Won the bid on a 900k house and now I feel sick

[Anonymous]

Our HHI is currently about $240-270k, depending on bonuses, which vary, so a low year is $240. The thought of a $900k mortgage scares the ever loving shit out of me. Maybe DH and I spend way too much or put too much in retirement and other savings and still have some student debt (approx $50k left), but we were scared to death about buying our first house (at ages 27 and 29) in the low 300s. We are still in that same house 4 years later and expecting our first and will now add daycare costs, which also worries me. There is no way we could swing a $4000/mo mortgage payment.

I would LOVE to see the monthly budgets of some PPs to find out what we could be doing differently.

[Anonymous]

How high is your student loan payment? Do you have car loans? We make less than you and can afford a $4200 mortgage payment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is currently about $240-270k, depending on bonuses, which vary, so a low year is $240. The thought of a $900k mortgage scares the ever loving shit out of me. Maybe DH and I spend way too much or put too much in retirement and other savings and still have some student debt (approx $50k left), but we were scared to death about buying our first house (at ages 27 and 29) in the low 300s. We are still in that same house 4 years later and expecting our first and will now add daycare costs, which also worries me. There is no way we could swing a $4000/mo mortgage payment.

I would LOVE to see the monthly budgets of some PPs to find out what we could be doing differently.

If you bought a house on the low 300s four years ago, you do not live in the dc area or any other expensive housing market and this should not be weighing in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is currently about $240-270k, depending on bonuses, which vary, so a low year is $240. The thought of a $900k mortgage scares the ever loving shit out of me. Maybe DH and I spend way too much or put too much in retirement and other savings and still have some student debt (approx $50k left), but we were scared to death about buying our first house (at ages 27 and 29) in the low 300s. We are still in that same house 4 years later and expecting our first and will now add daycare costs, which also worries me. There is no way we could swing a $4000/mo mortgage payment.

I would LOVE to see the monthly budgets of some PPs to find out what we could be doing differently.

If you bought a house on the low 300s four years ago, you do not live in the dc area or any other expensive housing market and this should not be weighing in.

NP. It was and is possible to buy a house in DC in the low 300s maybe not 4 yrs ago but certainly 5-6 yrs ago. We did: DC downtown, horrible IB school and all but really close to our offices (FEDS). Our rowhouse is now nearly worth triple what we bought it for without doing any improvements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is currently about $240-270k, depending on bonuses, which vary, so a low year is $240. The thought of a $900k mortgage scares the ever loving shit out of me. Maybe DH and I spend way too much or put too much in retirement and other savings and still have some student debt (approx $50k left), but we were scared to death about buying our first house (at ages 27 and 29) in the low 300s. We are still in that same house 4 years later and expecting our first and will now add daycare costs, which also worries me. There is no way we could swing a $4000/mo mortgage payment.

I would LOVE to see the monthly budgets of some PPs to find out what we could be doing differently.

If you bought a house on the low 300s four years ago, you do not live in the dc area or any other expensive housing market and this should not be weighing in.

NP. It was and is possible to buy a house in DC in the low 300s maybe not 4 yrs ago but certainly 5-6 yrs ago. We did: DC downtown, horrible IB school and all but really close to our offices (FEDS). Our rowhouse is now nearly worth triple what we bought it for without doing any improvements.

Nope

[Anonymous]

I was in your shoes 25 year ago, bought a house that was a little too expensive in a great area. We took no vacations, did all the work on the house ourselves, drove 2nd hand cars, I cleaned the house, ate in unless it was a special occasion with family(and we still shouldn't have), bought the furniture used and fixed it up, never had a sitter. Was it worth it? We tripled our equity raised kids in an excellent school system, short commutes to work. You decide. we were definelty the neighborhood gypsies!

[Anonymous]

It is doable if you cut costs on things like eating out and vacations. Our HHI is about 280k and we have a 900k mortgage, a full-time nanny, and about 700/month in student loan payments. We still manage to save about 2k/month. But we also brownbag our lunches, make good use of our CostCo membership, etc. Budgeting is key.

[Anonymous]

Some posters are referencing a 900K mortgage. Assuming OP is making a down payment, the mortgage will be less (720K with 20% down payment).

[Anonymous]

If it's making you feel ill, listen to your body. No house can be worth your health. No one needs to put themselves voluntarily through stress in a housing choice. You do have choices. Make ones that enhance your sense of security. You don't want to spend the next x years worrying about the other shoe dropping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was in your shoes 25 year ago, bought a house that was a little too expensive in a great area. We took no vacations, did all the work on the house ourselves, drove 2nd hand cars, I cleaned the house, ate in unless it was a special occasion with family(and we still shouldn't have), bought the furniture used and fixed it up, never had a sitter. Was it worth it? We tripled our equity raised kids in an excellent school system, short commutes to work. You decide. we were definelty the neighborhood gypsies!

Hi neighbor: don't think I didn't catch you giving me the stink eye when I rolled up the driveway in my new Benz after that promotion in '95

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is doable if you cut costs on things like eating out and vacations. Our HHI is about 280k and we have a 900k mortgage, a full-time nanny, and about 700/month in student loan payments. We still manage to save about 2k/month. But we also brownbag our lunches, make good use of our CostCo membership, etc. Budgeting is key.

Wow. This is impressive. We recently began making an HHI of $330,000 per year, and we also have a nanny who works 30 hours/week ($50,000 per year). If we had a bigger house, we could have an au pair work the same hours for a cost of $25,000/year. Our current mortgage is $350,000. I'd love to upgrade to a better house, but have been so reluctant because of all the posts on DCUM. I posted a while back on a separate thread (on the Money and Finance forum) about having a mortgage of $900,000, and most people thought I was crazy.

Can you list out your monthly budget? It would be a huge help. Thx!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If it's making you feel ill, listen to your body. No house can be worth your health. No one needs to put themselves voluntarily through stress in a housing choice. You do have choices. Make ones that enhance your sense of security. You don't want to spend the next x years worrying about the other shoe dropping.

Depends. I always feel ill temporarily when making major life changes. That's just who I am.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is doable if you cut costs on things like eating out and vacations. Our HHI is about 280k and we have a 900k mortgage, a full-time nanny, and about 700/month in student loan payments. We still manage to save about 2k/month. But we also brownbag our lunches, make good use of our CostCo membership, etc. Budgeting is key.

Wow. This is impressive. We recently began making an HHI of $330,000 per year, and we also have a nanny who works 30 hours/week ($50,000 per year). If we had a bigger house, we could have an au pair work the same hours for a cost of $25,000/year. Our current mortgage is $350,000. I'd love to upgrade to a better house, but have been so reluctant because of all the posts on DCUM. I posted a while back on a separate thread (on the Money and Finance forum) about having a mortgage of $900,000, and most people thought I was crazy.

Can you list out your monthly budget? It would be a huge help. Thx!

Your current mortgage is roughly equal to your HHI. By any measure, this is exceedingly conservative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is doable if you cut costs on things like eating out and vacations. Our HHI is about 280k and we have a 900k mortgage, a full-time nanny, and about 700/month in student loan payments. We still manage to save about 2k/month. But we also brownbag our lunches, make good use of our CostCo membership, etc. Budgeting is key.

Wow, can you list your monthly budget, net, etc? This is really, really impressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is doable if you cut costs on things like eating out and vacations. Our HHI is about 280k and we have a 900k mortgage, a full-time nanny, and about 700/month in student loan payments. We still manage to save about 2k/month. But we also brownbag our lunches, make good use of our CostCo membership, etc. Budgeting is key.

Wow, can you list your monthly budget, net, etc? This is really, really impressive.

A bit over 15k/month take home after taxes and 401k

4200 mortgage
4000 nanny (including taxes and breedlove fees)
1000 groceries
800 utilities (electric, cable, cell, water)
700 student loans
300 car gas/maintenance (we own our car outright so no loan)
500 kid's clothing/toys
500 our clothing
500 eating out (usually less than this)
750 misc costs (like car taxes, gifts, kid activities)

That leaves about 2k/month for savings. We put work bonuses, tax refunds and other one-time windfalls directly in savings.