Buying a house at a young age and how to buy a house at a young age is a topic I am often asked. Whether you are planning on buying a house at 18, buying a house at 19, buying a house at 21, or any other age, it is a big deal.
We bought a house at the age of 20 – there I said it. Most people think we are crazy and either think the house is something dumpy, that someone in my family pays for it, or that I’m lying (yes, I’ve been told that). I am often asked how I bought a house so young and what I learned from it.
I am especially asked a lot of questions now about what I learned from it since a lot of my friends are buying their first homes right now.
So, I’ll start off with a little background: Why did we buy our house at the age of 20? I was still in college, and we both didn’t have the greatest jobs. However, we were both working full-time and made slightly enough money. There are sooo many things to learn and know about before you buy a house.
We started living together straight out of high school (yes, I know I will be judged by some for this, but oh well, I am happy 🙂 ) and had lived together for a little over 2 years when we finally started looking at houses.
Now, why were we in a rush to buy a house? Well, we were really outgrowing the house that we were renting. The rent was super cheap since we were renting it from one of Wes’ relatives.
The house wasn’t bad and there was a huge backyard for our dog (we had just one at the time, but now we have two). However, the house was super small (there was no legitimate bedroom, our bed was in the basement) and then of course our neighbor turned out to be a psychopath.
Long story short, we moved just in time. Sadly, the person who rented the house after us ended up being murdered by the psychopath (our old landlord is Wes’ cousin, and he told us this). Probably too much information to put on the blog so I won’t say too much more. I will just say that we moved out at the perfect time.
We left the rental house as soon as we could because things were getting out of hand with the neighbor. We moved in with Wes’ brother and sister-in-law. We couldn’t live with them for too long, though, mainly because they had two kids (they have three now), and we had a dog with us! We just wanted to find a house quickly, and moving into an apartment and signing a lease didn’t seem worth it.
We gave his brother and his wife a couple hundred in rent, so we weren’t freeloading (we lived in the basement bedroom).
So there we were, on the hunt for a house. We knew we didn’t want to rent anymore, and at the time we kept being told that the housing market had bottomed and that prices would never be this cheap (oh boy they were wrong!). So, we found great deals on houses and there were a lot that we loved.
We found a house. It was a little above our budget, but still well below what we were approved for.
Recommended reading: How To Move Out At 18
How to buy a house in your 20s.
Should you buy a house in your early 20s?
Not everyone is the same, but if you are interested in buying a house in your 20s, it is possible.
In fact, many of my friends bought their first house in their 20s as well.
Granted, we did live in a more affordable area (the midwest), so it was easier there.
I recommend reading Home Buying Tips You Need To Know Before You Buy so that you can be more informed with your first home purchase.
What is the best age to buy a house?
I don’t know if there’s a best age to buy a house – it all depends on you and your individual circumstances.
Should you buy a cheap house first?
Some say that your first house should be a “starter home” but again, I think this is different for each person. Your whole life can change in just a year, so it’s hard to decide from Day 1 that you will be moving into a bigger house in a few years.
You may end up living in your “starter home” your whole life!
Is it smart to buy a house in your 20s?
Just like with any age, it can be smart of dumb, haha. You’ll simply want to be smart with your decision and all of the factors that go along with your decision (such as, can you afford the house!?).
Here’s what I would have changed with our home purchase and how to buy a house in your 20s:
1. The timing of buying a house young.
Even though everything worked out great for us, I’m not sure if I would have bought a house so young. We probably should have found another rental house so that we could have saved money.
Also, even though we are still together, I do realize that a TON of relationships at the age of 20 do not last, I am happy that ours is still going strong, of course.
2. Being more realistic.
I’m definitely not going to say that I made NO mistakes. We bought our house with the thinking that I would get a job straight out of college (I graduated with my undergraduate degrees around 7 months later, still at the age of 20).
However, what if I WOULDN’T have gotten this job? We most likely would have not been able to afford it forever. We had enough saved to hold us over for awhile, but we definitely couldn’t enjoy ourselves on the income that we were making (we had enough for expenses, but not if we wanted to hang out with friends or buy clothes).
3. Waited so that I could travel.
This isn’t a huge regret of mine, but I do always have this little inkling that maybe I would have traveled extensively if I wouldn’t have been tied down to a house.
Related: Mistakes I Made When I Bought My First House At The Age of 20
What decisions would you have changed with your house purchase? Tips? Do you already have a second house in mind like I do?
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I think that is awesome! I know I wouldn't have been nearly responsible at such a young age. That is impressive.
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Thanks! A LOT of people told us we were crazy when we told them we were looking for a house.
My recent post Buying a House at 20 (How I did it)
Hi there. That’s good that you bought a house at a young age. I want to own my own house too. I’m 20 years old too. I might rent at first, just too save money though. What do you think?
Your story reminds me of me and my husband!!! We got married at 19 started living on our own finished college got really good jobs the first year we saved 10,000 and got our first car and the last 2 years we saved 20,000 we just had a baby 12/2015 so we used the money we saved for down payment closing and now working on remodeling!!! This year we will be 4 years married in only 22 and his 23. I love your post
I would have factored in the little costs of our house. We bought one that we could "make our own" and do small renovations/changes over time. Then I realized it costs $600 to replace all the doorknobs and locks….and we still want to replace all the doors! There are just a lot more costs involved than most people think. I've written about it a bit but hope to more in the future just so people are aware of the potential costs involved once you do purchase a house.
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I agree, there are a lot of costs involved if you want to get a fixer upper.
My recent post Buying a House at 20 (How I did it)
Wow!,Michelle,some of the craziest things have happened to you!
I was so immature at the age of 20, and would not have been able to handle it.
Good for y'all.
Ha I know. When W's cousin told us about what happened, I about had a heart attack. The guy is in jail forever now though.
My recent post Buying a House at 20 (How I did it)
Ya but that doesn’t bring back the person he murdered. Good thing you got out of there in time. That’s crazy!! But glad you guys are alright.
Good for you and buying at 20. I bought my first home at 20 as well. I bought a second property (a rental) when I was 26 and have no regrets. I did make some mistakes, but that's what life is all about, taking chances and learning from the mistakes.
Wow that's awesome! You are definitely doing great, especially since you already have a rental.
My recent post Buying a House at 20 (How I did it)
When you have a crazy neighbor, just move ASAP. That's my tip 🙂
My recent post Buying a House at 20 (How I did it)
Thanks! It's definitely a lot to take on, but now I'm used to it all.
My recent post Buying a House at 20 (How I did it)
There is nothing wrong with purchasing a home at an early age as long as you know what you are getting into. My wife and I purchased our home before we were married when we were 23, so not too far from you. We are looking at selling it now to move to a better neighborhood to raise our son.
We are looking for a better house as well, need to start saving!
My recent post Buying a House at 20 (How I did it)
The house is in both your and your partner's name? You two are/aren't married? I see nothing wrong with buying a house when you're 20, the more terrifying thing here is buying a house with someone you're not married to. I know this is sort of common but as a commitmentphobe I'm getting anxious just thinking about it.
Yes it is in both of our names. I know I will be judged for this but I believe that marriage is nothing more than a piece of paper (I am not religious) and getting married wouldn't affect us in any way.
Hopefully no one hates me for saying that! But it's just how I feel when it comes to our relationship. A wedding wouldn't make it any stronger, as I believe our relationship is already great.
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I absolutely agree with that about marriage. But buying a house is such a huge thing, I don't know, I would want to wait 10 years or something stupid before I felt comfortable enough to do that! I guess now would be different too since I've had some serious long-term relationships end, I would just be more hesitant about it.
but that doesn't matter because things are working out for you!
I agree, we definitely bought a house very early in our relationship (we were only 20 and had been together for a little over 3 years at the time). And haha I think it just depends on the people. It's funny because in my group of friends, ALL SIX of us have bought a house with our boyfriends (the last one just bought a house) and we've all been dating with our respective boyfriends since high school. It's weird how we are all alike.
My recent post Buying a House at 20 (How I did it)
We kind of fell into our house…we wantd to move out of our rental we were in…this guy was renting the house we ended up buying…so we bought the duplex and rent out the top now…its nice income and it covers our mortgage..it was a no brainer for us…considering my wife wasnt working after our first child….kudos to you on your relationship and purchasing the house..
That's definitely nice! Great idea.
My recent post Buying a House at 20 (How I did it)
There's no way I could have done this at 20. Was not in a "good place" in life at all. Floundering I suppose. even now, I'm still dealing with some consequences. Someday i hope to own a townhouse at least.
I'm sure you will. Everything will get better 🙂
My recent post Buying a House at 20 (How I did it)
My husband and I were 23 when we bought our house after only renting an apartment for a year. In the prime location between our two jobs rent is high and it killed us putting that much into a place we didn't own. Buying a house in your 20s leads people to believe that it's tiny, a fixer-upper or that it's in the family. I can't tell you how many people have been surprised to see our big, definitely not a starter home (or pictures of it).
We know that this is a 5-10 year home and that we'll want to move into something bigger and probably newer later in life. But right now I love my charming home.
I agree! It's nice meeting others who are similar.
My recent post Buying a House at 20 (How I did it)
And that's exactly why I didn't want to talk about it ha.
The crazy neighbor punched the guy in the back of the head, and he bled out for a FULL week before his ex wife stopped by the house (because he wasn't returning her phone calls) and found him there.
My recent post Buying a House at 20 (How I did it)
Yeah, I'm with everyone else… that murder part of the story is insane! But it does make for a good conversation starter!
Ha I hate talking about it surprisingly, it scares the heck out of me.
My recent post Buying a House at 20 (How I did it)
Whoa! I can't get over the part about living next to a psychopath! I thought you were joking until you said someone was murdered…… It sounds like your home-buying experience was meant to be. Even if you guys didn't consider everything upon purchasing the house, it sounds like it's ended up going well! So kudos to you!
Ugh yeah it sounds like a job, but it definitely happened!
My recent post Buying a House at 20 (How I did it)
Wow, murdered!? One of our first places we lived in had been previously used as a crack house/brothel, but no murder. 🙂 Seriously though, that's great you were able to buy a house so young. So many at that age aren't disciplined enough to take on something like that. If I could change one thing about our purchase I would have waited longer in order to save up a bigger down payment.
Thanks! And yes I wish we would've have saved more.
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