It is legally possible to buy a house if you are only 18 years old, but it is a big responsibility that requires a great deal of thought and planning. There are loan organizations that can help with this, and they can make it more affordable than you might think. They do offer loans to people with little or no credit histories and can also offer options for those with less-than-optimum credit records.
How To Buy A House At 18
In the United States, it is legal to buy a house without a co-signer at the age of majority, which is 18 years old in most states. Reaching the age of majority empowers individuals to sign legal agreements and complete real estate transactions. Before reaching the age of majority, individuals can still buy a house with the aid of a co-signer.
This allows you to invest more, travel, or even retire. Buying a house in your early 20s puts you on schedule for this to happen near your 50th birthday. The national average retirement age is 67, so this puts you way ahead of the game.
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 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.
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.
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.
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)
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.
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).
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)
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.
I can't believe that story of the next tenant being murdered. wow! Well, I have never owned anything and I'm 42. But I have no regrets and I have, in my own mind, have experienced living in multiple places where I could experience different things, and different experiences living with people and on my own. I think I would like to own something someday, but in LA it's pretty tough, especially under my current financial circumstances. If I lived in the Midwest, I'm sure I would have bought a house a long time ago. That's quite an achievement at 20!
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20 years old is impressive! I was 23 when I bought my house, all on my own. My dad bought his first house at 21 so my family didn't think I was too young, but I think some of my friends did. I'm glad home ownership has worked for you and that you weren't murdered!
My boyfriend was 21 when he bought his house that we currently have. When I met him, he was still living in it. Then the market crashed and we tried to put it up for sale. It didn't sell so we did extensive renovations and put it up for sale again. No luck in selling it a second time. Then we smartened up and started renting it out and its been (mostly) a good experience ever since. If a house was something you could and still can afford, then it can be a great investment even at such a young age. Don't let people bring you down just because you were young. It seems like it worked out well for you.
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Yeah, I know it's a bit shallow to take that away from a post where you talk about your decision to buy your first house, but you just don't read that sort of thing about someone's real life! Sounds like it's out of a movie.
My recent post Has Your Boss Been Naughty or Nice?
Ugh yeah when I found out, I was shocked. We always knew that our neighbor and his mom (they lived together) were nuts. His mom was always at our house giving us flamingo related items. I'm not even joking, she was NUTS also.
My recent post Buying a House at 20 (How I did it)
Oh I love this! Wow you were ambitious. I bought my condo at at 26. I did it before I was married and solely on my own. It was a goal of mine, having been raised by the most amazing single mom ever. Anyhow, I bought just about the only place in my hometown that I could afford and that wasn't totally pee stained and nasty by the foreclosed owners. Mine was an easy short sale. ( I say that seriously.) And it is of course now way too small. But I don't regret the purchase. I will keep it always and am starting in January to save up for house #2! I just have about, oh, um, three years to go. If I'm lucky! Hahaha.
My recent post December Mornings
We bought our house about a year ago. I think we made a good decision but it is a bit small sometimes but I'm OK with that. We've had a second house in mind but it is 5-10 years down the road. We might buy sooner and rent it out before we move into it so we'll see.
I wish we didn't have a second house on our minds so soon, but we do want to make the next house our final house. Scary to say since we are 23.
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.
My recent post How We Paid Off $30,000 in Credit Card Debt
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
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.
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.
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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
Congratulations on buying a house so early. I bought mine when I was 21. Like you, I sometimes wonder if I should have travelled first as travelling is something I definitely want to pursue more of ?
For me the average age of when you should buy your own house is somewhere around 27-30 years. However, it is also dependent upon your financial strength, family size, and mostly importantly state the real estate market, if there is a boom in the market the prices would be extremely high then it would not suitable invest in real estate at that time.
That might seem responsible enough, until you start shopping for a mortgage with no credit history and find that having credit history is almost always necessary to buy a house. Don't know how to buy a house with no credit?
Some lenders might approve a mortgage loan for people with poor credit, though they could charge a higher interest rate or offer a subprime mortgage to cover their risk, neither of which is the most cost-effective way to buy a home. When trying to buy a house with low credit, try to find a mortgage lender that is flexible with your credit rating.
So, what credit score do you need to buy a house? For fixed rate, conventional mortgage loans, borrowers need a minimum credit score of 620, according to Fannie Mae.[1]
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