OP sounds like a perfectly nice person, and it's great that she is trying to educate herself, but I have to admit even though I am in the 1%, that there is something grating about someone coming on the site who has a single earner income of $350k in their 30s asking for financial advice. It's not even first world problems-- it's problems of the .1%. Sorry I try to not post negatively but I thought it might be relevant to some of the other negative posts.

OP, dear, its good that you try to education yourself, but let your husband handle such calculations. 8)

I calculate about a million max.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I would make sure you have enough saved so that you can put 20% down so you can avoid PMI. PMI is a huge waste of money and you'll have to pay it unless you put down 20%. If you wait until you have about 200,000 saved, then you can buy a house that is 900K, put down 180 (20%) and have 20K for closing costs.

With a HHI of 350K and such small monthy obligations, you can definitely make the payments on a house that costs more than that, but again, I would wait until you have the 20% saved for a downpayment before you buy at a higher price.

What price range are you looking in?

I was thinking somewhere between 800-1m.

OP, Our HHI is close to yours and we bought a house for 870. I think the 800-1m range is about right for your income level. You'll see there's a big difference between an 800K house and a house that's 1million. We originally wanted to find something under 800 and couldn't find anything so we went up to 870K.

Question: how are you approved for 1.2 million on a loan with no PMI if your downpayment would be 150K? Will you get a second mortgage to get to the 20% down you need? I don't know how else you would get around paying PMI.

Not OP: But my lender has no PMI mortgages w/5% for a mortgage of 417K and 10% for a mortgage above 417K. Although, I have no clue if you need 20% down after a certain point as I wasn't looking at that big of a mortgage.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I would make sure you have enough saved so that you can put 20% down so you can avoid PMI. PMI is a huge waste of money and you'll have to pay it unless you put down 20%. If you wait until you have about 200,000 saved, then you can buy a house that is 900K, put down 180 (20%) and have 20K for closing costs.

With a HHI of 350K and such small monthy obligations, you can definitely make the payments on a house that costs more than that, but again, I would wait until you have the 20% saved for a downpayment before you buy at a higher price.

What price range are you looking in?

I was thinking somewhere between 800-1m.

OP, Our HHI is close to yours and we bought a house for 870. I think the 800-1m range is about right for your income level. You'll see there's a big difference between an 800K house and a house that's 1million. We originally wanted to find something under 800 and couldn't find anything so we went up to 870K.

Question: how are you approved for 1.2 million on a loan with no PMI if your downpayment would be 150K? Will you get a second mortgage to get to the 20% down you need? I don't know how else you would get around paying PMI.

here is a basic analysis:

1) Write you monthly rent amount here:_______
2) Enter your pymt amount if you buy here:_______
3) If #1 >= #2, you can do this
4) If #2 > #1, then put on your big boy panties and make a decision.

Freeman wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for stating the obvious. In general, if you have saved money, and yet you still don't know if or how to buy an appropriate priced real estate, keep renting. Or, simply re-decorate the room you still live in in your parents house.

Or they could go online, start running numbers through calculators, and also ask the opinions on others in an attempt to educate themselves in such financial matters. You know, like what the OP is trying to do. I'd wager that anyone that manages to save $150k is probably already fairly capable of handling their own financial matters, but they can't work in a void. Everyone has to learn sometime.

To the OP, I've found that the best approach is to figure out what mortgage payment you would be comfortable paying each month.(Keep in mind all other expenses and savings when finding this number, since you don't want to end up "house poor") Once you have that number, it is easy to calculate the general ballpark number for a mortgage, based on your down payment and monthly payments. Since that number will be different for everyone, I can't give you any specific advice.

OP here, thank you.

Anonymous wrote:OP, I would make sure you have enough saved so that you can put 20% down so you can avoid PMI. PMI is a huge waste of money and you'll have to pay it unless you put down 20%. If you wait until you have about 200,000 saved, then you can buy a house that is 900K, put down 180 (20%) and have 20K for closing costs.

With a HHI of 350K and such small monthy obligations, you can definitely make the payments on a house that costs more than that, but again, I would wait until you have the 20% saved for a downpayment before you buy at a higher price.

What price range are you looking in?

I was thinking somewhere between 800-1m.

Op here, we've been preapproved for 1.2 million with a 3.9% interest rate for a 30 year fixed, no PMI. Dh's job is stable and our income should remain the same or slightly more in the future but not too much more. We have saved up a bit more liquid, but I was thinking it might be better to keep some cash for emergencies and put less down.

Forgive me if I seem too ignorant to be buying a house. We are in a our 30s, this is our first home and we want to try and learn as much as possible in this process. So yes, I'm asking on this board, I'm speaking with family, I'm searching online, etc. We will also be seeing a financial planner in the future. In fact I was planning on asking here for some recommendations, but I might just be too stupid for doing so I guess.

To those that are being helpful, I appreciate your responses. Knowing various perspectives helps. Thanks again.

OP, I would make sure you have enough saved so that you can put 20% down so you can avoid PMI. PMI is a huge waste of money and you'll have to pay it unless you put down 20%. If you wait until you have about 200,000 saved, then you can buy a house that is 900K, put down 180 (20%) and have 20K for closing costs.

With a HHI of 350K and such small monthy obligations, you can definitely make the payments on a house that costs more than that, but again, I would wait until you have the 20% saved for a downpayment before you buy at a higher price.

What price range are you looking in?

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for stating the obvious. In general, if you have saved money, and yet you still don't know if or how to buy an appropriate priced real estate, keep renting. Or, simply re-decorate the room you still live in in your parents house.

Or they could go online, start running numbers through calculators, and also ask the opinions on others in an attempt to educate themselves in such financial matters. You know, like what the OP is trying to do. I'd wager that anyone that manages to save $150k is probably already fairly capable of handling their own financial matters, but they can't work in a void. Everyone has to learn sometime.

To the OP, I've found that the best approach is to figure out what mortgage payment you would be comfortable paying each month.(Keep in mind all other expenses and savings when finding this number, since you don't want to end up "house poor") Once you have that number, it is easy to calculate the general ballpark number for a mortgage, based on your down payment and monthly payments. Since that number will be different for everyone, I can't give you any specific advice.

Anonymous wrote:Oh! Oh! Oh! I know!!!!


ONE MEEEELION DOLLARS!


No, seriously. If you have only $150k to put down, you can buy about $750k house. (20% down). Mortgage of $600k, which is super conforming and manageable on that salary.

Thank you for stating the obvious. In general, if you have saved money, and yet you still don't know if or how to buy an appropriate priced real estate, keep renting. Or, simply re-decorate the room you still live in in your parents house.

Depends on what other debt and financial obligations you have currently or plan for the future. I'd personally think that at this HHI you could go a bit higher than $750k, perhaps up to a million. But that's me. And that's assuming you expect to maintain that level of income over the next 10-15 years.

Oh! Oh! Oh! I know!!!!


ONE MEEEELION DOLLARS!


No, seriously. If you have only $150k to put down, you can buy about $750k house. (20% down). Mortgage of $600k, which is super conforming and manageable on that salary.

I've done the online calculators, but I'd like to get the opinion of you all on here. If our annual HHI is 350k (one earner), we have around 1500 monthly expenses on car and student loans. Around 150k for a downpayment. Two kids, public school.

Thanks!