$900k home with $180HHI if large downpayment?

[Anonymous]

OP, your lifestyle sounds similar to ours, but we did $500K down on our $925K house- so our monthly payment is a lot lower than your would be. I think it sounds doable, but VERY tight. I’m not sure anyone will underwrite you for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, your lifestyle sounds similar to ours, but we did $500K down on our $925K house- so our monthly payment is a lot lower than your would be. I think it sounds doable, but VERY tight. I’m not sure anyone will underwrite you for that.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, your lifestyle sounds similar to ours, but we did $500K down on our $925K house- so our monthly payment is a lot lower than your would be. I think it sounds doable, but VERY tight. I’m not sure anyone will underwrite you for that.

Similar here. We put down 600k on a 1.1 house. I wouldn’t be able to sleep with OP’s numbers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My spouse and I make 200k. Our monthly mortgage (including taxes and insurance) is a paltry $1400. Even with this low note, the money goes fast. Part of this is self-imposed due to maxing out IRAs, the rest is life- kids, groceries (getting more expensive every week), utilities, cars, car maintenance, house maintenance, kids college savings…etc.

If you’re disciplined enough to have saved 250k on a salary of 180k, I would say you might have a chance at making this happen. If you were gifted the money (nothing wrong with this), then you need to look at the numbers even more carefully. I say this not to be mean, but those who accumulate money in their own usually have a better handle on money.

+1. Are you rolling over equity from a previous home and/or is the money a gift? Even smaller, well-maintained houses can need substantial repairs at times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have $250k to put down. Looking at the numbers, it looks like we could afford a $900k home with that large of a downpayment. Even though yearly income is just $180. One elementary age child. No debts. We do need aftercare and summer camps. We don’t take expensive vacations. Does this sound right? Or does it sound like one of those things that works out on paper but will never work in real life?

do u do your own grass cutting, shrub cutting, mulching, house cleaning, some DIY, etc? Do you drive older cars that are paid off? Do you refrain from buying new clothes all the time? Do you clip coupons and buy things on sale? Then it might work.

We live in an affordable million-dolllar+ house and we have always mowed the lawn, cut the shrubs, planted flowers, cleaned the windows, cleaned the house without a service and do basic repairs and painting because we were raised doing and we don't mind. You can afford a lot more house if you are willing to take care of it yourself. Everything is a trade off.

[Anonymous]

That’s $4639/mo.

You sound like a 2 income household. I’m assuming you are responsible adults and max out your retirement and I’m assuming you are lucky and have no healthcare costs. So with that assumption, I guess you bring home about $9,300/mo at a 20% tax rate. You think it would be comfortable living on $4700/mo? Including college savings, home repairs (old home expensive repairs) and the basic expense of kids and inflation uncertainty?

Personally I wouldn’t want to be under that kind of financial strain.

[Anonymous]

You don't make enough income. $650k mortgage at 5+% interest + taxes + insurance will kill you. There's no way you'd be able to save in retirement, for college, for emergencies, for a new car, etc. etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have $250k to put down. Looking at the numbers, it looks like we could afford a $900k home with that large of a downpayment. Even though yearly income is just $180. One elementary age child. No debts. We do need aftercare and summer camps. We don’t take expensive vacations. Does this sound right? Or does it sound like one of those things that works out on paper but will never work in real life?

do u do your own grass cutting, shrub cutting, mulching, house cleaning, some DIY, etc? Do you drive older cars that are paid off? Do you refrain from buying new clothes all the time? Do you clip coupons and buy things on sale? Then it might work.

We live in an affordable million-dolllar+ house and we have always mowed the lawn, cut the shrubs, planted flowers, cleaned the windows, cleaned the house without a service and do basic repairs and painting because we were raised doing and we don't mind. You can afford a lot more house if you are willing to take care of it yourself. Everything is a trade off.

Exactly this. It would depend on your lifestyle. If you are thrifty, and generally good with money, you can make it without a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have $250k to put down. Looking at the numbers, it looks like we could afford a $900k home with that large of a downpayment. Even though yearly income is just $180. One elementary age child. No debts. We do need aftercare and summer camps. We don’t take expensive vacations. Does this sound right? Or does it sound like one of those things that works out on paper but will never work in real life?

do u do your own grass cutting, shrub cutting, mulching, house cleaning, some DIY, etc? Do you drive older cars that are paid off? Do you refrain from buying new clothes all the time? Do you clip coupons and buy things on sale? Then it might work.

We live in an affordable million-dolllar+ house and we have always mowed the lawn, cut the shrubs, planted flowers, cleaned the windows, cleaned the house without a service and do basic repairs and painting because we were raised doing and we don't mind. You can afford a lot more house if you are willing to take care of it yourself. Everything is a trade off.

Exactly this. It would depend on your lifestyle. If you are thrifty, and generally good with money, you can make it without a problem.

What’s an “affordable million dollar home?” It’s affordable if you make enough money to pay mortgage, taxes, insurance and basic upkeep. You can clean and mow the lawn yourself, but if you make under 200k, like the OP, it’s not an affordable house. We make around 200k and would never consider this kind of purchase. Sounds way too stressful for my tastes.

[Anonymous]

Ex and I bought an 860k house in 2017 with 225k down. At the time, our income was about 180k because I was not working at that time. The interest rate was 3.375...so it was substantially better than now. We did not feel strained.


Divorced now. He kept the house. (He also refinanced to 2.875).

I make that income myself now (I make 20-30k more depending on the year from a side hustle as well). I bought another house but needed help from a family member to get a bigger downpayment do it to buy nearby. I make what you make but could not swing 900k at the current interest rates alone. The max I am comfortable with would be a $3200 payment per month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have $250k to put down. Looking at the numbers, it looks like we could afford a $900k home with that large of a downpayment. Even though yearly income is just $180. One elementary age child. No debts. We do need aftercare and summer camps. We don’t take expensive vacations. Does this sound right? Or does it sound like one of those things that works out on paper but will never work in real life?

do u do your own grass cutting, shrub cutting, mulching, house cleaning, some DIY, etc? Do you drive older cars that are paid off? Do you refrain from buying new clothes all the time? Do you clip coupons and buy things on sale? Then it might work.

We live in an affordable million-dolllar+ house and we have always mowed the lawn, cut the shrubs, planted flowers, cleaned the windows, cleaned the house without a service and do basic repairs and painting because we were raised doing and we don't mind. You can afford a lot more house if you are willing to take care of it yourself. Everything is a trade off.

Exactly this. It would depend on your lifestyle. If you are thrifty, and generally good with money, you can make it without a problem.

Someone buying a million dollar home with these interest rates at that income by definition is not good with money.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand how this could possibly work. We're at 160k, so a bit less than you, and would feel maxed out with a payment higher than 2300 due to health care, retirement, etc - literally the basics! We also have one car bought with cash, secondhand clothes, shop at Aldi, drive and camp for travel...it's not a frugality thing.

[Anonymous]

It all depends how frugal you are. If you plan no expensive trips, no frequent restaurants, clothes etc. you can definitely do it. We did it, but we are used to not spending money.

[Anonymous]

You can. Have a friend did that but she took out 15 year mortgage. She was fine until she had a child. Now she moved in with her parents and rents out the house, to reduce housing cost and share childcare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. Thanks for your input. We are in Arlington, so the houses aren’t big, just absurdly expensive. The only reason we’re considering staying is because our child has special needs and is doing really well in her school. It feels worth extra money/a smaller house to not uproot her.

The fact that it’s a smaller house seems relevant to me because we’re still paying taxes on a $900k house but the repairs are on a 3 BR, 1800 sq foot house, not on a mansion at that price.

Taxes will be $9k a year. That’s not a small number on $180k.