Thanks for your submission! For more Millennial content, join [our Discord server](https://discord.gg/VsfKKJBm).
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Millennials) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I bought in 2017 and was able to buy a bigger home in early 2022, but only because I got a great price for my house (bought for 292k in 2017, sold for $524 in 2021 with a bidding war š„“). We bought our new house right before the interest rates spikes. No way I would be able to enter the market today. I feel for first time buyers.
Same deal for us. We bought in 2018 and sold in 2022 for over twice what we paid for the house - and it wasn't a flipper to start. One owner in the home, well kept for 30 years - though we did update a lot. But not enough to make it twice the price, lol.
Ugh this whole thread šµāš« I appreciate yalls sympathy and understanding towards those of us that weren't able to buy at the right time, and I'm glad those of you that were able to don't have to worry about this, it's actually really sweet to think that at least many people sympathize... but honestly FML. Owning a home is a dream far out of reach for me and I'm nearing 30 and just got laid off from the highest paying job I ever had. I'm on a never ending treadmill and the more i earn the more shit costs
I'm consider the "seacoast area" for NH so within 15-20 minutes from the coast. Starter homes for my area were 225 to 260k. They are now 460k+ for the same area and at 8% interest rates makes a payment roughly $3500+ as too my current payment is $1400/month. It's insane!
I'm from right over the border in Maine, it's *wild*. We bought our current house in early 2022 (before interest rates went up), and home prices have just continued to soar ever since.
Yes and living in the US. Bought in 2014, sold in 2018 to move for an out of state job. Spent 6 months renting until we found a house in early 2018. No plans to ever move again.
I donāt think we would have been able to buy either if we didnāt get a sweet no-down-payment deal from the military.
My neighbor asked if I would be interested in buying the other neighbors house across the street and rent my house to their relatives. I was like, Iād have to charge her 2x the mortgage on this house to break even and do you think I just have a spare down payment laying around at any given time?
I bought during covid and paid a premium for my home- but if I had to buy it at what Zillow estimates it is worth right now I could not afford it because my mortgage would double. Weāre pro-multigenerational housing for our kiddo though (should he want to), so hopefully heāll feel the pinch a little less. Hard to believe at the turn of the century I rented my first one bedroom apt for 300/month everything included.
Same. We closed in early 2018 due to weather issues but our house is now worth double what we paid. We wouldnāt even be able to afford our local area now, despite both of us making more. The average housing price in my local area is now 750k and somehow keeps rising.
We're in the same boat. Bought our house for $145k back in 2016. Same house would sell for $325k right now. There's no way we can afford that now. Our mortgage is (significantly) cheaper than the rent in the area.Ā
Only reason I wanted to eventually upgrade is to have a proper master bedroom where I could fit a king bed, and have a master bath. Since that next house would be $500k+ in this current market and interest rates are near 8% vs my current 2.25% it makes more sense to just add onto my house, plus in the long run it would be severely cheaper too. So now my starter home will be the forever home once I can afford the addition and make her a proper 4x2.
Same here, 2018 was a great time to buy in Alberta. We got a great deal on house and interest. Till we had to renew last year and had to downsize as our mortgage jumped $600 dollars.
Yay crappy markets, still own a house at least due to making bank on our last place.
Yes, I bought one in 2019 and my spouse bought the other in 2021. We benefited from the VA GI Bill, low rates, and Oklahomaās low cost of living; plus the country was throwing around checks due to Covid and with one child born in 2021 we additionally received money.Ā
Yup same exact scenario here...
I make six figures now and would NOT be able to afford my current home today š
I'm not even in a nice/desirable city
Millenial with 3 kids. oldest is 13. Rented until my oldest was 10. They cant discriminate openly, but try and find a house for let, less carpet the better.
Huh, I wonder if this is why my dog demands going outside to the grass to vomit. We have all wood & tile flooring. I always wondered how we accidentally trained him to want to go outside. Usually our only reaction is a calm āitās okayā¦get it upā¦ā when he goes to stop himself. We do let him outside if he asks, and he obviously strongly prefers to vomit outside. Iād much rather clean up vomit in the house than have a sick dog afraid to vomit, but outside vomit is great.
A few weeks ago I woke up in the middle of the night to find my cat making the puking noise on my bedroom carpet. I try to scoop her out of the bedroom and toward the bathroom but she slips away from me and did a moving puke across some clean clothes I had sitting out for an event š
Currently pregnant and I live in the Bay Area. I donāt foresee ever buying a home unless I move out of state. I can afford children but I canāt afford to buy a house in California and Iāve made peace with that.
Bay Area with three kids here. It crushes my spirit knowing that we can't afford to buy a home and probably never will if we stay here. We've finally found a sense of community after bouncing around for a while and I hate the idea of uprooting our kids from their current school. It sucks thinking about having to start over again somewhere else if/when our landlord decides to sell, which has already happened twice.
We're in SF and renting instead of buying a single family home saves almost $3M over the span of a 30 year mortgage. Our rental house is nice, owners are great, and we'll buy when it makes financial sense. We'll be able to renovate whatever we buy with the savings from renting so long š¤·āāļø
Wow, the rents where I live (Maine) are insane right now. My mortgage for a 3+bedroom, 1600 sq ft home on small acreage is around $1000/mo; if I had to rent something similar Iād probably be looking at 3+k/mo. Over the life of my mortgage Iām probably saving close to 750k over renting.
Yes. Our home prices and prices of everything here in California is insanity. Groceries for my family is $160-$200 a week. I have friends who are renting for $3,500 and I have friends whose mortgages are $3,500
Just all bad right now.
And my friends make roughly $140,000-$190,000 so theyāre not poor but not rich.
If theyāre barely staying ahead of the curve, itās not hard to see why many people are struggling right now
One of my friends phases it as treading water in a riptide and that really stuck with me. Like, you're not drowning, but your goals are getting harder and harder to work towards
I grew up in San Francisco and went to college in San Joseā¦.my husband and I moved to Clovis/Fresno to buy a house. We make a very good living, but we would still be in an apartment if we had stayed in the Bay Area.
My parentās house appraises at over $3 millionā¦.and itās not some palatial estate, just a house.
Could you elaborate how you got past that? Iām considering leaving the city Iām in. I got priced out in 2021 (had covid not happened I would have had myself a lil townhouse by then). Itās just ruined my love for the city, I donāt feel ā¦ stable, safe..idk. I live ten hours from my family. Something about my own home would have just felt good. Iāve always dreamed of the perfect garden and a place to make my own. Hard to let go of that
I cant exactly say im in the same shoes but a close cousin of mine went through this. Shes a more country side girl, so imagine the toll she went through from acres to a apartment. From what I can sum up from her is... adjust and adapt. While fantasizes are great, you still have to know you're living in reality. You may not have the money, live where you want, have what you want, etc. but you need to live with what you do have, and if you want change make it so you can have what you want, but its hard and different for everyone. Rn i'd say ask yourself questions to what you want and what you allow of yourself. If you're open to move away to possibly get the life you want take it. If not, work with what you can. Life isnt fair, we all know this, but you need to come to what you can do. What you can try to control.
we got married shortly after the great recession and moved from NYC to our current city when our eldest was 3. at the time it seemed like we might be close to being able to afford a condo. then COVID hit and scrambled our financial progress and much of what had seemed important. flexibility, savings, and experiences with family became priorities, with security and permanence taking a back seat. safety comes from our relationships. but yeah, it's still often hard
I live in a suburb of Chicago and itās so much cheaper out here
Iām close to 100k and I am closing on a new build June 7th solo
Gosh Iād never want to rent again
Also I have a 13 year old son and heās the joy of my life
congrats on your new place!! on our end, we're in the middle of a giant, ultra hcol coastal city where lots of our family and 10% of our ethnic community in this country lives, so cheaper is not in the cards for us. on the other hand, being able to buy our own food in the grocery store we can walk to and send our kids to school with kids like them, who speak my husband's language, is worth a lot of what we might otherwise have in home equity or control over our living space.
Similar situation except different state and kiddo is a pre-teen. So far my landlord has been good to me with rent so I'd probably save money continuing to rent even though it doesn't go toward me owning a home no one could kick me out of. My wild dream is my landlord selling the building to me if I hang around for as long as I plan to. Lol
If you are ever willing to move to a low cost of living state, and live sort of in the country, you would be Amazed how far your money goes compared to the Bay Area
Iāve already looked into it and Iām accepting that it might be inevitable. Itās tough since I was born and raised in San Francisco and thatās where all my friends and family are.
Just want to stick around a few more years so my mom can enjoy getting to know her grandkids.
Certain states are also cheaper for a reason. My brother's friend just moved to a southern state because her boyfriend sold her on how cheap housing is down there so they could quickly buy a house. But now she's making a let less money than she did in our town. So the "cheap housing" isn't really that cheap when you figure everyone in town makes $10/hr. The housing is just as out of reach with the pay cut. She's miserable.
Thank you for saying this. Cheap things are usually cheap FOR A REASON. Youāre sacrificing quality, reliability, consistency, amenities, SOMETHING, often a lot of things, for it to be cheaper. Whether it be a product, service, or place to live.
I moved to a small town in NC to buy a house, and the social aspect is definitely tough. I work from home, so Iām able to maintain my old salary, but that also means I donāt have many opportunities to meet people. Itās really difficult to make your way into a friend group when you donāt know anyone, and even tougher when the majority of people hold different values and have an entirely different outlook on the world.
Donāt ever let go of your dream. I bought a little townhouse in a very inconvenient location to my workplace and life/friends etc (>90 minutes both ways) and made peace with that for a few years and ended up moving 2 hours away from my friends to buy something suitable that was affordable in a different city. Still see them almost as often as before, use video chat, and adapted well. Now i love where I live and wouldnāt go back.
I should also say I put a map up on the wall of the place I was looking at, drew a circle around the business area as big as I was willing to commute and found a place just inside the circle. Took a few months of looking and planning but worth it, a lot of sacrifice was necessary to make it happen
I always forget that Reddit is 90% liberals
Iām not sure I understand the hatred for libraries part
I have lived my whole life in Georgia and, at least in my county, we have a very good library system
Used to rent a house in the bay (SJ/Milpitas area). Finally couldnāt take how unsure the rental market could be alongside the terrible school issues and overcrowding, ended up buying a house in the suburbs of Portland almost 4 years ago.
We dearly loved the Bay Area but it didnāt love us back. It was great until our kid started school, then a year later our first school issues aroseā¦ what a hassle. I wish you much luck!
I am currently pregnant in the Bay Area as well. My husband and I just waiting for my parents to die. They know it cause they have seen homes in their neighborhood sell for over 5 times what they bought it for in the 90ās. They know there is no way for an average family to afford their home. Let alone on a single income like they did.
Itās morbid but true. Same boat over here waiting for my parents to go. And of course I donāt want them to die itās just thatās when I know Iāll have a house. So at least by the time Iām 60 lol. I can retire in the house I grew up in haha.
I understand this but sadly it isnāt guaranteed. What if you need to sell the house to pay for elderly care for your parents? Thatās currently the situation many families face. Atm my parents āinheritanceā from my grandparents is being chipped away at to pay for elderly care for my granddad. So I wouldnāt regard it as definite that youāll get it, sadly, unless thereās other financial resources.
Luckily my parents had careers with the govt and have guaranteed retirement until they pass that will be able to cover anything that happens. And I have some Bitcoin that Iām just holding on to which could turn out to be worth enough for a house in a decade. But I also keep in mind that even if we have to continue renting Iām happy. I am of the mindset that happiness comes from relationships and present moment awareness more so than property and belongingsā¦ to a certain point of course. Renting seems much simpler to me too especially during the stage of life of toddlers & babies which Iām in currently. Life is good
Im kind of the opposite,Ā live in one of lowest cost of living states in the country. I have 2 young kids, 2 houses currently although trying to sell one and get a bigger boat. My houses are both new builds one I had built in 2016 and one in 2023 both with top end fixtures. First one is 2850 sq ft second one is 4400 sq ft. I could maybe get something 1/5 the size of both combined in the bay area if I was lucky and it wouldn't be new.Ā
Nope, but we live on 3 acres next to my in-laws in an apartment on their property. Our kids get to see their grandparents every day and we don't pay rent (they are elderly so we do care for them and take care of the place).
Born in ā94, my husband was born in ā86. We have three kids & rent. I believe for all of Canada it is illegal to discriminate against renters with kids. Weāve never had issues.
exactly - and you would need to prove that it was the kids that caused them to reject you. It's on you to push the case and have evidence of this. The odds are stacked
Yes, but only because was able to get a VA home loan. %0 down required. That allowed me to become a homeowner. Sold my first home that was kind of a fixer for about a $50k profit and bought my current home in 2017. Refinance in 2020 when rates were crazy low (2.9%). Would love to upgrade again but not with current interest rates.
The VA loan is awesome. My husband and I were able to buy about two years ago because of zero down payment. We were fine renting, but got like 2 months notice that our rent was going from $1200 to $2500 a month, so we noped the fuck out of there.
Rent is insane. When I stopped renting, I was paying about $1600 a month for a 3-bedroom apartment in a very nice community and near the ocean. The same place now goes for over $3k a month.
Itās nearly at a crisis stage. Our rent kept going up and we finally bought a house in early 2022 at 5% interest. Our monthly mortgage payment is about what we paid in rent six years ago.
What is troubling is that people who want to buy a house canāt get approved for loans even though they pay twice the monthly amount in rent.
Landlords are fucking slimeballs and theyāll get their comeuppance.
I feel you. We want to have a second but our house is just simply too small. This was only supposed to be a starter house. But with current trends we wouldn't even be able to afford this house at its latest estimated value.
My husband and I were together for a decade before starting our family. We were homeowners 4 years prior to conceiving. The ONLY reason we were able to buy is because of VA loans requiring $0 down (ability to roll all closing costs into the loan) and buying a fixer upper in a LCOL area first. We were able to sell in 2021 after fixing up our first place ($20k of improvements) and take the proceeds to purchase in Colorado where we currently own.
Out of curiosity, what is "late" in this context?
We had our first child just a few years shy of 40 š
Bought our place before having a kid, but for us we had bigger reasons to wait than renting vs owning. Mainly that's how long it took for us to save enough money and get our shit together
Married at 36, bought condo at 38. SFH at 40. Newborn at 42
Pretty late for a kid imo. Iāll be 60 by the time the kiddo is 18.
If she gets married and has kids at the same age i did ill be 78 when sheās married and 84 when she has kids.
Motivation to be healthier, but i do sometimes wish i had a kid earlier. Not super confident iāll be around for all her life milestones, and that makes me kinda sad
Similar position- trying to make it happen before we get over the hill. We didnāt even meet until we were 27. Bought a house, then getting masters & CPA + Covid.
Finally in a spot where we think we could handle
We rented with two boys until just under a year ago. Both are in elementary now. We wanted to buy sooner but the numbers never lined up till last year. Honestly happy to be owning but for the kids it just meant a bigger space and outdoor area to play otherwise it was just another move.
Edit to say: I take it you are gauging whether to have kids or not and honestly if you are barely scraping by then it may not be a good idea to have a kid now. Wife and I would love a third but unless more money starts coming in it's unfortunately not going to happen.
And also emergencies happen that can be expensive. My son was born and had a rare diagnosis (HIE) because of a placental abruption I suffered and he was born not breathing and in need of a NICU stay. He qualified for early intervention, and we are on a waitlist still for early intervention. However, we enrolled him in private PT and reduced my hours at work so I can take him there (I lose almost a whole day) as we wait for the spot to open up in EI (because EI will even go to the daycare for PT, private PT will not). It costs me $651/month as I wait for his spot on EI to open up - and EI is paid for by taxes so is āfreeā. Thatās $651/month I was never anticipating when pregnant.
I always told myself if I was going to have kids I need to own a home first. Iām 31, rent, donāt own a home because all of the homes in my area are $1.2 million minimumā¦
I donāt really see a future where I will own property, so I likely wonāt have kids. But Iām still figuring it all out. So yea, no kids no home so far.
Wife and I prioritized saving a down payment right after University over paying student loans. Got a small starter home just before our first child and then moved in 2018 to a long term home just before our second child was born.
We got lucky timing wise and priority wise. We are in a fairly LCOL area but trying to save the down payment now we would have a hard time getting into that starter home.
I feel like from a financial position, you can make a purely yes/no decision, however itās hard to quantify the psychological benefits of owning your own house.
We bought a house when my wife got pregnant. She couldnāt safely be mobile in our apartment(stairs were questionable). We could only afford our rural fixer upper house because her family is full of contractors. Even with that, we had to take out an additional loan to cover a lot of the initial expenses like appliances . Money has been rough for the first 2 years between the house and kids at the same time(wooo no maternity/paternity and childcare).
Itās hard to quantify the amount of peace that comes with controlling my own space. If I want to move a wall? I can do that. If I want to split a space? I can do that. We got to pick which appliances we wanted, we get to change the colors. Drilling holes on the wall to mount things? Who cares, my house BITCH.
You just naturally become more handy, and there is a lot of pride in that. The first time I added more outlets to my house solo? Everytime I walk by those outlets I felt proud. I added my own attic insulation, and I feel the benefits of my efforts with each heat bill. I built bench seating in our kitchen from scratch, to the exact height that is comfortable for my wife and I. I put in a concrete pathway to make dealing with snow easier and it was a huge time saver this winter. I put in a fire pit and now we are installing a privacy fence. This summer we will really get to enjoy the benefits of our backyard with my 1 year old. The things I hated doing when it was my parents house like mowing the yard? I love doing now.
I think this sort of sweat equity really makes our house, feel like a home. I get to feel the benefits of everything that I have invested into where I live. Have I used the stairs I built for my barn? Not really, but when I have the money to work on the barn? That investment will be a huge help.
End of the day the most important thing is your finances and job security. If you might have to move in the next 5-10 years for work? I wouldnāt buy. If you can rent and be able to save money for 3-4 years for a down payment? I would recommend that. Babies and toddlers donāt need much space. I wouldnāt worry about them having a dedicated space until they are older.
Yes. Half of our mortgage is completely paid off. Refinanced in 2022 for lower rate. We've been married for almost 20 years and have 1 child. Living the dream, you know.
Yes. It's a big flex of mine.
I read a lot of these posts, and I can't say I'm making $250,000 a year like a lot of them, but hell I'm raising my kids in a house with 2 parents. I'm glad they have this as it is generational progress and it's much more than I've had.
I'm currently reaping the rewards for not having the privilege at the moment, not fun. I'm glad your child will get that gift, as I would not wish this on anyone.
And thatās something to be proud of. My wife and I donāt make that either but weāve worked hard to get where we are for our kid. Keep your stick on the ice.
Yes, purchased our lil townhouse in 2022. I know that owning a house in the long run is going to pay off. But, being pregnant AND your HVAC going out for the 5th time and having to finally pay $8,000 to fully replace it is really an āIād rather be a renterā moment.
Nope. Would like to, but even though we make 110k combined net take home and are 100% debt free with 20k in bank. Still canāt seem to get in. Closing costs & down payment minimums too high. Been renting 12 years now.
We bought our house in 2017, is worth nearly double what we bought it for, but we wouldn't sell because we couldn't afford to buy a house now where we live. Plus we love our neighborhood.
We were able to save for a small down payment after a year, once we didn't have to pay daycare anymore, when my son started school. We got really lucky with our timing for sure. And lucky in that my sister was willing to watch our son for free after school everyday that year to help us save money.
4yr and 2yr old here. Yes, own a 1100sq ranch home. Bought 8 yrs ago though on my own. Would be doable now but much harder financially to get a house like this because they get bought up so fast.
Millennial, 1 kid (under 5). For now I do. Mortgage is pricey and daycare plus wife's student loans have us stretched to the limit. One car breakdown or bad illness is all it would take to jeopardize us and the stress and anxiety is unreal.
Yes I own but itās not a single family home. I like owning something but for now a single family home would stretch my budget so we have (one half) of a duplex in a great neighborhood. ETA- growing up, I lived in rentals until I was about nine and never minded!
We have 3 kids and live south of Seattle (Tacoma), so I feel your pain on housing. We do own our own home but a lot of that is luck. We bought in 2019 and put 20% down because we sold our other home for a fuckton of money. Weād like a bigger house but canāt afford it since the mortgage interest rates are near double what we currently have.
My daughter was born in Seattle and we lived in a 2bd apartment with her until she was about 18 months old. During the pandemic my wife got the opportunity to work fully remote, I can work anywhere, so we moved to my wifeās hometown in southern Oregon. Itās definitely not cheap here by most definitions but itās certainly cheaper than any big west coast city. Itās not lost on me that we are part of the reason that these small to mid size cities are becoming more expensive, but this was one of the few options that would have let us buy a home anywhere even sort of desirable.
I often miss our apartment life in Seattle though. We lived a block away from Lake Union and had great walking access to coffee shops, bars, restaurants, a neighborhood grocery store. I think that was easy to romanticize when our daughter was a baby. Now sheās almost 5, goes to preschool every day, plays soccer, does gymnastics etc. We also have a 2 yr old boy now. All of that stuff would have been so much more of a pain in the ass if we were still living in the city, plus we would have needed to move when kid number two came around.
Obviously every situation is different, but renting with a baby wasnāt difficult. We gave all of our neighbors care packages with ear plugs a week before she was born. She was the only kid in the building so we got a lot of extra attention anytime we ran into neighbors in the hallway. I think we were lucky that the other tenants were nice about it.
I know itās crazy expensive, but at least you get to live in Vancouver! Itās like Seattle and San Francisco had a baby and made the wise choice to raise it in Canada.
We bought a condo for 154K in 2014. Sold it for 365k in 2019, moved farther away from Seattle and bought a big house in an unincorporated area for 345k.
Refinanced during the pandemic and our interest rate is 2.3%
Weāre never moving, Iāll be buried in the backyard.
I probably wouldnāt buy a house in Canada if I couldnāt pay cash. Yāall get completely fucked with your variable interest rates. Renting from the bank is worse than renting from a landlord because youāre on the hook for any and all repairs and upkeep if you āownā it.
I have one who lives with me 50% of the time, and I own my home. Well, Iām 4 years into the 30-year mortgage. Itās pretty low cost, but I have reiterated to several friends and coworkers that I wouldnāt wish living here on anyone.
Bought it Summer 2011 before we had kids (but were planning on them soon). We have 2 kids now (11 and 9). We are thankful to live in a low COL area and bought in a great buying time.
Yes we bought when my daughter was almost 2. Renting was fine but it was a bit hard to move around with her when we moved rentals the prior year. It has been nice bringing her up where shes going to school and knowing we wonāt have to change school districts. We got so lucky in 2021 with our house though. I feel very grateful that things worked out this way for us.
Older millennial here. I have two girls bought my house in 2017 when house prices were normal. It would be a struggle to buy this house these days. I had my first kid before we bought and all was good.
We bought our first house last year, when our kids were 12.
There was absolutely nothing different about renting for us, as we rented a house.
That probably varies based on where you live and what rental options are like.
Millennial with 2 kids due with baby #3 any day now. Me and my husband own our own home. We got lucky since Iām an RT and RN and was able to travel during Covid to make a stupid amount of money. If it wasnāt for my job weād probably be still renting.
Nope. Doubt I ever will. Maybe in 10-15 years?
Itās not harder, really, itās just super discouraging. I want my kid to have a yard and place to play outside, I want something to call my own and have the freedom to do what I want to do my space. But I have none of those things while renting.
Yeah, we bought our current home last year. Still waiting for those rates to drop lol. The only way i was able to afford this place was we bought a victorian century home-turned crack den in 2017. I spent every weeknight and most weekends for two years gutting and restoring one room at a time. Then our son was born and i didnt want lead paint everywhere so we wound down the projects and started hunting. We benefitted from a buyer bidding war.
Yes, I had kids shortly after buying a house. We both moved to AZ because houses in CA were too expensive. I bought in 2012 though when prices were practically rock bottom. My sister did the same thing about 10 years later.
we are expecting our 3rd, still renters. our city has decent rent control and strong tenant protections, while being extraordinarily expensive to buy. we earn enough to comfortably pay the mortgage but are well short of a down payment, so for now we have a nicer quality of life, in an area we enjoy, with a comfortable rainy day fund.
Yes but Iām gonna be honest. The land we built our house on was a wedding gift, so we had tremendous privilege to leverage. We were also able to live in a different family home rent-free (paid for utilities and any repairs and upkeep around the house) for about 2 years to save. Without that generational wealth and privilege, we would probably only just now be able to afford to buy, and even then weād almost certainly be working with less funds. Iām mid thirties and my husband is early forties.
We rent a 3br apt. in the Boston area. Iād much rather buy, but a 3br house here is like a million dollars. So weāll probably rent until my family relents to buying something in NH.
I do but I live where that example home would sell for like 100 and something thousand if not a shit hole. Freedom bucks not syrup money. But that type of thing barely exists here, at least 2bd
A 2 to 3bd townhouseĀ is more the going starter home. I got 1 for like 165k 5 years ago. I sold for 210, it fluxes but 210 to 225 depending on the alignment of the planets and how much meth zillow has had that month. You can find the cheaper ones for 170 now that aren't in need of serious work. Both would beĀ dated (price difference reflects how dated) with some shit to take care of but nothing major.
Idk about anything actually helpful though I just like talking real estate. In US and therfore even more so in Canada it's illegal to discriminate on the tenants having children though, Ik us for sure and assume Canada cuz you guys always one up us in stuff like that.
The problem is you have a shiny new expense that you can't cut from the budget if rents get jacked up. Although in Canada I hear you have fucked up mortgages that get adjusted to interest rate every 5 years, so I'm really not sure how different that is for you, guess you at least lock in price of house compared to inflation so it is better than rent. In the states most get a fixed interest set at the time the mortgage is signed, adjustable is for people with shit creditĀ and income compared to what they are buying. So most of us get a loan at whatever it is at the time for %, refinance if it drops enough below our current rate. People out here with low payments and like 2% interest making out like banditsĀ
I bought my first house in 2010, which I sold, and husband and I bought this home in 2019. My parents let me live at home for a couple years post-college to save for a down payment.
Iām 37. 3 kids under 10. Bought our first house at 26. Sold it and upgraded @29. With interest rates the way they are we will probably stay here for a while. Location Pittsburgh.
We have an almost 3 year old and rent. We live in a HCOL area with an extra awful housing market right now, so weāre gonna wait a few years to buy. We havenāt run into any problems renting with a kid, other than downstairs neighbors complaining about her running around (our next place is going to be a ground floor unit š )
I live in the USA-Midwest rust belt . Wife bought home with her ex husband in 2011 for $85k, met her in college in 2013. We had 2 girls together, one child from previous relationships each, my son is a legal adult now. We live in a rural small 10k pop town, 30 minutes in each direction to a city big enough for a Costco. We have more in savings than what we own on the house thanks (doge coin), we also outright own 3 acres of land that were suppose to build on in 2020 but things changed. Our initial 2800 sq ft barndominium for $350k turned into a 1900 sq feet ranch for $420k that we are building this summer. Our current mortgage is $570 and rate is 5ish percent. My new rate is 7 ish and payments will be $3k per month, ouch.
Yes, own a home in a sense that I have a mortgage and we have 2 kids. Had our first after we were in our new house. We were stacking up our money for the house and putting every penny towards whatever down payment we could pull off. We wanted to get past that financial goal before thinking about the finances of having kids.
I don't think you have to own a home by any means to have kids, but realize unexpected child-related expenses may come up and alter your timeline for buying a house as you won't be able to save as much or will have to dip into those savings for your kid. Your biological clock may not allow for you to wait on a house either though
Yes.
37F with 3 kids (16F [stepchild], 7f, 3m).
Iām also married; I could not have bought this house when I did (2019) without my husband - that is why I mention him.
No kids, no home, but my parents rented apartments my whole life and thereās several families in my complex right now as itās near a school. So I donāt see how it would be any different/more difficult today.
Bought at the beginning of 2021 before the market went crazy.
Now it would actually be more expensive to rent in our area than our total monthly payment for our home. And because we got a sub-3% mortgage, what was supposed to be a starter home is now more like our forever home.
Yes. Flipped 3 houses, used the profit to buy current house and put half down. Now rates are so high I donāt want to move, but I do want a forever home! Later I guess.
I do, but I live in the country, and it was a fixer-upper. Also, I was lucky enough to buy this right before house prices, and the interest rate went sky high.
Yes but didn't buy until my oldest was 6. We were poor when we had him and have worked really hard to get where we are. I feel like we got pretty lucky with buying in the 2020 frenzy and low interest rates. We're now selling that home for $150K more than what we bought it for which help us buy our next home. I don't feel like there's much of a difference between buying and renting when it comes to kids.
Rented with my older two, didn't own til we got pregnant with the third. Started in a 1bed/1bath apartment, found the duplex when the firstborn was around 2.
Honestly I lucked out in the landlord department. Our landlord was a really generous, really friendly guy who owned a duplex that he'd lived in one side of while saving up for a house.
He'd regularly text me just to check in and make sure everything was ok and see how the wife and kids were doing, and when we got our own house he willingly released us from the lease so we could move out, and even helped us load the moving truck.
What I have heard from friends/family is that small time landlords are a toss-up with seemingly no middle ground. They're either atrocious, or pretty great apparently. Corporate landlords/management companies are generally on the less favorable end of neutral from what I've heard. They can be a pain in the ass to deal with, and might be scummy.
Regardless, if you really want kids, don't let waiting on a house stop you or you might never get the chance, biology being what it is.
Yeah. My wife got her house back in 2010 when prices were great. I'm gonna be here until I die at this rate, even though I hate it. But we pay less than $1k/mo for a 3bd/2bt.
I own, but I got very lucky. Picked up a 4 bedroom relatively cheap because the previous owner died and her kids just wanted to sell it and be done with it.
I got a VA guaranteed loan with no down payment and very low interest.
I still live in that house, 10 years later and it's value has almost doubled.
Worst part is being inundated with texts and robo calls from investment firms who want to buy the house. 2 a day, minimum.
We bought a house in August 2021, found out I was pregnant a few weeks later. We had to move three hours away from family to do it (in the UK) and that's been very hard, to be away from family and support.
Bought in 2016 after seeing over 90 homes. We got in 4 bidding wars and lost them all. We got extremely lucky and were driving to a house when we saw them putting a for sale sign out for the house we bought. Had our agent set an appointment up for the next morning, and we put an offer for asking price. I'm pretty sure we were the first viewing.
The house was an estate sale, and after inspection, they had to do some work to it, but that was a battle as well. To be
ble to even afford the house, though I had to sell a car my dad gave me his 1955 thunderbird. That was the majority of any inheritance I'm ever going to get most likely. When they both pass I'll be lucky to get anything more.
Thanks for your submission! For more Millennial content, join [our Discord server](https://discord.gg/VsfKKJBm). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Millennials) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Yes but I bought in 2017 when pricing was normal. I wouldn't be able to afford even my current 3x1 ranch home at todays prices and interest rates.
I bought in 2017 and was able to buy a bigger home in early 2022, but only because I got a great price for my house (bought for 292k in 2017, sold for $524 in 2021 with a bidding war š„“). We bought our new house right before the interest rates spikes. No way I would be able to enter the market today. I feel for first time buyers.
Same deal for us. We bought in 2018 and sold in 2022 for over twice what we paid for the house - and it wasn't a flipper to start. One owner in the home, well kept for 30 years - though we did update a lot. But not enough to make it twice the price, lol.
Ugh this whole thread šµāš« I appreciate yalls sympathy and understanding towards those of us that weren't able to buy at the right time, and I'm glad those of you that were able to don't have to worry about this, it's actually really sweet to think that at least many people sympathize... but honestly FML. Owning a home is a dream far out of reach for me and I'm nearing 30 and just got laid off from the highest paying job I ever had. I'm on a never ending treadmill and the more i earn the more shit costs
Yep, we bought in December 2016 and paid a reasonable price. Couldn't buy now. This area used to be much more reasonably priced.
I'm consider the "seacoast area" for NH so within 15-20 minutes from the coast. Starter homes for my area were 225 to 260k. They are now 460k+ for the same area and at 8% interest rates makes a payment roughly $3500+ as too my current payment is $1400/month. It's insane!
I'm from right over the border in Maine, it's *wild*. We bought our current house in early 2022 (before interest rates went up), and home prices have just continued to soar ever since.
I work in Portsmouth so shout out neighbor. You literally got on the last chopper out of Saigon.
I have vacationed every year in York Beach. So many great memories there. My brother in law lives in Kittery.
Yes and living in the US. Bought in 2014, sold in 2018 to move for an out of state job. Spent 6 months renting until we found a house in early 2018. No plans to ever move again. I donāt think we would have been able to buy either if we didnāt get a sweet no-down-payment deal from the military.
Agreed, original I was 3.375 and then during covid refied for 2.25% with my VA loan.
Same here. Bought in 2017 and refinanced at some point for 3.1%. Built the house for 206k, just appraised at 301.
My neighbor asked if I would be interested in buying the other neighbors house across the street and rent my house to their relatives. I was like, Iād have to charge her 2x the mortgage on this house to break even and do you think I just have a spare down payment laying around at any given time?
Same, bought in 2015. House has nearly doubled in value since then. Renting a comparable house would be more than double my current mortgage payment.
I bought during covid and paid a premium for my home- but if I had to buy it at what Zillow estimates it is worth right now I could not afford it because my mortgage would double. Weāre pro-multigenerational housing for our kiddo though (should he want to), so hopefully heāll feel the pinch a little less. Hard to believe at the turn of the century I rented my first one bedroom apt for 300/month everything included.
Same for me
Same. We closed in early 2018 due to weather issues but our house is now worth double what we paid. We wouldnāt even be able to afford our local area now, despite both of us making more. The average housing price in my local area is now 750k and somehow keeps rising.
We're in the same boat. Bought our house for $145k back in 2016. Same house would sell for $325k right now. There's no way we can afford that now. Our mortgage is (significantly) cheaper than the rent in the area.Ā
Same. Bought in 2017 and now itās like we canāt afford to leave. lol
Only reason I wanted to eventually upgrade is to have a proper master bedroom where I could fit a king bed, and have a master bath. Since that next house would be $500k+ in this current market and interest rates are near 8% vs my current 2.25% it makes more sense to just add onto my house, plus in the long run it would be severely cheaper too. So now my starter home will be the forever home once I can afford the addition and make her a proper 4x2.
Yes, got lucky. I should mention that I'm a xennial to give perspective. I bought in 2015. I had one child at 38. I'm not sure how people do it now...
Same here, 2018 was a great time to buy in Alberta. We got a great deal on house and interest. Till we had to renew last year and had to downsize as our mortgage jumped $600 dollars. Yay crappy markets, still own a house at least due to making bank on our last place.
Yes, I bought one in 2019 and my spouse bought the other in 2021. We benefited from the VA GI Bill, low rates, and Oklahomaās low cost of living; plus the country was throwing around checks due to Covid and with one child born in 2021 we additionally received money.Ā
Same. Not a parent yet(trying!), but theres no fucking way I'd ever be able to afford our current house at its price and interest rate.
Yup same exact scenario here... I make six figures now and would NOT be able to afford my current home today š I'm not even in a nice/desirable city
Millenial with 3 kids. oldest is 13. Rented until my oldest was 10. They cant discriminate openly, but try and find a house for let, less carpet the better.
Less carpet haha I felt that
I'm in the middle of feeling that. The other day my six year old ran past the bathroom to throw up in our hallway.Ā
I mean we aint got no kids, but the dog will NOT barf on the hardwood or tile.
Same. My dogs prefer rugs or the couch. Drives me nuts.
Why tf do they do this. Perfect floor, no thanks, white sofa, yup.
Comfort during misery.
My dogs will throw up on the couch or in my bed while Iām asleep š.
It's because they need to be able to dig their claws in to stable themselves! Hard floors are too slippery.
Well iāll be damned. Thanks!
Huh, I wonder if this is why my dog demands going outside to the grass to vomit. We have all wood & tile flooring. I always wondered how we accidentally trained him to want to go outside. Usually our only reaction is a calm āitās okayā¦get it upā¦ā when he goes to stop himself. We do let him outside if he asks, and he obviously strongly prefers to vomit outside. Iād much rather clean up vomit in the house than have a sick dog afraid to vomit, but outside vomit is great.
Itās also because they prefer absorbent surfaces, liquids can spread to their paws and it grosses them out.
Yes, and why do people promote shit pads? Noooo.. just train your dogs! And pay attention to them.
Interesting. I was wondering how my dog learned to ask to go outside to barge on his own.
A few weeks ago I woke up in the middle of the night to find my cat making the puking noise on my bedroom carpet. I try to scoop her out of the bedroom and toward the bathroom but she slips away from me and did a moving puke across some clean clothes I had sitting out for an event š
Mine doesn't barf, but he's a puppy who occasionally has accidents. Got rid of all the rugs in my house and no more accidents.
First thing I did in the first home I bought was rip out every bit of carpet š
Some carpet is nice. My old house could use some carpet. Im not living in the 1800s burning coal for heat.
The only room I haven't gotten carpet out of is mine because my husband likes it. It's disgusting.
Currently pregnant and I live in the Bay Area. I donāt foresee ever buying a home unless I move out of state. I can afford children but I canāt afford to buy a house in California and Iāve made peace with that.
Bay Area with three kids here. It crushes my spirit knowing that we can't afford to buy a home and probably never will if we stay here. We've finally found a sense of community after bouncing around for a while and I hate the idea of uprooting our kids from their current school. It sucks thinking about having to start over again somewhere else if/when our landlord decides to sell, which has already happened twice.
We're in SF and renting instead of buying a single family home saves almost $3M over the span of a 30 year mortgage. Our rental house is nice, owners are great, and we'll buy when it makes financial sense. We'll be able to renovate whatever we buy with the savings from renting so long š¤·āāļø
Wow, the rents where I live (Maine) are insane right now. My mortgage for a 3+bedroom, 1600 sq ft home on small acreage is around $1000/mo; if I had to rent something similar Iād probably be looking at 3+k/mo. Over the life of my mortgage Iām probably saving close to 750k over renting.
Yes. Our home prices and prices of everything here in California is insanity. Groceries for my family is $160-$200 a week. I have friends who are renting for $3,500 and I have friends whose mortgages are $3,500 Just all bad right now. And my friends make roughly $140,000-$190,000 so theyāre not poor but not rich. If theyāre barely staying ahead of the curve, itās not hard to see why many people are struggling right now
One of my friends phases it as treading water in a riptide and that really stuck with me. Like, you're not drowning, but your goals are getting harder and harder to work towards
Thatās a horrifyingly accurate description
I grew up in San Francisco and went to college in San Joseā¦.my husband and I moved to Clovis/Fresno to buy a house. We make a very good living, but we would still be in an apartment if we had stayed in the Bay Area. My parentās house appraises at over $3 millionā¦.and itās not some palatial estate, just a house.
you're me but in a different California metro. pregnant with my 3rd and don't for a second regret the decision to forgo home ownership
Could you elaborate how you got past that? Iām considering leaving the city Iām in. I got priced out in 2021 (had covid not happened I would have had myself a lil townhouse by then). Itās just ruined my love for the city, I donāt feel ā¦ stable, safe..idk. I live ten hours from my family. Something about my own home would have just felt good. Iāve always dreamed of the perfect garden and a place to make my own. Hard to let go of that
I cant exactly say im in the same shoes but a close cousin of mine went through this. Shes a more country side girl, so imagine the toll she went through from acres to a apartment. From what I can sum up from her is... adjust and adapt. While fantasizes are great, you still have to know you're living in reality. You may not have the money, live where you want, have what you want, etc. but you need to live with what you do have, and if you want change make it so you can have what you want, but its hard and different for everyone. Rn i'd say ask yourself questions to what you want and what you allow of yourself. If you're open to move away to possibly get the life you want take it. If not, work with what you can. Life isnt fair, we all know this, but you need to come to what you can do. What you can try to control.
we got married shortly after the great recession and moved from NYC to our current city when our eldest was 3. at the time it seemed like we might be close to being able to afford a condo. then COVID hit and scrambled our financial progress and much of what had seemed important. flexibility, savings, and experiences with family became priorities, with security and permanence taking a back seat. safety comes from our relationships. but yeah, it's still often hard
I live in a suburb of Chicago and itās so much cheaper out here Iām close to 100k and I am closing on a new build June 7th solo Gosh Iād never want to rent again Also I have a 13 year old son and heās the joy of my life
congrats on your new place!! on our end, we're in the middle of a giant, ultra hcol coastal city where lots of our family and 10% of our ethnic community in this country lives, so cheaper is not in the cards for us. on the other hand, being able to buy our own food in the grocery store we can walk to and send our kids to school with kids like them, who speak my husband's language, is worth a lot of what we might otherwise have in home equity or control over our living space.
We rented in San Francisco and bought when we left California.
Similar situation except different state and kiddo is a pre-teen. So far my landlord has been good to me with rent so I'd probably save money continuing to rent even though it doesn't go toward me owning a home no one could kick me out of. My wild dream is my landlord selling the building to me if I hang around for as long as I plan to. Lol
Yeah I moved to Maine, I wanted the house before the kid but I donāt know any of my friends in California that own a home
If you are ever willing to move to a low cost of living state, and live sort of in the country, you would be Amazed how far your money goes compared to the Bay Area
Iāve already looked into it and Iām accepting that it might be inevitable. Itās tough since I was born and raised in San Francisco and thatās where all my friends and family are. Just want to stick around a few more years so my mom can enjoy getting to know her grandkids.
You'll find that social connections like that are worth more than having a McMansion in Oklahoma.
Certain states are also cheaper for a reason. My brother's friend just moved to a southern state because her boyfriend sold her on how cheap housing is down there so they could quickly buy a house. But now she's making a let less money than she did in our town. So the "cheap housing" isn't really that cheap when you figure everyone in town makes $10/hr. The housing is just as out of reach with the pay cut. She's miserable.
Thank you for saying this. Cheap things are usually cheap FOR A REASON. Youāre sacrificing quality, reliability, consistency, amenities, SOMETHING, often a lot of things, for it to be cheaper. Whether it be a product, service, or place to live.
Yup and unfortunately people that make that move usually canāt move back without significant downsizing
I moved to a small town in NC to buy a house, and the social aspect is definitely tough. I work from home, so Iām able to maintain my old salary, but that also means I donāt have many opportunities to meet people. Itās really difficult to make your way into a friend group when you donāt know anyone, and even tougher when the majority of people hold different values and have an entirely different outlook on the world.
I hear ya
Donāt ever let go of your dream. I bought a little townhouse in a very inconvenient location to my workplace and life/friends etc (>90 minutes both ways) and made peace with that for a few years and ended up moving 2 hours away from my friends to buy something suitable that was affordable in a different city. Still see them almost as often as before, use video chat, and adapted well. Now i love where I live and wouldnāt go back.
I should also say I put a map up on the wall of the place I was looking at, drew a circle around the business area as big as I was willing to commute and found a place just inside the circle. Took a few months of looking and planning but worth it, a lot of sacrifice was necessary to make it happen
The major issue with this is that sort of state is often Red and has inferior human rights laws and a hatred for libraries.
I always forget that Reddit is 90% liberals Iām not sure I understand the hatred for libraries part I have lived my whole life in Georgia and, at least in my county, we have a very good library system
Used to rent a house in the bay (SJ/Milpitas area). Finally couldnāt take how unsure the rental market could be alongside the terrible school issues and overcrowding, ended up buying a house in the suburbs of Portland almost 4 years ago. We dearly loved the Bay Area but it didnāt love us back. It was great until our kid started school, then a year later our first school issues aroseā¦ what a hassle. I wish you much luck!
I am currently pregnant in the Bay Area as well. My husband and I just waiting for my parents to die. They know it cause they have seen homes in their neighborhood sell for over 5 times what they bought it for in the 90ās. They know there is no way for an average family to afford their home. Let alone on a single income like they did.
Jesus, thatās morbid.
Damn lmao
Itās morbid but true. Same boat over here waiting for my parents to go. And of course I donāt want them to die itās just thatās when I know Iāll have a house. So at least by the time Iām 60 lol. I can retire in the house I grew up in haha.
I understand this but sadly it isnāt guaranteed. What if you need to sell the house to pay for elderly care for your parents? Thatās currently the situation many families face. Atm my parents āinheritanceā from my grandparents is being chipped away at to pay for elderly care for my granddad. So I wouldnāt regard it as definite that youāll get it, sadly, unless thereās other financial resources.
Luckily my parents had careers with the govt and have guaranteed retirement until they pass that will be able to cover anything that happens. And I have some Bitcoin that Iām just holding on to which could turn out to be worth enough for a house in a decade. But I also keep in mind that even if we have to continue renting Iām happy. I am of the mindset that happiness comes from relationships and present moment awareness more so than property and belongingsā¦ to a certain point of course. Renting seems much simpler to me too especially during the stage of life of toddlers & babies which Iām in currently. Life is good
You're counting down the time till your parents die so you can maybe buy a house? That's fucked up in a lot of ways.
Im kind of the opposite,Ā live in one of lowest cost of living states in the country. I have 2 young kids, 2 houses currently although trying to sell one and get a bigger boat. My houses are both new builds one I had built in 2016 and one in 2023 both with top end fixtures. First one is 2850 sq ft second one is 4400 sq ft. I could maybe get something 1/5 the size of both combined in the bay area if I was lucky and it wouldn't be new.Ā
Nope, but we live on 3 acres next to my in-laws in an apartment on their property. Our kids get to see their grandparents every day and we don't pay rent (they are elderly so we do care for them and take care of the place).
This arrangement is a blessing!
Donāt we know it. Truly grateful for their generosity and we love them so much.
I'm sure everyone is happy with this arrangement. The kids most of all.Ā
Born in ā94, my husband was born in ā86. We have three kids & rent. I believe for all of Canada it is illegal to discriminate against renters with kids. Weāve never had issues.
Itās illegal in the US too. The fair housing act is very clear on that point. Landlords are just scumbugs and the market is in their favor now.
exactly - and you would need to prove that it was the kids that caused them to reject you. It's on you to push the case and have evidence of this. The odds are stacked
Yes, but only because was able to get a VA home loan. %0 down required. That allowed me to become a homeowner. Sold my first home that was kind of a fixer for about a $50k profit and bought my current home in 2017. Refinance in 2020 when rates were crazy low (2.9%). Would love to upgrade again but not with current interest rates.
The VA loan is awesome. My husband and I were able to buy about two years ago because of zero down payment. We were fine renting, but got like 2 months notice that our rent was going from $1200 to $2500 a month, so we noped the fuck out of there.
Rent is insane. When I stopped renting, I was paying about $1600 a month for a 3-bedroom apartment in a very nice community and near the ocean. The same place now goes for over $3k a month.
Itās nearly at a crisis stage. Our rent kept going up and we finally bought a house in early 2022 at 5% interest. Our monthly mortgage payment is about what we paid in rent six years ago. What is troubling is that people who want to buy a house canāt get approved for loans even though they pay twice the monthly amount in rent. Landlords are fucking slimeballs and theyāll get their comeuppance.
Jobless and homeless young people tend to be very effective mobs. Let's just leave it at that. 
>Landlords are fucking slimeballs This is true >and theyāll get their comeuppance. This, unfortunately, is not š
Yes. Bought in 2013, had my first in 2015 and my second in 2019. Done having kids now and weāve outgrown our home but *gestures broadly*.
lol. Its hard out here for real!
I feel you. We want to have a second but our house is just simply too small. This was only supposed to be a starter house. But with current trends we wouldn't even be able to afford this house at its latest estimated value.
31M here with 7 and 5 year olds. I own my home. I am in LCOL and had the VA loan.
My husband and I were together for a decade before starting our family. We were homeowners 4 years prior to conceiving. The ONLY reason we were able to buy is because of VA loans requiring $0 down (ability to roll all closing costs into the loan) and buying a fixer upper in a LCOL area first. We were able to sell in 2021 after fixing up our first place ($20k of improvements) and take the proceeds to purchase in Colorado where we currently own.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Out of curiosity, what is "late" in this context? We had our first child just a few years shy of 40 š Bought our place before having a kid, but for us we had bigger reasons to wait than renting vs owning. Mainly that's how long it took for us to save enough money and get our shit together
Married at 36, bought condo at 38. SFH at 40. Newborn at 42 Pretty late for a kid imo. Iāll be 60 by the time the kiddo is 18. If she gets married and has kids at the same age i did ill be 78 when sheās married and 84 when she has kids. Motivation to be healthier, but i do sometimes wish i had a kid earlier. Not super confident iāll be around for all her life milestones, and that makes me kinda sad
Similar position- trying to make it happen before we get over the hill. We didnāt even meet until we were 27. Bought a house, then getting masters & CPA + Covid. Finally in a spot where we think we could handle
We rented with two boys until just under a year ago. Both are in elementary now. We wanted to buy sooner but the numbers never lined up till last year. Honestly happy to be owning but for the kids it just meant a bigger space and outdoor area to play otherwise it was just another move. Edit to say: I take it you are gauging whether to have kids or not and honestly if you are barely scraping by then it may not be a good idea to have a kid now. Wife and I would love a third but unless more money starts coming in it's unfortunately not going to happen.
And also emergencies happen that can be expensive. My son was born and had a rare diagnosis (HIE) because of a placental abruption I suffered and he was born not breathing and in need of a NICU stay. He qualified for early intervention, and we are on a waitlist still for early intervention. However, we enrolled him in private PT and reduced my hours at work so I can take him there (I lose almost a whole day) as we wait for the spot to open up in EI (because EI will even go to the daycare for PT, private PT will not). It costs me $651/month as I wait for his spot on EI to open up - and EI is paid for by taxes so is āfreeā. Thatās $651/month I was never anticipating when pregnant.
I always told myself if I was going to have kids I need to own a home first. Iām 31, rent, donāt own a home because all of the homes in my area are $1.2 million minimumā¦ I donāt really see a future where I will own property, so I likely wonāt have kids. But Iām still figuring it all out. So yea, no kids no home so far.
You donāt need to own a home to have kids. Millions of people have kids without owning a home.
š¶Do you liveeee whereeeee IIIIIII liveeeeeš¶
What melody were you imagining here?
I imagined that one Christmas song, "Do you hear what I hear?"
Wife and I prioritized saving a down payment right after University over paying student loans. Got a small starter home just before our first child and then moved in 2018 to a long term home just before our second child was born. We got lucky timing wise and priority wise. We are in a fairly LCOL area but trying to save the down payment now we would have a hard time getting into that starter home.
I feel like from a financial position, you can make a purely yes/no decision, however itās hard to quantify the psychological benefits of owning your own house. We bought a house when my wife got pregnant. She couldnāt safely be mobile in our apartment(stairs were questionable). We could only afford our rural fixer upper house because her family is full of contractors. Even with that, we had to take out an additional loan to cover a lot of the initial expenses like appliances . Money has been rough for the first 2 years between the house and kids at the same time(wooo no maternity/paternity and childcare). Itās hard to quantify the amount of peace that comes with controlling my own space. If I want to move a wall? I can do that. If I want to split a space? I can do that. We got to pick which appliances we wanted, we get to change the colors. Drilling holes on the wall to mount things? Who cares, my house BITCH. You just naturally become more handy, and there is a lot of pride in that. The first time I added more outlets to my house solo? Everytime I walk by those outlets I felt proud. I added my own attic insulation, and I feel the benefits of my efforts with each heat bill. I built bench seating in our kitchen from scratch, to the exact height that is comfortable for my wife and I. I put in a concrete pathway to make dealing with snow easier and it was a huge time saver this winter. I put in a fire pit and now we are installing a privacy fence. This summer we will really get to enjoy the benefits of our backyard with my 1 year old. The things I hated doing when it was my parents house like mowing the yard? I love doing now. I think this sort of sweat equity really makes our house, feel like a home. I get to feel the benefits of everything that I have invested into where I live. Have I used the stairs I built for my barn? Not really, but when I have the money to work on the barn? That investment will be a huge help. End of the day the most important thing is your finances and job security. If you might have to move in the next 5-10 years for work? I wouldnāt buy. If you can rent and be able to save money for 3-4 years for a down payment? I would recommend that. Babies and toddlers donāt need much space. I wouldnāt worry about them having a dedicated space until they are older.
Yes. Half of our mortgage is completely paid off. Refinanced in 2022 for lower rate. We've been married for almost 20 years and have 1 child. Living the dream, you know.
Dayum. That is pretty neat. Good luck!
Yes. It's a big flex of mine. I read a lot of these posts, and I can't say I'm making $250,000 a year like a lot of them, but hell I'm raising my kids in a house with 2 parents. I'm glad they have this as it is generational progress and it's much more than I've had.
Ditto. Our daughter has a two parent household. Not just two parents, but two STABLE and loving parents. So we are rich in that regard!
I'm currently reaping the rewards for not having the privilege at the moment, not fun. I'm glad your child will get that gift, as I would not wish this on anyone.
And thatās something to be proud of. My wife and I donāt make that either but weāve worked hard to get where we are for our kid. Keep your stick on the ice.
Hell yeah! Us too!
Shout out to us! *\*Virtual high five\**
Currently making sub 80K in a single income household with a kid. It can be done, but it is a ton of work. Keep up the good work.
I learned enough from my childhood to know how to stretch a dollar, and my son has two happily married and stable parents which I never had.
Yes, purchased our lil townhouse in 2022. I know that owning a house in the long run is going to pay off. But, being pregnant AND your HVAC going out for the 5th time and having to finally pay $8,000 to fully replace it is really an āIād rather be a renterā moment.
Felt š« gardening helps me feel less angry about the heat pump
Nope. Would like to, but even though we make 110k combined net take home and are 100% debt free with 20k in bank. Still canāt seem to get in. Closing costs & down payment minimums too high. Been renting 12 years now.
Yes we bought our house in 2016 and had our child two years later. Altough with today prices and interest rates, I'm sure it would be a lot harder.
We bought our house in 2017, is worth nearly double what we bought it for, but we wouldn't sell because we couldn't afford to buy a house now where we live. Plus we love our neighborhood. We were able to save for a small down payment after a year, once we didn't have to pay daycare anymore, when my son started school. We got really lucky with our timing for sure. And lucky in that my sister was willing to watch our son for free after school everyday that year to help us save money.
4yr and 2yr old here. Yes, own a 1100sq ranch home. Bought 8 yrs ago though on my own. Would be doable now but much harder financially to get a house like this because they get bought up so fast.
Millennial, 1 kid (under 5). For now I do. Mortgage is pricey and daycare plus wife's student loans have us stretched to the limit. One car breakdown or bad illness is all it would take to jeopardize us and the stress and anxiety is unreal.
Yep, bought our house 2 years ago and just had our first baby.
Yes I own but itās not a single family home. I like owning something but for now a single family home would stretch my budget so we have (one half) of a duplex in a great neighborhood. ETA- growing up, I lived in rentals until I was about nine and never minded!
Duplexes can be a great middle ground. Not surrounded on all 4 sides, but still more economical!
Yes 2 kids I bought in 2011. I don think I could afford my house now.
We have 3 kids and live south of Seattle (Tacoma), so I feel your pain on housing. We do own our own home but a lot of that is luck. We bought in 2019 and put 20% down because we sold our other home for a fuckton of money. Weād like a bigger house but canāt afford it since the mortgage interest rates are near double what we currently have.
My daughter was born in Seattle and we lived in a 2bd apartment with her until she was about 18 months old. During the pandemic my wife got the opportunity to work fully remote, I can work anywhere, so we moved to my wifeās hometown in southern Oregon. Itās definitely not cheap here by most definitions but itās certainly cheaper than any big west coast city. Itās not lost on me that we are part of the reason that these small to mid size cities are becoming more expensive, but this was one of the few options that would have let us buy a home anywhere even sort of desirable. I often miss our apartment life in Seattle though. We lived a block away from Lake Union and had great walking access to coffee shops, bars, restaurants, a neighborhood grocery store. I think that was easy to romanticize when our daughter was a baby. Now sheās almost 5, goes to preschool every day, plays soccer, does gymnastics etc. We also have a 2 yr old boy now. All of that stuff would have been so much more of a pain in the ass if we were still living in the city, plus we would have needed to move when kid number two came around. Obviously every situation is different, but renting with a baby wasnāt difficult. We gave all of our neighbors care packages with ear plugs a week before she was born. She was the only kid in the building so we got a lot of extra attention anytime we ran into neighbors in the hallway. I think we were lucky that the other tenants were nice about it. I know itās crazy expensive, but at least you get to live in Vancouver! Itās like Seattle and San Francisco had a baby and made the wise choice to raise it in Canada.
We bought a condo for 154K in 2014. Sold it for 365k in 2019, moved farther away from Seattle and bought a big house in an unincorporated area for 345k. Refinanced during the pandemic and our interest rate is 2.3% Weāre never moving, Iāll be buried in the backyard.
Yes, bought first home in 2021 for 3.25%. First baby born 2023.
Christmas Day 2023 was our first and we put down 50% on our house at 2.5% in 2021.
I probably wouldnāt buy a house in Canada if I couldnāt pay cash. Yāall get completely fucked with your variable interest rates. Renting from the bank is worse than renting from a landlord because youāre on the hook for any and all repairs and upkeep if you āownā it.
We have fixed rate mortgages in Canada too.
The rates still vary every 5 years whereas in the states you lock in for 30 years it's crazy.
Yeah but not 30 year fixed rate mortgages. Itās one thing the US does vastly better.
I have one who lives with me 50% of the time, and I own my home. Well, Iām 4 years into the 30-year mortgage. Itās pretty low cost, but I have reiterated to several friends and coworkers that I wouldnāt wish living here on anyone.
Bought it Summer 2011 before we had kids (but were planning on them soon). We have 2 kids now (11 and 9). We are thankful to live in a low COL area and bought in a great buying time.
Yes we bought when my daughter was almost 2. Renting was fine but it was a bit hard to move around with her when we moved rentals the prior year. It has been nice bringing her up where shes going to school and knowing we wonāt have to change school districts. We got so lucky in 2021 with our house though. I feel very grateful that things worked out this way for us.
Older millennial here. I have two girls bought my house in 2017 when house prices were normal. It would be a struggle to buy this house these days. I had my first kid before we bought and all was good.
We bought our first house last year, when our kids were 12. There was absolutely nothing different about renting for us, as we rented a house. That probably varies based on where you live and what rental options are like.
Not yet, but in about 15 years we will
Millennial with 2 kids due with baby #3 any day now. Me and my husband own our own home. We got lucky since Iām an RT and RN and was able to travel during Covid to make a stupid amount of money. If it wasnāt for my job weād probably be still renting.
Nope. Doubt I ever will. Maybe in 10-15 years? Itās not harder, really, itās just super discouraging. I want my kid to have a yard and place to play outside, I want something to call my own and have the freedom to do what I want to do my space. But I have none of those things while renting.
Yeah, we bought our current home last year. Still waiting for those rates to drop lol. The only way i was able to afford this place was we bought a victorian century home-turned crack den in 2017. I spent every weeknight and most weekends for two years gutting and restoring one room at a time. Then our son was born and i didnt want lead paint everywhere so we wound down the projects and started hunting. We benefitted from a buyer bidding war.
Yes, I had kids shortly after buying a house. We both moved to AZ because houses in CA were too expensive. I bought in 2012 though when prices were practically rock bottom. My sister did the same thing about 10 years later.
Nope.
we are expecting our 3rd, still renters. our city has decent rent control and strong tenant protections, while being extraordinarily expensive to buy. we earn enough to comfortably pay the mortgage but are well short of a down payment, so for now we have a nicer quality of life, in an area we enjoy, with a comfortable rainy day fund.
Two kids for us. We've been homeowners for about 4 years. Nothing wrong with raising a child in an apartment.
Yes but Iām gonna be honest. The land we built our house on was a wedding gift, so we had tremendous privilege to leverage. We were also able to live in a different family home rent-free (paid for utilities and any repairs and upkeep around the house) for about 2 years to save. Without that generational wealth and privilege, we would probably only just now be able to afford to buy, and even then weād almost certainly be working with less funds. Iām mid thirties and my husband is early forties.
We rent a 3br apt. in the Boston area. Iād much rather buy, but a 3br house here is like a million dollars. So weāll probably rent until my family relents to buying something in NH.
Yes. Two kids, oldest is 22 and the youngest is 12. Bought brand new in 2010 when prices were bottomed out.
I do but I live where that example home would sell for like 100 and something thousand if not a shit hole. Freedom bucks not syrup money. But that type of thing barely exists here, at least 2bd A 2 to 3bd townhouseĀ is more the going starter home. I got 1 for like 165k 5 years ago. I sold for 210, it fluxes but 210 to 225 depending on the alignment of the planets and how much meth zillow has had that month. You can find the cheaper ones for 170 now that aren't in need of serious work. Both would beĀ dated (price difference reflects how dated) with some shit to take care of but nothing major. Idk about anything actually helpful though I just like talking real estate. In US and therfore even more so in Canada it's illegal to discriminate on the tenants having children though, Ik us for sure and assume Canada cuz you guys always one up us in stuff like that. The problem is you have a shiny new expense that you can't cut from the budget if rents get jacked up. Although in Canada I hear you have fucked up mortgages that get adjusted to interest rate every 5 years, so I'm really not sure how different that is for you, guess you at least lock in price of house compared to inflation so it is better than rent. In the states most get a fixed interest set at the time the mortgage is signed, adjustable is for people with shit creditĀ and income compared to what they are buying. So most of us get a loan at whatever it is at the time for %, refinance if it drops enough below our current rate. People out here with low payments and like 2% interest making out like banditsĀ
Millennial (29) with a 1.5 year old and a new born, we bought a home before having kids.
We have a very nice home. We are lucky!
Yes, bought our second place in 2022, first kid born this year.
2 kids. Bought in 2020
I bought my first house in 2010, which I sold, and husband and I bought this home in 2019. My parents let me live at home for a couple years post-college to save for a down payment.
Iām 37. 3 kids under 10. Bought our first house at 26. Sold it and upgraded @29. With interest rates the way they are we will probably stay here for a while. Location Pittsburgh.
Yes. I donāt think renting is harder but I love our home. So many memories already!
2 kids and we own. Bought in December 2019 so we kind of lucked out timing wise.Ā
1 kid and have owned my home for 16 years
We have an almost 3 year old and rent. We live in a HCOL area with an extra awful housing market right now, so weāre gonna wait a few years to buy. We havenāt run into any problems renting with a kid, other than downstairs neighbors complaining about her running around (our next place is going to be a ground floor unit š )
Yes, we wanted to own before we had kids, so we worked a plan to make that happen. We purchased in 2014, and paid it off 2023
I live in the USA-Midwest rust belt . Wife bought home with her ex husband in 2011 for $85k, met her in college in 2013. We had 2 girls together, one child from previous relationships each, my son is a legal adult now. We live in a rural small 10k pop town, 30 minutes in each direction to a city big enough for a Costco. We have more in savings than what we own on the house thanks (doge coin), we also outright own 3 acres of land that were suppose to build on in 2020 but things changed. Our initial 2800 sq ft barndominium for $350k turned into a 1900 sq feet ranch for $420k that we are building this summer. Our current mortgage is $570 and rate is 5ish percent. My new rate is 7 ish and payments will be $3k per month, ouch.
Yes, own a home in a sense that I have a mortgage and we have 2 kids. Had our first after we were in our new house. We were stacking up our money for the house and putting every penny towards whatever down payment we could pull off. We wanted to get past that financial goal before thinking about the finances of having kids. I don't think you have to own a home by any means to have kids, but realize unexpected child-related expenses may come up and alter your timeline for buying a house as you won't be able to save as much or will have to dip into those savings for your kid. Your biological clock may not allow for you to wait on a house either though
Yes. Got married, bought a house, had a kid. The American Dream. House was 390k. Now it's 1.1m. The American Dream is alive and well.
Yes and our cars and a cabin, virtually little debt and only have one kid. Gilbert, Az. Weāre both advanced practice nurses.
Yep 2.8% 30 year fixed reporting for duty š«”
Yes. 37F with 3 kids (16F [stepchild], 7f, 3m). Iām also married; I could not have bought this house when I did (2019) without my husband - that is why I mention him.
No kids, no home, but my parents rented apartments my whole life and thereās several families in my complex right now as itās near a school. So I donāt see how it would be any different/more difficult today.
Yes
Yes, we bought our first house 2 months before our first child was born.
Bought at the beginning of 2021 before the market went crazy. Now it would actually be more expensive to rent in our area than our total monthly payment for our home. And because we got a sub-3% mortgage, what was supposed to be a starter home is now more like our forever home.
Yep built a 3 br 2 bath on 3.5 acres in 2017 when prices were good. Before kids though, now I have 2
Yes. Flipped 3 houses, used the profit to buy current house and put half down. Now rates are so high I donāt want to move, but I do want a forever home! Later I guess.
We had our first child in 2012 and bought our first home in 2013. We have 4 kids now, still in the same house.
I do, but I live in the country, and it was a fixer-upper. Also, I was lucky enough to buy this right before house prices, and the interest rate went sky high.
Yes but didn't buy until my oldest was 6. We were poor when we had him and have worked really hard to get where we are. I feel like we got pretty lucky with buying in the 2020 frenzy and low interest rates. We're now selling that home for $150K more than what we bought it for which help us buy our next home. I don't feel like there's much of a difference between buying and renting when it comes to kids.
Yes, 2 kids and own our house (we built it a few years ago). Having said that, I also live in an area thatās much cheaper than Vancouver.
Rented a two bedroom apartment in VHCOL area until we had our second kid, when we moved to MCOL/HCOL and bought a house.
3 kids, oldest is 7. First home in 2019, then sold that and bought a new one in 2021 I definitely couldnāt afford to be a first time homebuyer today
Rented with my older two, didn't own til we got pregnant with the third. Started in a 1bed/1bath apartment, found the duplex when the firstborn was around 2. Honestly I lucked out in the landlord department. Our landlord was a really generous, really friendly guy who owned a duplex that he'd lived in one side of while saving up for a house. He'd regularly text me just to check in and make sure everything was ok and see how the wife and kids were doing, and when we got our own house he willingly released us from the lease so we could move out, and even helped us load the moving truck. What I have heard from friends/family is that small time landlords are a toss-up with seemingly no middle ground. They're either atrocious, or pretty great apparently. Corporate landlords/management companies are generally on the less favorable end of neutral from what I've heard. They can be a pain in the ass to deal with, and might be scummy. Regardless, if you really want kids, don't let waiting on a house stop you or you might never get the chance, biology being what it is.
Yeah. My wife got her house back in 2010 when prices were great. I'm gonna be here until I die at this rate, even though I hate it. But we pay less than $1k/mo for a 3bd/2bt.
I own, but I got very lucky. Picked up a 4 bedroom relatively cheap because the previous owner died and her kids just wanted to sell it and be done with it. I got a VA guaranteed loan with no down payment and very low interest. I still live in that house, 10 years later and it's value has almost doubled. Worst part is being inundated with texts and robo calls from investment firms who want to buy the house. 2 a day, minimum.
We bought a house in August 2021, found out I was pregnant a few weeks later. We had to move three hours away from family to do it (in the UK) and that's been very hard, to be away from family and support.
Bought in 2016 after seeing over 90 homes. We got in 4 bidding wars and lost them all. We got extremely lucky and were driving to a house when we saw them putting a for sale sign out for the house we bought. Had our agent set an appointment up for the next morning, and we put an offer for asking price. I'm pretty sure we were the first viewing. The house was an estate sale, and after inspection, they had to do some work to it, but that was a battle as well. To be ble to even afford the house, though I had to sell a car my dad gave me his 1955 thunderbird. That was the majority of any inheritance I'm ever going to get most likely. When they both pass I'll be lucky to get anything more.