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InvestigativeHuman t1_j6gj3gi wrote

Worked in the industry for a while, but did not buy property at that age since I left to live in the EU for fun for a few years and to get my MA (no house but have friends who settled around your age). Real estate is a great investment, but you will not be making stonk returns (5-10% ROI yoy) think of it like an anti-inflation vehicle and if you rent it then it will be a self paying savings account with random fees associated with it (repairs).

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  1. If you are 100% on living there for 5-10yrs in that district and etc read on.
  2. You know the pitfalls of a home (they have random fu expenses). At 24 I would 100% recommend looking into a condo or something along those lines instead of a house house. It would function the same as your current renting but now you own it without worry of maintenance outside of your own appliances. Just look into the HOA for pending litigation or etc.
  3. As others have noted your income would be an issue and lacking cash for a downpayment/closing cost. You can often negotiate sellers pay closing cost so keep that in mind (at least here in MI that is generally standard practice for sellers to pay but not all the time).

What no one has mentioned is Teachers, EMT/paramedics, Police and Fire generally have access to programs through HUD or often your state GOV that help with a downpayment that can be forgiven (so no pay obligation). For the good neighbor program (through HUD) for example you need to agree to live in the property for 3yrs, it must be on their list of areas, and you cannot refinance out of your terms early or sell the property without penalty due to the lien HUD places on the property during that window of time. It will also be a FHA loan which you will want to generally refinance out of once at 80% loan to value to get rid of the PMI since it sticks to FHA even after you cross that threshold unlike a conventional loan where it drops off. Good thing is rates are trash so there will be a time to refi down the line (5-10yrs realistically). Link to HUD - https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/housing/sfh/nsc/gnndserv

Just be sure you budget accordingly, and I would play out some scenarios (like your car dies tomorrow can you still afford your mortgage and etc with a new car payment?) Then be sure to get an inspection no matter what anyone says. Also I advise only working with real estate agents associated with the board of realtors when you decide to make the move. They have higher ethical obligations even in buyer beware states.

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