How old were you when you bought your first house

Hollister11

I'm 20, in college, and i'm working part time to fund life in general but I'm also starting to save for a deposit. Now i don't have much, but i have 3K saved.

I'm living at home, and plan to for a good few years anyway. When i graduate, hopefully i start with a 30K salary. I ideally would like to save 20K for 6 years, So my deposit will be 120K plus. I will be 28. Hopefully then im on 45K.

This will leave me with enough for a house worth 277500K. Not loads, but decent.

So my question, when did you move out and buy your first home.

Eric Cartman

your 20 and nice to see you thinking of the future , but being honest mate, live life, move out to some crappy house-share with your mates, drink and smoke and travel with all your money and party as hard as you can for a few years, then start this craic of saving when your 25 or so.

Owning a house is regarded as the done thing here, and all of us like the idea of owning our own homes, but its only bricks , you can't get your youth back once its gone, you can buy a house whenever

Zaph

I hate to be the one to burst your bubble, but your figures for savings are completely unrealistic. Assuming zero pension contributions, on a salary of 30k your net salary would be only just over 25k. You cannot reasonably expect to live on 5k a year.

Lockedout2

You must like living at home. I assume you will be staying rent free!!!

Sounds like a great plan, you do know that you will have to pay €5k in tax on €30k. So €20k in savings might be hard.

Baby01032012

26 I was

I think there's been a similar thread on here not too long ago.

On a salary of 30k how do you propose to save 20k per year. Wouldn't that be your after tax pay.

What about having a life? Going out, gigs, trips away...you may not say you'll rent now but you'll miss your own space away from parents..maybe meet someone that you want to move in with.

I do like your intentions but realistically lie would be very boring if you followed that plan for 6 years.

dar100

I was 32!! Saved the deposit in one year, cheap house, but will do in the short term!!

Enjoy yourself mate, don't break your b saving, put some money away, but enjoy life, who knows what the market will be like down the road

hsilgnede

I was 26 but I was ahead of the curve. I was also married with my first child. A lot of my mates are only now where I was ten years ago. Course I traded off a lot of the drinking & parties & going travelling. On the other side I'll have my mortgage paid off early and I'll have more salary to do the travelling and such than I would have in my mid 20's. Swings n roundabouts. Do whatever makes you happy. Your savings goal is ambitious though and you can't take for granted that you're going to walk into a 30k a year job and even if you do, life's expenses, lunch at work, nights out, having any sort of hobby, that's gonna chew into your 5k you have left after you pay tax. At that age you could sink most of that 5k into insurance for your car! And see if you happen to meet a girl/guy and ye start something half serious, 5k gone no problem.

I wish you luck but don't beat up yourself if it doesn't happen like you've planned out.

Cortina_MK_IV

25.

tayto lover

I was 24. The house was 16,075 punts. Semi-detached with a garage and large gardens back and front. Had 3 k saved up and had to borrow the rest. Struggled to pay the mortgage of around 320 a month at times but got a second job in the evenings.

PLL

I'll probably be 30-32 by the time we buy a house. Pregnant with second child, finishing college. No vast amount of savings and no big income to top it up. When I'm working to we can start to save but I'm happy out atm. I can't wait to own a house of my own but you should never let saving for something in the future stop you from doing things you want to do now. You never know what will happen.

It is great you have a focus on life but don't miss out on your 20's because you spent it saving for bricks and mortor. I had a baby at 20, I didn't get to experience my 20's like many others do. However I'll never look back and regret it because I have wonderful memories of my daughter. I can promise you if I missed out on things because of money I would regret it.

Dr_Kolossus

Moved out at 18, bought 1st house at 25. Well half house with my sister.

Tefral

Eric Cartman wrote: »

your 20 and nice to see you thinking of the future , but being honest mate, live life, move out to some crappy house-share with your mates, drink and smoke and travel with all your money and party as hard as you can for a few years, then start this craic of saving when your 25 or so.

Owning a house is regarded as the done thing here, and all of us like the idea of owning our own homes, but its only bricks , you can't get your youth back once its gone, you can buy a house whenever

You need to listen to this OP, trust me you will have plenty of time to be saving for a house. Go out and create some memories, you'll regret it if you don't.

eviltwin

I was 24 but was lucky I didn't have rent to pay while I was saving. I started working at 22 and saved everything I could for the deposit. I think it was worth it.

Utah

Hopefully 33!

Yourmama

35

newacc2015

According to Goldman Sachs Millennials eg OP generation will be buying their first home on average at 45 yo versus 25 yo a few generations ago. Home ownership is becoming less common even in the English speaking world where home ownership is common

I don't really see the whole point of 'live your twenties and go wild with your money'. When I know some many people in their thirties still travelling. It hasn't really been common for thirty something Irish go travelling in their 30's. But it is quite common for Germans, Aussie's and American's. There is no reason why you can't save for house and still have a good lifestyle. But I don't see the point of doing it while in college at all.

Enjoy college and start saving after it

Jen44

I bought my first house at 22. I got a 100% mortgage at the time and with 5000 euro I managed to pay for solicitor and kit out the house. There was no stamp duty for first time buyers at the time, think it was 2005. Ive just bought my second house at the end of last year with my husband. I wouldnt change a thing, I loved every min of my 20's the mortgage was not loads 660 a month so we still went out and did all the things 20 something year olds do and it meant we could focus saving for our wedding without the worry of not having somewhere bought yet. We will prob sell that first house now soon to extend our second one. It can be done there is nothing wrong with being sensible!

Sleepy

I'm 35 and am Sale Agreed on my first house at the moment.

I think there's a balance to be struck OP, I like the adage of save 10% of everything you earn and have fun with the rest. Had I started that at your age and continued it into the first decade of my career, I'd have been in a position to buy a few years ago in the depths of the recession when there was great value in most areas.

Starting again, I'd be saving 10% of everything I earned into long-term "don't touch it until you need the deposit for a house / to start a business" and a further 10-20% into savings towards going travelling, buying and maintaining your first car etc.

cronin_j

cronin_j wrote: »

You need to listen to this OP, trust me you will have plenty of time to be saving for a house. Go out and create some memories, you'll regret it if you don't.

You can have a good time and still start saving especially if you are lucky enough to be able to live at home. Just blow everything and have a good time is terrible advise and that's coming form someone who does spend quite a bit of money on going out every week, buy lunch everyday and eats out a lot.

I lived at home until my mid 20's, all through college and had a ball. I actually hated moving out when I had to move too far away to commute to a job. I still think about how much money I've wasted in the last few years on rent that would all be in a savings account if I was living at home along with the fact I'd much rather living at home too.

SarahMollie

I was 29 and I bought in Dublin.

OP well i applaud your aspirations, what you've stated sounds very naive IMO.
You're basically giving yourself €5k per year to live on. Thats about €96 per week, so about half what a person on the dole would get.

That would have to cover;
-clothing, personal grooming etc
-food
-transport to/from work
-having a life
-holidays/travel

You'd also have no room for maneuver for any unexpected expenses.

What if you meet someone to have a relationship with? I think its highly unlikely that you'll find someone who'll want to share that lifestyle.

The world won't end if you don't have a house by the time you're 28.

SarahMollie

Everleigh Echoing Mermaid wrote: »

You can have a good time and still start saving especially if you are lucky enough to be able to live at home. Just blow everything and have a good time is terrible advise and that's coming form someone who does spend quite a bit of money on going out every week, buy lunch everyday and eats out a lot.

I lived at home until my mid 20's, all through college and had a ball. I actually hated moving out when I had to move too far away to commute to a job. I still think about how much money I've wasted in the last few years on rent that would all be in a savings account if I was living at home along with the fact I'd much rather living at home too.

TBF, I don't think anyone is saying "blow it all", more likely that saving €20k per year on a €30k salary would be extremely restrictive.

If the OP wants to save, then sure thats great. Maybe €5-10k per year is more realistic however.

SarahMollie

SarahMollie wrote: »

TBF, I don't think anyone is saying "blow it all", more likely that saving €20k per year on a €30k salary would be extremely restrictive.

If the OP wants to save, then sure thats great. Maybe €5-10k per year is more realistic however.

I agree the amount is unrealistic and would encourage him to enjoy himself also (as I said I'm far from the most careful person with money) but I get the impression from one or two posts that it is blow it and worry about saving in a few years which isn't great advise.

handlemaster

OP live life. Travel for a year or two. See the world. You will be looking at kids poo long and painting walls long enough

van_beano

handlemaster wrote: »

OP live life. Travel for a year or two. See the world. You will be looking at kids poo long and painting walls long enough

Ahh but if he/she didn't spend the money travelling the world then he/she would be well able to pay someone to paint the said walls! As for the kids poo? I don't know.

RedXIV

I'm getting married in August and once that's done, the vast majority of the money I'm squirreling away for that every month will go into saving for a deposit. I reckon after 5 years of saving I should have enough to cover the deposit for the house I'd like. I did my 20s of college and then having kids so I'm gunning for fun forties I hope

handlemaster

handlemaster wrote: »

OP live life. Travel for a year or two. See the world. You will be looking at kids poo long and painting walls long enough

Owning a house has nothing to do with kids pooing and is far more appealing to me than travelling (which is also hindering your career progression if you are travelling rather than working). I'd love to have been able to buy in my 20's rather than trying to do it now in my early 30's but many extra years of study due to lack of jobs prevented that.

miezekatze

There's no option for 33-35 in your poll.

I was 33. Your figures are quite unrealistic, as others have pointed out. Don't put yourself under too much pressure to buy as young as possible. Personally I think it's a good idea to rent for a while and live in different places. It gives you a better idea of what suits you best.

aunt aggie

I didn't have a savings account or any substantial savings until I was 27. Won't be buying a house anytime soon but that's down to lack of job security.

Don't knock renting. It allowed me to move for work, and get more experience. I have worked in 6 different counties in Ireland and spent some time working in England as well. Great experience that made it easier to find a job where I wanted to live.

You also need to think of how you're going to get to work. Buying a car, insurance, tax and NCT are not cheap overall but it's worth it as you'll have more independence and more job opportunities.

You don't have to go mental with your money but you will have to spend it. Don't look at it as throwing money away. I hate when people say that about renting or having a car. Many people choose to rent because it convenient and doesn't tie you to one place.

hairyslug

23 I think, I bought into the having to own property dream. It was far to far away from work, sold it two years later. Overall, I lost out losing my 1st time buyers grant and not making enough of a profit on it

Moonbeam

I think you are being a little optimistic.
You need to have a life and pay tax,I think aiming to save 12k a year on an income like that is optimistic but possible if you do not pay rent.
I bought my 1st house when I was 23,I was sick of renting,my mortgage was low and I took on a train commute of about 45 minutes.
I do not live in that house now as I met a guy had a baby and we bought another houses when I was 26.
House ownership has its ups and downs,it can be expensive because if anything goes wrong you need to fix it,taxes on property,bins,maintenance etc.

karenalot

23 in 2006. Having a 3 bed allowed me to rent out the other rooms to pay the mortgage and still enjoy my 20's sharing with my mates. Being a landlord to them was kinda strange though.