I would pay a significant premium for a short commute, but I also hate being house poor and would make the sacrifice in space. We’re soon to be 5 people in a 1350 square foot apartment and don’t feel cramped. We spent a lot of money building out extra storage and on expensive furniture that either stores stuff or becomes very small (ie resource furniture type pieces). If we could not comfortably swing it for a year on a single income I would not do it.

Anonymous wrote:We have a 350K HHI and a 950K mortgage (about 65% equity in the house). We have 20-30 minute commutes depending on time of day. We live in NWDC and are very happy with our house and commute, the quality of the schools and the time we have as a family because we do not have long commutes.

It was worth it to us. We are 2 long term feds so very secure jobs. Yes, we would like to travel more but we love our home.

This is about what we are considering 400-450k HHI for a $1 mm mortgage. No other debt and wouldn’t require cars.

We have a 350K HHI and a 950K mortgage (about 65% equity in the house). We have 20-30 minute commutes depending on time of day. We live in NWDC and are very happy with our house and commute, the quality of the schools and the time we have as a family because we do not have long commutes.

It was worth it to us. We are 2 long term feds so very secure jobs. Yes, we would like to travel more but we love our home.

Find a cheaper home in the school district you like, even a cramped townhome.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. Years ago, we bought a smallish house on a reasonable lot in a moderately close in suburb. Our mortgage payment was a bit more than one of my paychecks; things were tight.

Fast forward 20 years.

My salary has tripled. The house payment has gone up, but by about $200 dollars (taxes). The mortgage is about 1/2 of one paycheck.

Oh, and the house has appreciated while we paid down the mortgage.

Now, we were paying nearly the same in rent when we bought the house, so for the down payment (10%) + the same cash flow, we have gone from 25K in cash (down payment) to 550K in equity.

I dont understand the point of the PP’s paragraph. Everyone builds equity over 20 years...

I believe the point may have been that house poor is a temporary thing.

If your salary triples, or increases considerably, but that's not the case for lots of people.

We make about the same as you, OP, and have a $600K house (West Springfield/Burke area). We both feel comfortable with that, but to each his/her own.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. Years ago, we bought a smallish house on a reasonable lot in a moderately close in suburb. Our mortgage payment was a bit more than one of my paychecks; things were tight.

Fast forward 20 years.

My salary has tripled. The house payment has gone up, but by about $200 dollars (taxes). The mortgage is about 1/2 of one paycheck.

Oh, and the house has appreciated while we paid down the mortgage.

Now, we were paying nearly the same in rent when we bought the house, so for the down payment (10%) + the same cash flow, we have gone from 25K in cash (down payment) to 550K in equity.

I dont understand the point of the PP’s paragraph. Everyone builds equity over 20 years...

I believe the point may have been that house poor is a temporary thing.

That's a tough one, OP. We bought more house than we could afford when we had high student loan/credit card debt. I spent 10 years lying awake at night trying to figure out how to manage it all. However, we could have bought a cheaper house in the same town and just didn't properly look at our budget before buying. Sounds like you have good reasons for buying this house so the quality of life arguments might be the winner here.

And though I deeply regretted buying that more expensive house, we also managed to keep our heads above water and eventually sold it for a nice sum. Still, after that long stretch of worrying about finances, I would buy something really affordable myself. But I wasn't choosing between a long and short commute and that might be the best reason to take the plunge.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. Years ago, we bought a smallish house on a reasonable lot in a moderately close in suburb. Our mortgage payment was a bit more than one of my paychecks; things were tight.

Fast forward 20 years.

My salary has tripled. The house payment has gone up, but by about $200 dollars (taxes). The mortgage is about 1/2 of one paycheck.

Oh, and the house has appreciated while we paid down the mortgage.

Now, we were paying nearly the same in rent when we bought the house, so for the down payment (10%) + the same cash flow, we have gone from 25K in cash (down payment) to 550K in equity.

I dont understand the point of the PP’s paragraph. Everyone builds equity over 20 years...

Anonymous wrote:NP here. Years ago, we bought a smallish house on a reasonable lot in a moderately close in suburb. Our mortgage payment was a bit more than one of my paychecks; things were tight.

Fast forward 20 years.

My salary has tripled. The house payment has gone up, but by about $200 dollars (taxes). The mortgage is about 1/2 of one paycheck.

Oh, and the house has appreciated while we paid down the mortgage.

Now, we were paying nearly the same in rent when we bought the house, so for the down payment (10%) + the same cash flow, we have gone from 25K in cash (down payment) to 550K in equity.

There is nothing worse than being house poor OP, except being homeless.

NP here. Years ago, we bought a smallish house on a reasonable lot in a moderately close in suburb. Our mortgage payment was a bit more than one of my paychecks; things were tight.

Fast forward 20 years.

My salary has tripled. The house payment has gone up, but by about $200 dollars (taxes). The mortgage is about 1/2 of one paycheck.

Oh, and the house has appreciated while we paid down the mortgage.

Now, we were paying nearly the same in rent when we bought the house, so for the down payment (10%) + the same cash flow, we have gone from 25K in cash (down payment) to 550K in equity.

^^pp. also the 150k is outside of retirement!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are trying to decide whether to keep the 3,500 a month mortgage and save close to 6,000 a month after retirement

Or

Take on a 7,500 mortgage and save 2,000 a month after retirement


We can pay the 7,500 on one salary and unemployment if necessary. No other debts. One job is extremely stable with a pension.

Thing is I’m not sure what we really need the large brokerage account for. I think a lot of people are house poor for this reason...what is a large savings account going to really do for you? You can’t take it with you. Most professionals can find another similar paying job if they lose their job. Most people have to work for retirement savings and healthcare. So you might as well live in a nice house.

If you can pay the 7500 and all your other expenses on one income, my God, how much are you spending now that you can only save $6,000/mo with full employment?

We could easily live on 3,000 a month, including all bills if we had to. Of course we spend more now. But we save over 150k a year including bonuses...is that enough for you? Also, we have a 3k a month childcare bill we would not have if one spouse lost their job.

pls don't be a baby boomer with a mcmansion mentality.