DGS49
Diamond Member
I see a lot of back&forth about how tough it is to get started these days because everything is more expensive, blah, blah, blah.
In this thread I will present a snapshot of my family finances in 1977 (I was 28, wife 25, no kids), when we bought our first house. I invite others to present similar information to see how it compares over time.
In 1977, my wife and I were both employed full time, making a combined $19,000. We put everything we could scrape together for a down payment and closing costs, hence, we were tapped out after the closing. We bought new appliances at Sears and charged them on our Sears account. We paid $37,000 for a 900 square foot ranch - 3 BR, one Bath, small basement and two-car garage. Nothing special, nothing fancy. (That house is worth about $150k today). Our mortgage payment, including taxes, interest and homeowner's insurance was about $400/month. We had just bought a new car, a 1973 Gremlin, for a little under three grand and I think our payment was about a hundred bucks. Our rent for a nice apartment had been $200, and that was a very good price for that 2br apartment. Several months later, due to work schedules we had to scrape money together for a "beater" second car ($400). All things considered, our household Net Worth was approximately zero for the next couple years.
Three years later, we sold the house for $41k and bought a nicer one. Our incomes had increased fairly significantly. Unfortunately, we got caught up in the interest rate fiasco of the early 80's and our mortgage rate in 1980 was 12%.
How does that compare with your first house?
In this thread I will present a snapshot of my family finances in 1977 (I was 28, wife 25, no kids), when we bought our first house. I invite others to present similar information to see how it compares over time.
In 1977, my wife and I were both employed full time, making a combined $19,000. We put everything we could scrape together for a down payment and closing costs, hence, we were tapped out after the closing. We bought new appliances at Sears and charged them on our Sears account. We paid $37,000 for a 900 square foot ranch - 3 BR, one Bath, small basement and two-car garage. Nothing special, nothing fancy. (That house is worth about $150k today). Our mortgage payment, including taxes, interest and homeowner's insurance was about $400/month. We had just bought a new car, a 1973 Gremlin, for a little under three grand and I think our payment was about a hundred bucks. Our rent for a nice apartment had been $200, and that was a very good price for that 2br apartment. Several months later, due to work schedules we had to scrape money together for a "beater" second car ($400). All things considered, our household Net Worth was approximately zero for the next couple years.
Three years later, we sold the house for $41k and bought a nicer one. Our incomes had increased fairly significantly. Unfortunately, we got caught up in the interest rate fiasco of the early 80's and our mortgage rate in 1980 was 12%.
How does that compare with your first house?
