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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Crazy story! I bought my first flat cash at 22 just before I graduated college. It was super cheap because of the bad neighborhood and I rented it while I traveled the world. Best of both worlds! I would never have bought with a BF though, or would have gotten married I think.
Wow that's great! I've always been envious of all of your traveling.
My recent post Buying a House at 20 (How I did it)
I would not have had my head in the game enough at that point to consider buying a house, but I think it is probably smarter than renting if you know what you're doing, and you obviously do.
Thanks Kim!
My recent post Buying a House at 20 (How I did it)
I don't think I was mature enough at 20 to buy a house. It is very impressive how good you were with money at such a young age. I am not going to consider buying a home until I have a substantial amount saved, I have become a worrywart these days.
My recent post How Not to be a Quitter
I don't think your crazy because if I did then I would be too! I bought my house while I was still in University and working as well. I as paying more for rent than I did owning a home so it made sense to me. I sold that for a nice profit then bought another house a few years later, just bigger and better. I sold that house made a bigger profit and moved here to Canada and then bought this house with the Mrs. I'm only in my 30's and the house is pretty much paid in full.. ok well we have the cash and will be paid in the new year. I had to start a whole new life here in Canada, go back to school as my Uni Degree wasn't fully recognized (surprise) but we did it and not one handout in our lives. Mrs.CBB bought her first home at 29 I believe but has always been a saver. We have lots of fun together, go on trips and enjoy life. No debt, 2 vehicles full paid and it's because we both started saving money when we were young. If someone thinks that's crazy then so be it but I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. Now all we need is the kids 🙂 I say keep reaching for your dreams mate… you have probably more knowledge than I did at your age!! Great Post. Mr.CBB
My recent post Winter Vehicle Maintenance… Costing You Less In The Long Run
We bought early too, so no judgements from me. 🙂 Hubby and I met at 18, got married at 21/22 (I'm 6 months older), and bought our first home at 22/23. In Houston, TX, it just made sense. Either $700-$1000 for rent in an apartment or $740 a month for a 15 year mortgage. Even with property taxes, we were paying less than $1000 a month. After refinancing in 2011, we were paying less than $800 a month.
Since the payments were so low, we used 2011 to make a huge dent (only $23,000 left) and we bought our new house at age 29. So now we have another mortgage, but we'll be down to one next year and we couldn't be happier.
Sometimes you just know and it doesn't matter how young you are.
PS I am so glad you moved in time and I feel so sorry for the next renter…
Let me say, "I really love your blog and I'll definitely be coming to visit again." =)
Well, I'm 21 and I have bad credit. I need to repair it in order to buy a house just yet. However, I am renting and it does suck. We have a one bedroom apartment on the top floor. Although this is not my dream place – it will do for now. Until my company earns me thousands and then millions of dollars — that's when we'll purchase a home. 😀
But hey.. if I were you – I think you did a good job. Buying a home is a huge investment but its a good one. It's your own. You never have to worry about being homeless for sure. Haha. =)
My recent post Life is Too Short
Thanks! Glad you enjoy my blog.
Well, I got to say you got a lot of courage buying a house in 20s. I am in my 30, has a job, but thinking again and again and I am not sure If I should do it.
Not that my rent is cheap ( It is pretty high ) but i hear from people who own houses there is a lot of maintenance around, you end paying as much as rent.
We don't regret out house purchase. We pay around $960 a month and that includes the mortgage, insurance and taxes. It's not bad at all and if we wanted to ret a house like ours it would probably be around $1,500 per month.
My recent post Carnival of MoneyPros
I'm also 20 years old. We have already had 2 apartments. Our first apartment was 575 on month and our second is 775. So I do believe we can stand a mortgage a month. I know a lot of people have to issue with and concerns with us being so young. My boyfriend and I will be together for 3 years. I am meeting with a realtor tomorrow. And I'm very nervous because of the post I'm seeing about waiting. I just think its a complete waste to pay this much for an apartment that isn't even mine. Any advice?
You sound like a lot like us. It really just depends on what you're comfortable with and as long as you see value in it and can afford it. By the time we bought our house (the same one we live in now), we had lived in 2 or 3 places as well and new we wanted to buy.
My recent post Carnival of MoneyPros
Wow that’s awesome! I bought my house at 20 as well, just turned over a huge profit and am buying a second home at 21! Hard work pays off, and so do great careers huh!? Too blessed to be stressed 😀
Wow that’s awesome! Good job Cody!
really inspiring….
Buying a home is usually one of the best investments you can make. But, things can go belly up when the economy is on a prolonged downturn.
Wow I guess your gut was really telling you to move until something bad happens with that psychopath. I’m not sure if I would have been ready to buy a house at 20 (I had a entry-level job and 14K loan)… but I think that if it feels right at the time, then you should go for it. Both of you had a job after all. I would probably wait until I had some savings and my loan was partially paid off, to consider buying property.
Good for you!
I am so inspired. I’m 21 and want to buy my own house soooo badly. I’ve got my down payment already just working on closing costs now. I can’t tell you how many people I try to get advise from tell me I’m crazy and well sometimes I feel like maybe I should take this plunge but stories like yours make me not care at all. Thank you so much ! Wish me luck!
Good luck!
Whoa! I’d say you had perfect timing, what with that psychopath and all!
I bought my first home in 2012 at age 21, partly because in my particular situation, renting was more expensive than buying. I found a 4br, 2bath foreclosure after a long year of searching, and my mortgage has turned out to be cheaper than any decent 1br rental I could find! Many of my friends poke fun at me for living in a small town, but with the lower cost of living, I’m able to pay off my undergrad student loans this month! Now I get to put more money back for retirement and have extra “fun money” for travel!
The big thing I learned from this experience was to set pride aside and take advantage of living with your family, if it allows you to save your money. You give up some independence for a while, but it’s worth it!
Great job!
This is great. At 20 I was definitely not thinking about things like this and that’s when I should have been. Now that I have a daughter almost this age I hope she keeps the right mindset to help her maintain a happy, healthy, successful life.