https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 30 Apr 2026 01:14:03 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home/page/2#post-2038087 Fri, 23 Jan 2015 17:24:07 +0000 FancyGem 2038087@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jacks: We have a similar story. Majority of our down payment for the house that we just brought came from the sale of our first home. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home/page/2#post-2037985 Fri, 23 Jan 2015 16:11:10 +0000 Meowkers 2037985@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We bought our first house in February 2012. It is definitely not our dream house but it's great for now. When we bought it we figured we'd stay in it 5-8 years and then re-evaluate our finances to see if we could upgrade. </p> <p>Well, it's been three years and we just had it re-appraised and it's increased in value by 51%!!! We were thrilled obviously to have this sort of equity in just three years. This makes selling and inching closer to our dream house that much more probable. There's no way we would have been able to save up this much money in three years that we've "earned" with the increase in value to the house. So my advice is not to wait for that dream house but to buy a starter home in a good area as an investment. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home/page/2#post-2037886 Fri, 23 Jan 2015 15:18:05 +0000 IRunForFun 2037886@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We're delaying because we don't know where we will ultimately end up. We've been in the same area for the 4 years we've been together and could have bought a small starter home, but it didn't make sense to us to put the time and money into a house that we didn't know how long we'd be in. When DH finishes grad school and (hopefully) finds a job somewhere, we'll start looking into buying. We're relatively close to having saved 20% of the price range we're considering. We will likely be 31 or 32 before we buy our first place ever.</p> <p>Luckily we've had a great renting experience for the past couple years. Low rent that includes everything, in an area convenient to school for DH, a responsive, but not overbearing landlord who made an exception for us to have a dog and lets us paint and redecorate as we choose, etc. If not for that, I may feel differently! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home/page/2#post-2037826 Fri, 23 Jan 2015 14:46:30 +0000 daniellemybelle 2037826@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We thought about it, but ultimately it meant something to us to have a house that's "ours." Our mortgage payment is much less than our rent used to be, for a bigger/nicer house in a better neighborhood, and I feel like it is an investment, so I am glad we bought a "starter home."</p> <p>And really, while this isn't a "dream home" in the sense that it looks like my Pinterest boards, we could live here forever happily if that's how life worked out. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home/page/2#post-2037595 Fri, 23 Jan 2015 13:07:23 +0000 sunny 2037595@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We kind of delayed it. Many of my friends bought and owned condos by ~25. DH and I knew it would cause major drama with our families to buy a place together before marriage so we waited until we were about to get married and we bought a house that isn't a starter house. We made sure to buy a home that we could live in with kids (e.g. enough space &amp; good schools). I don't foresee us moving out of our home unless we win the lottery or something like that :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home/page/2#post-2037585 Fri, 23 Jan 2015 12:57:57 +0000 yoursilverlining 2037585@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don’t believe in forever homes either and I’m a homeowner – but I don’t think it’s “dumb” or unwise financially to rent. If more people had been more financially cautious/realistic, the last housing bust wouldn’t have been as bad as it has been for so many. </p> <p>One idea (not to push ownership, just another thought) is to buy a duplex or smaller 2-4 unit apartment building and live in one of the units while renting the others. Since you are not adverse to apartment living, that can be a way to sort of have the best of both worlds. Build equity while someone else covers your mortgage. And you can hire out management and repairs, if you don’t want to be a hands-on landlord. (That’s what I do and it works very well!). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home/page/2#post-2037503 Fri, 23 Jan 2015 12:05:58 +0000 BSB 2037503@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I, also, have to add that I don't think our first home will be a starter home. We currently rent a home and it's a 3 bed/1.5 bath house and 1800 sq ft. I thought starter homes were smaller and usually only had 1 bathroom, which we couldn't do.</p> <p>ETA: Found the wikipedia definition of starter home: A starter home or starter house is a house that is usually the first which a person or family can afford to purchase, often using a combination of savings and mortgage financing.</p> <p>So its not necessarily the size of the home but how you finance it. It guess the next step after starter home would be a home that you buy with the funds of the last house you own/sold? Interesting. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home/page/2#post-2037502 Fri, 23 Jan 2015 12:05:37 +0000 sotofamilia 2037502@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I LOVED renting - it's so easy to call someone else when something breaks. But around here, rent goes up every year, so we were moving every 1-2 years. I didn't like that, and we bought our starter home with the intention of upgrading in a few years. It's so nice knowing that our payment won't increase every year! </p> <p>But I would definitely have kept on renting for the convenience, if the price was stable. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home/page/2#post-2037500 Fri, 23 Jan 2015 12:04:05 +0000 mrs. wagon 2037500@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We rented and house hunted for almost six years. Saw over a hundred houses. So while we didn't intend to wait, we ended up doing so because we couldn't find anything to buy. We're now in a home we could potentially stay in forever, in our dream town, and I'm very very happy because I do not want to move again, and our place is a fantastic investment. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home/page/2#post-2037473 Fri, 23 Jan 2015 11:54:36 +0000 MediaNaranja 2037473@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Up until a few months ago, I assumed I would be like you--a long-term renter until finding a "forever" house. However, in the past few months we've changed our tune and are now thinking of buying a home in the next 6 months or so. We don't plan to live in our city forever, but we'd at least like to be here for the next 5 years or so, and we live in a place where the price of a mortgage + utilities would be less than it would to rent a similar home.</p> <p>We have absolutely NO idea what our "forever" situation will be, but, as others have mentioned, it will probably be hard for us to get there without buying a starter home as a stepping stone. It may take me 15 years to save up a 20% down payment, but the gamble to me is the what if--what if home prices increase by more than 20% in that time period? It makes sense to have that money invested in a property that will similarly appreciate, otherwise we would never be able to "catch up." </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home/page/2#post-2037136 Fri, 23 Jan 2015 09:24:41 +0000 blackbird 2037136@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Well, we'll be in our "starter" home for a good 10-15 years before we move. But it's not exactly small, by any means. Just not what I'd consider our "dream" home. But there's plenty enough here that we may end up somehow staying, too...schools, etc. Eep. BUT we won't be making a move until it is a really well planned, near perfect one. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home/page/2#post-2037133 Fri, 23 Jan 2015 09:21:01 +0000 LuLu Mom 2037133@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Well a little different, we own our starter home, but our plan was to move after LO1 was born to a bigger place/more permanent place. However, it's been decided now that we will wait a few more years and hopefully build our "forever" home before she goes to school. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home/page/2#post-2037115 Fri, 23 Jan 2015 09:10:36 +0000 pui 2037115@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We're just looking at moving out of our "starter" home. We actually just paid it off a couple of weeks ago (woo!). We're planning on keeping this home as an investment property, so we can move on our terms, but space wise its starting to feel really tight. Our plan was to buy another "stepping stone" home to live in for 4-8 years before getting our forever home, but now we might be jumping in to a longer term home right away. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home/page/2#post-2037087 Fri, 23 Jan 2015 08:56:25 +0000 Mama Bird 2037087@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Us too! We couldn't afford a bigger place before B was born, and we've saved like mad and could do it now... but we don't want to pull him out of a good day care, and can't decide what we want :silly: Plus other than being a potential flood zone, our neighborhood is pretty nice for NYC. So we're going to be living in a tiny apartment with two kids for another couple of years.</p> <p>Funny thing, I bought the apartment we live in, and a few months ago I sat down and crunched the numbers. Unless we sell it for maybe 50k more than it cost, we'll barely break even considering how much we've paid in interest. It's a great place, but small, and I don't think it will sell for that much. So financially, renting might just be better. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home/page/2#post-2037033 Fri, 23 Jan 2015 08:07:50 +0000 hilsy85 2037033@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yep. We just can't afford the type/size of home we would want to live in for the next 10-15 years. It's frustrating because our lease is up at the end of April, and I was looking forward to moving, and I had been hoping we would be able to buy (or rent something substantially bigger). But it seems that won't be possible, so we're looking at moving again to a "2-3 year" type place, which is SO annoying. We may end up staying put for another year, especially because we're not having luck with getting pregnant with LO#2 as soon as I expected. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home#post-2037023 Fri, 23 Jan 2015 08:01:43 +0000 Mrs. Pen 2037023@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@erinpye: thank you for that! I 100% agree- you said it better than I could. Rent is not wasted money, it's a roof over our heads. I also love city life and would love an apartment downtown- but I probably wouldn't want to own a condo. </p> <p>@rachiecakes: haha yeah that's the price range of where we want to move to ;) we can find something a little cheaper. But I haven't even started my actual career yet so I'm okay waiting. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home#post-2036970 Fri, 23 Jan 2015 05:52:09 +0000 rachiecakes 2036970@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Pen: I think so!<br /> We rent because we want to live in the city - we could never afford a nice place here. I work in a real estate office and the median price of all our listings right now is $4.4M. Not kidding. (that's not the median home price, but just what my office has on the market right now. median price in my zip code is $600k and at my work $1.1M.. so eh, no)</p> <p>We will eventually move farther outside the city, for schools, and then it will make sense to buy. </p> <p>We owned a vacation home in NY and I have to say the break from hiring gardeners (I hate yardwork more than anything), contractors for trees, roofs, electrical, plumbers, etc. has been pretty great. I do not miss that at all. And I'm not a homebody in any way shape or form. To me, home is where I sleep and sometimes eat.<br /> Maybe that will change with J is older. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home#post-2036962 Fri, 23 Jan 2015 04:45:53 +0000 nana87 2036962@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We rent since I'm in grad school and we won't be living here more than more 2-3 years. And cost of buying in NYC is outlandish </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home#post-2036956 Fri, 23 Jan 2015 04:33:52 +0000 BSB 2036956@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sorta. We don't want to live here long term so we've put off buying our first home. Though, we've been in this area for 6 years and probably could have bought a house a few years ago. We just never wanted to be tied down to this area and really thought we would be on the east coast by now. Eh, it's life. </p> <p>Though, even when we do move back east, we might not buy a home immediately so who knows when we'll buy a home. Guess I want to be sure that we'll be in one place for about 5 years. A probably be at a job I like and like where we live. Maybe my perspective will change when we have a LO.</p> <p>I do want to be a home owner soon. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home#post-2036937 Fri, 23 Jan 2015 03:38:32 +0000 lamariniere 2036937@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>For us, we have a somewhat nomadic lifestyle, so who knows when we will buy a forever home. Maybe when we retire and don't move every few years?! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home#post-2036878 Thu, 22 Jan 2015 23:23:16 +0000 Eminthevalley 2036878@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It never occurred to me to buy a starter home! We've been renting and saving for a down payment. I wonder if attitudes are different depending on when you meet your SO? I didn't meet mine until we were nearly thirty, living in a city on low salaries so roommates were a fact of life. Then we moved for jobs etc so just haven't been anywhere long enough to buy yet. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home#post-2036868 Thu, 22 Jan 2015 23:07:57 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 2036868@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>For us we used our home purchases as stairsteps. So I bought in 2005 before the big boom really peaked and that allowed us to buy our second home at the bottom of the market in 2010 which was nicer than the first. We lived in the second home for two years and when a great opportunity presented itself for our forever home, we had built up enough capital to go for it when the time was right. We couldn't have gotten this house if we didn't have the gains we made from the two other homes. I really do feel like this house is a forever home. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home#post-2036861 Thu, 22 Jan 2015 22:57:22 +0000 MrsMccarthy 2036861@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Same as many have stated we still have to save the 20% and are about halfway there. We also want to get an idea what our budget will be like with two kids before we commit to a mortgage. Hopefully in 2-5 years we will be able to buy. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home#post-2036833 Thu, 22 Jan 2015 22:21:41 +0000 erinpye 2036833@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have mixed feelings about owning. I'm not sure we would have when we did, except that we bought our house at the absolute bottom of the market and got a great deal. But, I don't know whether we'll buy again. I'm not sure I really care about owning a house TBH. It's nice to have our space, paint the walls, but I hate the suburbs and would much rather live in an apartment in the middle of the city. I also don't believe that paying for lodging, whether renting or buying, is "throwing money away." A roof over your head is not a wasted cost. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home#post-2036808 Thu, 22 Jan 2015 22:04:45 +0000 hummusgirl 2036808@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I love renting. I've done the numbers, and I actually think (and my financial advisor BIL backs me up on this) that financially, buying is not better. You're spending so much in maintenance and taxes that (depending on the market) a lot of people don't actually come out ahead. I don't feel like we're throwing away money at all, because what we pay in rent would only cover property taxes on the houses we like. </p> <p>That said, there are plenty of non-financial reasons to buy, and we're just now starting the process of shopping for a house. After 14 straight years of moving every year or two, we are ready to settle in and buy a place we can live in for the next 20 years. But it gives me so much anxiety! Our mortgage broker used the words "jumbo loan" in an email today and I wanted to vomit. </p> <p>We'll see... I'm tempted to continue renting for a while longer and build up a bigger down payment so we don't have to finance so much. I don't feel adult enough to do this (and yet I am in my 30s). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home#post-2036783 Thu, 22 Jan 2015 21:49:58 +0000 owlteach 2036783@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>When we moved to this area we knew it would be where we stayed for good. Our original plan was to buy in about 3 years, then have a baby. Then, my dad died and priorities changed...so the baby will come first. We have a GREAT rental, and with a great rate and we simply couldn't afford to purchase a place like this, we got very lucky. I love not having to worry about when things break. We figured we'd save for a place we loved, with property, in about 5-6 years.</p> <p>Now, my mom is dating and considering moving in with the new guy in about 3 1/2 years when she retires, and I think we will buy her home from her. Honestly, we probably couldn't afford to do it at that point at market value, but she and my dad couldn't really afford to buy it from my Grandma either, it was just important to my grandparents that it stayed in the family and she feels the same way. Our LO that is due in May would be the fourth generation to live in that house. My mom's dad built that house.</p> <p>It looks like we will be buying at about 30, but we've also learned a valuable lesson that you can only plan so much of life, and some of it will just happen and change your plans and that is ok too! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home#post-2036765 Thu, 22 Jan 2015 21:38:39 +0000 Astro Bee 2036765@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I bought my first house by myself at 26, a townhouse condo, with 5% downpayment. DH and I are now on our 3rd (my 4th) house, due to frequent moves because of work, and have built up equity with the sale each one. Canada has a much more stable real estate market than the US does, which lessens any risk of buying when we expect to be somewhere for only 2-4 years. </p> <p>I'm a big proponent of the starter house, but still living within your means, so that you're not house poor. I didn't hate apartment living, but I do like the freedom to paint and decorate as I want. I also love gardening and landscaping, and that's not something that you can easily do while renting. When we're ready to retire is time enough for the dream house. At least by then we'll know what really meets our needs. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home#post-2036761 Thu, 22 Jan 2015 21:38:12 +0000 Smurfette 2036761@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@BandDmommy: me either </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home#post-2036750 Thu, 22 Jan 2015 21:31:42 +0000 NCSUchick27 2036750@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are definitely delaying buying a home for a number of reasons, but when we do buy a home, in a few years, it will probably be more of a starter home. We are 28 and 31, and are the only ones in our friend group that don't own a home. Most of our friends live back in our home state, which is much cheaper than where we currently live.</p> <p>1. We don't know for sure that we want to stay in this area. We would ideally like to move closer to family, but we don't know if it is possible because of DH's job.<br /> 2. We live in a high cost-of-living area, and are having a hard time accepting the fact that $350,000-$400,000 will only get us a smaller townhouse that needs a lot of updating. We moved here from a very low cost-of-living area, and even though we have been here for a couple of years we still have sticker shock.<br /> 3. We still have a lot of student loan debt left to pay off.<br /> 4. We don't mind renting, and like the fact that we aren't tied down to a mortgage.</p> <p>So even though we could afford to buy a house right now we aren't in any rush. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-else-delaying-home-buying-until-they-can-buy-their-forever-home#post-2036748 Thu, 22 Jan 2015 21:30:35 +0000 BandDmommy 2036748@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't believe in forever homes. </p>