We have clients who got into the market when they were young and have built over $1 million in equity.
When we told this to a friend of ours she responded with a much more extreme story that's worth repeating, both because it’s fascinating and because it imparts a great lesson:
In 1998, she and her partner bought a house in San Francisco for $650,000. Their friends told them they were crazy because the house had previously sold for only $350,000 just 3 years earlier.
They now own that house free and clear and it's worth over $2.5 million!
Two points we'd like to stress:
1. Get into the market, even if you have to compromise
2. Ignore your friend's well-meaning advice :)