My mom came up for an Easter weekend visit, and we engaged in our favorite mother-and-gay-son tradition: shopping.
Somewhere between Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom, she blindsided me with a question I was not prepared to answer.
No, it wasn’t, “Are you seeing anyone?” (She’s still adjusting to the gee-eh-why, so this question is more awkward than it might sound.)
It was, “When do you think you want to get your own place? Have you started saving for a down payment?”
I almost wished it had been a question about my love-life instead.
I’m 23 years old! Mature for my age, but still. Am I crazy for thinking I’m too young to be ready to buy a house? Don’t I get points for being the only person my age I know with a Roth?
On the other hand, I can see where she’s coming from. My family has done well with investment real estate. And if you can get past the “mortgage meltdown” headlines, now isn’t a horrible time for first-time home buyers. There are some bargains to be had, even in the D.C. area, which I am told has been largely sheltered from the foreclosure fallout.
But I’m not nearly ready. I don’t know if I want to stick around the D.C. metro area for the long haul. I’ve always envisioned living somewhere with palm trees. D.C. is too gloomy in the winter– the boys wear too many layers of clothes.
What do you think? What’s the right age to start thinking about buying property?
I disagree. You hardly KNOW if you want to stay in DC for awhile or not, right? I can’t imagine it’s hard to rent out a place in DC, but to sell it, especially today…yikes.
Well, do you live with your parents or in an apartment by yourself? If you live with the parents then it might be time to get your own place…if you live by yourself, well, there are people who rent forever, so there isn’t a rush.
@Corinne: Exactly. When I buy, I want to buy in an area where I hope to stay for a number of years.
@Jansen: I live in a townhouse with two roommates I met on the internet. It’s a decent situation, and I’m in no rush to move out.
My mom just started piping up about how I need to hurry up and start thinking about when I want to buy my first condo. I should be saving up for a down payment and I’d like to buy a home in the next three years but I’ve done so much moving around in the last few years with school that I want to figure out where I want to live the next three to five years. That’s my basis for where and when to consider getting into my first house.
Its funny to hear my mom ask me about when am I going to buy a home and not about how my girlfriend is doing. I wish just being young with a Roth counted for responsibilty in my family too!