this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2023
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I'm English so can't comment on the situation in the US, but reading the comments in this thread it seems quite similar to the one here.
I bought a house in 2010, just before I turned 23 and I'm very much the exception to the rule. I live in an area with some of the lowest house prices in the country. I didn't go to University and got my first full time job when I was 19. It didn't pay well but I lived at home and I was a stoner. I didn't go out much, just to friend's houses to get high. My town is walkable enough that I didn't need to drive (I get that not driving isn't really possible in the US, or even in some parts of the UK).
This meant I saved up a lot of my money without really trying. The house I bought cost £41,000. I sold it in 2022 for £39,000 which should give you some idea of the state of it.
My Dad bought a house in 1986 for £12,000. I can see that house from the one I live in now, which cost me £79,000 in 2022.
Those house prices sounds absolutely insane to me.
I'm also in the UK, but I'm in the South East, so house prices are very high. Still managed to find a "cheap" house recently due to the location being a bit rough.
For comparison, my house that I'm buying is £345k (it's 2 bedrooms with a separate garage and 2 bathrooms). I saved up a £125k deposit by living with my parents for the longest time (I think it took me about a decade). The exception being for 3 years when I house shared - the rent was £325 per month with bills included, but my room was effectively a glorified cupboard.
I will also say that I was saving lots and lots of money with my old job. I'm a software developer, so my salary was good (started off at £22.5k, went up to £45k with about 10 years experience and being a senior dev, then our company got bought out and my salary went up to £55k). A year later and I switched jobs as the annual salary increase was £150 (for the whole year). Ended up with a £75k salary w/ bonus, private healthcare, etc etc. I really lucked out at that moment.
As to why I didn't buy a house earlier with my deposit, there was two reasons:
So yeah, buying a house in the South of UK isn't easy at all. It requires a ton of patience and luck.
Jesus, that's insane.
My house has 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and no garage. It is, I'd say, in the second worst part of town but crime rates here are still fairly low. I paid over 4 times less for it than yours just 17 months ago.
TBF house prices here have increased since then and you're looking at around £100k minimum for a place like this now, but still, that's mental.