Hello PF,
I live in a very high cost of living area, and am currently looking to buy a home. I was preapproved for a mortgage in the higher 500s with only doing 3% down. I was originally only doing 3% in the hopes of taking advantage of the 2% rates. Rates are back at 3%, and I really don't want to go above 3% down. With only doing 3% down and paying all closing costs and prepayments required by the lender (~10k - 14K) I leave myself with 6 months of an emergency fund.
I make around ~140k a year, not including any bonus or stock grants my company gives. The stock is guaranteed mine based on the vesting schedule as long as I work at the company. The bonuses have a very very small chance to disappear, but I don't want to account for them in my income even if they are a fairly decent amount.
I am currently looking at a townhouse about 30 miles each way from my work. Depending on traffic this is a 45min - 1 hour commute. The townhouse was just built in 2019 and comes with a 10 year builder warranty on the roof, HVAC and water heater. It is in a good school district, and very safe community. It is priced at 520k which is a decent amount below my pre-approval. The total cost of the mortgage taxes, PMI, everything is about ~$3000 a month (property taxes are very high which cause the mortgage to be higher). I currently am renting at $2600. The utilities for this townhouse will be about the same as my rental since they are the same sqft. After paying all my bills (including the $400 increase over rent, and groceries), increasing my fuel and car repairs due to driving 60 miles a day, and saving ~$500 a month. I would have about $350 leftover each month. Is that enough buffer or am I cutting it too close?
Submitted February 20, 2021 at 08:04PM by Sweezy2424 https://ift.tt/2NrkyEf
