How much house can we afford?

[Anonymous]

DH and I want to move into a bigger house in about a year from now. Im more comfortable stretching and dh is more risk averse so I thought it would be informative to get people's opinions in how much house you think we can afford.

Household income is 300k currently
150k house fund currently

Expenses/debts:
500 per month in student loans
1400 per month for daughter's preschool (3 years old)
270 per month car payment
maxed contributions to 401k
500 per month to daughter's 529
No cc debt

We also plan on adding a second baby in the next year or two so that will be another 5 years of childcare with st most 2 years of double childcare cost. My husband is thinking like in the 700k range and I'm think more like the 900k range (I realize that's a big spread).

[Anonymous]

$750-800k

[Anonymous]

With your situation, I would probably not want a mortgage more than 700k.


our HHI is 275 k--

We are looking at a 600k mortgage We, however, make 25k less, are likely older than you and neither of us made a cent until about 10 years ago, so we are behind on retirement. We also go light on college since grandparents contribute 1k/mo/kid. With an extra 25k a year, I would put it toward college and retirement and stay at a 600k mortgage but it also depends on a couple factors--will your incomes grow? is your industry stable?

here's the budget I just set up for us, after maxing retirement and putting away max for fsa.

mortgage, tax, insurance: 4k
school: 2 k
aftercare 1200
college fund 500
car insurance 200
life insurance 200
groceries 1k
travel 1k
eldercare 1k (we help support one parent)
gas/transportation/car repairs 500
utilities 400
household expenses/budget/repairs/ 500
medical 500
clothing, bdays, dinners out, etc. 1k

--------------
14k

Take home after retirement, fsa= 14k

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH and I want to move into a bigger house in about a year from now. Im more comfortable stretching and dh is more risk averse so I thought it would be informative to get people's opinions in how much house you think we can afford.

Household income is 300k currently
150k house fund currently

Expenses/debts:
500 per month in student loans
1400 per month for daughter's preschool (3 years old)
270 per month car payment
maxed contributions to 401k
500 per month to daughter's 529
No cc debt

We also plan on adding a second baby in the next year or two so that will be another 5 years of childcare with st most 2 years of double childcare cost. My husband is thinking like in the 700k range and I'm think more like the 900k range (I realize that's a big spread).

in doing the math, there really isn't that huge of a difference in mortgage between those two numbers. Low end = $3800, High end = $4200 (all in). The biggest difference really is in coming up with the extra $30K for the downpayment if you go up to $900K.

[Anonymous]

We are a 330k family. No car payment, 1 & 3 year old. 300k down. Another 60k for home improvements. We did 900k mortgage and an au pair for child care. Like 8k a month for mortgage and child care.
Utilities on the house are about 600 a month.

We already had trusts for the kids so do not have to worry about 529s or college.

It has been fine- especially with new tax laws this year.

[Anonymous]

How big is your house now? Rooms/sq ft

Listen to your husband. You guys can't be comfortable affording a 900k mortgage with all of your expenses to live comfortably. Stick with 700k and safe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH and I want to move into a bigger house in about a year from now. Im more comfortable stretching and dh is more risk averse so I thought it would be informative to get people's opinions in how much house you think we can afford.

Household income is 300k currently
150k house fund currently

Expenses/debts:
500 per month in student loans
1400 per month for daughter's preschool (3 years old)
270 per month car payment
maxed contributions to 401k
500 per month to daughter's 529
No cc debt

We also plan on adding a second baby in the next year or two so that will be another 5 years of childcare with st most 2 years of double childcare cost. My husband is thinking like in the 700k range and I'm think more like the 900k range (I realize that's a big spread).

OP here again. Just to clarify, I am asking about the value of the house so a 700k house or a 900k house, not the mortgage. I dont mean a 900k mortgage. If we did a 900k house the most we'd mortgage is 750k with the current savings we have for the house.

Thank you all for your input. It seems the consensus is to be more conservative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How big is your house now? Rooms/sq ft

Listen to your husband. You guys can't be comfortable affording a 900k mortgage with all of your expenses to live comfortably. Stick with 700k and safe.

Our current home is a 1400 SF 3 bedroom, 2 bath townhouse but the third bedroom is a basement bedroom. This is not ideal for a family of four and we are already busting at the seams with one kid. We really need a four bedroom house.

We are just more limited at the 700k range, but it's still possible to find something I realize.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH and I want to move into a bigger house in about a year from now. Im more comfortable stretching and dh is more risk averse so I thought it would be informative to get people's opinions in how much house you think we can afford.

Household income is 300k currently
150k house fund currently

Expenses/debts:
500 per month in student loans
1400 per month for daughter's preschool (3 years old)
270 per month car payment
maxed contributions to 401k
500 per month to daughter's 529
No cc debt

We also plan on adding a second baby in the next year or two so that will be another 5 years of childcare with st most 2 years of double childcare cost. My husband is thinking like in the 700k range and I'm think more like the 900k range (I realize that's a big spread).

OP here again. Just to clarify, I am asking about the value of the house so a 700k house or a 900k house, not the mortgage. I dont mean a 900k mortgage. If we did a 900k house the most we'd mortgage is 750k with the current savings we have for the house.

Thank you all for your input. It seems the consensus is to be more conservative.

How much are you comfortable with? I think $900 is a stretch with two kids in day care/after school care, college funds, savings, eventually another car, etc. but I prefer not having to worry each month.

[Anonymous]

Our hhi is similar but 60k of that is in stock we don’t touch. We have a mortgage of 510k. Bought a 650k house with 20percent down. Our town taxes are high and our monthly mortgage bill is 3300$ which is the absolute max we would want to spend. We don’t feel stretched, but on the edge of comfortable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our hhi is similar but 60k of that is in stock we don’t touch. We have a mortgage of 510k. Bought a 650k house with 20percent down. Our town taxes are high and our monthly mortgage bill is 3300$ which is the absolute max we would want to spend. We don’t feel stretched, but on the edge of comfortable.

We also have two in daycare.

[Anonymous]

1.25-1.4m

[Anonymous]

I think it makes the most sense building a budget from bottom up (and include everything including the cost of a new baby, move,, furniture, etc) and back into what you can afford if you have a 30 year fixed mortgage. I assume you are paying something for your current PITI so what can you reasonably afford extra?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How big is your house now? Rooms/sq ft

Listen to your husband. You guys can't be comfortable affording a 900k mortgage with all of your expenses to live comfortably. Stick with 700k and safe.

Our current home is a 1400 SF 3 bedroom, 2 bath townhouse but the third bedroom is a basement bedroom. This is not ideal for a family of four and we are already busting at the seams with one kid. We really need a four bedroom house.

We are just more limited at the 700k range, but it's still possible to find something I realize.

Is location a big factor? Where are you now? And what is your commute to work? Always easier to get more house for your money if you move out a bit.

[Anonymous]

I will pay off my student and car loans first.