If your HHI is 200K, how much house would you buy?

[Anonymous]

We have a combined gross HHI of $220k, and we are about to settle on a house that is $489k. Our monthly PITI will be about $2650. We pay $2203/month for preschool for 2 kids, $400/month on a car loan, 15% in 401k, no more student loans. Our PITI will be about $800 more than what we were paying on our condo. That makes me very nervous because we won't be able to put as much in savings as we used to, but I guess I am really, really conservative based on what I'm reading here.

[Anonymous]

under $600k

[Anonymous]

We have a HHI of about 200K and our mortgage payment is about $2300/month. Didn't want to take on more than that. We don't have any trouble making that. I figure that we can send in extra as additional principal, if we want to.

[Anonymous]

200k hhi. House payment of $1200. 160k home.
I'll never get used to seeing high house prices in the metro area.

[Anonymous]

Hhi of $220, $400k mortgage. Monthly is $2,300, but we pay $3,000 to be debt free at retirement.

[Anonymous]

200 hhi income here. we were paying 2600/month; we recently refinanced and are paying around $2k/month on our home which we bought some years ago for 400k. We actually aren't saving as much as we should but we still have about 100k in student loans and got hit with unexpected 30k in home repairs/medical expenses in the last year.

I think our home has probably appreciated considerably and we anticipate moving and selling next year and using the proceeds (eventually) for a downpayment on another home priced around 400k (in a cheaper area - so more house). since we'll have the down payment this time, our overall housing costs may go down below $2k/month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am house poor and it sucks. That said, I don't have daycare or student loan checks to write every month.

HHI of $235k, mortgage of $730k.

Are you NUTS?

That's just stupid.

I was thinking the same thing. Our HHI is $350K, mortgage is $650K and we feel house poor. We do pay approx. $1500/month for a pt nanny and about $15,000/year for pt preschool, so maybe that's the difference.

Stop. Did I read this right? You are paying 15k a year for part-time preschool?

NP here. I also pay $15k for preschool (3 hours a morning). This is pretty normal for DC. Where do you live?

Hell no that's not normal. I paid $4,500 in Alexandria.

You've been taken to the cleaners. Who the hell pays $15,000 for preschool? I'm so sorry for you.

Another NP here. We paid 18K in MoCo for preschool. Typical for the area.

[Anonymous]

HHI of about $220K, childcare of about $1200/month for two kids, bought for just under $600K.

[Anonymous]

I'd buy as little house as possible, in a good neighborhood inside the Beltway. Places I'd consider: Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, and close-in Fairfax including Annandale.

Why as little house as possible? Because it's a huge and depreciating asset and hard to sell fast. If I want to invest in real estate, a REIT seems better. I have been stuck with a house as a result of a divorce, and paying for it while trying to sell, doing the maintenance, and making it sale-ready ruined a good portion of a year of my life. I have had the experience of living in nice, big houses, and nice, little houses and the little houses work well for me, and the kids. A condo might be better still but I haven't tried that yet.

[Anonymous]

Our HHI is about 240K. Our purchase price was around $430K.

[Anonymous]

I'm the PP--this was in 2014.

[Anonymous]

I'm always shocked at how little house people on this website buy. $200-400k in the DC area? OK... Back when I was making in the mid $100s I bought a home that was more than $400k. It worked out just fine.

[Anonymous]

HHI near 300k and PITI less than 1500 in a great WOTR neighborhood. Home includes rental unit that covers mortgage. This buy was one of the best decisions we ever made. Housing spending is near zero.

There are definitely deals out there, just don't follow the herd and buy something stupid in CoHi.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm always shocked at how little house people on this website buy. $200-400k in the DC area? OK... Back when I was making in the mid $100s I bought a home that was more than $400k. It worked out just fine.

Did you maybe not have other expensive. We make 220K, bought for 455K 2 years ago. WE pay 3700 a month in daycare and then 800 in student loans. We can't afford more than that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm always shocked at how little house people on this website buy. $200-400k in the DC area? OK... Back when I was making in the mid $100s I bought a home that was more than $400k. It worked out just fine.

Did you maybe not have other expensive. We make 220K, bought for 455K 2 years ago. WE pay 3700 a month in daycare and then 800 in student loans. We can't afford more than that.

Other expenses not expensive