When most of his peers were splurging on cars, clothes and bar outings, 19-year-old Bryan McLaughlin was shopping for his first home. "I had a bunch of money saved up, and I was looking at cars when a friend recommended I buy a condo,\" he said in September. McLaughlin, a Canton , Mich. , resident, skipped college and at 17 began to work 50 hours a week at an orthodontic lab and a liquor store. By 19, he had put aside more than $20,000. With the tax incentives in mind, he decided to put all of it down on a 1,440-square-foot, $180,000 condo that overlooks a golf course. His nest egg allowed him to secure a three-year, adjustable-rate mortgage at 5.25 percent. Advice for buyers - Make sure you have a stable, well-paying job, Wayne State University Professor George Galster said.