If you could go back....

[ProfMoneyWise]

Had I done that, I wouldn't have gotten my house. My stance is, you need to figure out what the house is to you. I bought my house as an investment, not as a place to live. I hate my house and I'm looking to move. I have always planned on moving.

But here's the deal....I had zero debt when I bought the house and about $2k cash. I borrowed the downpayment from my older brother, and paid him back when I got my first homebuyers tax credit. But, by not waiting until I met all of your criteria, I was able to buy the house at 23 years old.

I bought an investment, and it's paying off.

I was paying $1,100 in rent each month at my old apartment. I bought a foreclosure, at $140k. My mortgage is less than $1k a month. I am currently renting out one of the rooms for $800 a month. That's with me still living there. If I move, I can rent out the place for ~$1500 a month.

Now let's say I can't get a reliable renter. Fine. I turn to the government and go section 8 on it. I now have a reliable renter, guaranteed to F stuff up. That $$$$ I get, I put in a seperate business account and use to pay the mortgage, as well as repair what the renters explode.

I am now 25, about to turn 26. I believe, had I followed your advice as to when to buy a house, I would be in a worse financial position than I am now.

The difference between us is I would have saved the money up instead of borrowing from family. I don't mix money and family or friends. To save up 20% down on your own would not have added that much to your timeline.

The second difference is I don't use borrowed money for investments. If I ever got into the rental business it would be with cash and I would own the property in full.

The third is the investment vs. liking where you live test.

The what-if things are also adverse to my personal liking but we all roll our own dice. The separate account however gets a thumbs up from me.

There are many ways to go about things and I choose the low-to-no risk route. The Tortoise and the Hare and Proverbs are still my two favorite investing guides.

 

[itsbob]

What things would you do differently as far as retirement funds are concerned?

Would you you keep a 401K? Roth, Traditional, or both?

What other retirement options are there that are sound, other than burying it in your backyard?

I have a personal meeting coming up with my 401K company, and I'm coming up with some questions to ask.

I tell my young engineers to START at the matching rate of 5% to put into their IRA..

Everytime they get a raise increase it by 1%... (raises are generally ALWAYS more than 3% so 1% for the savings, two percent, or more for you)

Then tell them "You do this, and by the time you're my age you'll be retired for 10 years."