It's a stretch but yes. If its a house you can live in for 10 years go for it.

It's tight but it's doable. We did this for several years. Wasn't out original plan because when we bought the house we made a lot more money, but we had two job losses that cut our income down to about 250. The thing is, you really have to watch every penny and it wasn't a lot of fun. Fortunately our income has gone back up so we have more of a cushion now; I think if our income had not gone up we would have had to think about selling so we would feel less pinched. If you think your income will go up and you are very financially disciplined and you expect to stay in the house for the long haul and it is in a close in good neighborhood that is unlikely to lose value in the long run I think you'll be ok.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t live in the DMV area please stop responding to financial threads. There is no way anyone with kids in this area can find a habitable house for $420k. Stop trying to fool everyone.

+1. It’s so unhelpful. It’s like us telling you to find a house for 50k.

I'm the 420k house poster. I live less than a mile outside the beltway in Moco and I consider my house habitable

The schools are probably horrible, so no.

Yes but make sure you have life insurance and disability insurance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: it is one income which is likely to increase in the future. Not only savings. Would have another 100k insavings outside of 401k and 529’s. Not the only home we could buy, could spend less but don’t wants to move to far out of the metro area.

$100K is not a lot in savings if you need a new HVAC or roof, or job loss. You can spend that very quickly. Or, what if you need a new car or someone gets expensive health issues.

What? HVAC is 10K
Roof is like 20K
Job loss: How quickly is job replaceable? 6 months? Fine. 1 year? Fine.
Healthcare issues: Insurance

100K is enough of a savings for shit to go south and they can keep building that up if they want, as nothing has gone south yet. That 1.2 mil house won't need an HVAC or new roof, anyway, or they won't buy it. If one of them gets cancer and can't work, presumably they have insurance for that. It's all a money game and we can't really answer OP's question without knowing all of their financial details and where the risk is.

20k for a roof? Sur... if it's a small house with low grade shingles.

You would be surprised how much insurance won’t cover for serious medical bills. Most people do not have excellent insurance plans.

It would have to be a much nicer house, in a much better area for me to even consider this.

I think with 3 kids it'll be a stretch.

I’d look for something that I could manage on a 15 year mortgage.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t live in the DMV area please stop responding to financial threads. There is no way anyone with kids in this area can find a habitable house for $420k. Stop trying to fool everyone.

+1. It’s so unhelpful. It’s like us telling you to find a house for 50k.

I'm the 420k house poster. I live less than a mile outside the beltway in Moco and I consider my house habitable

Sorry Wheaton schools are not what I am aspiring for.

Anonymous wrote:No. I know that I can live quite well in a house that is smaller and less expensive. I would not want to pay taxes on that or have the burden of a $900K mortgage.

I also know that my kids can get a good education in a school zone that has homes for far less.

+q

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t live in the DMV area please stop responding to financial threads. There is no way anyone with kids in this area can find a habitable house for $420k. Stop trying to fool everyone.

I mean, you probably can't find one for 420k if your definition of "habitable" is 3+ BR and a man cave and god know what else room and an attached 2 car garage.

No way what?

No way.

I have 3br and 2ba and over 1750 sq ft. That's good enough for me

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t live in the DMV area please stop responding to financial threads. There is no way anyone with kids in this area can find a habitable house for $420k. Stop trying to fool everyone.

+1. It’s so unhelpful. It’s like us telling you to find a house for 50k.

I'm the 420k house poster. I live less than a mile outside the beltway in Moco and I consider my house habitable

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t live in the DMV area please stop responding to financial threads. There is no way anyone with kids in this area can find a habitable house for $420k. Stop trying to fool everyone.

+1. It’s so unhelpful. It’s like us telling you to find a house for 50k.

Not true. You can get a townhouse in kingstowne and other areas fir tgat amount. Near metro lines. It's all about choices.