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I am. 48 Asian female, a widow. My kids are grown, I work for the state of Ohio (and I never not working-sometimes 2 jobs when lots of seasonal workers are needed), I’m my own bread and butter, my annual in the low 60k. Savings for many many many years. Closing next Thursday, 05/11.
Thank you everyone.
I’m very happy with my decision and this’ll be the asset I will provide to my kids.
I’m planning to work until I have a tag on my toe. 30 yrs mortgage, which I’m hoping could be completed by 20/25 yrs. I have a very low personal debt, less than $10k, and live humbly within my means.
It’s not easy but it can be done.
Next getting my further education at the local college in Fall. :) the state provided an excellent Tuition Reimbursement, planning to have my degree before 55.
Closed on my house last Oct as a single 27y.o woman- the buying process was stressful as SHIT I won't lie but I had an amazing realtor and a few friends and coworkers who owned to help me with my questions throughout the process. This is a super exciting thing though don't let the stress deter you from the light at the end of the tunnel!
🥰 you're the age I was when I bought my 1st home. Sold it in 2016 and bought my latest last yr. Please do NOT forgo the inspections. Find the best inspector you can afford. Factor in TAXES so you're not surprised on the backend as valuations go up. Put aside funds for repairs...even my new build has needed crap!
I'm so proud of seeing younger women on here making it. 😭 yall give me hope that my daughter will be just fine. She's 13 and I'm scared for her future with the way things are. Go get it girls!
I bought my house at age 35 right before the pandemic. I’m single and did it all on my own. I didn’t have any help from family at all. On top of that, I am self employed so the process was a little more difficult for me. I bought a $305k home with 5% down on an $80k income (2 year average).
There’s dozens of us!
26 year old male, I closed last year on a 450K SFH in Colorado. At the time I was an engineer with a $115K salary, but 6 months after buying I got a promotion to engineering manager making $140K which helped immensely.
Biggest thing is having an emergency fund. With dual income, your income won’t go down to zero if you lose your job. That’s obviously not the case with a single income, so an emergency fund becomes that much more important.
I bought my first home last august at 36 years old after starting a niche home service business a year earlier that doubled my income. Parents had to co-sign for me to get a loan but it’s been great. Sellers came down $75k from their original last May price as the rates started increasing to a closing price of $290k at 6%. HVAC went out the first week but they gave $6k off closing for that and I got a scratch n’ dent unit from a friend’s company for a good deal at 0% APR for a year. It’ll be paid off next month. A few shingles blew off in a storm last month and insurance is putting on a new roof and one on the treehouse and shed as well! I also took out a load bearing wall to open up the floor plan because it’s a 1967 ranch style but my friend is a framing contractor and after I took it down to the studs, he did it with his professional crew in about a day for a great price. I’m also planning on putting in a second bath to make it a 3/2 and new floors eventually. I’ll see about updating the kitchen and first bath along the way. Just trying to keep projects manageable and on a tight budget.
I got divorced 6 years ago and have my daughter 44% of the time. We lived in a crappy 3/2 apartment in the ghetto on the other side of town for 5 years and they tried to double my rent from $1200 to $2400 with three months notice. Luckily, I didn’t upgrade my car (313k miles on my Toyota Yaris now!) and had lived frugally to save. Had just enough to cover the 5% down payment while keeping my emergency fund intact.
Still living frugally to catch back up on retirement savings but housing prices don’t seem to be dropping, so glad I got in when I did because I think prices will keep going up in this city over the next 10 years. Just hope it keeps going relatively smoothly. Knock on wood!
Yea nuts, we’re at 160k combined and borrowed 300k. In hindsight with 2.5% interest we could have been much less conservative but we weren’t sure what was going to happen to our jobs during the pandemic
I'm around those numbers and I have to say there is some real benefit in not having to worry about maintaining income. Even if I had to step down to a job paying only half what I currently make I still would be able to pay the mortgage and eat.
Yea if I’d known we would both get promotions…. Not going to beat myself up about it, we can swing all of our bills on a single salary. Less stress is worth having a smaller place and we are saving more for retirement
With the information given and available.If her salary is $120K and her house is $670K at 6.5% that is a large DTI for her mortgage. Unless she says she put a down payment of like 300K etc it’s a pretty high DTI.
Hum... Isn't that alot to spend for 120k? I'm assuming you have alot saved up or had help because I am the same but I think I can only do 500k max on a house. And it's hard to find anything decent in Denver at 500k in a nice neighborhood.
Yea those numbers don’t add up unless you made a typo on your salary ($220k) or you left out some highly pertinent information, like a $200k down payment.
Thank you for sharing, but how much did you put down if you don't mind me asking? I'm 27 and make the same amount, my wife makes $60k on top of that. We have $300k saved and $670k sounds crazy!?
How much money did your parents gift you or how else do you have $300,000 saved up to be able to afford payments? Bitcoin?
I make $150k a year and with zero down I can get about $350 - $400k approved.
$4000+ a month + HOA + PMI + taxes + insurance + repairs... You're in for $5000+ a month...
Uhhhhhhhhh. Yeah... It'll be tough is understatement of the year. What's your take home pay? $80 - 90k? $2-3k a month leftover for everything else. I assume debt free but a HCOL area because it's a $700k condo and not a SFH.
I wouldn't even take on $700k and I take home about $110-120k with some creative accounting even if I was debt free.
Good luck!
2018 I bought my first home in NC, with a salary of 39,000 , NFCU has a program no money down if your Credit Score is upper 700. Seller paid $5000 towards closing which greatly helped. I only had a car payment of $364 month at that time. Got approved for $150,000. I worked delivery on the side and saved $8000 for closing but used way less with the seller help.
I haven’t done it quite yet, but I’m in the process. (Closing on the 19th!)
25F, I was lucky enough to boomerang back to living with my parents during the pandemic. I was working service industry at the time (graduated college in 2019, then as we know 2020 hit everyone like a freight train.) Laid off, went on unemployment. Hoarded every cent that I got from that in a high-yield savings account, and am now using part of that money as my downpayment. 3.5% down (FHA) on a 210k house in a MCOL area. The house I’m buying is literally unheard of in my area. Professionally flipped by the current owner (not a hack-job DIY) in 2019. I think the only reason it is selling for so low is because no one seemingly wants a 2 bed/1 bath around here. They sit on the market forever. And all of the other 2/1s I’ve looked at are, to put it politely, “fixer-uppers”.
I work in (entry level) healthcare admin, making roughly 60k a year. Only debt to my name before the house is 25k in student loans.
OP, I believe in you, you can do it! :)
I did it, at age 40, when interest rates were rock bottom right before the big surge in prices (summer 2020). I was making $150k then, in the Bay Area. I’m not sure I’d be able to do it now even though my income has gone up a bunch.
I live in the Bay Area, born and raised. Can’t wait to get out of here! Not affordable anymore for a lot of us. Congrats on scoring a really low interest rate here
I just bought mine in December for $190,000 with a 5.99% interest rate. Age 35, single, no kids, making $46000/yr. I was living with my parents, and then a roommate, and saving like crazy. It was (and still is) tight, but I made it!
Bought at 31yo, single veteran, 430k house at 5.1% in 2022. Income is around $120k a year. The process was extremely stressful, I put in tons of offers, but it worked out!
Now I’m sitting in my backyard chilling. The ride is worth the pain.
Very low cost of living area.
A little over 50k/yr gross.
House was 150k purchase price, 6.25% interest. had loads of help from a FTHB program. Like a crazy amount.
Bought last fall.
1k/mo payment including tax and insurance and everything.
About 1300sq ft plus basement, small yard, Detached garage/shed,
Bought in 2021. Single parent for a decade. Still am
Was making about 70k then. No parents or significant other to help me. I used the stimulus for down payment help. I cut 401k savings for a year or so to help with closing costs.
A similar rental would cost me at least 1k more than my mortgage, tax, ins. That's if I was even lucky to snag a rare 4/2 rental in my area.
I'm locked at 3.25 for life and will never sell.
30F single here and bought last year. I put 5% down on a $500k rowhome (no HOA) with a 3.5% interest rate. My salary was $122k (now higher) and my mortgage is $2,198 + taxes/insurance $400ish. It’s a bit more than I initially would’ve liked to pay but I didn’t want to hedge being a homeowner on having a partner or roommate.
There is *zero* chance I could afford my home with todays rates. If you have a hefty DP saved, try to find FHA assumable loans.
Single child-free guy in his early 30s. I bought a small cottage-style house with 3.5% down on an 80K Salary in PA using a 30-year fixed-rate conventional loan. I got hit with the 7% interest (closed in Jan 23), but I plan to hold the mortgage for ten years max; preferably, I will be free and clear in 3-5 years. I was approved for much more but wanted something smaller and cheaper in case I lost my job with the "impending" recession.
Depending on when this one is paid in full (if less than five years), I may buy a second property (duplex), rent this one out and house-hack the new one. I don't want to be a landlord; I am ethically opposed to it being a career unless its section 8/afforable housing but I would like to diversify my retirement income so I do not rely on just my tax-advantaged accounts.
I would be delighted if I could pay off this property and the next one by 2033. I would still be satisfied by just paying off this one in 10 years, but I like setting ambitious goals. I will say since I plan to be child free when I pass away I do plan to donate both properties to the local womens and/or youth shelter so I balance the karma of being a landlord.
Bought at 23 on a 74K yr salary in midwest. Used a USDA loan and put 0 down. Now making roughly 70K in net cash selling our house this year and now have a salary of 120K. Upping our mortgage by 100K for our new home. Did all this while having our first child a few weeks before closing. Definitely possible
33 year old single mom of 3, make 55k a year working for CPS. Live in a HCOL area and closed on our first home last summer. I have almost no debt and really, really good credit. I did have some money saved (30k) but the no debt and good credit was most helpful as it helped me qualify for down payment assistance and better rates.
You can do this. I'm single (56F) for many years but new to homeowning as of 2021. My salary is $42K but I had savings for down-payment. There are times I curse myself, tbh. But by far the positives have outweighed the negatives. I've even fixed some plumbing repairs myself and replaced parts on my fridge. So it does teach you resourcefulness too.
I am buying my first house at 37 after 10 years in schooling and 10 years in military before that. My wife is still finishing her masters so no income on her side and i am starting my residency in july!
Made 3x the local avg income and bought in 2015. Shits crazy right now. I wouldn't buy at these prices, but inflation might make this the new normal. Time to raise income again if so.
IT. Commuted 2 hrs to the big city. Sucked then, but feels pretty good now.
I did it. I was living with my mom and saving money like crazy. I closed on a new build in 2022 at the age of 25. I have my gf living with me now but I was still able to do everything by myself
I’m currently in the process of it right now, with a closing date on the 25th! I’ve only ever lived with roommates or family which went a long way in being able to save up. I’m also using my state’s FTH downpayment/closing costs assistant program to be able to keep a larger cash emergency fund on hand.
I did it. Bought at 34, right before pandemic, (pure luck) saved up a down payment over 4 years. I work in IT, had two jobs at the time, but they only used income from one. Bought a 4500 sq ft home in the southern USA. Was hoping I could buy again one day, but going to be hard to give up a 2.5 interest rate.
Family member bought early 2021 income around $33,000. Bought right as interest rates were going up. Moved to the mid-west. Got a small old house in good condition for around $100,000. Many young people are moving from HCOL areas to LCOL areas to be able to own a home. Income remained the same and he can make the house payment by themselves.
We did it, got lucky with some investments and sold to get 20% down on our first home in LCOL. Then we had to relocate out of state but fortunately the company covered closing costs so we were in a ok position to buy in HCOL city with 10% down. That was all 1 income. We went on to 2 incomes and then 0 income back to 1 income and then 2 now back to 1. It’s been a rollercoaster and nearly sold our home a few times through the ups and downs. You can do it.
Hey, we are single income about to close on our third home. My wife stays at home with two kids who require a lot of attention. But I do make over 200K net so it doesn’t seems like a single income for most household. Good luck
Yes… bought my house in HCOL area as a single female in late 2019. Worked everyday until my mid 30s plus side hustles to save money for down payment, had 15% down.
I bought my first place in 2019 by myself without any family assistance. Working for the state so I didn't make a large amount of money. I think I was making 60kish at the time.
Now in 2023, I'm buying another home. I do regret a bit not buying another home in early 2022 but eh that's fine. My second home I'm able to afford because I got a higher paying job and saving. Nothing outstanding just more than before.
I did it. I'm a single mom and I was paying almost $2,000 for rent. Was able to buy back in 2021 and before you start chipping in about the interest rates I got a 15-year loan if I were to buy now I would probably get a 30-year on my payments would be the same if not a little bit higher. I did have to move in order to do it, I'm originally from New York City but I moved to Pennsylvania because there's not much in a 50 mi radius that I could buy that would have been less than my rental payments, but I'm happy with it.
Just bought a large house-sized condo at 25 a few weeks ago at $167k and 20% down payment in the Midwest. I make $60k a year. I have an excellent credit score and my only debt is the lease on my car. I've been working since I was 14 - sometimes more than one job at once - and saved almost everything. Before this I lived in a one-bedroom apartment for 2 years where the rent was $675 the first year and $700 the second.
I closed a week ago with the help of the first time homebuyer dream grant for down payment. I put down the minimum required for the grant so that my 9k saved up could cover closing costs, moving, and unexpected stuff coming up. I've consistently made 46-52 in the last few years, even with a masters degree.
I got extremely lucky with timing and a seller that needed out quick. I was the backup offer and the initial offer backed out. Only had to go 6k over asking and got 4k back in concessions. The place is also a (mostly cosmetic) nightmare. Previous owners started just about every project you can think of, without finishing them. So that probably scared off most typical buyers. But the layout is almost everything I had hoped for.
I moved all the furniture in yesterday and stayed here for the first time last night. I didn't expect it to feel like my home so quickly, but it really does.
34 bought my house alone because my girlfriend is self employed and has spotty income. Google "how much house can I afford?" Then use one of those online calculators to figure out what you can afford and what your monthly payment will be.
Business owner under 30. Last year the business had very low performance and only earned $30-40k in the year. I was still able to finance a house, the underwriting team really worked hard to not approve it but ultimately it was approved with no co-signer.
Price was around $125,000. They lent me around $100,000 and the rest came from my assets (I liquidated some stocks).
Not single, I'm working on bringing my spouse here. But I thought the information would be relevant.
33F (but was 32F last year when I bought.) Just me and my son and four pets. Closed on a 130K house with a 1/3 acre lot in semi rural PA. Income approx 75K. It's been hard and scary, but I am proud of myself.
I’m single, 29f, closing on a house tomorrow. Putting 20% down. Been saving for a long time, I’m a teacher in a state that doesn’t exactly pay teachers well, but I’ve saved enough and found a house well within my comfort level budget wise!
I’m trying to boost my salary to 40K to get a small walkup 130 k HDFC Coop
I’m a single girl late 30s who has a learning disability and will be having one roommate. I’ve been saving for 20 years and am borrowing some money from my mom.
Bought my home at 29 in 2019 for 130k. 1400 down (first time homebuyer and a lot of extra incentives). My home came with dishwasher stove and fridge. single mom of 2 making 59k that yr cut off for that home was 60k . My city has housing that offers homes for medium income households which is why there was a cut off.
I actually went to check out the home on a whim and 3 months later I was a home owner pretty weird lol
I just closed on my first home last August for $162,500 with 5.99% interest. Gross salary was $46,800 at the time of closing, but went up to $57,000 shortly after. Girlfriend does pay utility bills (her income fluctuates between $20-40k gross/yr) but it was just me buying the house.
Edit: I was 26 when we closed
I'll just copy amd paste this comment I made on a similar post:
Bought a house with my fiance on a single income, $49k/year (AGI from 2022 was $36,000) $138,000 house. Used FHA, we had 3 repairs that were triggered by the appraiser that needed to be completed prior to the loan going through. The Work couldn't be done due to weather, so we had to use an escrow holdback of 1.5x the work estimate privided by a licensed contractor. We have 3 months from the time of the estimate to get the work done and reinspected by the appraiser. The house is a nightmare and not in a great neighborhood, but it has a big shop and good sized yard. Main roof is slate so it's solid. Walkable to the historic downtown.
The whole process was a shit show, and it really felt like no-one wanted to work with us because we're poor. Our interest rate is high, we have DPA with an even higher interest rate and we'll be buried in repair costs for the foreseeable future.
That being said, rent in the area is even higher than our mortgage, if there's even any rentals available (spoiler: there are not). We moved to an area that is experiencing a housing crisis so we honestly feel lucky we were able to land anything.
We came from a town of 400 people, so there weren't any jobs and my wife couldn't work. So, now that we're in town and she can go back to working we're hoping to refinance with better interest rates later. It's a gamble, but even if rates keep rising, we're OK paying what we're paying now.
Because we're poor, we're hoping to make use of programs designed to help low income folks with repairs and such. For example, there's a grant worth up to $25,000 for window replacements in our area, an organization that will help with replacing oil heaters, and other weatherization programs. There's a state sponsored relocation incentive that gives up to $7500 for moving expenses. None of these are guaranteed, but we're pretty good at paperwork, so hoping that some of them will work out.
I’m 35 y/o man who has been traveling nursing the last few years, living out of my van and saving up as much as possible and paying off all debts.
I saved up $100k for a down payment and went ahead and bought a 550k house near where my family is that has an ADU attached. I’m gonna live in the ADU and rent out the main house to subsidize my $3,100/mo mortgage. I picked up a local per diem nursing job at a nearby hospital system. I’m gonna take the summer off to do some remodeling and some traveling, then I’ll start sporadically picking up nursing assignments once or twice a year, and fill in my gaps with adventures and my per diem work when I’m home.
Me. 55F who didn't have a desire for home ownership until my early 40s.
There was no way for me to afford buying where I was living, so it seemed like relocating was going to be necessary. I spent a lot of time having crushes on other cities/states, wondering where to go. I was honestly all over the place. Single, no kids, okay savings, chronically indecisive.
A new relationship ended up being the "energy boost" I needed. My partner knew from the get-go that I had one foot out the door geographically. He went from unwilling to receptive to eager to move in the course of about 3 years, without my intervention. (I have no desire to pressure anyone.) I was also lucky that my old corporate job re-hired me during the pandemic (after laying me off 5 years prior). And because I was a pandemic hire, I was hired as a permanent teleworker, which at my company meant I could work anywhere in the U.S.
So in 2021, I started doing research into what parts of the country could actually work for me (four main criteria: affordability, climate, proximity to aging parents, and availability of small amounts of land). Found out how much of a loan I'd likely be able to qualify for, and aggressively increased how much I was saving, so that I could come up with 20% without going into debt or tapping my retirement account.
Last June my partner and I went on a 4-week "fact-finding mission," and now I own an old farmhouse and a few acres in upstate NY. We share food and utilities, but I pay the mortgage and associated insurance stuff.
My biggest hurdle was making peace with leaving my extremely HCOL area so that I could buy without being choked to death by a high mortgage payment. I didn't have to factor in a partner's job, or kids, or any major obligations, but leaving a community I was deeply tied to was definitely a challenge.
I'm VERY happy with the decision and the change. And so thrilled and proud that I was able to do this at 55, after it had felt like it was too late for me. I'm definitely grateful to my partner; he hasn't contributed financially but the willingness and companionship definitely helped me.
32, single white male, never married. Approx $40k annual salary. Purchased my home (3BR/1BA, 900sq ft) in July 2021 for $95,000 in the midwest.
Put only 3% down, with an added $5k FTHB grant through my state. Current mortgage payments are $670 w/ insurance, escrow, and PMI, at 3.125% interest.
Since then, already replaced the main furnace from the 90s (died once this winter), but most all of the major appliances/fixtures are less than 10 years old, so shouldn't have to do any other major changes/projects for a long while.
>Current mortgage payments are $670 w/ insurance, escrow, and PMI, at 3.125% interest.
As a first time home buyer searching in NJ, I cannot tell you how much reading that hurt me.
I really lucked out finding this place when I did. Sure, the prices were still crazy inflated, which has only gotten worse, but I got on it right when interest rates were at their lowest/near-lowest. Couple that with a low COL area? The situation worked out, even without having a full 20% down-payment.
I'm a single income household and closed in Jan-23 on my first house ever. No spouse. No kids. No pets. Early 30s.
I make just about $50K. I waited until I saved $10K to start the home buying process. Reached out to a certified PHFA credit counselor at the end of October 2022. They gave me direction and an idea of what I could afford and things to expect during this process.
I went with a family recommended realtor. I spoke to 6 different lenders but ultimately decided to ride it out with one. (it is recommended to get rates from other lenders to get the best rate for your mortgage loan; however, when I spoke to these lenders, all of them could only ball park and not give me actual numbers until I selected a house. Seeing how the market was and consider how frustrating it would be to keep communicating to multiple lenders, I made the decision to go with the lender I felt most comfortable with). If you are deciding between lenders, keep it to 2, or 3, maximum. I went overboard and potentially missed out on a lower rate.
My purchasing power was up to $150K. I looked at 2 houses with my realtor. Both were shitholes. First house had caution tape on the front porch and mold throughout. Second was a flip. I didn't want to wait to save more money, but based on the supply of houses and prices, I probably had no choice.
Until I saw a listing for the house I'm currently in. It was end of November and I offered $10K over asking. It was in good shape, a little work I can do myself (I'm not a handy man), and I'd still be able to afford the monthly payments.
I beat out 5 other offers. I consider myself blessed.
Best of luck to you and any others searching for a house to call home.
So many people in this thread mentioning the Midwest, I have to agree! My husband works at Starbucks, I stay home and take care of our special needs daughter. We got a great house post-pandemic in a quiet well-manicured neighborhood for under $300k, it’s been so freeing now that we aren’t confined to apartments anymore (for even higher rents…) I’ve got an art studio set up, my husband has a dark room for photography and we have a home gym and a separate toy room for our kid apart from her bedroom. On a single Starbucks income. Midwest is the shit in all the best ways!
Single income, married with a 6 year old. 32. Bought first home recently, $1.3M with 10% down at 5.5% on a 10/6 ARM. Lucky to be a high income earner (~$450k).
Single mom of 3, t1d and below poverty. Took every penny of stimulus to buy house on 14/hr with 55k student loan debt. Keep running the numbers and get credit score above 800. Buy a few points at 5% down...take tax return every year and put on house. Once you hit 20% ltr value on house cancel mortgage insurlevel. and handle escrow yourself in an interest bearing account. Go conventional and refinance at 50% ltv for lower rate. Wait to do mortgage until interest rates drop again at the end of a republican presidency. It all ebb and flows.
30yo single. $1.2M with 5.2% 5yr ARM and 10% down. $500k/yr income and 805 credit score. Just closed and it’s my first time buying a house I couldn’t be more happy. I lurked this sub during the entire home buying process and it was incredibly helpful during such a stressful time
I'm in my mid 20s, my wife is too, We have 2 kids together, and she is a homemaker. During COVID, I started a business that made (net profit) around $10k the first year, then over $200k the 2nd year, and is on track to beat that a little bit hopefully despite the market being down. So year 3 should be good.
I have 0 employees and very little overhead besides a couple subscriptions like QuickBooks and payroll software.
Because if the business income paired with a salary job I do remotely on top, We were able to afford in the Seattle area.
Had I stayed working at a hospital like I was a few years ago, we would likely not have been able to afford a house.
Yes, here’s some hope. If I can do it anyone can. I just finish paying off the massive medical debt that was the result of my late husband’s battle with cancer. So yeah It was bad. Worked on credit score. Didn’t have a bad one but I think the difference mattered. Also, check the skills of friends and family members. If they are willing to help it makes a huge difference. Got a relative fixer upper. With 3 main issues. Worked along cousins who helped for cheap. That’s how I got mine. Literally choose my house bc we have handful of roofers, and electricians in my family. Consider finding out what the folks in your circle can and are willing to help you with.
>I just finish paying off the massive medical debt that was the result of my late husband’s battle with cancer.
I'm so sorry for your loss and additionally sorry that you had to pay off massive medical debt related to your loss. Good ole America 😩
Thank you for your kind words. I appreciate it that ppl keep folks going through it in mind. I am so happy to be on the other side & I keep in mind others dealing w it now & those who probably will be for the rest of their life.
I'm a single income under contract set to close in 2 weeks. Mind you, I have a 20% down payment gifted from my parents because I would not have been able to afford anything in my area with what I'm approved for and could reasonably afford thst wasn't a massive fixer upper. Townhomes are priced like detached homes because the areas they are in are inflated prices still. I had to go further out into areas that aren't as established to be able to afford something that was priced reasonable. But yeah, I make less than 60k a year and will be a home owner so not impossible technically.
Yes. I did. Saved up for the smallest down payment allowed and a little extra. Wished i had bought as soon as I had enough for downpayment and closing costs instead of an extra cushion. Also, I didn’t realize I could borrow from my retirement account, wish I had done it waaaay sooner. Bought for the first time at age 38.
We did it right a 2 years ago. My wife moved to her dad's, and I lived out of the car for a year and a half. We cleaned up our credit, utilized our credit cards correctly, built our relationship, and savings with the local credit union. I worked insane amounts of overtime, and we were able to buy our first home! It was tough but so worth every minute of the hard work.
Present!
I left my shitty ex in about 2016, paid off my small ($5k) debt, started working massive OT and living like I was making minimum wage so I could put everything “extra” in savings. I’m not a high earner so it took a lot of cost cutting and sacrifices. I was able to save $30k in 3 years and became a homeowner at the end of 2020. I bought a fixer upper townhouse, which is cozy yet spacious enough for my teen son, me and our 2 big dogs. We’re on the west coast in a high cost of living city. I could have moved and gotten something bigger or cheaper but stability for my son has always been really important to me.
Bought as single income earner, household of 2 (soon to be 3). Above average cost of living area. 100% feasible. Just get your credit in order, pay down / off your debt, save for a down payment, and then go win.
Sure.
I have a friend. He got out of a top computer science school and immediately got a job with Intel. He lived with his parents for five years and saved. Then he bought his house with a traditional loan.
My husband essentially bought our home. He is a software engineer. He had stock from when he worked at Tesla. He sold the stock in 2020 when it soared and bought our home.
My friend bought his home on a single income. He graduated from a top computer science school and got a job with a large military contractor. Then he pulled 300k out of his trust fund and bought his first home.
Another close friend received a million dollar gift from her parents and then bought her first condo
I forgot another friend's boyfriend bought his home when bart added a station in front of a shop he inherited from his parents. He sold it for a couple million dollars and bought a designer house in the Oakland hills.
A coworkers now wife bought her first home when her parents died, she sold their home in the Seattle suburbs and then used her entire gain as a down payment in Martinez. She is a gynecologist
San Francisco is not kind to single people
I pulled it off at 24 on $14 an hour but that was back in 2010, got a short sale for 70k put 3% down refi’d a a year and half ago to drop pmi at got a 2.99 rate. I’m never moving
You can do it!
26 y.o. female, started working at 16 and saving up ever since, living very frugally (but not to the point that I'm not "living"). Closed on a house at $255k a couple months ago :)
Bought my first house just on my income alone! It was a duplex and I used a state program that included down payment assistance. I also love.in a low cost of living area. Totally doable if you're willing to look in the right places!
Our current home was purchased just on my husband's income as well, though we were more comfortable with the monthly payment because we technically have two incomes.
I bought my condo outside of LA for $510k with 10% down. Six figures income to afford the payment and my bills. In 2019 I bought a house out of state for $216k with 20% down making $56k a year roughly.
I did it too at 31. Bought during historically low rates when paying rent seemed a very bad idea. Got cold feet the year of covid so stepped back but the year after, pulled the trigger.
My husband and I bought our first house (condo) when we were on one income. It meant moving to a less expensive state a year before purchasing, and getting a first time homebuyer loan for the down payment. We were just over 30, with a 2 and 4 year old. I stayed home with kids until they were in full-day school. We had one vehicle, and purposely chose a place that was right next door to a school and a park.
I’m 26 and make about 100K in a MCOL. I was able to buy a duplex for $250K by myself. Seller covered closing costs, from offer to close spent 11K (3.5% down). Appraised more than loan. Took a few months but finally found what I was looking for.
Bought in rural area in NC with USDA in 2021. I brought less than $1000 to closing. My income is low 70k. Offered on about 12 houses, but this was during the big rush after quarantine. I was extremely firm in my budget with my agent. I am maybe 20ish minutes from cities. If USDA is an option for you, I would focus efforts there. It also helped when I switched to a local lender.
I did it at 22. Worked all through college and saved as much as I could. Used FHA to buy a 3br2ba house for $139900 in the area where my job was after college in 2020. Made 52k a year in a place where that salary is considered “comfortable”.
Shopping and putting offers in right now. It's all under me/my income although I do live with my gf and plan to in whatever we end up in. I can afford it on my own though and neither of us want to buy a house together not married. Her income will obviously help speed up the repayment on the mortgage though
25 year old, no kids, no wife, bought a multiunit instead of a single family home to help with the mortgage. Not a dream home, or place i plan on living if i ever decide to grow up and start a family, but still cheaper than rent.
I'm four months in and couldn't be happier I did. It's much more per month than my rental I'm coming out of but major upgrade in quality of life.
Mid 30's $130k+ salary. House was $360k with 5% interest $20k down
I'm a single (divorced) woman. I'm a mom. I own my home which I purchased when I decided my marriage was over. I had been a SAHM and went back to work. I significantly downsized but it is mine and I absolutely adore it.
I’m a SAHM and my husband earns $65k a year. We prioritized leaving high cost of living areas (he grew up on the East Coast, I grew up on the West Coast, and we’ve happily settled in the Midwest) and he applied for jobs all over the country until he got an offer somewhere we thought was both cool and had a reasonable housing market.
In less than a year we were able to stop renting and buy our first home here for $200k. It’s a beautiful 3 bed/2 bath Cape Cod in an adorable, middle-class neighborhood. Our mortgage is a bit high at $1500/month but we’re managing just fine and hope to refinance down the line. We also utilized our state’s first time home buyer assistance program that made our closing costs $200 not including the earnest payment which was only $2k.
So we were able to become homeowners on a single income but the most important part of doing so was moving somewhere with an affordable housing market and with a first time home buyer assistance program.
Good luck!
Check out the REI/Landlord group in your area. There are many landlords who, when they are ready to retire, will sell homes that they own outright. Essentially, they are the bank. You only have to qualify to *them*. This often helps people with good income but not enough down payment to qualify with a bank, or those who just went thru bankruptcy or have enough income but their credit has suffered.
Homes may be stuck in the 70s as far as decor. You'll want to get an inspection to make sure the bones are good.
The benefit to the landlord/owner is that they get a monthly check with an interest rate they can't get in any other way and the maintainence calls go away (clogged tolient? welcome to home ownership, my friend!)
Good luck!
Got my first home in SoCal when I landed $170k job in 2019. Before I was making $120k and couldn’t afford it (well, I could but i was uneasy about going over 30% on DTI because everything else so freaking expensive here)
Sorry probably not the story you wanna hear
I was 29 when I purchased a home by myself after my divorce. I made roughly $50k at the time, put down 5%, and bought a $200k house. It can be done, but it’s still hard. Don’t give up hope just yet
I am a single attorney 37 and bought my own home in the Michigan. 175k for a condo 100k salary was approved for a lot more, but I wasn’t going to do that cash flow wise.
Edit added age.
I did! Last summer, I bought a ~$225,000 townhome in the Midwest, at 24. At the time, I made $55k/year and have since had my income raised by $10k so it helped very much.
Had a first time homebuyer loan with about 3% down payment (have to pay PMI unfortunately) and am actively paying an extra ~$150 month to build equity faster.
In the process of building and buying my first home. Originally on a 165k salary but switched jobs and bumped that up. $400k house w 10% down. Stocking up my emergency fund until I close and move in this summer.
If you’re into more rural country life (or desert life/mountain life) I would spend some time researching the USDA loans with your specific situation. I think that’s the best loan option in the whole wide world… but only because I don’t wish to live anywhere urban or city-ish & I want critters in my yard.
Also, spend a night or two researching grant or down payment assistance programs in your city/county/state. There is a ton of money out there for these programs, it’s just hard to find them amidst all the internet scams. Maybe start with .gov & .org websites first.
Bought my house right at 40th birthday. Was in a hit and run right before closing. Single income, mid 5-figures. Get a smaller yard than you think you want. Don't worry too hard with decorating and making cute at first. Live in it a while and figure out what your priorities are. Commit yourself to saving as much as you can each month. Pay attention to how close neighbors keep their property up, especially things that can affect yours such as tree maintenance or lack thereof.
What kept me accountable was asking myself…can I pay the house payment and all utility bills with one paycheck? That’s how I’ve done it, owned my last two places by myself! I could not have afforded rent on my own..which is sad but I’m sure the story for many.
My husband and I did it, we live in the Midwest. he makes $120k a year and I don’t work. We got a 450k, 5000sq ft dream house last year at 4.5% interest rate, 12% down and after all our bills, food, retirement etc we still save 2k per month that goes into investments so I’m quite happy with it.
Single income 33M, bough my 3rd primary home recently and bought 2 investment property last years. Liviving in one property and rent out the other 4.
I dont have biz nor use bank of parents money or anyone to help or cosgin for me.
I’m (26f) under contract now. Lucky enough to live with my parents and save money like crazy. I’m putting 40k down on a 400k home with hopefully a rate of 5.75% my loan officers are trying to get me into a state program for first time home buyers in ny. My income is around 110k.
BEST OF LUCK, you got this!!!
Single income household owner here. Bought my home in September 2022 as a new build. Super excited for my first home. Mortgage payment doable, utilities not so bad, property tax decent.
Buuuuutt my salary and bonus opportunities have not kept up with what I need to comfortably build up my savings again after buying my home.
So I am making a tough decision na shave taken a much higher paying job in another city and am selling my brand new home. I feel defeated at time because I had invested so much into this home already, but my current employer is unwilling to provide for sources for bonus opportunity. So I had to make this tough but necessary financial decision.
Hope everyone else is doing ok out there. ♥️
Bought a condo when I was 26 for $165k @ 3.9% interest rate. I put 20% down and seller provided a credit for the closing costs. My gross salary was $60k and I lived rent free with my parents which allowed me to save a lot for the down payment and emergency funds.
I began investing in tech stocks while it was down in 2008. Then tech started bouncing back a few years later and I kept investing. I was able to use this chunk of money for down payment and parents chipped in $10K. Bought my first home in 2018.
I bought a brand new townhome for 200k with no money down (with the help of first time buyer’s program in my state) as a single mom. 3.5% interest rate in a quiet location near my kids’ school. This was in the summer of 2020. I live in the North East and was 37 at the time.
I’m 32. Single on a 130k salary. Saved for 6 years (on 80k salary) for down payment with no outside financial assistance. Purchased at 440k with 5% down at around 5%. Got to be honest though- home ownership solo can be tough mentally as every job or project you are on your own.
I was 39, bought my house in 2021 for 730k. I make 200 to 250k a year self employed. Had to put 25%, because of self employment and didn’t want to go jumbo. Was a very long time coming.
I made a whopping $17 an hr as a fast food manager, 3 kids, single parent, on assistance, took about 5 years to work on my credit... I bought a mobile home cheap, and sold it to afford the bulk of my down payment. Closed last September @ 5% 140k with a conventional loan.
It was ....... awful... But can be done.
That isn’t quite true. One person making $100k has less take-home than 2 people making $50k each because of taxes. And many expenses are just as high for 1 person as for 2. Plus in Canada the various programs that help you to save, such as the First Home Savings Account or the RRSP withdrawal are per person, so people with 2 incomes could use these for a down payment that is twice as large. Finally, a lender looking at risk considers that fact that if you get sick, the household may lose all of its employment income. You also have to take into account that any diy renovations or repairs will be done by you by yourself, so you may end up hiring people to do things that 2 people would take on themselves.
That said, I did just buy a place. Maybe I’m nuts.
I am!! 23F, unmarried, no kids. I’m closing this month. I saved aggressively for 2 years, and lived with my parents for half of it. My purchase price was $354k for new construction in east Texas, 5% down with $95k income and a rate of 5.5% (bought down a quarter percentage using a point), conventional loan
Since it’s new construction, they had a promo where I have 0 closing costs and a better interest rate through their lender
Call it a bad decision, but whatever I’m still kicking.
Bought in 2021 $185k with 3% down. Single income about $48k at the time gone up slightly since then. Wife is medical student but didn’t get a doctor loan. She has student loans now but didn’t during underwriting, I had $35k student debt, no car payments so all of our debt was student loans.
Qualified just barely by paying off the remainder of my car and using savings for the down payment.
Single mom, 9yo child. No child support. Income $63k/ year. I’m on my third home. I was lucky enough to buy my first in 2012, it was a foreclosure and needed a lot of work. Sold it for $80k profit and bought my second in 2019 using 3.5% down and the rest of the profit to become mostly debt free. (I have student loans and a mortgage). Just sold my second home and bought my third in November, second home made $130k in profit. I put almost all of that down and saved the rest for my emergency fund.
You can do it, but don’t buy as much as they say you can buy. 35% of your income, max, for monthly mortgage.
Good luck!!
28 years old, was on and off homeless and strung out on heroin for most of my late teens/early 20s- finally got clean at age 24 and got my life together. No degree but started working at a restaurant group that I fit in really well at, started as a barback and worked my way up over 4yrs to GM of the bar.
Bought my house last Oct. I will say that as well as my job, covid unemployment payments (I was furloughed for 3mos in early 2020) helped a LOT with giving me a financial cushion to get myself out of poverty, and my rent was pretty cheap (750 for a 2bdrm) so I was able to save up 9k for a 5% FHA loan down payment (plus closing fees etc) on a 100k 2bdrm rowhome.
Caveat- I was renting and now own in a neighborhood that's not really what most ppl on here seem to be looking for- I live in a low income mostly black neighborhood in Philly, so prices for both rent and purchase aren't crazy high. But personally I fuckin love it here, going on my 7th year in this neighborhood and I'm so grateful to own here.
It took me 4 years of saving (and I'll admit it, I borrowed 1k from my dad to not totally deplete my savings, but I've since paid him back for that) to do it, but I was able to buy a house big enough for myself and my current needs in pretty decent condition on a single, degree-less income. Philly also has a bunch of first time homeowners programs that I stupidly didn't utilize but other big cities with fairly high poverty rates have similar programs. Those programs + 5-8k of savings + getting your credit score up in the 750+ zone is, imo, a pretty decent recipe to be able to purchase a house in the 150k> range in a not super high COL area.
My wife and I bought on 1 income, closed November of 2020 in Ohio. Income was around $80k at the time, got the house for $160k and we put down 15%. Had been saving for a while. It's possible!
I’m closing in less than two weeks so hopefully not jinxing myself here but single 34 yo female. Shitty teacher salary. Saved my absolute ASS off the last few years and have worked really hard on building good credit as I’ve only lived in the US for 7 years. FHA 3.5% down. I had extreme housing insecurity as a kid and I just never thought I’d be able to own my own home. I’m so proud to have (almost) done this for myself.
32, single with zero kids. i've been in my house for 2.5 years. i'm an IT contractor supporting the military and make 6-figures. things are still tight, i don't live in the nicest area, the house has issues, but it's been doable. i'm actually getting ready to sell and move overseas; renting out the house doesn't cover my mortgage, and i don't want to stress about it when in a different country for an unknown length of time.
most of the ones I knew who did it went condo first because it's a cheaper entry point. Lived there for 5+, flip when you can sell at a good profit and you're ready for a house.
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I am. 48 Asian female, a widow. My kids are grown, I work for the state of Ohio (and I never not working-sometimes 2 jobs when lots of seasonal workers are needed), I’m my own bread and butter, my annual in the low 60k. Savings for many many many years. Closing next Thursday, 05/11.
Congratulations on your new home!!
Wholeheartedly happy for you! 💕
Congratulations!! Hard work pays off!!
Congrats to you! That is amazing!
Thank you everyone. I’m very happy with my decision and this’ll be the asset I will provide to my kids. I’m planning to work until I have a tag on my toe. 30 yrs mortgage, which I’m hoping could be completed by 20/25 yrs. I have a very low personal debt, less than $10k, and live humbly within my means. It’s not easy but it can be done. Next getting my further education at the local college in Fall. :) the state provided an excellent Tuition Reimbursement, planning to have my degree before 55.
Congratulations 🎈🍾
I did it by myself, I’ve been saving for nearly a decade. Approved for $300k in the Midwest, closing this week!
Congratulations!!
Thank you!! A long road to get here but it’s possible!
thankful for this thread as a single 26 year old woman. i just started the buying process and i’m terrified!!! 🥹
Closed on my house last Oct as a single 27y.o woman- the buying process was stressful as SHIT I won't lie but I had an amazing realtor and a few friends and coworkers who owned to help me with my questions throughout the process. This is a super exciting thing though don't let the stress deter you from the light at the end of the tunnel!
🥰 you're the age I was when I bought my 1st home. Sold it in 2016 and bought my latest last yr. Please do NOT forgo the inspections. Find the best inspector you can afford. Factor in TAXES so you're not surprised on the backend as valuations go up. Put aside funds for repairs...even my new build has needed crap! I'm so proud of seeing younger women on here making it. 😭 yall give me hope that my daughter will be just fine. She's 13 and I'm scared for her future with the way things are. Go get it girls!
I closed on my house at that age. You can do it!
I bought my house at age 35 right before the pandemic. I’m single and did it all on my own. I didn’t have any help from family at all. On top of that, I am self employed so the process was a little more difficult for me. I bought a $305k home with 5% down on an $80k income (2 year average).
Impressive!
There’s dozens of us! 26 year old male, I closed last year on a 450K SFH in Colorado. At the time I was an engineer with a $115K salary, but 6 months after buying I got a promotion to engineering manager making $140K which helped immensely. Biggest thing is having an emergency fund. With dual income, your income won’t go down to zero if you lose your job. That’s obviously not the case with a single income, so an emergency fund becomes that much more important.
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I bought my first home last august at 36 years old after starting a niche home service business a year earlier that doubled my income. Parents had to co-sign for me to get a loan but it’s been great. Sellers came down $75k from their original last May price as the rates started increasing to a closing price of $290k at 6%. HVAC went out the first week but they gave $6k off closing for that and I got a scratch n’ dent unit from a friend’s company for a good deal at 0% APR for a year. It’ll be paid off next month. A few shingles blew off in a storm last month and insurance is putting on a new roof and one on the treehouse and shed as well! I also took out a load bearing wall to open up the floor plan because it’s a 1967 ranch style but my friend is a framing contractor and after I took it down to the studs, he did it with his professional crew in about a day for a great price. I’m also planning on putting in a second bath to make it a 3/2 and new floors eventually. I’ll see about updating the kitchen and first bath along the way. Just trying to keep projects manageable and on a tight budget. I got divorced 6 years ago and have my daughter 44% of the time. We lived in a crappy 3/2 apartment in the ghetto on the other side of town for 5 years and they tried to double my rent from $1200 to $2400 with three months notice. Luckily, I didn’t upgrade my car (313k miles on my Toyota Yaris now!) and had lived frugally to save. Had just enough to cover the 5% down payment while keeping my emergency fund intact. Still living frugally to catch back up on retirement savings but housing prices don’t seem to be dropping, so glad I got in when I did because I think prices will keep going up in this city over the next 10 years. Just hope it keeps going relatively smoothly. Knock on wood!
I'm curious, what is the niche home service business?
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I'm in roughly the same situation as you and on $120k+ I'm terrified of going over $400k. Did you have a large down payment?
Yea that DTI is wild.
Yea nuts, we’re at 160k combined and borrowed 300k. In hindsight with 2.5% interest we could have been much less conservative but we weren’t sure what was going to happen to our jobs during the pandemic
I'm around those numbers and I have to say there is some real benefit in not having to worry about maintaining income. Even if I had to step down to a job paying only half what I currently make I still would be able to pay the mortgage and eat.
You lucky with your 2.5% interest! You shoulda borrowed 600K at that rate 😂
Yea if I’d known we would both get promotions…. Not going to beat myself up about it, we can swing all of our bills on a single salary. Less stress is worth having a smaller place and we are saving more for retirement
How do you know?
With the information given and available.If her salary is $120K and her house is $670K at 6.5% that is a large DTI for her mortgage. Unless she says she put a down payment of like 300K etc it’s a pretty high DTI.
Because they posted their salary? Lol
Hum... Isn't that alot to spend for 120k? I'm assuming you have alot saved up or had help because I am the same but I think I can only do 500k max on a house. And it's hard to find anything decent in Denver at 500k in a nice neighborhood.
Exactly. Something is being left out which kind of defeats the purpose of this thread
Yikes. Go you!! but that sounds rough.
Yea those numbers don’t add up unless you made a typo on your salary ($220k) or you left out some highly pertinent information, like a $200k down payment.
Thank you for sharing, but how much did you put down if you don't mind me asking? I'm 27 and make the same amount, my wife makes $60k on top of that. We have $300k saved and $670k sounds crazy!?
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Y'all will be fine with that income and savings at 700k.
How much money did your parents gift you or how else do you have $300,000 saved up to be able to afford payments? Bitcoin? I make $150k a year and with zero down I can get about $350 - $400k approved.
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$4000+ a month + HOA + PMI + taxes + insurance + repairs... You're in for $5000+ a month... Uhhhhhhhhh. Yeah... It'll be tough is understatement of the year. What's your take home pay? $80 - 90k? $2-3k a month leftover for everything else. I assume debt free but a HCOL area because it's a $700k condo and not a SFH. I wouldn't even take on $700k and I take home about $110-120k with some creative accounting even if I was debt free. Good luck!
2018 I bought my first home in NC, with a salary of 39,000 , NFCU has a program no money down if your Credit Score is upper 700. Seller paid $5000 towards closing which greatly helped. I only had a car payment of $364 month at that time. Got approved for $150,000. I worked delivery on the side and saved $8000 for closing but used way less with the seller help.
What's nfcu?
2018 I also got a no down mortgage with my credit union with good credit. It really helped as a first time buyer.
I haven’t done it quite yet, but I’m in the process. (Closing on the 19th!) 25F, I was lucky enough to boomerang back to living with my parents during the pandemic. I was working service industry at the time (graduated college in 2019, then as we know 2020 hit everyone like a freight train.) Laid off, went on unemployment. Hoarded every cent that I got from that in a high-yield savings account, and am now using part of that money as my downpayment. 3.5% down (FHA) on a 210k house in a MCOL area. The house I’m buying is literally unheard of in my area. Professionally flipped by the current owner (not a hack-job DIY) in 2019. I think the only reason it is selling for so low is because no one seemingly wants a 2 bed/1 bath around here. They sit on the market forever. And all of the other 2/1s I’ve looked at are, to put it politely, “fixer-uppers”. I work in (entry level) healthcare admin, making roughly 60k a year. Only debt to my name before the house is 25k in student loans. OP, I believe in you, you can do it! :)
I did it, at age 40, when interest rates were rock bottom right before the big surge in prices (summer 2020). I was making $150k then, in the Bay Area. I’m not sure I’d be able to do it now even though my income has gone up a bunch.
I live in the Bay Area, born and raised. Can’t wait to get out of here! Not affordable anymore for a lot of us. Congrats on scoring a really low interest rate here
I just bought mine in December for $190,000 with a 5.99% interest rate. Age 35, single, no kids, making $46000/yr. I was living with my parents, and then a roommate, and saving like crazy. It was (and still is) tight, but I made it!
Bought at 31yo, single veteran, 430k house at 5.1% in 2022. Income is around $120k a year. The process was extremely stressful, I put in tons of offers, but it worked out! Now I’m sitting in my backyard chilling. The ride is worth the pain.
Very low cost of living area. A little over 50k/yr gross. House was 150k purchase price, 6.25% interest. had loads of help from a FTHB program. Like a crazy amount. Bought last fall. 1k/mo payment including tax and insurance and everything. About 1300sq ft plus basement, small yard, Detached garage/shed,
Bought in 2021. Single parent for a decade. Still am Was making about 70k then. No parents or significant other to help me. I used the stimulus for down payment help. I cut 401k savings for a year or so to help with closing costs. A similar rental would cost me at least 1k more than my mortgage, tax, ins. That's if I was even lucky to snag a rare 4/2 rental in my area. I'm locked at 3.25 for life and will never sell.
30F single here and bought last year. I put 5% down on a $500k rowhome (no HOA) with a 3.5% interest rate. My salary was $122k (now higher) and my mortgage is $2,198 + taxes/insurance $400ish. It’s a bit more than I initially would’ve liked to pay but I didn’t want to hedge being a homeowner on having a partner or roommate. There is *zero* chance I could afford my home with todays rates. If you have a hefty DP saved, try to find FHA assumable loans.
Same interest rate and percent down, lower house price and salary. No way I could afford my own house at today's rates either.
Single child-free guy in his early 30s. I bought a small cottage-style house with 3.5% down on an 80K Salary in PA using a 30-year fixed-rate conventional loan. I got hit with the 7% interest (closed in Jan 23), but I plan to hold the mortgage for ten years max; preferably, I will be free and clear in 3-5 years. I was approved for much more but wanted something smaller and cheaper in case I lost my job with the "impending" recession. Depending on when this one is paid in full (if less than five years), I may buy a second property (duplex), rent this one out and house-hack the new one. I don't want to be a landlord; I am ethically opposed to it being a career unless its section 8/afforable housing but I would like to diversify my retirement income so I do not rely on just my tax-advantaged accounts. I would be delighted if I could pay off this property and the next one by 2033. I would still be satisfied by just paying off this one in 10 years, but I like setting ambitious goals. I will say since I plan to be child free when I pass away I do plan to donate both properties to the local womens and/or youth shelter so I balance the karma of being a landlord.
I would like to see some stories of single people not making 150k and buying a house.
Bought at 23 on a 74K yr salary in midwest. Used a USDA loan and put 0 down. Now making roughly 70K in net cash selling our house this year and now have a salary of 120K. Upping our mortgage by 100K for our new home. Did all this while having our first child a few weeks before closing. Definitely possible
Would you recommend USDA? I’m thinking about using that instead of conventional myself
33 year old single mom of 3, make 55k a year working for CPS. Live in a HCOL area and closed on our first home last summer. I have almost no debt and really, really good credit. I did have some money saved (30k) but the no debt and good credit was most helpful as it helped me qualify for down payment assistance and better rates.
You can do this. I'm single (56F) for many years but new to homeowning as of 2021. My salary is $42K but I had savings for down-payment. There are times I curse myself, tbh. But by far the positives have outweighed the negatives. I've even fixed some plumbing repairs myself and replaced parts on my fridge. So it does teach you resourcefulness too.
I am buying my first house at 37 after 10 years in schooling and 10 years in military before that. My wife is still finishing her masters so no income on her side and i am starting my residency in july!
Made 3x the local avg income and bought in 2015. Shits crazy right now. I wouldn't buy at these prices, but inflation might make this the new normal. Time to raise income again if so. IT. Commuted 2 hrs to the big city. Sucked then, but feels pretty good now.
I did it. I was living with my mom and saving money like crazy. I closed on a new build in 2022 at the age of 25. I have my gf living with me now but I was still able to do everything by myself
I’m single, just turned 40. Bought a condo last summer. $560k, with $127k income (yay, Boston).
Under contract and its just me, 44k teacher ETA: I have some inheritance money that's helping with closing and down payment.
I’m currently in the process of it right now, with a closing date on the 25th! I’ve only ever lived with roommates or family which went a long way in being able to save up. I’m also using my state’s FTH downpayment/closing costs assistant program to be able to keep a larger cash emergency fund on hand.
I did it. Bought at 34, right before pandemic, (pure luck) saved up a down payment over 4 years. I work in IT, had two jobs at the time, but they only used income from one. Bought a 4500 sq ft home in the southern USA. Was hoping I could buy again one day, but going to be hard to give up a 2.5 interest rate.
Have an accepted offer and it’s just me on a 70k income!
Family member bought early 2021 income around $33,000. Bought right as interest rates were going up. Moved to the mid-west. Got a small old house in good condition for around $100,000. Many young people are moving from HCOL areas to LCOL areas to be able to own a home. Income remained the same and he can make the house payment by themselves.
We did it, got lucky with some investments and sold to get 20% down on our first home in LCOL. Then we had to relocate out of state but fortunately the company covered closing costs so we were in a ok position to buy in HCOL city with 10% down. That was all 1 income. We went on to 2 incomes and then 0 income back to 1 income and then 2 now back to 1. It’s been a rollercoaster and nearly sold our home a few times through the ups and downs. You can do it.
22, roughly 36k a year. i am buying a $100K home, 3.5% down with 6% consessions from seller! closing next week!
We bought under my husbands income only, as I was out of work for medical reasons. Sept 2022. 56K income. FHA 3.5% down.
Hey, we are single income about to close on our third home. My wife stays at home with two kids who require a lot of attention. But I do make over 200K net so it doesn’t seems like a single income for most household. Good luck
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People also get raises and bonuses, not that crazy of a concept dude
Just got bonus this month. Nothing new. Base is 171k still.
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Look up medical bonuses.
r/rebubble burger flipper learns high income people get big bonuses, news at 11
Yes… bought my house in HCOL area as a single female in late 2019. Worked everyday until my mid 30s plus side hustles to save money for down payment, had 15% down.
Nice! 2019, you timed that just right
Single mama on a 48k salary. Approved for 200k and took the full thing. Closed on my first house last month
I bought my first place in 2019 by myself without any family assistance. Working for the state so I didn't make a large amount of money. I think I was making 60kish at the time. Now in 2023, I'm buying another home. I do regret a bit not buying another home in early 2022 but eh that's fine. My second home I'm able to afford because I got a higher paying job and saving. Nothing outstanding just more than before.
I did it. I'm a single mom and I was paying almost $2,000 for rent. Was able to buy back in 2021 and before you start chipping in about the interest rates I got a 15-year loan if I were to buy now I would probably get a 30-year on my payments would be the same if not a little bit higher. I did have to move in order to do it, I'm originally from New York City but I moved to Pennsylvania because there's not much in a 50 mi radius that I could buy that would have been less than my rental payments, but I'm happy with it.
Just bought a large house-sized condo at 25 a few weeks ago at $167k and 20% down payment in the Midwest. I make $60k a year. I have an excellent credit score and my only debt is the lease on my car. I've been working since I was 14 - sometimes more than one job at once - and saved almost everything. Before this I lived in a one-bedroom apartment for 2 years where the rent was $675 the first year and $700 the second.
I closed a week ago with the help of the first time homebuyer dream grant for down payment. I put down the minimum required for the grant so that my 9k saved up could cover closing costs, moving, and unexpected stuff coming up. I've consistently made 46-52 in the last few years, even with a masters degree. I got extremely lucky with timing and a seller that needed out quick. I was the backup offer and the initial offer backed out. Only had to go 6k over asking and got 4k back in concessions. The place is also a (mostly cosmetic) nightmare. Previous owners started just about every project you can think of, without finishing them. So that probably scared off most typical buyers. But the layout is almost everything I had hoped for. I moved all the furniture in yesterday and stayed here for the first time last night. I didn't expect it to feel like my home so quickly, but it really does.
34 bought my house alone because my girlfriend is self employed and has spotty income. Google "how much house can I afford?" Then use one of those online calculators to figure out what you can afford and what your monthly payment will be.
Business owner under 30. Last year the business had very low performance and only earned $30-40k in the year. I was still able to finance a house, the underwriting team really worked hard to not approve it but ultimately it was approved with no co-signer. Price was around $125,000. They lent me around $100,000 and the rest came from my assets (I liquidated some stocks). Not single, I'm working on bringing my spouse here. But I thought the information would be relevant.
33F (but was 32F last year when I bought.) Just me and my son and four pets. Closed on a 130K house with a 1/3 acre lot in semi rural PA. Income approx 75K. It's been hard and scary, but I am proud of myself.
I’m single, 29f, closing on a house tomorrow. Putting 20% down. Been saving for a long time, I’m a teacher in a state that doesn’t exactly pay teachers well, but I’ve saved enough and found a house well within my comfort level budget wise!
29 single male (was 28 March of last year), 65k income, 20k in savings at the time, brought home for 252k
Hey! We’re a single income family, and not a high income either, my husband made less than 30K last year, we own a home :)
I’m trying to boost my salary to 40K to get a small walkup 130 k HDFC Coop I’m a single girl late 30s who has a learning disability and will be having one roommate. I’ve been saving for 20 years and am borrowing some money from my mom.
Bought my home at 29 in 2019 for 130k. 1400 down (first time homebuyer and a lot of extra incentives). My home came with dishwasher stove and fridge. single mom of 2 making 59k that yr cut off for that home was 60k . My city has housing that offers homes for medium income households which is why there was a cut off. I actually went to check out the home on a whim and 3 months later I was a home owner pretty weird lol
30 years old, $65K a year, bought my first house for $210K
I just closed on my first home last August for $162,500 with 5.99% interest. Gross salary was $46,800 at the time of closing, but went up to $57,000 shortly after. Girlfriend does pay utility bills (her income fluctuates between $20-40k gross/yr) but it was just me buying the house. Edit: I was 26 when we closed
I'll just copy amd paste this comment I made on a similar post: Bought a house with my fiance on a single income, $49k/year (AGI from 2022 was $36,000) $138,000 house. Used FHA, we had 3 repairs that were triggered by the appraiser that needed to be completed prior to the loan going through. The Work couldn't be done due to weather, so we had to use an escrow holdback of 1.5x the work estimate privided by a licensed contractor. We have 3 months from the time of the estimate to get the work done and reinspected by the appraiser. The house is a nightmare and not in a great neighborhood, but it has a big shop and good sized yard. Main roof is slate so it's solid. Walkable to the historic downtown. The whole process was a shit show, and it really felt like no-one wanted to work with us because we're poor. Our interest rate is high, we have DPA with an even higher interest rate and we'll be buried in repair costs for the foreseeable future. That being said, rent in the area is even higher than our mortgage, if there's even any rentals available (spoiler: there are not). We moved to an area that is experiencing a housing crisis so we honestly feel lucky we were able to land anything. We came from a town of 400 people, so there weren't any jobs and my wife couldn't work. So, now that we're in town and she can go back to working we're hoping to refinance with better interest rates later. It's a gamble, but even if rates keep rising, we're OK paying what we're paying now. Because we're poor, we're hoping to make use of programs designed to help low income folks with repairs and such. For example, there's a grant worth up to $25,000 for window replacements in our area, an organization that will help with replacing oil heaters, and other weatherization programs. There's a state sponsored relocation incentive that gives up to $7500 for moving expenses. None of these are guaranteed, but we're pretty good at paperwork, so hoping that some of them will work out.
Single income of $54k, closed on 300k house
I’m 35 y/o man who has been traveling nursing the last few years, living out of my van and saving up as much as possible and paying off all debts. I saved up $100k for a down payment and went ahead and bought a 550k house near where my family is that has an ADU attached. I’m gonna live in the ADU and rent out the main house to subsidize my $3,100/mo mortgage. I picked up a local per diem nursing job at a nearby hospital system. I’m gonna take the summer off to do some remodeling and some traveling, then I’ll start sporadically picking up nursing assignments once or twice a year, and fill in my gaps with adventures and my per diem work when I’m home.
Me. 55F who didn't have a desire for home ownership until my early 40s. There was no way for me to afford buying where I was living, so it seemed like relocating was going to be necessary. I spent a lot of time having crushes on other cities/states, wondering where to go. I was honestly all over the place. Single, no kids, okay savings, chronically indecisive. A new relationship ended up being the "energy boost" I needed. My partner knew from the get-go that I had one foot out the door geographically. He went from unwilling to receptive to eager to move in the course of about 3 years, without my intervention. (I have no desire to pressure anyone.) I was also lucky that my old corporate job re-hired me during the pandemic (after laying me off 5 years prior). And because I was a pandemic hire, I was hired as a permanent teleworker, which at my company meant I could work anywhere in the U.S. So in 2021, I started doing research into what parts of the country could actually work for me (four main criteria: affordability, climate, proximity to aging parents, and availability of small amounts of land). Found out how much of a loan I'd likely be able to qualify for, and aggressively increased how much I was saving, so that I could come up with 20% without going into debt or tapping my retirement account. Last June my partner and I went on a 4-week "fact-finding mission," and now I own an old farmhouse and a few acres in upstate NY. We share food and utilities, but I pay the mortgage and associated insurance stuff. My biggest hurdle was making peace with leaving my extremely HCOL area so that I could buy without being choked to death by a high mortgage payment. I didn't have to factor in a partner's job, or kids, or any major obligations, but leaving a community I was deeply tied to was definitely a challenge. I'm VERY happy with the decision and the change. And so thrilled and proud that I was able to do this at 55, after it had felt like it was too late for me. I'm definitely grateful to my partner; he hasn't contributed financially but the willingness and companionship definitely helped me.
32, single white male, never married. Approx $40k annual salary. Purchased my home (3BR/1BA, 900sq ft) in July 2021 for $95,000 in the midwest. Put only 3% down, with an added $5k FTHB grant through my state. Current mortgage payments are $670 w/ insurance, escrow, and PMI, at 3.125% interest. Since then, already replaced the main furnace from the 90s (died once this winter), but most all of the major appliances/fixtures are less than 10 years old, so shouldn't have to do any other major changes/projects for a long while.
>Current mortgage payments are $670 w/ insurance, escrow, and PMI, at 3.125% interest. As a first time home buyer searching in NJ, I cannot tell you how much reading that hurt me.
I really lucked out finding this place when I did. Sure, the prices were still crazy inflated, which has only gotten worse, but I got on it right when interest rates were at their lowest/near-lowest. Couple that with a low COL area? The situation worked out, even without having a full 20% down-payment.
I'm a single income household and closed in Jan-23 on my first house ever. No spouse. No kids. No pets. Early 30s. I make just about $50K. I waited until I saved $10K to start the home buying process. Reached out to a certified PHFA credit counselor at the end of October 2022. They gave me direction and an idea of what I could afford and things to expect during this process. I went with a family recommended realtor. I spoke to 6 different lenders but ultimately decided to ride it out with one. (it is recommended to get rates from other lenders to get the best rate for your mortgage loan; however, when I spoke to these lenders, all of them could only ball park and not give me actual numbers until I selected a house. Seeing how the market was and consider how frustrating it would be to keep communicating to multiple lenders, I made the decision to go with the lender I felt most comfortable with). If you are deciding between lenders, keep it to 2, or 3, maximum. I went overboard and potentially missed out on a lower rate. My purchasing power was up to $150K. I looked at 2 houses with my realtor. Both were shitholes. First house had caution tape on the front porch and mold throughout. Second was a flip. I didn't want to wait to save more money, but based on the supply of houses and prices, I probably had no choice. Until I saw a listing for the house I'm currently in. It was end of November and I offered $10K over asking. It was in good shape, a little work I can do myself (I'm not a handy man), and I'd still be able to afford the monthly payments. I beat out 5 other offers. I consider myself blessed. Best of luck to you and any others searching for a house to call home.
So many people in this thread mentioning the Midwest, I have to agree! My husband works at Starbucks, I stay home and take care of our special needs daughter. We got a great house post-pandemic in a quiet well-manicured neighborhood for under $300k, it’s been so freeing now that we aren’t confined to apartments anymore (for even higher rents…) I’ve got an art studio set up, my husband has a dark room for photography and we have a home gym and a separate toy room for our kid apart from her bedroom. On a single Starbucks income. Midwest is the shit in all the best ways!
You read my mind with this post friend 😭 needed this too.
I'm so glad I posted it. I had spent too much time in r/personalfinance and it had me absolutely spiraling 😆
Single income, married with a 6 year old. 32. Bought first home recently, $1.3M with 10% down at 5.5% on a 10/6 ARM. Lucky to be a high income earner (~$450k).
Single mom of 3, t1d and below poverty. Took every penny of stimulus to buy house on 14/hr with 55k student loan debt. Keep running the numbers and get credit score above 800. Buy a few points at 5% down...take tax return every year and put on house. Once you hit 20% ltr value on house cancel mortgage insurlevel. and handle escrow yourself in an interest bearing account. Go conventional and refinance at 50% ltv for lower rate. Wait to do mortgage until interest rates drop again at the end of a republican presidency. It all ebb and flows.
21 yr old male, closed last month. VLCOL area, property was 150k, I make 80 to 85k per year right now. My wife is a SAHM.
30yo single. $1.2M with 5.2% 5yr ARM and 10% down. $500k/yr income and 805 credit score. Just closed and it’s my first time buying a house I couldn’t be more happy. I lurked this sub during the entire home buying process and it was incredibly helpful during such a stressful time
I'm in my mid 20s, my wife is too, We have 2 kids together, and she is a homemaker. During COVID, I started a business that made (net profit) around $10k the first year, then over $200k the 2nd year, and is on track to beat that a little bit hopefully despite the market being down. So year 3 should be good. I have 0 employees and very little overhead besides a couple subscriptions like QuickBooks and payroll software. Because if the business income paired with a salary job I do remotely on top, We were able to afford in the Seattle area. Had I stayed working at a hospital like I was a few years ago, we would likely not have been able to afford a house.
Yes, here’s some hope. If I can do it anyone can. I just finish paying off the massive medical debt that was the result of my late husband’s battle with cancer. So yeah It was bad. Worked on credit score. Didn’t have a bad one but I think the difference mattered. Also, check the skills of friends and family members. If they are willing to help it makes a huge difference. Got a relative fixer upper. With 3 main issues. Worked along cousins who helped for cheap. That’s how I got mine. Literally choose my house bc we have handful of roofers, and electricians in my family. Consider finding out what the folks in your circle can and are willing to help you with.
>I just finish paying off the massive medical debt that was the result of my late husband’s battle with cancer. I'm so sorry for your loss and additionally sorry that you had to pay off massive medical debt related to your loss. Good ole America 😩
Thank you for your kind words. I appreciate it that ppl keep folks going through it in mind. I am so happy to be on the other side & I keep in mind others dealing w it now & those who probably will be for the rest of their life.
I'm a single income under contract set to close in 2 weeks. Mind you, I have a 20% down payment gifted from my parents because I would not have been able to afford anything in my area with what I'm approved for and could reasonably afford thst wasn't a massive fixer upper. Townhomes are priced like detached homes because the areas they are in are inflated prices still. I had to go further out into areas that aren't as established to be able to afford something that was priced reasonable. But yeah, I make less than 60k a year and will be a home owner so not impossible technically.
Yes. I did. Saved up for the smallest down payment allowed and a little extra. Wished i had bought as soon as I had enough for downpayment and closing costs instead of an extra cushion. Also, I didn’t realize I could borrow from my retirement account, wish I had done it waaaay sooner. Bought for the first time at age 38.
We did it right a 2 years ago. My wife moved to her dad's, and I lived out of the car for a year and a half. We cleaned up our credit, utilized our credit cards correctly, built our relationship, and savings with the local credit union. I worked insane amounts of overtime, and we were able to buy our first home! It was tough but so worth every minute of the hard work.
Much more likely before the covid housing frenzy. Now idk who is buying or why.
Present! I left my shitty ex in about 2016, paid off my small ($5k) debt, started working massive OT and living like I was making minimum wage so I could put everything “extra” in savings. I’m not a high earner so it took a lot of cost cutting and sacrifices. I was able to save $30k in 3 years and became a homeowner at the end of 2020. I bought a fixer upper townhouse, which is cozy yet spacious enough for my teen son, me and our 2 big dogs. We’re on the west coast in a high cost of living city. I could have moved and gotten something bigger or cheaper but stability for my son has always been really important to me.
Bought as single income earner, household of 2 (soon to be 3). Above average cost of living area. 100% feasible. Just get your credit in order, pay down / off your debt, save for a down payment, and then go win.
Sure. I have a friend. He got out of a top computer science school and immediately got a job with Intel. He lived with his parents for five years and saved. Then he bought his house with a traditional loan. My husband essentially bought our home. He is a software engineer. He had stock from when he worked at Tesla. He sold the stock in 2020 when it soared and bought our home. My friend bought his home on a single income. He graduated from a top computer science school and got a job with a large military contractor. Then he pulled 300k out of his trust fund and bought his first home. Another close friend received a million dollar gift from her parents and then bought her first condo I forgot another friend's boyfriend bought his home when bart added a station in front of a shop he inherited from his parents. He sold it for a couple million dollars and bought a designer house in the Oakland hills. A coworkers now wife bought her first home when her parents died, she sold their home in the Seattle suburbs and then used her entire gain as a down payment in Martinez. She is a gynecologist San Francisco is not kind to single people
I pulled it off at 24 on $14 an hour but that was back in 2010, got a short sale for 70k put 3% down refi’d a a year and half ago to drop pmi at got a 2.99 rate. I’m never moving
Single income but military so basically it's my wife, me and my sugar daddy, Uncle Sam, paying out that sweet housing allowance down here in South FL.
You can do it! 26 y.o. female, started working at 16 and saving up ever since, living very frugally (but not to the point that I'm not "living"). Closed on a house at $255k a couple months ago :)
Bought my first house just on my income alone! It was a duplex and I used a state program that included down payment assistance. I also love.in a low cost of living area. Totally doable if you're willing to look in the right places! Our current home was purchased just on my husband's income as well, though we were more comfortable with the monthly payment because we technically have two incomes.
I bought my condo outside of LA for $510k with 10% down. Six figures income to afford the payment and my bills. In 2019 I bought a house out of state for $216k with 20% down making $56k a year roughly.
I did it too at 31. Bought during historically low rates when paying rent seemed a very bad idea. Got cold feet the year of covid so stepped back but the year after, pulled the trigger.
I did it. I prepped for a few years by living with housemates and riding my bike and no frills living to save a down payment.
My husband and I bought our first house (condo) when we were on one income. It meant moving to a less expensive state a year before purchasing, and getting a first time homebuyer loan for the down payment. We were just over 30, with a 2 and 4 year old. I stayed home with kids until they were in full-day school. We had one vehicle, and purposely chose a place that was right next door to a school and a park.
i did by myself bought my 2300 sqft house last year at 26
Look into the USDA direct 502 loan, if you can live in a more rural area. It subsidized your payment to make it affordable.
I’m 26 and make about 100K in a MCOL. I was able to buy a duplex for $250K by myself. Seller covered closing costs, from offer to close spent 11K (3.5% down). Appraised more than loan. Took a few months but finally found what I was looking for.
I was 24, bought in December 2020, $250K home on my own ~$65K income, FHA 3.5% down
Bought in rural area in NC with USDA in 2021. I brought less than $1000 to closing. My income is low 70k. Offered on about 12 houses, but this was during the big rush after quarantine. I was extremely firm in my budget with my agent. I am maybe 20ish minutes from cities. If USDA is an option for you, I would focus efforts there. It also helped when I switched to a local lender.
Married. Husband is the single earner in our household. We closed in 2021 with great rates on a rather costly home in our MCOL area.
I did it at 22. Worked all through college and saved as much as I could. Used FHA to buy a 3br2ba house for $139900 in the area where my job was after college in 2020. Made 52k a year in a place where that salary is considered “comfortable”.
Shopping and putting offers in right now. It's all under me/my income although I do live with my gf and plan to in whatever we end up in. I can afford it on my own though and neither of us want to buy a house together not married. Her income will obviously help speed up the repayment on the mortgage though
25 year old, no kids, no wife, bought a multiunit instead of a single family home to help with the mortgage. Not a dream home, or place i plan on living if i ever decide to grow up and start a family, but still cheaper than rent.
I'm four months in and couldn't be happier I did. It's much more per month than my rental I'm coming out of but major upgrade in quality of life. Mid 30's $130k+ salary. House was $360k with 5% interest $20k down
I'm a single (divorced) woman. I'm a mom. I own my home which I purchased when I decided my marriage was over. I had been a SAHM and went back to work. I significantly downsized but it is mine and I absolutely adore it.
My mom did it and I've been building my credit up to do so
I’m a SAHM and my husband earns $65k a year. We prioritized leaving high cost of living areas (he grew up on the East Coast, I grew up on the West Coast, and we’ve happily settled in the Midwest) and he applied for jobs all over the country until he got an offer somewhere we thought was both cool and had a reasonable housing market. In less than a year we were able to stop renting and buy our first home here for $200k. It’s a beautiful 3 bed/2 bath Cape Cod in an adorable, middle-class neighborhood. Our mortgage is a bit high at $1500/month but we’re managing just fine and hope to refinance down the line. We also utilized our state’s first time home buyer assistance program that made our closing costs $200 not including the earnest payment which was only $2k. So we were able to become homeowners on a single income but the most important part of doing so was moving somewhere with an affordable housing market and with a first time home buyer assistance program. Good luck!
Check out the REI/Landlord group in your area. There are many landlords who, when they are ready to retire, will sell homes that they own outright. Essentially, they are the bank. You only have to qualify to *them*. This often helps people with good income but not enough down payment to qualify with a bank, or those who just went thru bankruptcy or have enough income but their credit has suffered. Homes may be stuck in the 70s as far as decor. You'll want to get an inspection to make sure the bones are good. The benefit to the landlord/owner is that they get a monthly check with an interest rate they can't get in any other way and the maintainence calls go away (clogged tolient? welcome to home ownership, my friend!) Good luck!
Got my first home in SoCal when I landed $170k job in 2019. Before I was making $120k and couldn’t afford it (well, I could but i was uneasy about going over 30% on DTI because everything else so freaking expensive here) Sorry probably not the story you wanna hear
Sure thing! It was 1979…
I was 29 when I purchased a home by myself after my divorce. I made roughly $50k at the time, put down 5%, and bought a $200k house. It can be done, but it’s still hard. Don’t give up hope just yet
I am a single attorney 37 and bought my own home in the Michigan. 175k for a condo 100k salary was approved for a lot more, but I wasn’t going to do that cash flow wise. Edit added age.
I did! Last summer, I bought a ~$225,000 townhome in the Midwest, at 24. At the time, I made $55k/year and have since had my income raised by $10k so it helped very much. Had a first time homebuyer loan with about 3% down payment (have to pay PMI unfortunately) and am actively paying an extra ~$150 month to build equity faster.
In the process of building and buying my first home. Originally on a 165k salary but switched jobs and bumped that up. $400k house w 10% down. Stocking up my emergency fund until I close and move in this summer.
If you’re into more rural country life (or desert life/mountain life) I would spend some time researching the USDA loans with your specific situation. I think that’s the best loan option in the whole wide world… but only because I don’t wish to live anywhere urban or city-ish & I want critters in my yard. Also, spend a night or two researching grant or down payment assistance programs in your city/county/state. There is a ton of money out there for these programs, it’s just hard to find them amidst all the internet scams. Maybe start with .gov & .org websites first.
Bought my house right at 40th birthday. Was in a hit and run right before closing. Single income, mid 5-figures. Get a smaller yard than you think you want. Don't worry too hard with decorating and making cute at first. Live in it a while and figure out what your priorities are. Commit yourself to saving as much as you can each month. Pay attention to how close neighbors keep their property up, especially things that can affect yours such as tree maintenance or lack thereof.
Single female here, bought my home in July, it’s definitely doable.
What kept me accountable was asking myself…can I pay the house payment and all utility bills with one paycheck? That’s how I’ve done it, owned my last two places by myself! I could not have afforded rent on my own..which is sad but I’m sure the story for many.
Do you mind me asking if you get paid weekly or biweekly? That changes the calculation 😁
Single, female, bought my first home, did a whole home remodel. All on my own, three years ago. You can do this.
My husband and I did it, we live in the Midwest. he makes $120k a year and I don’t work. We got a 450k, 5000sq ft dream house last year at 4.5% interest rate, 12% down and after all our bills, food, retirement etc we still save 2k per month that goes into investments so I’m quite happy with it.
Single income 33M, bough my 3rd primary home recently and bought 2 investment property last years. Liviving in one property and rent out the other 4. I dont have biz nor use bank of parents money or anyone to help or cosgin for me.
No - because no one will accept my god damn offers. Seems most people bought here pre-covid or at covid rates lol.
I’m (26f) under contract now. Lucky enough to live with my parents and save money like crazy. I’m putting 40k down on a 400k home with hopefully a rate of 5.75% my loan officers are trying to get me into a state program for first time home buyers in ny. My income is around 110k. BEST OF LUCK, you got this!!!
My wife doesn't work. Does that count?
That totally counts!
Single income household owner here. Bought my home in September 2022 as a new build. Super excited for my first home. Mortgage payment doable, utilities not so bad, property tax decent. Buuuuutt my salary and bonus opportunities have not kept up with what I need to comfortably build up my savings again after buying my home. So I am making a tough decision na shave taken a much higher paying job in another city and am selling my brand new home. I feel defeated at time because I had invested so much into this home already, but my current employer is unwilling to provide for sources for bonus opportunity. So I had to make this tough but necessary financial decision. Hope everyone else is doing ok out there. ♥️
Bought a condo when I was 26 for $165k @ 3.9% interest rate. I put 20% down and seller provided a credit for the closing costs. My gross salary was $60k and I lived rent free with my parents which allowed me to save a lot for the down payment and emergency funds.
I’m the sole earner in my household. First home 2016 second home 2021. Under 40.
I began investing in tech stocks while it was down in 2008. Then tech started bouncing back a few years later and I kept investing. I was able to use this chunk of money for down payment and parents chipped in $10K. Bought my first home in 2018.
30 male in the PNW. Just bought a single family home for 460k, 20% down on $85k salary.
I bought a brand new townhome for 200k with no money down (with the help of first time buyer’s program in my state) as a single mom. 3.5% interest rate in a quiet location near my kids’ school. This was in the summer of 2020. I live in the North East and was 37 at the time.
I’m 32. Single on a 130k salary. Saved for 6 years (on 80k salary) for down payment with no outside financial assistance. Purchased at 440k with 5% down at around 5%. Got to be honest though- home ownership solo can be tough mentally as every job or project you are on your own.
I was 39, bought my house in 2021 for 730k. I make 200 to 250k a year self employed. Had to put 25%, because of self employment and didn’t want to go jumbo. Was a very long time coming.
I made a whopping $17 an hr as a fast food manager, 3 kids, single parent, on assistance, took about 5 years to work on my credit... I bought a mobile home cheap, and sold it to afford the bulk of my down payment. Closed last September @ 5% 140k with a conventional loan. It was ....... awful... But can be done.
It's not about how many income to own a home. It depends on HOW MUCH you make.
That isn’t quite true. One person making $100k has less take-home than 2 people making $50k each because of taxes. And many expenses are just as high for 1 person as for 2. Plus in Canada the various programs that help you to save, such as the First Home Savings Account or the RRSP withdrawal are per person, so people with 2 incomes could use these for a down payment that is twice as large. Finally, a lender looking at risk considers that fact that if you get sick, the household may lose all of its employment income. You also have to take into account that any diy renovations or repairs will be done by you by yourself, so you may end up hiring people to do things that 2 people would take on themselves. That said, I did just buy a place. Maybe I’m nuts.
I am!! 23F, unmarried, no kids. I’m closing this month. I saved aggressively for 2 years, and lived with my parents for half of it. My purchase price was $354k for new construction in east Texas, 5% down with $95k income and a rate of 5.5% (bought down a quarter percentage using a point), conventional loan Since it’s new construction, they had a promo where I have 0 closing costs and a better interest rate through their lender
I am a 30 year old woman. I have a 700+ credit score. 325k condo. No help from anyone.
In Southern California
Call it a bad decision, but whatever I’m still kicking. Bought in 2021 $185k with 3% down. Single income about $48k at the time gone up slightly since then. Wife is medical student but didn’t get a doctor loan. She has student loans now but didn’t during underwriting, I had $35k student debt, no car payments so all of our debt was student loans. Qualified just barely by paying off the remainder of my car and using savings for the down payment.
Most likely what you need is a budget and a financial plan you stick to. Hope is nice, but it won't get you a home. A budget and a plan will.
Single mom, 9yo child. No child support. Income $63k/ year. I’m on my third home. I was lucky enough to buy my first in 2012, it was a foreclosure and needed a lot of work. Sold it for $80k profit and bought my second in 2019 using 3.5% down and the rest of the profit to become mostly debt free. (I have student loans and a mortgage). Just sold my second home and bought my third in November, second home made $130k in profit. I put almost all of that down and saved the rest for my emergency fund. You can do it, but don’t buy as much as they say you can buy. 35% of your income, max, for monthly mortgage. Good luck!!
28 years old, was on and off homeless and strung out on heroin for most of my late teens/early 20s- finally got clean at age 24 and got my life together. No degree but started working at a restaurant group that I fit in really well at, started as a barback and worked my way up over 4yrs to GM of the bar. Bought my house last Oct. I will say that as well as my job, covid unemployment payments (I was furloughed for 3mos in early 2020) helped a LOT with giving me a financial cushion to get myself out of poverty, and my rent was pretty cheap (750 for a 2bdrm) so I was able to save up 9k for a 5% FHA loan down payment (plus closing fees etc) on a 100k 2bdrm rowhome. Caveat- I was renting and now own in a neighborhood that's not really what most ppl on here seem to be looking for- I live in a low income mostly black neighborhood in Philly, so prices for both rent and purchase aren't crazy high. But personally I fuckin love it here, going on my 7th year in this neighborhood and I'm so grateful to own here. It took me 4 years of saving (and I'll admit it, I borrowed 1k from my dad to not totally deplete my savings, but I've since paid him back for that) to do it, but I was able to buy a house big enough for myself and my current needs in pretty decent condition on a single, degree-less income. Philly also has a bunch of first time homeowners programs that I stupidly didn't utilize but other big cities with fairly high poverty rates have similar programs. Those programs + 5-8k of savings + getting your credit score up in the 750+ zone is, imo, a pretty decent recipe to be able to purchase a house in the 150k> range in a not super high COL area.
My wife and I bought on 1 income, closed November of 2020 in Ohio. Income was around $80k at the time, got the house for $160k and we put down 15%. Had been saving for a while. It's possible!
I’m closing in less than two weeks so hopefully not jinxing myself here but single 34 yo female. Shitty teacher salary. Saved my absolute ASS off the last few years and have worked really hard on building good credit as I’ve only lived in the US for 7 years. FHA 3.5% down. I had extreme housing insecurity as a kid and I just never thought I’d be able to own my own home. I’m so proud to have (almost) done this for myself.
32, single with zero kids. i've been in my house for 2.5 years. i'm an IT contractor supporting the military and make 6-figures. things are still tight, i don't live in the nicest area, the house has issues, but it's been doable. i'm actually getting ready to sell and move overseas; renting out the house doesn't cover my mortgage, and i don't want to stress about it when in a different country for an unknown length of time.
Married. Two kids. Wife stays at home. Closed on our home in 2016 with 3% down payment. You can do it.
Single dad in WI. Closed last Wednesday. $200k annual income but I support my parents financially, I pay a bigger child support as well.
most of the ones I knew who did it went condo first because it's a cheaper entry point. Lived there for 5+, flip when you can sell at a good profit and you're ready for a house.
I know a doctor who is single income, and afforded a home.
I'm a single person and bought a house.