patrick.net

You are smart. The problem is women will try to convince you into buying the "nest" for your future happy family. I would suggest you sock away a chunk of change in a Roth IRA asap and then save for the down payment.

New 2010 Census data show a big increase in 25-34 year olds living with parents. Not all of them are doing so to save up for a down payment, but you're definitely not unusual. Bad economic times mean fewer households, and it's also burying the real poverty rate. (A single or couple earning poverty wages living with parents who aren't poor shows up as a non-poverty household.)

What you're doing is very common in first generation Asian families here.

The US continues to emulate Japan 10 years ago. Our 20 and 30 somethings will also become the "buy nothing generation" as a reaction against their parents and older cohorts' conspicuous consumption.

Really smart one's will stay with the parents until baby boomer grandparents kick the bucket then take their house. Assuming the grands aren't remortgaged/heloced out.

My boomer parents are pretty healthy so waiting for them to kick the bucket is impractical.

I'm 30 and would not voluntarily choose to move back in with my parents. That is social death.

It used to be an embarrassment for a man over 22 (past college) to be living with his parents. Now it's the norm. What are we Italy? Well, at least I like the food.

It's not the American Dream to live with your extended family, but maybe the Dream has to adjust to reality.

That said, I would rather live in a run-down trailer than live with my parents. I love them in doses of a few hours at a time.

thunderlips11 says

maybe the Dream has to adjust to reality.

I'd rather adjust reality to optimize the welfare of the 99%. Back in the 1950s a single income allowed a middle class family to own its home, vacation, and sometimes have a second vacation home. Today, a dual income family lives paycheck to paycheck at the brink of insolvency.

Today's worker is many times more productive than his counterpart in the 1950s due to amazing advancement in technology. So, if the worker is producing more, why isn't he wealthier or at least as wealthy as before? Because of all the parasites sucking his wealth away, particularly his employer.

madhaus says

What you're doing is very common in first generation Asian families here.

I even know non-Asians who did this -- friends of mine whose families lived in their grandparents' house for a few years before their parents bought their own house. Free child care, for one thing.

thunderlips11 says

It's not the American Dream to live with your extended family, but maybe the Dream has to adjust to reality.

That said, I would rather live in a run-down trailer than live with my parents. I love them in doses of a few hours at a time.

Ditto to both.

Wacking Hut says

I guess I stayed ahead of the slave drivers again (didn't buy during the boom), but at the loss of some dignity

Young man you have lost no dignity here. You've done the right thing. Man has all the dignity in the world when he owes nothing to anyone, and has no dignity when his entire life and future is owed to the bank.

You've done the right thing.

I graduated from UCLA back in 2004 and spent 3yrs living with mom and dad which was enough time to accumulate DP for my first home. Nothing wrong with that as it's typically very difficult to accumulate DP if you are on your own paying for everything, even if you are living within your means and have a good job... The money can accumulate quickly if you aren't paying rent and mom and dad are paying for food.

Best of luck to you.
Luke

lol my parents charge me market rent, food and utilities if I live with them. I might as well move out.

Nothing wrong with saving money for anything these days. The social ramifications are gone..cell phones and facebook for starters.

Wacking Hut says

My boomer parents are pretty healthy so waiting for them to kick the bucket is impractical.

Thinking about helping them to heaven? There's better ways to get a house.

that dog don't hunt for me.

as much as i wanna beat the banks, i'd rather find a crappy room to rent in a crappy house than live with the parentals.

but i like your plan of attack!

Wacking Hut says

I guess I stayed ahead of the slave drivers again (didn't buy during the boom), but at the loss of some dignity. My planned downpayment will exceed 20% and I hope to get a ten-year mortgage for the remainder and pay that at an accelerated pace. The price of the property I buy will not exceed 3x of my income.

Nice job. Seriously. Nice to see someone using their mind and not getting caught up in debt.

Make sure you help your folks out with maintenance and stuff (if they don't charge you a dime) - you're lucky to have them around to help you out.

You're blessed if you can live with your parents. Be a good kid, help them as much as you can while you're with them. Do save and buy what you want, don't forget to invite them, treat nice dinner for them.

Unfortunately, not all are that lucky. Some people don't have parents to live with any more. Few kids are dreaming of getting the hell away from their parents. Some can't stay with them for some reason, others have no choice but to stay with them. Sometimes, life sucks.

Living with the parents is quite normal in other cultures until marriage. It's no big deal.
There is a reason they invented motels, they're handy for the rendezvous with the girlfriend you can't bring home.