Hi everyone,
Here's my situation. My wife and I leave currently in one of Spain's main cities, where I am from. We earned a combined income of around 4,800€, of which around 25% go directly into savings (most of it long term, index funds), 8% into retirement, 8% into a rainy day fund. The rest is spent between housing, food, utilities and a bit of leisure (occasionally eating out, 1-2 trips a year). We don't own a car and we have no debt. So far, our savings are around 26,000€. We're in our early thirties-late twenties.
Our initial idea was to save around 120k as a down payment for an apartment in our city. This would take us around 7-8 years at our current savings pace, which we try to increase as often as possible. The issue is that even with that down payment, we'd still be looking at a 280-350k mortgage. That would get us a nice apartment, possibly a modest house in the outskirts, but would also entail, easily, a 30+ year mortgage.
Not so long ago, my father-in-law, who lives in Portugal (where they are from), in a very small town, around 35 min to the next big city (with an international airport), has hinted that he would be happy to cede us a terrain in which to build a house, right next to where they live. We've maid some quick numbers, and we'd likely be able to build a very nice house (bigger than whatever we could afford where we live now), plus, of course, make it exactly to our specifications, for around 150k.
This is, of course, is a huge change. For the price of the down payment in here, we can build a whole house in there. Easy decision, right? Here's where my doubts start.
I have no special attachment to my city, and moving between both places is just a 1h30m flight away. However, I am concerned about the resale value of our property here. The house would be very nice, but nonetheless located at driving distance from any urban center (we'll need 2 cars), and definitely not in an area in which it'll appreciate with time.
Taxes are another possible sticking point, since Portugal has extremely high taxation. With my current salary, I'd be losing around 300€/month. Lack of high-paying jobs (even though I am currently working remotely for a foreign company, and intend to keep on doing so), is high in my list of concerns. I might be able to take advantage from a specific tax regime for foreigners, but I'm not 100% sure that I'll be able to, and in any case, it will last 10 years only, and my wife won't be able to use it. She intends to move into remote jobs too.
The main selling point for us to go ahead with it is being able to be mortgage-free before 45, so that we can live more comfortable and build a family without worrying too much. The main areas that make doubt about it are taxation, lack of job opportunities and potential resale value, in case we ever want to move out.
While of course this is a decision that my wife and I will take, I'd be happy to read independent opinions!
Submitted March 30, 2021 at 07:16AM by LooseRead https://ift.tt/3dkXWyo
