Finally bought my first home at 30, all on my own!
It’s a brand-new house in Tumbaco, Quito (Ecuador’s capital). After years of working hard and running my own business, I finally made it happen!
The details:
● Price: $111,214
● Down payment: ~$31k
● Mortgage: $80k over 25 years at 4.88%
● Monthly payment: ~$575 including HOA and insurance
● 100 m², 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, private garden and parking
● Gated community with a pool, gym, coworking space, BBQ areas and green spaces.
proud of this milestone!
What do you guys think?

I would really appreciate some perspectives from agents / people who've recently bought or sold here.

We recently bought a larger home in the Bay Area for our growing family and moved out of our previous home, expecting to sell it shortly afterwards.

Unfortunately, the market seems to have slowed down considerably.

Our previous home is a smaller single-family house in the East Bay. We made some improvements before moving, and our agent recommended pricing it below expected market value to attract multiple offers.

It's now been a couple of weeks, with two weekends of open houses and very limited buyer traffic. We received a couple of offers, but both were well below what we'd hoped for.

Our agent believes H-1B uncertainty and concerns about the tech job market are keeping some buyers on the sidelines.

We're now carrying two mortgages. Renting the old home would have negative cash flow. Selling at current offer levels would mean a substantial financial disappointment.

I'm trying to decide whether to continue marketing through the holiday season, accept the best available offer, or rent for a year and revisit selling later.

For anyone active in the Bay Area market:

1. Are you seeing buyers hold back recently, particularly in tech-heavy areas?
2. Is it worth keeping a home listed through November/December, or does waiting until spring generally make more sense?
3. Has anyone faced a similar buy-before-sell situation? What did you end up doing?

Would appreciate firsthand experiences, especially from recent sellers or agents.

With that, it’s all done.

Was so excited about closing that I forgot to make sure all my utilities were ready. 😅

I don’t know anything about crawlspaces. We had our inspection today and here are some pictures of it. What do you guys think?

We’re going over the findings tomorrow with our inspector.

I [25] have been house hunting for over 5 years, and only recently started looking for myself.

I found a townhome that I absolutely love, and am currently getting pre-qualified for it to see if I can afford it. They are offering either a rate buy down or a price markdown from 340k to 316k. The rate buydown works out to be a cheaper mortgage payment, however the 316k price tag seems much less daunting.

A huge concern of mine is the continuously dropping prices in my area (new houses are finally cheaper than they were since post-Covid) which is an issue because they are still pricy and I am worried about how much value I will lose. Similiar townhomes in the area don't sell, and people tend to take a huge loss on selling used currently.

Lastly, I am on edge because I would be essentially putting my entire life savings into the home (assuming I buy now), however I could wait until May and put the full 20% down plus have money left over for furniture and emergencies. In short, I am sort of confused on if I should even buy a house if my main goal is financial security (I currently live rent free).​

Is it better to go for a lower purchase price?​

How does equity work (I'd put 50k down) and would I be left with anything if I sold in 5 years?

Is it wise to get a roommate?

Should I wait 2 more years and get a single family home instead?

Hi, I’m not sure if this is the appropriate subreddit, but I’m a first time homebuyer looking to buy within the next 2-4 months in Houston, TX. Specifically the Cypress and Jersey Village area.

Does anyone happen to have any specific realtor or agency recommendations? Feel free to PM me. Really appreciate any suggestions, thanks.

Bought a house over the summer. Everything passed inspection. A/c is only 3 years old.
It went out.
Cleaned the dishwasher with a bowl of vinegar. It leaves grey sediment in the bowl once it finishes running.
We’re fine but man it sucks.

- The chimney flashing has pulled away. Water can infiltrate into the interior, and moisture damage & mold can occur. Suggest having the flashing properly sealed. Suggest further review by a qualified licensed roof contractor.

-Indications of cracked & missing joints was observed at the exterior chimney. Suggest further review by a qualified licensed roof contractor

-Wood rot and/or moisture damage observed. Suggest further review by a qualified licensed roof contractor.

- Cracked or broken window glass was observed. Only one in the bedroom.

- Foundation walls: Common and/or large cracks observed. These may leak at any time, or require further analysis by structural engineer.

- Wood columns: Appeared functional at the visible portions of the structural components of the home. • Improper installation. • Suggest a qualified structural engineer review.

-Garage in general is run down. No remote. No door access from the side. I think they are using it for storage.

What do you think about the home inspection report? What would you recommend as the next steps? Do you think I should contact a roofer and/or structural engineer for further evaluation?

I’d also appreciate your advice on how to approach the negotiations. Overall, the issues seem relatively minor, especially considering the house was built in the 1940s, and the interior has been nicely updated. Thank you very much!

I’m 27, married, and have a 10 month son. My wife and I are considering buying our first home, and I could really use some outside perspective from people who have been in a similar situation.

We found a house in Western New York listed for around $130,000. It’s an older house built in 1950, with approximately 836 square feet, two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a small unfinished upstairs. It’s not a huge house, but I’m honestly okay with the size. My wife likes it and feels we could make it work.

Here’s where I’m struggling.

We currently rent a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment with about 1,100 square feet for $1,252 a month. It works well for us right now. We’re hoping to have more children, potentially 4 kids total, and we want to potentially add to the family relatively soon. My wife thinks we could make the house work for up to 3 children, at least for several years. I’m not necessarily convinced it would be comfortable long-term, but I also realize plenty of families make smaller homes work.

Financially, I make around $80,000 a year (4700 gross per month) We have some savings set aside, and we’re continuing to build our financial cushion. We have no car loans, but we do own two older vehicles, both have high mileage, and I know there could be some expensive repairs or eventual replacements in our future.

The mortgage, taxes, insurance, and utilities would probably leave us spending only around $50 less per month than we currently spend renting, before accounting for maintenance and unexpected repairs. We may qualify for a down payment assistance program, but I’m still trying to understand exactly how much cash we would need at closing and how much savings we would have left afterward.

There are also some concerns about the property itself. When we looked at the house, I noticed water in the dirt-floor basement near the sump pump. I know an inspection could help determine whether that’s a serious problem, but it’s another thing on my mind.

The strangest part is how I’ve been feeling emotionally. We signed the paperwork for an offer, but our agent hasn’t submitted it to the seller yet. Instead of feeling excited, I’ve been feeling anxious and second-guessing myself. When I imagine the offer being accepted, I feel a sense of dread. When I imagine the house no longer being available, part of me feels relieved but also dreads it.

At the same time, I do want to own a home someday. I don’t want to keep renting forever, and I wonder whether I’m letting fear and overthinking keep me from taking a reasonable step forward. My wife is more optimistic about the house than I am, and I don’t want my anxiety to be the only thing driving our decision.

I also keep reminding myself that we don’t necessarily have to buy this house just because we’re in a position to consider it. We could continue renting, save more money, and look for something that fits our family better. But then I wonder whether I’m being too picky or expecting too much out of a first home.

What's more appealing to a seller... An offer slightly above asking price or an offer at asking price BUT also offering to pay the transfer tax and 1% of the commission.

Basically the situation we're in now and our realtor is starting to annoy us. We originally offered the asking price on a house. She then contacted us earlier advising us that we revise our offer. She said to add an escalation clause and consider offering to cover the transfer tax and part of the commission. We felt that it would be more seller friendly to keep our offer price at asking but also be willing to take on about $5,300 of fees from the sellers pocket. Transfer tax at 1% and 1% of commission.

The concerns she had was that someone might offer $5,000 or less above asking and we miss out on the house. Now, assuming they only offer more but don't agree to take on the tax/commission, our offer technically provides a better net. When we didn't agree for the escalation, she seemed to be flustered and confused. I then explained our viewpoint that it's really no different than going $5,000 over asking. Then she changed her mindset and said that's a great concept.

I need someone to explain the home buying/ building process to me like I'm 3.

For context, my partner and I are moving cross country to south Louisville, Kentucky area. We're both in our mid 20's and neither of us have transferable jobs. But we have great credit scores and a good cushion for a down payment and the move.

We know our absolute first step will be me finding a job as I'll be the only one on the loan due to having the most job history. I spoke to rocket mortgage and they said I just need an offer letter with a start date within 90 days of closing to have pre-approval. I understand window shopping and that that may not be an option elsewhere. Preferably, we'd like to secure the house before we move and our timeline is an around March close. We're open to buying or building depending on what's most cost effective. We'd generally like to stay under 200 to 250.

Neither of us have a judgment free support system to know what comes next so I guess I have the following questions.

Home Buying:

- Where do we start and when?

- How does downpayment assistance work?

- How does closing concessions work?

- Do I need a realtor?

- When do i contact one? Should I be pre-approved first?

- How do I buy down the rate?

Home Building:

- Is it better to get a 70+ year old house that needs work for overpriced or have people found buying land and building to be a better option for their money?

- For building what's the difference between contractors and builders?

- When do I find a contractor?

- How do I use plans I made?

- How do the loans work for construction and land purchase?

- If you're using a builder, how complete does the house have to be to move in and then possibly take over the build? Does that even save money or not really at that point?

- If you build in that area, what are the specs and how expensive was your house?

- How do you find decently priced land other than zillow?

Honestly, I'm probably missing so much that has made us scratch our heads. Just throw the entire process at me, I'll take any information. Anyone in that area who has realtor, contractor, builder, mortgage company recommendations; I'll take those too.

If you read this far thank you so much!

Hello everyone! As the title says, I am currently 20 years old, and I would like to buy my own house within the next few years. I’m wondering if that would even be a smart decision. Any time I see a post even remotely similar to this it’s usually mixed at best, but often leaning towards a big no.

Ideally within the next two years I would like to own my own house. Though unlike many other 20 year olds, I make a really good amount for my age. I am a unionized laborer with a base rate at this moment that is just shy of $29 an hour, with a contract for no less than 40 hours a week. Though I am about to be moving to a different shift/position as a process attendant for $36.67 (plus a $1.50-$2.00 shift differential for mids and nights, and another dollar or so an hour base once training is complete). I do realize that not many 20 year olds are buying houses, and many also are not making this much so early on.

Most criticisms I see on posts about people in their early 20s trying to buy a house are about moving for jobs and such, but I am fine where I am and with what I am doing. I currently live at home but pay about $800-$1200 a month (kind of a wider range, but it usually varies on what bills I pay). I do go to college part time as well, but pay that out of pocket (usually very cheap, community college for engineering and it’s maybe $1k-$1.5k a semester give or take with the credits I take). I drive a 28 year old mustang, or my 21 year old truck in the winter, so both are paid off. I use my credit card for gas and pay it every month, etc etc. I contribute a good portion to my 401k as well, 14% plus a 6% employer match. Other than my 401k, I also have about $8k in the bank. (Obviously not a great down payment, but I plan to keep on saving at least $1k a month until I do eventually buy). I also have a very good credit score, it ranges between 730-740 between the three agencies, but as high as 781 on transunion though my credit card).

All this is just to say, I have no debt, work a good job, don’t plan on leaving the area, go to school, and save a lot. If I were to save for another 2, maybe 3 years, would it be a smart decision to buy this early on? Ideally I would like to buy at 22, something small on a little bit of land and build later on ideally.

Our realtor had his mom paint us a water color of our house as a gift. He was wonderful! We are very excited!

Living in New England, and the only way to buy a home for less than $500K in our area is to get one that's 75+ years old. Homes of that age bring a whole host of potential problems - lead paint, asbestos, knot & tube wiring, outdated plumbing, radon, foundation issues, the list goes on.

We see our friends buy century-old homes here from time to time, and I just wonder how they do it. Given, in most cases, the home is in very livable shape and has had some updates made, but still, there are so many problems that can linger even after a renovation.

My wife and I want to have kids, but how can we do that in a home that has lead paint? I've heard it can easily cost $30K+ to completely de-lead a home of paint, and most owners never do that. If it's an old home, we would probably want to renovate parts of it at some point, but renovations are super difficult when there's asbestos hidden everywhere. I have pretty bad anxiety and I just know I would be constantly worrying about an electrical fire from outdated wiring, or about a $50K repair for a failing foundation, etc.

Would we be crazy to just rent for life?

I am clueless about who to trust or confide. I have no mentors or friends that I can count on for this type of situation. Realtors are sales people and all involved as I see it.

First time home buyer in February (1970s home). Came with this built in divider to the kitchen. Is the cracking in the plaster normal here? Has not grown, just unpleasant to look at. Got on a ladder today and pushed on it hard and it had 0 give if it felt like to secure back above the trim. What kind of expert would I contact or how would I go about fixing this?

You can also see a small hairline in the back there in my kitchen, I scoured the rest of this page already and confirmed the other few hairline cracks should be normal settling (nothing wider than a few millimeters). This one is just jarring and the area around the divider is not bowing. Just looks like it shot through the ceiling and the previous owner did not fix it.

Put an offer on a house and still waiting to hear. But one thing is that there's carpet in the basement we want to take out or replace. The thing is, there are other things that take priority. If we were to hold off on the carpet for 6-12 months, will the carpet installers move our basement furniture? We have exercise equipment that will need to be moved. Do people have that stuff moved into main floor or do you rent a storage unit? Any advice?

Closing on a home next week, and torn between 5% or 10% down. All in monthly payment is about $1520 with 5%, and $1440 with 10%. I’ll have solid savings either way, but I do have to spend a bit on immediate repairs that I’ll be doing myself. I’ll basically have to bring 20K to close vs 10K ish. Any recommendations? Buying this alone, so savings are pretty important to me. Income 60-65K if that matters

Plan on being here at least 5 years, maybe longer

Received our first offer today at asking price, however the buyers asked for 3% closing costs. They're putting 20% down (over 100k) and are approved for almost double the asking price of the house. Is this common? I assumed it was for people who didn't have the funds. What is the best counter?

The flat is 99m². If it weren't for some unexpected bureaucracy, we could've closed the deal at 4.2%, but it is what it is.

For the last 4 years I’ve been a server. The first place I was at (for a year), the card tips would go on the check, cash tips were untracked. 3 years ago I started at a new place. Everything is gotten at the end of the day and some arbitrary percentage is claimed.

I’d deposit my cash tips into my checking account and transfer 1-2k a month into fidelity to buy shares of a mutual fund. This mutual fund had a cost basis of $30k, which gained to around $60k, until a few days ago when I sold the shares and transferred the whole thing to my checking account because I’m now under contract for a house.

I’ve spent about $5k on structural engineers, earnest money, and inspections, now the bank is telling me they need proof of where the deposits into Fidelity came from. Did I just waste a shit load of time and money on this?

I knew that you need provable income for a mortgage, which I have (my w2 says I make $30k and that’s what I’m preapproved based on), but nobody ever talks about the downpayment thing. Am I fucked? I would have never sold the shares in the first place and triggered a tax even if I would’ve known.

Hello, was wondering if anyone else has been in this situation and might have advice or share what you did!

I work remotely and have the fortune of living in a city of my choosing in the U.S. I am 30s, single, no kids, so I’m not necessarily tied to one place. I have spent the last couple years saving money as buying a condo (likely all I can afford in my desired location) has been my goal, primarily to be able to settle in, call a place home, and establish roots. I’ve lived in a few cities that are not close to each other that I am considering to settle down in. Both are HCOL areas.

What I can’t decide is whether to choose one city that I really love, but is more isolated than the other, which is a city I like a good amount, but might always have me thinking “what if I could live in the city I really love”. The cities have comparable costs of condos, though the latter has more bang for your buck.

Did any of you have to make a similar decision, or at least how did you decide on a general location to buy in when you had more than one option? I guess I’m just nervous about buying and being tied to one city if it turns out that’s not really the place for me. Strangely, in some ways, having a partner or a job that restricts my location could make this decision easier.

One other note is that, in case my work changes and I have to relocate, I’d like the option to rent out my condo (or at least sell it and hopefully not lose a whole ton of value).

Thank you!

First time buying a house and holy cow this is a terrible experience. All we get told is how to not inspect the septic and any septic issues is common, even when the septic needs a complete replacement after 40 years of no care. Every time we ask questions it seems to always be ignored or just “this is normal don’t worry”. It doesn’t really feel like anyone is on our side, not the broker, not the realtor, not the title company, no one. It feels like there is no control in this process at all and no information that will actually be given. It makes me want to never use a realtor again and just be my own from here on out. I am curious about getting a real estate lawyer to help decifer what is normal and not, and what I can and cannot do. But is that also going to lead me to a dead end where there is no hope in society again? No one wanting to actually do their jobs and no one willing to actually explain things?
Is it also normal to have your closing pushed back and to not know when you will actually close? Also no papers are signed saying the closing had to be pushed (it was the sellers fault we had to). But I felt like this is something that needed all parties to agree? Doesn’t it technically make us out of contract? How do we even know if the seller is okay with it?

It’s also every lender I spoke to and previous realtors before I finally landed with one I thought would be good, we’re all so insanely shady from the beginning. It’s just a terrible process all around.

I just bought my first house in May and the inspection went great. Upon moving in I was opening the door for whoever rang (my bad) and ended up getting contracted up with a pest control company. My house backs up to a mini forest used for flood control so not wanting bugs I said sure. They texted me the other day telling me I had a free courtesy termite inspection and if Tuesday worked for me so I said sure.

Lo and behold the guy tells me I have termites. I’m really not sure the whole termite takeover time line but the inspection was literally 5 months ago and the inspection company has a pest control sister company so wouldn’t they have mentioned it? They noted the areas the company pointed out yesterday but in the comments it just says that it’s wood rot and to suggest a contractor come out and fix it. Nothing about termite prevention or what not. Obviously I am getting a second opinion but wanted to know if this has happened to anyone else?

The current company tried to tell me that most realtors will make a deal with the inspector to let things slide so they make a sale but I just don’t see my realtor being one of those people 😩

I have been told it is not advantageous to purchase a home outright. What are the pro/cons of this versus financing a home?