Here's How 75 Different Millennial And Gen Z Homeowners Actually Bought Their Homes

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As anyone who is a millennial or younger knows, it feels damn near impossible to buy a house right now. Millennials graduated into the Great Recession, then watched as home prices vastly outpaced wage increases over the next 15+ years. The pandemic brought historically low interest rates, but those came with skyrocketing prices. Then, the hangover from the pandemic brought inflation, which the Fed has attempted to tame with high interest rates, putting monthly payments out of reach for today’s younger adults.

And all that is to say nothing of the massive student debt that many of our generation have taken on. Sometimes, it makes you wonder just how the heck anyone can afford a home right now. So, we asked millennial and Gen Z homeowners how they managed to afford theirs.

Generally, the responses fell into five major categories:

First, there were the ones who had a death in the family that allowed them to buy:

1.

“My dad died when I was in my senior year of college. I got enough in inheritance that I paid off my student loans and put the rest into a down payment and furnishings for a townhouse. No way I would’ve ever been able to afford a home otherwise.”

—Anonymous

2.

“There’s not much to it: My parents passed away and left my sister and me our childhood home. The mortgage was paid off already, so we just have to pay taxes. Unless something drastic happens, we’re living here forever.”

—betherick85

3.

“Inheritance from my grandma. Still had to cosign with my Boomer parents because even with full-time, long-standing jobs, my husband and I couldn’t qualify for a decent rate.”

—Anonymous, Canada

Then there were the ones who had to work multiple jobs (sometimes multiple full-time jobs), budget very strictly, and be generally miserable (mind you, this was not the average experience for Boomers):

4.

“Working 16-hour shifts at my job, whether I wanted to work or not. If I was offered the shift, I took it. No extras. Stopped buying clothing unless absolutely necessary, used price match apps at the grocery store to get the best price possible. Meal prepped for my lunches. Limited eating out and instead invited friends over for food. Stopped drinking. Spent more time outside and enjoying nature when not working. Cancelled cable and only had internet, Netflix, and Disney. Got a Costco cash back credit card that gave me money back on my Costco membership, and also a cash back cheque at the end of the year. No vacation for five years and just sucked it up.”

—Anonymous, Canada

5.

“I always knew I wanted to buy, so I worked two jobs to make it happen: a regular 9-5 and then a waitressing job on the weekends to save every penny. I didn’t have new clothes, the latest phone, a new car, or holidays while my friends did, as I was so focused on my goal. There were lots of people who said I wouldn’t do it, which made me even more determined! After years of saving, I bought a starter home through a shared ownership scheme. After six years, I was able to buy it outright and have since moved to a bigger house. Definitely worth the wait, and the payoff is that I now can afford more stylish clothes, I’m able to have a holiday, and have been able to put some money away in savings!”

—Anonymous, UK

6.

“Worked my ass off at two full-time jobs for eight years to save for a down payment.”

—Anonymous, Midwest

There were those who bought during COVID, taking advantage of direct payments and low rates:

7.

“I bought my house in Oct. 2021: 3.25 interest rate baby! If it wasn’t for the COVID checks, there’s no way I would have been able to save as much as I did. It was a good head start. I also just paid off my car and was working a bunch of OT (letter carrier). COVID was horrible, but a blessing in disguise for me. I did it all by myself, with okay credit. Took about a year to find the right house for me, and being a homeowner has been a learning curve for sure. I love/hate it, mainly because I’m not handy.”

—Anonymous, Terre Haute, IN

8.

“My husband and I were born in ‘93 and ‘96. Colorado natives. We were lucky that we met in high school and got married straight out of college in 2019. We had been saving for a home, and when we saw the market moving in 2020, we jumped into the market and overbid on our house by 20k, which we thought was overpaying, but we decided it was the perfect home for us. Lucky for us, we locked in a 3% interest rate and did well in our respective careers (engineer and teacher). The mortgage was barely in our budget when we bought, but after five years of nurturing our jobs, we can comfortably afford our monthly payments and the rising costs of insurance and taxes. We would definitely not be able to afford our current home at today’s prices and interest rates — at least we love it and are not planning to move for a very long time!”

—Anonymous, Denver Metro Area

Some used first-time buyer programs and other special loan programs:

9.

“I joined the Army as a teenager in 2007 to afford college, and afterward used a VA home loan to buy a house with 0% down, no PMI, and a low interest rate. But it’s pretty telling that I had to risk my life to access homeownership. I don’t even work in my field now; my medical degree is sidelined by service-connected disabilities.”

—KD, Texas

10.

“I am a Gen Z. I purchased my first home last month.

This was possible because there was a program by a bank in my area that would cover closing costs (up to an amount) and the down payment. The only requirements were that you were employed (W2), had okay credit, and the home was located in certain, approved zip codes (less developed, older, not the best). I worked with them, they approved me into the program, and I was able to close on my house in four weeks.I suggest to anyone looking to purchase a home: Call around ask ask banks in your area if they have these special programs. And of course, only purchase a home if you are ready for the responsibility of owning one.”

—wickedturkey9027

11.

My husband and I bought our house at 25 in 2015. Our interest rate is 3.75%. We have a rural development loan even though we are in a small, well-developed city (10k population, big box stores, etc), which required no down payment. We paid 180k for a 2000 sqft, 4 bed/2 bath house in city limits (worth 315k now).

My spouse and I are both teachers, and we have student loans, car payments, and daycare fees. We have three kids and are outgrowing our house, but it’s so much more affordable than trying to buy or build something else in this market. I’d rather be somewhat squished in our current house than spend all of what we would make selling our current home — and then some — to still pay double what our current mortgage payment is for something with just a little more space.”

—Anonymous, Minnesota

There were those who were lucky enough to live with — or get money from — parents and family:

12.

“I lived with my parents for a year and a half (rent-free) and was able to save up for a down payment. There’s no way I could have put enough money aside otherwise.”

—Anonymous, Florida

13.

“Got a generous down payment gift from my parents to buy in northern Colorado. Rent was too expensive to save even though we both worked full time. The down payment ended up only being 10% so we had to get mortgage insurance. Eventually we moved to Ohio because our mortgage was eating up most of our income. Now our house is paid off, but only because one of my parents died and we inherited some money.”

—Anonymous

14.

“First, I never rented. I knew I couldn’t rent and save, so I lived with my parents until I could buy a house by myself at 29. I was a microbiologist during the pandemic, the safest job you could have. All of the stimulus checks helped me afford the closing costs, along with a little help from my parents. I bought a house that was a fixer-upper, but with good bones in a good neighborhood. I, too, got very lucky with a 1.99% interest rate (I had an 800+ credit score). After I got promoted, I got a home equity loan and fixed it up.

It was luck, patience, and help, but mostly luck.”

—mlz5051

15.

“Dual income, promotion, receiving a lump sum payment, and a few years of living with family for free. Still live over one hour from the nearest major city.”

—Anonymous, Australia

And then there’s this person, who had a job that paid $80k out of college but seems to think that’s average:

16.

“Rented with friends while saving money for a down payment my first 5–6 years out of college. No crazy-paying job, I was making $80k or so at the time. I’ve talked to a few people who seem amazed, and I hate to say it, but it usually comes down to the mistakes that person made.”

—Anonymous, Las Vegas

Anyway, here are the rest of the stories (from the US and beyond), each of which has its own set of circumstances that allowed young people to buy their homes. I’ll leave it to you to decide what these stories mean in terms of the affordability of the market over the last 15–20 years:

17.

“Honestly, my husband and I gambled on the top end of our budget. After crunching our financials, we knew we could afford it and all utilities, etc., but there wasn’t enough left for vacations or luxury purchases. We rode it out for a few years with empty rooms and putting off ‘nice to have’ projects. Eventually, our promotions at work rose enough that our debt to income was quite comfortable. But if we’d waited until everything lined up perfectly, property values rose enough that it would have been a stretch to buy the house we were already in. If you have the financial discipline, take the leap!”

—Anonymous, Midwest

18.

“I bought a house in 2015 right before the prices started to rise and the market became competitive in central Ohio. Looked at three houses before we found mine. I found a house that needed a pipe fixed, but they weren’t sure if it was in the wall or the slab. So we negotiated from 110k down to just under 90k, including a 5k down payment. I was extremely lucky in the fact that I got a house young, with a low mortgage payment, good interest, and a low down payment. Comps in my neighborhood are now going for 290k or more. There is no way I would be able to afford a house today. I just got lucky. My parents pushed me to stop wasting money on rent when I was young, and I listened. But if I hadn’t bought it at 24, then I would never be a homeowner, as there is no way I could afford a house today, the way the market is.”

—Anonymous, Columbus, Ohio

19.

“I was extremely lucky in my timing. I lived with my parents for two years after college graduation and saved everything. I earned an average salary for a new grad. In early 2020, I decided to start looking, and after many rejected offers (I was outbid a lot), I was able to buy a townhouse at a decent interest rate (that was as much as I could afford on my own). Luckily, I only had to put 10% down. I didn’t have 20% saved up. Soon after the market started going crazy here in Arizona, and now I would not be able to afford my house by myself, let alone a single-family house, even with a raise each year since. So my timing, as well as the opportunity my parents gave me to save up, were my saving graces. Friends looking now are really struggling with the skyrocketing prices and interest rates.”

—Anonymous, Phoenix, AZ

20.

“Golden Girls situation. Bought together.”

—Anonymous

21.

“We are some of the rare people who were somewhat able to follow the standard path of college, job, house, kids. We both come from families where our parents were able to help us pay for most of college and keep us afloat if we struggled early on. We didn’t go anywhere fancy, but having a degree with little debt is a major leg up. We graduated college during the recession and had to put 10+ years in at shitty jobs to finally get careers going, but once we did we were able to afford our needs and save some money. We took out a loan from my 401 (k) for the down payment, which we repaid over a few years. We bought a house at the bottom of our budget when interest rates were really low. I got laid off from my job after we had our first kid, which really motivated us to scale back spending.

Since then, we have steadily grown in our careers and wealth, but have tried very hard not to let our lifestyle creep. I will say our personalities probably help too. We don’t really travel a lot, and I’m a very plain Jane kind of girl, so my personal maintenance is cheap. We buy used cars and drive them till they break. We rarely discuss wanting a bigger house and will probably live here til our kids move out. But I fully acknowledge that having a stable, financially privileged upbringing was probably the key factor in our success, even if we technically paid for the house ourselves.”

—Anonymous, Atlanta suburbs

22.

“I bought during the pandemic with 2.5% down and a 2.37%, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. My payment was $1000 less per month than renting an apartment. I saved the down payment over five years.”

—Anonymous

23.

“Privilege and timing. I had a 401k from working in the family business, she received a sizeable wedding fund when I proposed to her. We used half the wedding fund and fully liquidated the 401k to use as a down payment on a townhome that was being sold as a foreclosure in the 2010s. Seven years later, the townhouse has doubled in value, so we sold and decided to build a new custom home a little further out in the suburbs. We signed the contracts in December 2019 before everything went crazy, spent the majority of lockdown in my mother-in-law’s basement picking over design elements for our under-construction house, and then moved into our forever home late fall of 2020. Still can’t afford kids though.”

—Anonymous, Northern VA

24.

“We used our wedding gift money for a good chunk of our down payment.”

—Anonymous, Indiana

25.

“Pure luck. I bought it from a relative for market value, so it wasn’t on a discount, but it was just at the cusp of COVID when things were still affordable in rural Atlantic Canada. I did the right things, saved up for a down payment, and have a decent mid-level job in health care administration, but I also know it was a very lucky window of time when I was ready.

I bought just before lots of people decided to move out of Ontario and buy up all the property in quaint little towns like mine in Atlantic Canada. And those folks threw around a lot of money for properties that were absolutely not worth the price they paid, but they could because they got so much money selling in the urban markets.

Now my property is worth twice what I paid for it (thank god for tax rate caps). I know if I wanted to move, either to a different house or to a new town or city, I would have no chance of finding an affordable house even with the profit I would make off this one. Here’s hoping I like/keep my job for a long time…”

—Anonymous, Atlantic Canada

26.

“My dad downsized to a condo as he got older, and shortly after, he was diagnosed with cancer. He moved in with my now wife in our apartment for end-of-life treatment. We sold the condo when he died, got what was left in his bank account, and used it as a down payment for the house. Mind you, I did ALL the research, my realtor just smooth-talked the owners into selling to us. I was glued to Redfin looking for places that we could afford, and we ended up finding a place for $250k.”

—Anonymous, Palm Springs

27.

“While my husband (teacher) and I (government lawyer drone) did live in a very low-rent apartment for a few years on a pretty basic budget to save money, I honestly don’t think we could have afforded the house we did without the money I get quarterly from my trust fund. It’s not enough to live on by itself (at the time about $12k a year), but it certainly helped a lot to save for a down payment. Plus, we happened to luck out both in the timing of when we bought our house (early 2016), and in the house we bought, which the owner was looking to offload since it had lingered on the market for about a year. So, a combo of some frugality and a lot of luck.”

—Anonymous, St. Louis, MO

28.

“My father-in-law is very financially savvy and has built a lot of wealth. When my husband was in high school, he set up stocks for him to grow over the years. When we got married, we found it had built a lot of money that he then gave us access to. We used it for a down payment on a house. Not sure we could have afforded it otherwise and are very lucky. “

—Anonymous, Ohio

29.

“I (35F) was lucky enough to buy a cheap house in a not-so-great part of town that was ‘up and coming.’ While it never became super prosperous, I gained enough equity to move into a much larger home in a nicer suburb. That home appreciated like crazy because the neighborhood exploded with new construction after I moved in, and I sold shortly after my property taxes more than doubled. Used the equity to buy a modest house in an established neighborhood where property taxes are much more reasonable.”

—Anonymous

30.

“We live in a trailer — not in a trailer park but in a campground. We bought it from my husband’s brother, who only charged us what he paid for it years earlier. The one next to us that is actually smaller than ours recently sold 40 grand more than we paid.”

—Anonymous, Florida

31.

“I was at the right place at the right time… the year was 2010, I was 23 years old and a recent college graduate (6 months earlier). Before 2009, there was a beautiful 1920s building gutted and renovated as work/live spaces and lofts. They had kept all the splendor of the building but added all modern conveniences.

They were selling them for $500,000+ each. A total of 90 units, and 11 sold. Then the bottom fell out, and they sat for two years unsold until in 2010, there was an auction. I bought my 1000 square foot loft on the top floor with a balcony for $200,000. As I was a first-time buyer, I qualified for an FHA 3% down payment (6k). With property taxes, insurance, and HOA fees, my monthly mortgage is $1000. (I have since refinanced to 3% interest.)

My loft now is valued at $550,000.”

—Anonymous, Los Angeles, CA

32.

“I have a ridiculously well-paying job (lawyer in a niche field, made over $600,000 in base+bonus last year) that I hate and has caused severe burnout and exhaustion, but now that I have the home, I’m completely locked into the job. None of the jobs I’ve found/applied for that I would actually enjoy — and would improve my mental health and actually let me enjoy my home — will pay anywhere near what I’d need to keep my home. But because of my work hours, I have so little time to enjoy the home, from the amount of spare time left to just maintaining it (man, do I miss renting for that), and just the sheer mental exhaustion from work. Plus, I put so much effort into work/saving up for a home that I back-burnered dating and have zero energy for that, and owning a home solo is VERY hard for maintenance and trying to figure out a way to manage the mortgage if I wanted to make a change career-wise. If I could go back four years, I’d prioritize my own mental health and continue renting and find a new job. I convinced myself that, because I was good at this job and well-liked that I should stick with it and enjoy the salary/house/financial stability. It was absolutely the wrong move. I love my house so much, but am seriously considering whether it’s worth the massive additional strain of selling (and the net loss of selling with closing costs without having any real appreciation time for the home value).”

—Anonymous, NYC/Northern NJ

33.

“We bought our home back in 2018 when it was more of a buyer’s market. My spouse is in the military, so we were fortunate to use a VA Loan to purchase our home.

I work as an assistant to the broker-in-charge/owner at a real estate office, and honestly, watching people buy homes right now with the interest rates going how they’re going, it’s starting to make me a little nervous about whether I’ll have a job if business starts to get slow. It’s hard not to wonder: Will fewer people buy or sell homes moving forward? If someone already has a low interest rate, why would they want to sell and then take on a much higher one, especially if it means settling for less house or compromising on location?

It just feels like becoming a homeowner is getting harder and more expensive. And from where I’m sitting, that reality is starting to affect all of us.”

—Anonymous, Eastern NC

34.

“He has a corporate job, I have a public sector job in healthcare, both in our early 30s. At the time of our first home purchase, our total income was about 130K. We worked for six years while living with family, paying a small amount for rent ($400 or so a month each plus groceries) to them. We made it a priority to put 70% of our income into savings for a home or school loan repayment. We rarely ate out, did lots of free activities like hiking, but took a vacation annually. He was very fortunate not to have any student loans, however, I had quite a bit, so he ended up paying for most of the down payment, and we were able to put 20% down. We were fortunate to move to a medium-cost-of-living city. Our three-bed, two-bath home cost us $500,000, and our mortgage was incredibly cheap in 2021. We’ve just sold our home after living here for four years and are excited to move to start our family in a bigger house more suited to us!”

—Anonymous, Kingston, Ontario

35.

“A very lucky combination. Husband and I had no student debt (parents helped, and we worked all through college). We were always mindful of spending, and we were able to save a couple thousand dollars each month thanks to our rent-controlled apartment for 10 years (the mold came free!). I am a nurse, which pays very well in the Bay Area (compared to the rest of the US), and my husband is in tech (TV broadcast-related), so my income stayed consistent, and stimulus checks/unemployment during his brief COVID layoff kept him at about the same income. We made our move when interest rates were low in 2021 and put down about $290K for what ended up being a $1.45M home. It was way over asking, but that was the state of home buying at the time. We were outbid several times by all-cash offers, but our realtor believed it was our ‘love letter’ to the sellers of our eventual house that really got us in. We weren’t the highest bid, but they were supporters of the university I mentioned I was teaching at, and our commitment to remaining part of the neighborhood community we had found (very near our old apartment).”

—Anonymous, San Francisco

36.

“My husband (new boyfriend at the time) purchased a condo through a first-time home buyer’s program. He had a significant amount of savings for the down payment and received a little bit of help from his parents. These programs usually have a lot of red tape and waiting lists, but I highly recommend looking into what your state and county have to offer.

We lived in the condo together for about 10 years. When we sold it, we were able to use that money towards our current house.”

—Anonymous, Long Island, NY

37.

“My husband and I lived in crappy apartments and lived modestly so we could put as much as we could to students loans and student debt. We bought our first house with a small 5% down. The market really saved us because 2.5 years later (2019), we sold our first house with enough profit to pay off our student loans and have a good down payment for our new house. We stayed in that house for four years and sold it for a really good profit to put 40% down on our current house, which really helps because our interest rate isn’t great, but we will refinance that one day.”

—Anonymous, Metro Atlanta, GA

38.

“My father and grandfather passed away within a few years of each other when I was a teenager, and I was able to use a portion of the inheritance I received for a down payment on a house about 10 years later. My partner and I ‘split’ the purchase, in that at the time I had no income to qualify for a loan, and my partner had almost no savings for a down payment. I luckily had enough to put down just over 20% to avoid paying mortgage insurance and keep our monthly payments lower. We were also incredibly lucky with timing; we bought our house near the end of 2020, right before interest rates in our area skyrocketed. I have friends who were trying to buy houses around the same time as us who got into bidding wars for houses, going back and forth making offers on houses for $100k-$150k more than they were worth, with interest rates three or more times what we were able to secure.”

—Anonymous, Western Washington

39.

“In 2011, my husband and I bought a home built in 1905 that was the definition of a fixer-upper. The sellers, who moved abroad a few years prior, were using the home as a rental property and were ready to sell. The house was originally listed for $169k, but because the sellers didn’t fully realize how poorly maintained the house was, they weren’t getting any interest. When we eventually went to see it, the sellers had dropped the price to $109k. We decided to try a very low-ball offer of $75k, and to our surprise, they accepted!

The renters left the house a complete disaster, and we spent the next five years bringing it back to a neutral state. We sold in 2016 for $125k and used the $50k profit as the down payment for our current home that we bought for $250k.

We often talk about how there is no way we’d be able to buy now, with prices the way they are. We are incredibly fortunate that we invested our time and money in the first home, which allowed us to buy our current home.”

—Anonymous, Milwaukee, WI

40.

“Deposit provided by grandmother’s trust. But we can afford the mortgage. Would have never saved enough for a deposit, though.”

—Anonymous, Seattle suburbs

41.

“My husband and I bought a condo in a pricey area of San Diego, CA in 2021 for $485k and put 5% down. We have amazing credit scores (830+), combined income at the time was $135k, and we were approved for 3% interest at the time. We paid for everything on our own, including some renovations prior to move-in, as our parents were not in a position to help financially. We were able to remove PMI in two years, and even with HOA fees, we pay less than our friends who rent much smaller apartments than our condo. We would’ve purchased in 2021 no matter what, but the pandemic’s low interest rate allowed us to get a larger place than anticipated. We rented very modest apartments for six years and seriously saved for two years before making the decision to buy. Now the condo has about $200k of equity, and we can rent it out if we want for more than what our monthly payment is. For us, timing and being prepared were crucial.”

—Anonymous, San Diego, CA

42.

“When we found out we were expecting a baby, we moved in with my mother-in-law during Covid to save for a down payment on a house (she thankfully had a fully finished basement apartment, so we had our own space separate if we wanted). It took us four years of saving, but we finally had enough for a down payment. We were able to put 20% down (with no financial help on this), but my mother-in-law helped us with closing costs. We did take advantage of the first-time home buyer program and got a lower interest rate on our mortgage, so that also helped!”

—Anonymous, East Northport, NY

43.

“My husband and I lived in a tiny, crummy, cheap apartment for many years and saved money for a down payment. The apartment was in such bad shape that we lived in fear of an earthquake over a 4.5. Mind you, our salaries at that time were $95k and $200k. That’s right, we were making almost $300k together annually, and it still took almost a decade of saving to afford a down payment on a home in the Bay Area.”

—Anonymous, Bay Area, California

44.

“My partner’s dad passed away, leaving him a fully paid-off house in a desirable neighborhood. We didn’t want to live there because the house was too small for our growing family, so we sold it and moved to a different area (bigger house, less expensive, a few acres of land). Paid for that house with cash. Did it all again a few years later. We would rather our son could know his grandpa, but yeah, someone had to die in order for us to afford a house.”

—Anonymous

45.

“I was very lucky to have had the opportunity to live with my parents for a year to save for a down payment rather than spend money on rent. My timing was also lucky — I purchased in 2015, which seems to be the market sweet spot. My interest rate is low, and my monthly payment is less than rent in the market in the northeast.”

—Anonymous, Connecticut

46.

“We took money from my mom, and I withdrew money on a loan from my 401(k) since we qualified as first home buyers. Combined, it was still only a tiny down payment. We got a very small house and lucked out in 2019 when rates were still low (compared to now, but were already increasing then). Six years later, I’m glad we made it happen, but I now feel stuck in this tiny house in the current market!”

—Anonymous, Columbus, Ohio

47.

“After being in my career for eight years, my pay increased to around $15 more an hour. After receiving a promotion for an extra $4 an hour, I was able to buy a house with my parents gifting me the 10% down payment. Otherwise, it would have been years later before I could afford a house by myself that wasn’t in need of major repairs.

For reference: 30-year-old female, $40/hr, 2-bedroom, 1.5-bath house in need of updates and cosmetic repairs. I feel like I’m one of the lucky ones!”

—Anonymous, Huntington, WV

48.

“No student debt. My husband and I both attended a branch campus for college. We both got extremely employable degrees (education and nursing). And because of low tuition costs, we were actually able to work and pay our way through college like the good ol’ days. Graduated with absolutely no student debt and enough savings between the two of us for a down payment. We also got VERY lucky to just happen to be in the market for a house in 2018 when interest rates were low and housing prices were not as wild as they are now.

We are still in that starter home, though. High interest rates and crazy prices of the current market have us bringing baby #3 into the house we thought would be our pre-kids home. We’ve actually paid off the house in the meantime, though.”

—Anonymous, Ohio

49.

“We (my husband and I) both have good jobs in healthcare, but we still had to buy a house that was in absolutely terrible shape. To the point where it wouldn’t qualify for a VA loan because it was deemed ‘unlivable’ by their standards. The upside: it was multiple units. We took out all the loans we could and fixed up the rental units first. Once they were up and running, we were able to fix up the main house. We moved in once it was safe to do so and are continuing to renovate the house. Other than major electrical and plumbing work, we’ve been doing most of the work ourselves with the help of family and friends. We have watched so many YouTube videos to learn how to do flooring, drywall, tiling, etc. It’s been (and continues to be) a huge project, but we have picked up so many new skills along the way!”

—Anonymous

50.

“I got incredibly lucky and bought a condo about a year into the pandemic when interest rates were insanely low and home prices weren’t crazy. I had put aside some savings for a down payment, but also got a bit of help from my parents. Since then, my condo’s value has appreciated nicely, so if I’m ever ready to graduate to a single-family home, the equity I’ve built should give me a good foundation to do so. I recognize I’m in a very fortunate position, mostly due to luck, and I’m grateful every day.”

—Anonymous, Wisconsin

51.

“I’m 30 years old now, single, no kids, and work as a police officer and get paid pretty well. I bought my house in 2021, so the house was overpriced, but the interest rates were great — around 2.7%. My monthly payment just went up this year from about $1,300 to $1,500 just because my taxes went up. I have a 3-bed, 2-bath. I would be paying the same amount for either a really bad apartment of the same size or a nice studio apartment, so I’d rather put that money into something I own and can get money back from. I’ve always been diligent about budgeting my money and making sure I saved what I could. I was able to get a financial advisor who I don’t pay directly to help me with investments, they make money if I make money. And I put my savings in a high-yield savings account, so I’m making at least $30 a month in interest.”

—Anonymous, Wisconsin

52.

“My husband bought a condo in 2018 for a fairly reasonable price (like $150k). He had/has good credit and was a mortgage loan officer at the time, so he knew the requirements needed for a home loan through the financial institution he worked at. His bank also offered a first-time home buyer’s credit, where he had zero due at closing, so he didn’t have to pay a lot during the process aside from inspection and appraisals. He was lucky to be in a position to do that, and in the long run, it was cheaper than renting an apartment. We refinanced when rates dropped in 2021, and our mortgage is now less than 1k a month. Although we’ve outgrown this condo due to our family increasing, we aren’t in a position to buy a bigger house at the moment. We just need to wait a little longer and hang onto this property to hopefully turn it into a rental one day.”

—Anonymous, Raleigh, NC

53.

“Elder millennial here — I bought young (21) because rent in my city was wild. I was lucky enough to have my parents co-sign and contribute half of the deposit (an investment that I had to pay back with interest, not really bank-approved). I then proceeded to not do anything for entertainment for five years, lived on a $35/wk grocery budget, and juggled which bills to pay on time. It was very difficult, and I had a lot of support. I would not recommend this method as it was ridiculously stressful. I was lucky that I could use my parents’ pantry as a ‘free’ grocery store.”

—Anonymous, Calgary, AB, Canada

54.

“I took care of my aunt when she was dying from cancer, and she left me her house. It’s horrible, and I would rather have my aunt back, believe me. But I am still grateful to have this house for my family to live in. I can barely afford the taxes on it, though, so I’m not sure how sustainable it is. I have had a good, steady job since I was 22, but housing prices in my city are unattainable. I can’t just move somewhere cheaper because I have split custody of my kids and would have to convince their dad to move too. It’s hard balancing my feelings of grief at losing a loved one with the knowledge that I’m ‘lucky’ to be in this position at all.”

—Anonymous, Portland Oregon

55.

“My partner and I were able to secure a loan through the NACA program. It’s not available in every city, but if it’s available near you, I highly recommend it. NGL it’s kind of a pain in the ass. Lots of hoops to jump through, paperwork to provide, and classes they require you to sit through. BUT we ended up being able to secure a mortgage loan with what amounted to about 3% interest in 2020 when we purchased. The market was super tight, and it took us a while, but we did it. We closed on 4/20/2020 just after the whole world shut down — signed all our papers in a parking lot on FaceTime with the lawyer in one car and the notary in another. I highly recommend the NACA program if it’s available in your area. Three of our friends who are also millennials purchased with the help of NACA as well.”

—Anonymous, Western New York (Buffaloish) area

56.

“I worked three jobs through university and bought a really run-down house with no kitchen, bathroom, or central heating. Managed to buy it just as prices crashed after the recession. Spent a year working on it while living with my parents, and sold a few years later for twice what I paid, meaning I could afford a house to start a family in.”

—Anonymous, London

57.

“My husband and I purchased our first home in 2022. We were both 35 at the time. My husband is a veteran, so we were able to take advantage of the VA loan program. We weren’t required to have a down payment, and the seller covered closing costs. We both worked full time, I as a social worker and he in a warehouse at the time. My parents helped pay off an outstanding student loan (about $3000) so we could qualify for the loan.”

—Anonymous, Baton Rouge, LA

58.

“Living within your means will take you far. Our house isn’t large/brand new/fancy, but it’s enough for us. We make repairs and replace things a little at a time. We bought a house that has a mortgage and utilities that are affordable, and we talk about our bills/budgeting. It is so rewarding to own your own space and make it just the way you want it, even when we fix/replace something it is SO satisfying. Trying to keep up with the Joneses will get you nowhere. There’s this weird assumption that millennials and Gen Z have that you deserve a million-dollar home in an entry-level or mid-level job. Things like that take years of hard work and dedication. Play the long game, be smart with your money, and invest in your future, not your right now. We’ll continue to let the equity grow and eventually sell, and plan to build our own home down the road. Market location doesn’t matter so much when you apply the principles of living within your means and making smart money choices. We’re early 30s and have worked our entire adult lives, it takes time and a grind. Have I been to Paris yet? No. Do I have dozens of the coolest Nikes? No. But planning for a bright future (including comfortable, leisurely travel) was well worth the trade-off.”

—Anonymous

59.

“My grandmother passed away and left each of her grandchildren some money. I used all of mine on a down payment for my condo. Very fortunately I found my place right before Covid, so I was able to get it for under asking price, and the interest rate through my credit union was something like 3.75 at the time.”

—Anonymous, Dallas, TX

60.

“My fiancé’s mom sold us her house for well under what it was valued at. We got a gift of equity loan, which let us use the equity as a down payment and toward closing costs. We would not have been about to buy a house without his mom’s help and that type of loan.”

—Anonymous, Western New York

61.

“We got lucky and found a home that had just been built, and was the first in a row of houses to be built on a young golf course, so we knew it was a great investment. We got an FHA first-time home buyer’s mortgage that required nothing down. I was 19 at the time and had a job working in agriculture that required 100-hour work weeks April-July. So lots of overtime. My wife, fiancé at the time, was an LPN working normal 40-hour weeks while also attending college to work towards her Nurse Practitioner degree. It was tough at times, but we made it through somehow. We lived there for nine years while it appreciated dramatically every time a new house was finished and sold it for almost double what we paid for it.”

—Anonymous, Eastern South Dakota

62.

“We bought our first house ten years ago when prices were much, much lower. We saved up $10,000 for a down payment, which could get us a $200,000 house with the minimum 5% down. We bought our house for $186,000. We’re now selling it for around $300,000 more than that.During COVID, there were a lot of people moving to our province from higher-priced markets, along with a housing shortage that increased prices exponentially. There’s no way we would be able to afford to buy a house now if we were just entering the housing market. Given the crazy rent prices too, I’m not sure how we’d be able to afford to live here at all. We consider ourselves very lucky.”

—Anonymous, Eastern Canada

63.

“My grandmother sold her house to my wife and me and holds the mortgage. We have the deed and did the change with lawyers involved, so there are no issues in the future, but it was the only way we could have gotten a home as quickly as we did and with the amazing interest rate she offered us. We purchased the home in January 2020, so you can imagine how thankful we were as COVID hit and we were stuck at home. We are now in a really good place as far as equity, and with home prices high, we could sell and make money, but we’d also have to buy in the same market, so we’re staying put for now.”

—Anonymous, Upstate New York

64.

“My husband graduated with no student loans due to athletic scholarships. And we lived with my MIL for two years, rent-free. Without her help, there’s no way we would have been able to save for a down payment and pay off credit cards. Rent around here costs more than our mortgage. We were in an endless cycle until we decided to move in. Two adults, a baby, and a dog. We made it work. There were fights and growing pains all living together, but we got through it. Now we have a house! I don’t know how other young people our age are able to afford to save and pay rent — It seems impossible!”

—Anonymous, Suburbs of Philadelphia- Doylestown, PA

65.

“I made $95k a year, had a 700s credit score, and borrowed $2k from my family. I saved about $5k and used the first-time home buyer’s loan of about $ 7.5k. I now own a 2-bed 2-bathroom with a spacious balcony and a garage, but it’s a condo in the Chicago suburbs. Had it not been a last-minute decision, my debt-to-credit ratio would have been better, and I’d gotten something I really wanted. I don’t struggle month to month, but I’m comfortable. If I ever had an emergency, my plan would be to dip into my 401k.”

—Anonymous, Chicago Suburbs

66.

“In 2012, I was 25 and had been out of school working as a nurse full time for three years. I was able to graduate without any debt because I went to a state school and worked throughout college. I saw an opportunity to buy a house in an area deemed ‘rural’, which qualified for a 0% down payment through a USDA loan program. And because interest rates were under 4%, I didn’t mind going in without a down payment. The market was also on the way up, AND it was a place I could see myself living in for a long time in case the market didn’t recover. It was a stretch to afford the monthly payment on a single income, but I made it work. Seven years later, I had a lot of equity in the home, and my husband and I were able to parlay that equity into a bigger house for our family. I credit favorable timing, no college debt, and good luck.”

—Anonymous

67.

“I am a stay-at-home mom, and my husband makes around $83,000 a year. We are ‘California poor’ but have great credit. We qualified for a USDA loan, which is a government loan that is zero down. You have to basically be poor enough to qualify and buy your home in a USDA-zoned area, which thankfully, there are a lot of them in the area in California where we live. The financial limits on what qualifies you are actually very high for some areas. For instance, at the time where we lived, if you made under something like $115k per year as a family of 3 or 4 you would qualify for a USDA loan. You don’t always have to go the traditional bank loan route. Check out USDA loans (zero down), or FHA loans, which require a very low percentage down (5%), you don’t even need great credit. We got lucky to buy right before interest rates skyrocketed a few years ago.”

—Anonymous, San Bernardino county, CA

68.

“We bought it pre-pandemic when rates and values were much lower than current homes. My ex-husband and I used his VA loan and put 0 down. His parents helped us pay to redo parts of the house. The home value has increased $75k in eight years, and the interest rates on new loans have more than doubled.”

—Anonymous, Missouri

69.

“A couple of different things happened for us to buy a home. Wife and I are both teachers, so not making the best of money, but not making the worst. Been working on building our credit and paying down all of our debts.

Florida has a program for first-time homebuyers who are teachers, firefighters, police officers, and nurses. The program has a ton of qualifications that have to be met… from credit, to not making too much money, to the price of the home. We were able to qualify for it. Our closing company actually said they haven’t seen someone qualify for it in years. So that helped.

Both of our parents gifted us money for our closing costs.

And finally, the seller was willing to work with us. They lowered their asking price enough so we could afford it.

Wife got a new job of being a school administrator right when we were buying.

Secured the loan the week that mortgage rates dipped into the low 6%, and the next week they went back up.

All of this almost didn’t happen because the day before we were supposed to close on everything, a hurricane came right through our county.

Needless to say… luck… lots and lots of luck made it possible to buy our home.”

—Anonymous, Florida

70.

“My parents paid for my college (my mom insisted I not take out loans), so that allowed me to stay ahead of the game. I saved and saved for about 15 years and kept advancing in my career, but that would never have been enough. My boyfriend got a great deal on his first house and got almost all of that back in equity when he sold. Between the two of us, we managed a down payment and are comfortable. Neither of us could have done it alone, though — I make more now, but he had the nest egg for the down payment.”

—t448dac9d3

71.

“I’m 33. I live in Missouri, which is a huge part of it; it’s relatively cheap to live here. During the pandemic, I started focusing on my credit score and a small savings. My house was just under 120k, which is basically unheard of. I lost out on like six other houses I really liked, the market is still competitive here. I love my house, but obviously, with it being that cheap, there are issues… lots of things need to be replaced, and it has some damage from a previous tenant, but I’m lucky as hell to be here. I rented for a decade prior to this, no parents to live at home with or anything. I qualified for some program through the government (cannot recall specifics, it was a hell of a time) for first-time home buyers, and my lender really helped me out by finding as many things to reduce costs as possible.”

—applebeesgothgf

72.

“I work in the field of public health for a county government system. My husband is a veteran. During the COVID pandemic, I worked incredibly long days for months on end, earning a lot of OT. We paid down all our debt, got our credit score up a little, and leveraged his no-money-down VA loan. We bought our house in 2021, right before interest rates jumped up. Our interest rate is under 3%. We will never be able to refinance, but we are homeowners in San Diego, where home values continue to rise!”

—kellyanne2626

73.

“I lived with my parents until I was 28 (I used to have seizures and struggled for a long time). I kept part-time jobs and saved as much as I could, but still helped pay for things at home. With a small down payment, I bought a little townhouse in 2016 for about $90k when I was making around $15 an hour. I was house poor until two years ago, still don’t have a washer and dryer yet, and am currently saving up to change the carpets. I feel that I lucked out finding my place when I did. I can’t afford to move, so I am just gradually making improvements and thanking my lucky stars.”

—surprisedlegend852

74.

“I am an elder millennial (born 1982) and own a home. The first house I bought with my wife was in 2006, a 200k ‘starter home.’ We bought it on an FHA loan (first-time home buyer), at 6.5% with the first five years interest-only and no down payment. This was pre-recession, when they were giving mortgages to anyone. The house lost about 40% of its value in 2007/2008. We lived there until 2011 when we bought our ‘forever home.’ I used my VA loan, and we paid 410k at 4% with no down payment. I could not sell the first house — I was too upside down on the mortgage — so we rented it out for nine years. Renting it for a little less than our monthly payment, it SUCKED being a landlord. When COVID hit, the housing prices skyrocketed, and we quickly sold it once it was worth more than I owed on it. We refinanced our current home in 2021 at 2.75%.”

—lazboy

75.

Millennial here — my husband and I have been together since we were 17, but lived with our parents until we were about 26/27, when we were already past the start of our careers for a few years. Once we were in a comfortable enough place financially, we moved together into an apartment, which we did for three years. We started house hunting not long after COVID hit in 2020 when our lease was coming up and we were sick of rent driving up and having nothing to show for it.

We ended up with a ‘fixer upper’ (as in…hardly livable), but had a massive help in my dad being a contractor who did all our labor for free. Were it not for that, we probably would not have been in any position to buy for some time.

I know it’s said all the time, but it’s insane how massively difficult it is for our generation(s) to become homeowners. Seems like decent and steady income(s), coupled with a massive break of some kind (in our case, labor!) is the only way these days.”

—kindlesocial14