My wife and I have been debating buying a house for a couple years. I am finishing my PhD in engineering (2-3 years left), and my wife works at a small nonprofit. Currently, we are renting for $1200. We are consider houses in the range of $90k to $110k. We want to stay in the area for the next 5 to 10 years at least, but we are worried that I won't be able to find a decent job once I graduate. We both make $25k per year (together $50k), which is fine for now. The issue is I have $100k ($50k private, $50k federal) in student loans from undergraduate, and my wife has $50k federal student loans from undergraduate.
We don't plan on moving, so I think buying now is better than waiting. However, there is the possibility that I won't be able to find a high enough paying job to cover my student loan payments. If I pay 1% per month that would be at least $1000 additional monthly debt. We are currently paying on my wife's loans now.
Alternatively, we could continue renting, and we can just move wherever I find the highest paying job once I graduate. Nevertheless, there will still be moving costs etc... and if the job I find isn't high enough paying, then we would not be in a good situation. Especially, if my wife has to find a new job...
In addition, we are close to family and friends right now, so if we have kids we will have support and help if we have kids. If we move, we will have to worry about daycare since we won't have close family and friends to help with kids. If we buy a house, it seems like it would be a better investment. Mortgage + insurance + tax is estimated to b about $800 to $900 per month. Any extra cash, we can put towards my private loans (>6% interest).
Do you guys think buying a house is smart financially before finishing my PhD? We think it might be cheaper overall since we can build equity while paying off high interest student debt.
March 18, 2017 at 02:05AM
