Household Finances, 1977 Snapshot

[Concerned American]

When I called the state to file an action or complaint they blew it off as business as usual

Sounds like consumer protections in WA---

 

[progressive hunter]

Sorry for the elder abuse. I didnt mean to trigger you so bad, old man.
Dont have a literal stroke.

how am I triggered,,

just pointing out that youre complaints are nonsense because everyone in the history of humanity experiences what youre crying about,,

 

[1srelluc]

When I finally moved to my current home I kept my first home and rented it out for 12 years.

All the while I was still doing the flea market thing for spending cash and had moved on to DuPont so my pay had tripled and then some.

Just before the housing market crash I sold my first home for stupid money (at the time) and paid off my current home, my river property, and banked (CDed) the rest.

 

[Cellblock2429]

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?

/----/ Good choices, except for buying the new car. Hindsight being 20/20 what would you have done differently?