Over 50% of your take home pay is too high OP. You are 15years out from retirement age, how will you pay for it post retirement. I am sorry OP but that is uncomfortable. As PPs said, new roof, electrical, hvac, windows are inevitable and that fact that the owners want YOU to pay for the first $30K means that know there is a HIGH LIKELIHOOD that MAJOR REPAIRS will come up on inspection.

OP, you are not approved for this purchase. Sorry.

Fellow single Mom

The house was built in 1939 so ~80 years old.
Family all live in VHCOL areas more expensive than mine. Moving to a LCOL area would be striking out into someplace new where I don’t know anyone and starting over (which is an option I guess, and would certainly be able to find a nice house for much less money in Ohio, though I don’t like Ohio and I wouldn’t need as much house since no one would visit). High quality schools are a priority.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCUM is so funny. OP puts down $750K, still has investments/savings of $2.25 million after that, and after the projected mortgage payment, OP lives on nearly $5K per month. This is house poor?

I at least counseled against it for a different reason. I don’t think she would be house poor. But I also think from the described circumstances this is way more house than she actually needs, and might grow to regret the purchase (finances aside) in time.

From a pure financial standpoint, she is probably fine, though not the move I would make at 50 with 3 million saved. Personally I’d probably move to a lower cost area closer to family, buy an 800k house for cash, and (semi)retire. But if that’s not what OP wants for whatever reason (family in the area?) then the financials are fine. Just might not want to be taking care of a 100 year old house in 10 years.

She's in her 50s. For how long is she planning on working, and what is the term of this mortgage?

Different take here. It is your dream house and you have done very well to amass a high net worth. I say if you are going to do it, do it now. You will be sad and regretful in a town house. You can always sell if you are unhappy over time, but you won’t have regrets.

Anonymous wrote:DCUM is so funny. OP puts down $750K, still has investments/savings of $2.25 million after that, and after the projected mortgage payment, OP lives on nearly $5K per month. This is house poor?

I at least counseled against it for a different reason. I don’t think she would be house poor. But I also think from the described circumstances this is way more house than she actually needs, and might grow to regret the purchase (finances aside) in time.

From a pure financial standpoint, she is probably fine, though not the move I would make at 50 with 3 million saved. Personally I’d probably move to a lower cost area closer to family, buy an 800k house for cash, and (semi)retire. But if that’s not what OP wants for whatever reason (family in the area?) then the financials are fine. Just might not want to be taking care of a 100 year old house in 10 years.

Anonymous wrote:Wow, super conservative folks here. My stats are not too far off (about 10 years younger, a little less in net worth), and I'm prepared to go up to $1.5 million with $750K down. And I absolutely don't want to be renting out any part of the house.

My view is that you need to enjoy where you live, and you can't take the money with you to the grave. Plus, you seem very financially responsible and my guess is that you don't waste your money on frivolous stuff which means you'll be able to make things work.

You're only 40... why are you even thinking in terms of "can't take it to the grave" yet??
Don't you understand, you have approx another 40-50 years to live and you'll need the money that you can squirrel away to survive.

Once folks hit retirement age, the majority of people's salary either plateaus, starts to get lower or most people decide to get out of the daily grind and work less hours.
Plus, as we age, our expenses go way up, not down... especially since you may have to consider assisted living, nursing homes, sicknesses, diseases like cancer, etc (and if you're married, you have to consider those costs X2).

I'm sorry, but having an outlook of "can't take it to the grave" at your age, is irresponsible & delusional.

Meet with a financial advisor.

Anonymous wrote:
* expect, not exorcism... lol

exorcisms are probably called for in certain 90+ year old houses.

* expect, not exorcism... lol

Anonymous wrote:As a single mom I would not take that on. You will be managing lawn workers, maintenance people constantly. It will be a full time hobby.

Frankly as a single mom I would get a really fancy townhouse walkable to coffee and a farmers market near my kids school.

Yes, this, agreed as a mom... but we don't know if OP is mom or dad?
Some dad's get off on doing that sort of tedious stuff.

My bigger concern would be the 90 year old house -- because you know that every single year like clockwork, SOMETHING is going to need replacing, start falling apart, breaking down, etc. etc. etc. Of course they want you to take on the first $30k of anything find in inspection -- exorcism it to be much more than that.

The current owners having lived there for the past 40 years doesn't necessarily make me feel any more secure either... it makes me think that updates & maintenance may have possibly fallen by the wayside... but, only you know how the upkeep of the house appears.

DCUM is so funny. OP puts down $750K, still has investments/savings of $2.25 million after that, and after the projected mortgage payment, OP lives on nearly $5K per month. This is house poor?

How much are you putting down, op? It seems like a big stretch that will leave you house poor, but it doesn’t sound like you will be dissuaded.

How is it that we have someone calling her irresponsible and someone else calling her very responsible in the same thread?

Wow, super conservative folks here. My stats are not too far off (about 10 years younger, a little less in net worth), and I'm prepared to go up to $1.5 million with $750K down. And I absolutely don't want to be renting out any part of the house. My view is that you need to enjoy where you live, and you can't take the money with you to the grave. Plus, you seem very financially responsible and my guess is that you don't waste your money on frivolous stuff which means you'll be able to make things work.

Anonymous wrote:Appreciating these perspectives. What situation or price do people think would be ideal?

I would cap it at $800K, and only put down $350K and invest the other $400K. That would put your payment at around $3800