I'm 37, no kids, but engaged (getting married next summer) and never owned a home. Put it off while getting a PhD and then getting my feet under me (and saving). But, now I'm ready and our dream home just came on the market. The problem is that the market's totally nuts, and the dream home is definitely at the top end of what I can afford. The dilemma is that it might be a stretch now, but probably wouldn't be in the near future, and while I know the "prudent" thing to do would be to get a starter home that sticks to the 28% rule, but frankly, I could be dead pretty soon, and I've put off living well for so long that I kinda want to just do it.
Here are the stats: I have about as stable a job as one can have and make about $135k gross, and my take-home is about $6500 a month, after deductions, including retirement contributions. I'm due for a promotion probably within the next year that I'll 99% get, and will probably ask for (and get) $150k. I have $100k in retirement and $60k in savings. No debt of any kind (own my car that's a 2018 w/ <30k miles, no CC debt, just paid off student loans).
My partner also has a very stable job. She made about $180k last year, but will probably earn more like $165k in an average year. She's got about $120k in savings (bc big purchases coming up!), $60k in retirement (younger than me), and takes home about $10k a month after deductions (including retirement), but also gets an occasional & sizable bonus. The difference is the mountain of debt she has from med school, and normally those payments are about $3k a month. But no other debt.
We'll probably have to offer $860k if we want a reasonable shot at getting this house. Have pre-approval from a mortgage program for medical professionals that lets us put down 7% with no PMI at (today) 3.2% interest. We wanted to avoid putting very much down at this point because we're paying for our own wedding (our families are very poor), so that will probably be $30-40k. The taxes in the town this home is are absolutely nuts ($15k/yr) so that's one huuuge reservation, but it's probably $5-6k more than surrounding towns. Our total housing costs will come out to about $4,900 a month, so basically that amounts to 39% and 35% of our respective take-home incomes. The house was built in 2017 and the disclosures look pristine. It's also seriously beautiful, and in a really desirable area (thus the ridiculous taxes!), so I'm sure it'll appreciate...eventually.
Anyway, sorry to barrage you with info, but wanted to put it all out there to head off questions about other variables. But the question is: Are we asking for a disaster for considering going for this? Will probably try to have some kids in a few years, so maybe that's a consideration, too. Anyway, you're a wonderfully kind person if you've read this far and decide to take a minute to tell me what you think.
TL;DR: Considering buying a dream house that will end up being 39% of my take-home income, at least for the next year. Am I about to ruin my life?
Submitted April 14, 2021 at 11:22PM by iddoc https://ift.tt/2QnlNWg
