How much can we afford?
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Anonymous
| Yes, I know that online calculators exist but I feel like they don't take into account the ridiculous col in the dc area. Hhi is $145000 before taxes, monthly debt (small student loan, credit cards, cell phone, car, child care etc) is $2500. Right now we are renting at $2300 comfortably. We could tighten up our spending by a few hundred dollars per month. We have $150000 in savings we can use towards a down payment, ideally don't want to exhaust that resource but willing to if needed. |
Anonymous
| 400K max. We financed $285K on $160K HHI and that was our max to be comfortable financially given childcare and other costs. |
Anonymous
| we did 550k no dp on 180k without problems |
Anonymous
| If you're renting comfortably at $2300, I would aim for a mortgage payment (PITA) that's roughly the same. That will be around a $350-$400k mortgage, I think. The few hundred dollars that you could get by tightening your belt will go toward house maintenance. Put $100k down and keep the rest for your emergency fund. |
Anonymous
| We have the same HHI but lower monthly expenses and are looking at 500k houses with a 100k downpayment and 400k loan. |
Anonymous
|
I have a $410K mortgage at 3.5%. PITI monthly is $2271.
I think $500K-ish should be your limit. |
Anonymous
That must include taxes too, right? |
Anonymous
|
OP - I would shoot for a max of $400K - closing costs in the area are outrageous and will take a nice chunk out of your downpayment.
Also, you mentioned child care which tells me that you have young children. as a parent, I would like to give you words of advise that I wish I had listened to when my kids were daycare age. You do not know what your children's needs will be in the future, so you have to build that into your budget. By that I mean - tutoring, private school, therapies, braces, camps etc. Do not buy your max, you will feel squeezed for a long time and thats not fun. |
Anonymous
Yes-hence why I said PITI 
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Anonymous
+1 keep some for maintenance and savings. House repairs are unpredictable and seem to never end - even with the best planning. The "small" stuff (squirrel damage to roof shingles) will run you $500 in this area and the bigger stuff (furnace, tree maintenance, hot water heater, etc) runs you into the thousands. |
Anonymous
| How much are you saving for retirement? |
Anonymous
| do $525K. |
Anonymous
| DO NOT DO $525K!!! |
Anonymous
|
PP here - closing costs will be around $16K for a 525K house.
keep that in mind OP |
Anonymous
I agree 100%. OP will regret it mightily if they finance more than 400K, mark my words. |