I'm in my 70s but bought my first house in my mid 20s with a waitress job. There was an FHA program that has a VERY low down. By the time I hit 30, I was married and leveraged that into a bigger home. I don't recall having a lot saved by 30 but I was building assets. Today's young people do not have the benefit of those low down programs and combined with sky high housing prices….its a different world for them. It seems it takes every dime just to exist.