'm guessing this is a house made from wood and not brick? Or are houses this cheap over there? Could probably not get a one bedroom appartment for that money here.
 
Last edited:

Ophiuchus

Banned
Congrats on the new place! I remember when we bought our first home—had to do a bit of fixing up too, but it was totally worth it. It’s such a rewarding feeling to see your hard work pay off and really make the space your own. Enjoy the process, and here’s to many happy years in your new home!
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
Ok.....but you said suburbs. If I tried to buy a house actually in Atlanta then yeah, talking about some major cash, but the suburbs are generally much cheaper here. Maybe I'm not following.
It’s a term used 2 ways; city suburbs are close to downtown just zoned residential or “mixed use” that are super expensive. They are actually fairly urban are still described as a “suburb of a city.”

Then there’s “suburban sprawl” made famous in America, the quintessential “many square miles of mostly houses and some grocery stores and chain restaurants here or there.” That’s where the cheaper housing is supposed to be, but doesn’t always hold true depending on where you live.
 

Topher

Gold Member
It’s a term used 2 ways; city suburbs are close to downtown just zoned residential or “mixed use” that are super expensive. They are actually fairly urban are still described as a “suburb of a city.”

Then there’s “suburban sprawl” made famous in America, the quintessential “many square miles of mostly houses and some grocery stores and chain restaurants here or there.” That’s where the cheaper housing is supposed to be, but doesn’t always hold true depending on where you live.

Thanks. That makes sense. I live in that "suburban sprawl". Definitely cheaper where I live here in the Atlanta, GA area, but I've seen prices of homes on the west coast that are crazy high.
 

Cyberpunkd

Member
It feels good to know that hard work pays off in the end. !
1. Louisiana
2. Repo home
3. How much did you put in personally?

Bruhh GIF by reactionseditor
 
Top Bottom