One Million Dollar house...talk me out of it.

[Anonymous]

OP Sorry so many people are giving you a hard time. You sound like a bright and thoughful person. When my husband and I built our house, it was 2x our income and we built in a bad economy. Our company ( worked together) had gone through layoffs and we were lucky we survived. At that time, we didn't have kids. With kids now, we are paying 2k a month towards principal and have saved a ton for retirement and 2.5k in kids expenses per month. If you are looking at sending kids to Sidwell etc ( isn't everyone?), I would say no. If you are looking at public or lower cost independent you should be okay. I guess it is a quality of life issue. Our house will be paid off by the time my oldest hits high school and that is a relief for us and will give us more flexibility. At your income, I would look in the 800k range.

[Anonymous]

Many of my friends are 35 and make $155k (GS 15). They are attorneys at DOJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP Sorry so many people are giving you a hard time. You sound like a bright and thoughful person. When my husband and I built our house, it was 2x our income and we built in a bad economy. Our company ( worked together) had gone through layoffs and we were lucky we survived. At that time, we didn't have kids. With kids now, we are paying 2k a month towards principal and have saved a ton for retirement and 2.5k in kids expenses per month. If you are looking at sending kids to Sidwell etc ( isn't everyone?), I would say no. If you are looking at public or lower cost independent you should be okay. I guess it is a quality of life issue. Our house will be paid off by the time my oldest hits high school and that is a relief for us and will give us more flexibility. At your income, I would look in the 800k range.

We make in low 200's.

[Anonymous]

The fact that you are pulling $50K each out of your TSPs is a huge red flag. If you are buying a million dollar house, you shouldn't have to do that.

You say the house seems to be in pretty good shape. Unexpected expensive things always come up.

If you are feds, your income probably isn't going to skyrocket any time soon.

It stinks having to buy a house that isn't as nice as you had hoped, or in the school district you wanted for your child, but you will sleep better at night knowing you can pay your bills.

Don't buy that house.

[Anonymous]

What are the property taxes? Something to consider. They don't go down...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The fact that you are pulling $50K each out of your TSPs is a huge red flag. If you are buying a million dollar house, you shouldn't have to do that.

You say the house seems to be in pretty good shape. Unexpected expensive things always come up.

If you are feds, your income probably isn't going to skyrocket any time soon.

It stinks having to buy a house that isn't as nice as you had hoped, or in the school district you wanted for your child, but you will sleep better at night knowing you can pay your bills.

Don't buy that house.

I'm not suggesting that she should buy the house, but the $50K each that they are pulling out of their house is only until they sell theirs. And then they can will get $100-$150K. We did something similar when we bought our new house before we sold our old one. We knew we'd be getting back our equity when we sold, but until it was liquid we took from somewhere else. Once the house sold, back it went. So it was just a temporary borrow.

[Anonymous]

OP do not mind the haters. (those who question your job/pay ect) It sounds ike you have already put in a contract. Congrats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP do not mind the haters. (those who question your job/pay ect) It sounds ike you have already put in a contract. Congrats.

I do not think that people who advised OP to err on the side of financial caution rather than pour all her money into a house qualify as "haters."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP do not mind the haters. (those who question your job/pay ect) It sounds ike you have already put in a contract. Congrats.

OP here, We didn't put a contract in and it doesn't appear the home is going anywhere which makes me worry about this home. Everything on the listing and the home tour that we did appears to have many upgrades. After 3 months we are still looking at this home online, we are hoping that the asking price might go down. I wonder why it's not moving? I wonder if the interest rates are too high and the jumbo loan limits are discouraging everyone? Yes we are still eyeing this home and I hope it sells soon so it'll stop tempting us.

[Anonymous]

It's doable - go for it! You're young and your jobs r fairly secure. If shit hits the fan, you can always sell it. Just make sure you buy right, in a desireable location. location, location, location.....

Signed a Fed contractor....lol ..and yes there are pay scales out there that some may not be aware of....

[Anonymous]

Wait...if the house is on the market for 3 months, forget it, somethings wrong. My friend just sold her 1.9 M house in 1 day. This means the house you're looking is not an 'it' house....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait...if the house is on the market for 3 months, forget it, somethings wrong. My friend just sold her 1.9 M house in 1 day. This means the house you're looking is not an 'it' house....

Bullcrap, every market is different. $1M+ homes have a smaller pool of buyers and it's the off season for homebuying/selling. Sitting on the market isn't necessarily a red flag, but it could mean it's a tad overpriced.

OP, I would say go in strong with a low offer and they just might bite at it. It sounds like you have some doubts anyway, so if you lose the bid by offering low, no sweat, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP do not mind the haters. (those who question your job/pay ect) It sounds ike you have already put in a contract. Congrats.

OP here, We didn't put a contract in and it doesn't appear the home is going anywhere which makes me worry about this home. Everything on the listing and the home tour that we did appears to have many upgrades. After 3 months we are still looking at this home online, we are hoping that the asking price might go down. I wonder why it's not moving? I wonder if the interest rates are too high and the jumbo loan limits are discouraging everyone? Yes we are still eyeing this home and I hope it sells soon so it'll stop tempting us.

We are in the same position, OP. DH says make a low ball offer, but that 3 months worries me. I think I am going to pass (different house than yours, same situation)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait...if the house is on the market for 3 months, forget it, somethings wrong. My friend just sold her 1.9 M house in 1 day. This means the house you're looking is not an 'it' house....

Bullcrap, every market is different. $1M+ homes have a smaller pool of buyers and it's the off season for homebuying/selling. Sitting on the market isn't necessarily a red flag, but it could mean it's a tad overpriced.

OP, I would say go in strong with a low offer and they just might bite at it. It sounds like you have some doubts anyway, so if you lose the bid by offering low, no sweat, right?

What's the zip code then? Really... 3 months I'd pass...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I know federal jobs are secure, blah blah blah, BUT assuming one of you lost your job for some reason, how quickly could you replace it?

We have a 400k house on a 250k income for this reason - I'm not confident in how quickly I could replicate my income. if it were lost for any reason.


You are far more shrewd than the OP. That's the point. She can't afford the house she wants.

Too bad that OP doesn't have a time machine back to 1999. Or want to live in PG County.