No way.

We make $160,000 with a mortgage payment of $2,000 and one child in daycare and student loan debt of $800 a month. We can't wait for the day we are freed of that loan debt, as we have to be careful of our spending now. I can't imagine a mortgage payment that was the equivalwnt of our current mortgage and student loan payment forever.

Find a house and neighborhood you can truly afford.

Funny, PP. I'm a journalist!

Anonymous wrote:This is a spinoff on the 200k HHI thread. We're at 140k HHI and thinking of buying the house we rent. It's more than we'd like but our kids have lived here for years and it's a great neighborhood. We have no student or car debt, but pay $1400 a month in day care. I'm the primary breadwinner and would like to drop to four days a week, so we'd eventually go down to maybe $120k HHI. DH is not in a career with much advancement. Can we afford $2900 a month mortgage payment? I'm very nervous, DH figures it's no problem.

I thought only journalists and financial writers used this phrase. Do people actually talk about themselves this way with no tongue in cheek?

Thanks for the feedback. It is really tight, but it's good to hear from others.

I wouldn't do it. We're at 145 HHI and only pay 1600/month mortgage, taxes, insurance. (20% down payment, so no mortgage insurance). We pay 900 month day care and husband pays 700/month child support. We put 1000/month into a savings account for emergencies/college, which is really important to us.

It depends on other factors too, OP. Do you have strong potential for increased income? Is the $2800 all in/PITI? Do you have great benefits or pay a lot for health insurance?
What are your other fixed expenses?

We make slightly more and pay $2650 PITI, and it feels very comfortable. We net about $8600/mo and pay $1300/mo in childcare expenses (which won't last forever!)

That sounds really tight. How much longer will you have those daycare costs? Will they go down when you go down to 4 days/week?

6:30 here. I should add that I cannot see going higher because we put away savings, too - retirement and college savings. You probably *could* do it but would you also be able to save for retirement and/or college, too?

We have a very similar income with one parent working - no daycare costs. Our mortgage is $2800 per month. I cannot see going higher than that and having daycare costs, too.

My income is a little less with similar daycare costs ($1400/month) and $2910/month for mortgage, taxes, insurance, homeowners' fee, etc. It's definitely doable, but it was better when my salary was a little higher.

We have a similar HHI and I see no way that could work. But I don't like being stretched.

I wouldn't do it. I make $130k, have no debt and now only pay about $600/month in aftercare, etc fees, and my mortgage AND taxes AND homeowners insurance AND HOA fee is $2450 a month and it can be a little tight. Did roll those extras into the monthly payment? Do you ever want to go on vacation? Do you have savings to fix stuff when it breaks? Are your jobs stable? how many more years of daycare are you looking at?

And if you really want to do it, no part-time for you. In this area, with those financial obligations, that's a luxury you can't afford.

This is a spinoff on the 200k HHI thread. We're at 140k HHI and thinking of buying the house we rent. It's more than we'd like but our kids have lived here for years and it's a great neighborhood. We have no student or car debt, but pay $1400 a month in day care. I'm the primary breadwinner and would like to drop to four days a week, so we'd eventually go down to maybe $120k HHI. DH is not in a career with much advancement. Can we afford $2900 a month mortgage payment? I'm very nervous, DH figures it's no problem.