# how old you were you when you bought your first home? (or how many years ago)



## ashin1 (Mar 22, 2014)

I myself do not own a home, nor do I see myself having a mortgage until I have enough capital to buy a small place in cash. Or maybe unless there is a collapse in the housing economy. But nevertheless i'm very curious to see how old our money savvy Canadians were when they dipped into the real estate market!
Please share:biggrin:


----------



## My Own Advisor (Sep 24, 2012)

Was 27.

Absolutely nothing wrong with renting.


----------



## Zoombie (Jan 10, 2012)

26. Or will be, when I sign for it this afternoon. 

As a heads up, today will officially mark the top in Canadian housing prices and the beginning of the collapse, if my past history with market timing prevails.


----------



## bds (Aug 13, 2013)

25 (last year).

Majority of my friends have bought already around the same age as well.

Renting is perfectly fine. Every day I have to work on my house I'm tempted to throw a for sale sign on the lawn and move into someone else's problem (a rental).


----------



## Moneytoo (Mar 26, 2014)

ashin1 said:


> I myself do not own a home, nor do I see myself having a mortgage until I have enough capital to buy a small place in cash.


My husband and I bought our first 1 bedroom apartment when we were 22. Paid 1.5K cash. Oh - but it was back in Donetsk Ukraine :biggrin:

Sold it few years later for 12K and came to Canada. Bought our first house here when we were 28. Still live there, mortgage is paid off, wouldn't be able to buy it now as it's probably quadrupled or even quintupled in price...


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

Moneytoo said:


> My husband and I bought our first 1 bedroom apartment when we were 22. Paid 1.5K cash. Oh - but it was back in Donetsk Ukraine :biggrin:
> 
> ..


Donetsk is not Ukraine anymore  but "столица Донецкой Народной Республики." 
I immigrated to Israel when I was 23, at age 25 bought 1st condo joints with my wife, at 27 got married and bought our condo, in 35 immigrated to Canada and at 36 bought detached house


----------



## cashinstinct (Apr 4, 2009)

Bought house at 26.5 years old (mid-2012), Montreal area in the subs. 

Waited to have 20% downpayment and some extra money for reno/closing costs/etc. Rented appartment from 2009 to 2012.

Prices seem to have increased a little/stabilized in my area since that time...

If I was single, I would rent an appartment for sure still. No condo for me, paying 250k for an appartment does not make sense to me.

As a couple, I am ok with owning house, but it's not something I love.


----------



## DayTek (Sep 26, 2013)

I was 20 and my husband was 23 and we bought our house in 2006. A 5 year Closed mortgage was 6.3% at the time and we got a 1% discount. We thought about renting at first, but did the math and the mortgage wasn't that much more, so we went for it. 

Bought a brand new semi-detached home for $185,000. 1200 sq ft, 3 beds, 1.5 baths…Good for a young couple. ZERO regrets and so glad we bought when we did! It's gone up 25% in value and we've only put about $10,000 in upgrades (cemented driveway, A/C and shed). 

We were hoping to have it paid off by our mid-30's but my husband went through a string of layoffs for several years, so it will likely be clear closer to 40 if we're smart about it. We plan to live there until we can't do the stairs.


----------



## nobleea (Oct 11, 2013)

I was 28 when I bought (and moved in to) my first condo. Wife and I bought our current home when I was 30 (she was 27).

Almost all my friends would have bought their first homes in the 24-26 range.

I would say it's better to rent and then purchase a place once you are married (or with a long term partner). In most of the marriages I've seen that brought 2 condos in to the marriage, they had been in there so little time that any equity gains were wiped out by realtor, legal fees. So they just ended up tying up their downpayments for that time period.


----------



## Moneytoo (Mar 26, 2014)

gibor said:


> Donetsk is not Ukraine anymore  but "столица Донецкой Народной Республики."


Yeah, I know - happy that our parents are here (the only university friend with whom I stayed in touch all these 20 years fled the city with her family about 2 weeks ago, before the heavy bombing started...)


----------



## christinad (Apr 30, 2013)

I guess i'm the old one - I bought my condo at 40, last year. It is hard when you only have 1 income, particularly if you don't make a lot. Its never too late! Now I am working at prepayments so I have it paid off before i'm 70. : - (


----------



## Itchy54 (Feb 12, 2012)

Oh my, boyfriend(now hubby) built our first house when we were 25. I was still at university and he worked in logging, far away from where he built the house. He worked weekends on the house, very long days. That was in the early eighties when interest rates were about 18 percent or higher. Poor guy, he had NOTHING, slept in a tent under a bridge when he was at work, and later a friends van. The payments were awful and eased a bit when the house was complete. I worked that summer at Quintette Coal and we added a wood stove with the extra money.
I loved that pretty little house, it still stands and is loved by someone else ....pretty piece of property on Vancouver island. 

Since then we have built two, renovated 3 and just five years ago bought a prebuilt new home.....


----------



## ashin1 (Mar 22, 2014)

do any of you guys monetize your homes?
for example having tenants, renting out driveway space etc?


----------



## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

25

and sold my last house in 1997.


----------



## derp (Feb 23, 2014)

ashin1 said:


> I myself do not own a home, nor do I see myself having a mortgage until I have enough capital to buy a small place in cash.


Buying in cash is a fantastic feeling! My wife and I also delayed purchasing a home until we were able to pay in cash; we were 29 when that happened (last year).


----------



## Ag Driver (Dec 13, 2012)

25, 10% down, and have 1 to 2 renters at $500/month.


----------



## heyjude (May 16, 2009)

Moved a lot during my early career, but kept saving for a downpayment. Bought my first home in Winnipeg in 1991, age 33. $60K downpayment, $25K mortgage. Interest rate on a 6 month term was 10.25%! Saved like mad and paid off the mortgage in 18 months. Lived in the home for 20 years. Sold it for 3 times the purchase price. I loved that little house, a "character" home on a boulevard lined with stately elm trees.


----------



## hystat (Jun 18, 2010)

I was 26. Shoulda waited. I ended up selling 2 years later to relocate. Cost me way more in fees to sell than it would have to just rent a nice place for 2 years.


----------



## dubmac (Jan 9, 2011)

43. Never settled in one place long enough to buy a place - finally got a good stable job (in Vancouver), but it took a while to get a enough $ to put down. no regrets.


----------



## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

My hubby was 26 when he bought his apartment. I sort of just moved in with him over time as we got engaged right after that. We bought our first place together when I was 30. We kept the first place and have rented it out for years.


----------



## Daniel A. (Mar 20, 2011)

Bought my first place at 20 years old but had loaned a friend the down payment for his place when I was 18. He did well


----------



## Josh (Jan 15, 2014)

I bought two places at the same time (well within a few months of each other). This was back in 2010 when I was 21.


----------



## dogcom (May 23, 2009)

27 for me as the mid to late 20's seem to be the place for most forum buyers except these last two.


----------



## Eder (Feb 16, 2011)

I bought a townhouse with my brother when I was 21 about 37 years ago. Since then have owned many places but am home less now (live in my rv and boat). I think I'll buy again when I am too old and useless to enjoy myself.


----------



## mrPPincer (Nov 21, 2011)

Bought mine for cash when I was 23, zero help from family, (in fact I paid room and board when i was in highschool), no mortgage, just money saved from construction work throughout highschool years & after and a brief stint in the military, (during which i saved almost everything I was paid, plus I got my pension payments back when my contract was complete and i didn't stay on).

Thankfully there was nothing going on at that time besides the invasion of Granada, which we were not asked to join, but there was some talk of that possibility coming down the pipelines; I'm glad we didn't join that one, and I'm really glad we didn't hop into the Iraq one either btw, thank god Chretien was in charge then, (& Trudeau while I was in the military).

The house I bought was not even listed at the time, but I had my eyes open, had been looking & thinking of potential buying possibilities for numbers of years already, but it was run-down, abandoned and had been rented out to partiers who had left it in pretty rough condition.

I approached an elderly realtor who happened to know the owner and put in firm offer for what was all the cash I had on the condition that the owner pay all the legal fees, & that I could live in there in the meantime.

Still living in the same place today, & it's a big part of the reason I'm semi-retired today & have been since about 3 months before I turned 41.

That said I agree with the others who say there's absolutely nothing wrong with renting; the kind of deal I stumbled upon is pretty hard to come by, but not impossible; just a year ago a house 3 blocks away sold for 43K (the owner had a schizophrenic breakdown and suicided with his wife tied up & the place was priced by the bank to sell quick.. it sold in days).


----------



## lightcycle (Mar 24, 2012)

Don't be too quick to make age the basis for a comparison to yourself, because location and timing is going to skew the results.

A 27-year old in Moncton in 1977 will have a much easier time affording a home than a 27-year old in Vancouver in 2014.


----------



## Oldroe (Sep 18, 2009)

Started working GM Oshawa Feb 1976 and started looking for property in the fall. Worked with a older guy 35 I was 19 who gently moved me to home ownership.

I had told doug the big reason was to have something when I got done partying. So at 19.5 I owned a house in Oshawa almost nobody in my party circle new about my rental property.


----------



## homesforsalestjohnnl (Aug 21, 2014)

yeh ! it is right to get the new home is an exciting moment for every one


----------



## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

Bought SFH in Mississauga when I was 38. $400K house, 180K mortgage. Kids were aged 0 and 3 at the time.

Aggressive annual prepayments from 04-06

Held own mortgage from 06-10 in my RRSP for when it was between 120K and 80K.

Paid out mortgage through fortuitous company buy out that I held shares in in 10 when fees started to put a marked drag on the dropping mortgage balance return. It was an investment in an RRSP. 

Paid a 'penalty' to my RRSP to pay mortgage out early. Slickest way to get extra money working inside an RRSP I have ever found.

Once mortgage was paid off kept investing the same payment (actually a bit more) into an investment account of equity holdings.


----------



## birdman (Feb 12, 2013)

I was 25 and my wife 23. Paid $18,000. for a small home in a good area of Vancouver and I would expect its worth $1.2 to 1.5 now. Wish I still had it as an investment.


----------



## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

We bought our first home in 1991 in Brampton when we were both 24.


----------



## ashin1 (Mar 22, 2014)

derp said:


> Buying in cash is a fantastic feeling! My wife and I also delayed purchasing a home until we were able to pay in cash; we were 29 when that happened (last year).


Amazing! no rush to buy a house myself, If I can get to the point my dividends can afford to pay my rent/mortgage, maybe then I may look to settling down somewhere. But until then Rent is my friend.


----------



## troy87 (Aug 10, 2014)

When i was 26 and my wife 25. we bought a house in 2012.


----------



## J Watts (Jul 19, 2012)

I've been a home owner for one week, and I'm 2 weeks away from my 24th birthday.


----------



## brad (May 22, 2009)

christinad said:


> I guess i'm the old one - I bought my condo at 40, last year. It is hard when you only have 1 income, particularly if you don't make a lot. Its never too late! Now I am working at prepayments so I have it paid off before i'm 70. : - (


Got you beat, I didn't buy my first home until I was 48. It was the right thing for me to wait that long; I never stayed in one place long enough to build up any equity.


----------



## Franky Jr (Oct 5, 2009)

22. No regrets. Some people advised against our purchase but no one ever really knows.


----------



## protomok (Jul 9, 2012)

24, back in 2011, paying it off as slow as possible until rates go up.


----------



## Ethan (Aug 8, 2010)

ashin1 said:


> do any of you guys monetize your homes?


I bought my first house when I was 25. It had a basement rental suite that I rented out, as well my girlfriend moved in and paid rent. I then started a home equity line of credit (HELOC) and invested the proceeds into the stock market. I used the stock market gains to pay down the house, which increased the limit on my HELOC, which I reinvested into the stock market. Those were the days, my house rented for my than my mortgage and fueled my investment account. Non-deductible mortgage interest became deductible investment loan interest. I could have paid that house off before the end of my first mortgage term. But the girlfriend turned into a pregnant wife so we sold the house (for a $30,000 gain) and we bought a larger house in the suburbs without a basement suite. Now I'll be mortgage free at 35 instead of 30.


----------



## FrugalTrader (Oct 13, 2008)

First home when I was 23 (2003). My girlfriend (now wife) and I purchased a two apartment home. We lived upstairs and rented out the downstairs.


----------



## RBull (Jan 20, 2013)

26. Bought my own house and another rental with 2 units the same year.


----------



## Rusty O'Toole (Feb 1, 2012)

I bought my first rental property when I was 22, something I had been planning since I was 16. Bought my first house to live in when I was 46.

I don't recommend this today but back then it was all I knew.


----------



## Arshes76 (Jul 5, 2013)

Wow maybe it's me, but quite a few here that bought in the 5 years or so, are only in thier mid-20's. Curious did you guys buy condos or houses?


----------



## J Watts (Jul 19, 2012)

Arshes76 said:


> Wow maybe it's me, but quite a few here that bought in the 5 years or so, are only in thier mid-20's. Curious did you guys buy condos or houses?


I noticed that too. Very impressive.

I bought an end unit townhouse (basically a semi-detached).


----------



## Ag Driver (Dec 13, 2012)

Arshes76 said:


> Wow maybe it's me, but quite a few here that bought in the 5 years or so, are only in thier mid-20's. Curious did you guys buy condos or houses?


My purchase was last Nov (25), and it was a house. Moderately aggressive saving techniques as I grew up, and always held a job since I was 16, and owned my first car at 17. 10%/$26.2k down. 3.43% fixed for 5 years.


----------



## bettyboop (Dec 13, 2011)

I was 19, which was 38 years ago.


----------



## cashinstinct (Apr 4, 2009)

Arshes76 said:


> Wow maybe it's me, but quite a few here that bought in the 5 years or so, are only in thier mid-20's. Curious did you guys buy condos or houses?


At 26, as a couple we bought a house in the subs of Montreal, detached house... with 20% downpayment (around 60k).

We saved by renting a not-too-big appartment and not spending all our income.


----------



## Arshes76 (Jul 5, 2013)

J Watts said:


> I noticed that too. Very impressive.
> 
> I bought an end unit townhouse (basically a semi-detached).


Impressive yet also kind of frightening. The markets are already shifting and seeing so many young ones buying homes, they are financially ready for (or think they are) but may not understand consequences of in regards to thier future is scary. Seems alot mindlessly enter into what they think is a sound financial thing to do without thought of the future, ie: interest rates, jobs, marriage, kids etc.


----------



## uptoolate (Oct 9, 2011)

28


----------



## Ag Driver (Dec 13, 2012)

Arshes76 said:


> Impressive yet also kind of frightening. The markets are already shifting and seeing so many young ones buying homes, they are financially ready for (or think they are) but may not understand consequences of in regards to thier future is scary. Seems alot mindlessly enter into what they think is a sound financial thing to do without thought of the future, ie: interest rates, jobs, marriage, kids etc.


I think you will be hard pressed to see those posting on a money forum are mindless entering any kind of market without thought of the future. 

Not to say we are safe...but I can confidently say that we on CMF are the minority, with such a mind set.


----------



## Arshes76 (Jul 5, 2013)

Sorry I don't mean people here are mindlessly doing this, just some in general. Some people see owning at a young age as getting ahead, building equity etc. Especially with people who are good with money yet they just follow the rules of what your supposed to do, with little or no thought if it's really good for them. My sister and her boyfriend thought about buying a condo, and he's amazing at saving his money. But the market is shifting and they sort of see that, but if they met a few years earlier they'd be in a condo underwater throwing money at a money pit.


----------



## namelessone (Sep 28, 2012)

27, 3 BR town house, cost $160k.


----------



## doctrine (Sep 30, 2011)

I bought a townhouse at 27, sold at 30. Mostly because I was thinking like many of "buy early, build equity" and I could certainly afford the payments. Made out fairly well on the transaction, but been going the "rent, save, invest" way instead ever since. When I do buy again, my bank dividends will be paying my mortgage


----------



## ashin1 (Mar 22, 2014)

doctrine said:


> my bank dividends will be paying my mortgage


anyone else doing something similar to this?


----------



## lightcycle (Mar 24, 2012)

ashin1 said:


> anyone else doing something similar to this?


This strategy is going to have to be very flexible to take into account interest rate changes in the future - as they have nowhere to go but up from here.

Makes no sense trying to pay your 7% mortgage if your bank stocks are only paying you 4%, especially since mortgage interest isn't tax-deductible and dividend income is taxable. Not taking into account capital appreciation and capital gains taxes.


----------



## ashin1 (Mar 22, 2014)

But the dividends in a TFSA are tax sheltered. Hopefully by the time I look into buying a home myTFSA will have grown not only by annual contribution but also with compound interest that the monthly dividend income are big enough to put a significant dent into my rent or mortgage. But tfsa dividends won't be my only source of passive income. Hopefully rrsp and non registered accounts will cover the rest plus more. Let's hope inflation slows down I couldn't bare to pay 3 bucks for a small bag of chips haha


----------



## Sherlock (Apr 18, 2010)

I still rent. Can't afford a detached house in the GTA, and don't want a condo or townhouse. Thought about buying a house somewhere like Whitby but I think I'd really hate the commute to work. Think I'll probably keep renting until I move out of the GTA.


----------



## Arshes76 (Jul 5, 2013)

lightcycle said:


> This strategy is going to have to be very flexible to take into account interest rate changes in the future - as they have nowhere to go but up from here.
> 
> Makes no sense trying to pay your 7% mortgage if your bank stocks are only paying you 4%, especially since mortgage interest isn't tax-deductible and dividend income is taxable. Not taking into account capital appreciation and capital gains taxes.


That's true but eventually home prices fall when rates go up, so eventually you'll see mortgage stay the same but home prices fall to compensate for the rise in rates.


----------



## randomthoughts (May 23, 2010)

9 years ago, when I was in mid-to-late 20s. It's a bit hazy because it was a new build with a 1 year closing, and then there were delays. So I'm not sure what counts as 'bought'.

For a couple of years before that, people were warning me that the market was due for a correction and that I shouldn't buy. I'm glad I bought because... I couldn't afford my house easily now. (I wish I had bought a few years earlier!)

Even if markets drop by 40%, it'll still be more than I paid for it. (But I could've gotten much closer to Toronto a few years earlier!)


----------



## 0xCC (Jan 5, 2012)

First house a little less than 3 months from my 24th birthday, sold that one 2.5 years later for about 10% more than I bought it for but ended up giving all that back in closing costs. I only had about a 7% down payment for that one but my grandfather loaned me about 60% of the purchase price.

The second house was about twice the cost of the first one and we ended up living there a little over 9 years. Sold that one for about 55% more than we bought it for. Paid off the loan from my grandfather 2-3 years into owning that place. Moved due to a job change.

Bought the next house for almost the same price as we sold the previous one for. Still living in that house and it has probably appreciated about 20% in the time we have lived here.

Became mortgage free 14 years after taking out the mortgage on the first place. Also rented out rooms in the first house as it was in a University town and I didn't have enough income at the time to pay the mortgage (I was still in school, the only way I got the mortgage was by having my mother co-sign for it and by getting that 'loan' from my grandfather that the bank was told was a gift).


----------



## Jon_Snow (May 20, 2009)

Bought at 30, mortgage paid off at 38, retired at 42. Boom. :biggrin:


----------



## Jocose (Nov 12, 2012)

randomthoughts said:


> For a couple of years before that, people were warning me that the market was due for a correction and that I shouldn't buy. I'm glad I bought because... I couldn't afford my house easily now. (I wish I had bought a few years earlier!)
> 
> Even if markets drop by 40%, it'll still be more than I paid for it. (But I could've gotten much closer to Toronto a few years earlier!)


I will agree on this.
I bought my first home 3 years ago, a lot of ppl were talking about RE market crash, so it was pretty scary. However I couldn't find a place to rent, so I bought a house (at the edge of city, pretty small even comparing to my neighbours) for my young family. 
3 years later (I'm 33 now) ppl are still freaking out about close RE market crash, but I'm glad I did buy it then.

What I figured from this: no one knows what will happen tomorrow. Predictions are only predictions. You could be on the safest side, but reality will smash you as much as it will smash careless cousin of yours. Or you can do something stupid and get way ahead of everyone else. That's life...


----------



## Compounding1 (May 13, 2012)

I was 24 at the time, put down 20%. Rented out my basement to a quiet friend to help pay off the mortgage faster. So far so good  House prices keep going up in the area (not that it matters, I plan on staying awhile).


----------



## Sixth_Circle (Nov 22, 2010)

Bought our first home (single detached) in the Halifax suburbs at 31. Made extra payments every chance we could get. 

Sold for a tidy profit approx 10 years later in anticipation of job relocation (and recognizing that the market might turn). Now we are renting a condo in Toronto and intend to keep renting, as long as we live in this city. Houses are not only overpriced, but many are simply dumps, and I have no desire to spend time and money maintaining/renovating one. I also see no advantage to purchasing a condo, having seen too much evidence of shoddy construction, escalating monthly fees, and the possibility of either another job transfer. For us, the freedom of being able to move around easily trumps any potential long-term gains in equity.

Our strategy now is to rent for much less than we would otherwise pay in mortgage and carrying costs (to live in the same area), continue saving extra money each month, and continue to invest those savings in our balanced, diversified, and liquid portfolio.


----------



## Sasquatch (Jan 28, 2012)

Built our first home ourselves ( wife and I did it all ourselves except for the foundation) through the local COOP program in a suburb of Halifax in 1972. Mortgage was $ 12 800 , which included the property. Paid the mortgage ( 7%) off in about 10 years.
Built second home in a Halifax suburb ( I was the general contractor and hired the sub trades) in 1997. Cost about $ 190 000 with a mortgage ( variable %) of $ 75 000. Paid it off after 10 years when I retired.
Current value probably around $ 350 000


----------



## Butters (Apr 20, 2012)

25

had 60k cash saved 
used 22k home buyers RRSP
60k/yearly income

250k house put 50k down
4k for lawyer, land transfer tax(wpg), property tax
17k into foundation/double garage long driveway repairs (a friend)

bought in 2012, would have rather put 80k into a bank stock, but never knew how to set up a brokerage account

the house helped me find a girl..
now, im renting the house out because i've moved cities to follow a girl doing her university

Did a 20k lump sum last year with some extra cash, and doubled up a few payments
owe 160k on my 200k mortgage 2 years later

house worth roughly 290k, i got it for a good deal

haven't been able to save as much since owning, want to go back to moms


----------



## Cal (Jun 17, 2009)

Bought first investment property around 24 years old.

First home wasn't until about age 30.


----------



## 1980z28 (Mar 4, 2010)

First was in 79 for 68K mortgage was 325 / m and tax was 53 / m

I was 20


----------



## dBII (Mar 12, 2013)

25...1983...$50k for a half duplex in Red Deer. I bought another in '88 in Nanaimo for about the same $$$ and paid it off in seven years with a line of credit. It's amazing how quickly one can pay off a house when every extra dime you make goes against the LOC. I haven't had a mortgage since 1993.


----------



## DesignerDee (Apr 10, 2013)

32 - I hated being in the rent trap! Bought a one bedroom military style house for a steal - I liked the location. After 3 years I wanted to renovate and add some space. When I figured the cost, decided to get rid of the building and did a new build (3 bedroom, full basement) on the same location for less than the renovation would have cost, and never regretted the decision. Was mortgage free in 17 years. After 5 years mortgage free, I have a nice little nest egg, and still in good repair!


----------



## pwm (Jan 19, 2012)

I was 23. In 1972 we bought a new 980 sq ft bungalow for $18,551 in Winnipeg. There was a $2,000 down payment so the mortgage was for $16,551. I still remember those numbers because I was terrified to owe such a huge amount! Sounds hard to believe now, but bear in mind my annual gross salary at that time was around $4,000. I traded up in 1979 and paid that mortgage off in 1984 so I was mortgage free at 35.


----------



## savvybuck (Feb 12, 2014)

SheaButters said:


> 25
> 
> had 60k cash saved
> used 22k home buyers RRSP
> ...


Since you had $60,000 saved, I think it would be better value if you just used that portion to pay the downpayment instead of dipping into your RRSP.

Interest rate is low so you can take advantage of RRSP tax free compounding


http://savvybuck.com/2014/07/08/is-the-home-buyers-plan-hbp-worth-it/


----------



## CPA Candidate (Dec 15, 2013)

I was 25, that was 10 years ago.


----------



## Pigzfly (Dec 2, 2010)

Just shy of 24, my partner (now spouse) was 24 when it closed. 
That was in '09 and we bought a condo, which we now own outright and still live in.
I'm itching for more space (garage, backyard), but the cost to move vs. stay is too high for our liking.


----------

