I live in Seattle. I have an engineer’s salary. I cannot presently afford a condo, let alone a house. By the time I have enough for the down payment, I will again not be able to afford a home.
Only works if you want to make 20% down instead of 3%[0]
[0] https://www.knowyouroptions.com/buy-overview/affordable-mort...
I mean, I get the point of saying that (funding from F&F doesn’t disqualify the applicant), but man does it feel like a quasi-government agency is suggesting needy borrowers should just ask their parents for money.
I went into a place that was selling for around 300k. I was going to offer as much as 325. I was also willing to go 5k above what the place would appraise for. This matters because you can't get a loan for above a place is worth.
The place sold for nearly 375k.
If it appraised for 325, the buyer is on the hook for an *additional* 50k that they have to pay in cash at time of signing.
You can't just not have lots of spare money in this market.
And you've said in several places how engineers make 200k+ after 5 years. Maybe in total compensation and only in FAANG; but there are a loooot of engineering companies in Washington and the Seattle area that aren't getting hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock that's increased 5-10 fold in the last 2 years.
But if you're single, your annual after-tax take-home is ~95k, assuming you max out your 401k contribution, and ~110k, assuming you don't contribute at all. Saving 50% of that does not even require living particularly frugally. That gets you to the top-end of the required down payment in 2 years.
Even with saving, though, I should probably save at least one more year to have an emergency fund again, so it's probably more like 3 years, but your point still stands.
Forgive me, but I think you need to check your privilege when you speak about regular matters for people like millenials trying to buy houses.
And I can't imagine a place on the planet where 800 thousand dollars is a reasonable price for a 2 bedroom, 2 bath. In the Work-From-Home days, 2 bed, 2 bath is decidedly a 1-person household (the other room is an office), *maybe* a married couple that get along well.
edit: typo
Privilege? I grew up very poor, no one in my immediate family has finished high school, let alone college. I enlisted in the army and did a tour in a war to pay for my college. I was in a similar boat to you and the others complaining when I was early in my career and I’m trying to help with some perspective and experience.
You can complain about the cost of housing, complain about whatever privilege you think I have, but it won’t help you get to a better place. I’m offering advice to help get you all to a better place because I faced the same challenges and overcame them.
And I can afford a 500k place. I cannot afford the down payment and the surprise assessment tax, etc.
It’s also clear that you don’t really want to be helped, and that you want to find every excuse to play the victim. I wish you luck.