How much home can I afford?

Technically you could "afford" a $600-700k place but "afford" and actually afford are different. Sounds like you don't want too much home and want to keep a similar saving lifestyle as you currently do. $400k on a small condo in Orleans could be do-able or you could step outside the city for something slightly nicer. $400k with 20% down will be about $2,000 mortgage including taxes.

Personally, I'd get out of that shite hole but to each their own.

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Gross Salary: 110K
Available for down payment: 100K - 125k

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You're basically me, but with an extra $40-65k in down payment and 5-10 years younger (congrats).

I'm looking for places in the ~$370k range in Metairie. That would allow me to save $1000/month. With your down payment, you can get away with around $415k and do the same. I know that inflation is terrible right now, but if my salary keeps up with inflation, an extra $1000k/month (in today's money) is a comfortable cushion.

Your current rent being $800 seems like a good deal for the NOLA area, especially if you're comfortable with where you are. I'd recommend that you keep on saving. Interest rates are going up, so I think that housing prices have pretty much peaked. If you can keep that cheap rent, then run with it.

Man $800/mo if you're happy if hard to get rid of if you really like it and with how high property has gotten the last year.

That being said, I'm sure you can find a pretty reasonable condo if it's just you for a reasonable price.

$60k-$80k down on a $300k-$400k condo in NOLA should be easily doable for you, would avoid PMI in that case. Mortgage (by itself, not including insurance, HOA and Taxes) should be around $1,000/mo on a 30 year for a $300k place in that instance or about $1,350/mo for a $400k place.

you first need to determine how much you need to spend on everything that isn't involved with a home. How much do you spend on the following:
- Eating out
- Groceries
- travel
- Hobbies/entertainment
- Cars
- Toys
- Clothing
- Retirement savings
- Discretionary spending per month
- Etc.

Once you have ironed that out, THEN you can figure out how much home you can afford. If you dont allow for your spending habits/needs then you'll be giving up things you want to do/have in exchange for a house. This is essentially being house poor. That isn't a good situation to be in.

How flexible is your job regarding location? Honestly, I would get out of NOLA if possible.

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Available for down payment: 100K - 125k

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If you don't mind me asking...where do you keep your down payment saved?

I'm a little younger than you and planning to put "buying a home" on our horizon for the next 3-5 years. We save a decent amount but it's all committed to retirement accounts. Did you sacrifice retirement contributions or build up simultaneously?

And yea, home prices in NOLA right now are dumb (source: me, always looking on Zillow instead of working)

With that down payment you could feasibly go up to 500k considering you have no other debt as long as you don’t plan to add any debt.

Keep in mind you’re in your 30s and a mortgage will be long term so you need to factor in possible future expenses such as eventually starting a family, need for new car, etc. also increase in salary.

I would suggest moving out of city and find a family sized home for under 400k so you’re set if you end up meeting someone to marry.

Put 5% down and keep the cash in your bank

Anyone who puts 20% doen noe is crazy imo

You are working from home which means you have ultimate flexibility in where you live. You seem fine living in your current rental which is a good deal. I would keep renting if I was you and save as much as you can.

I’ve owned 3 homes. When you own a home, it’s a lot of headaches and costs you don’t foresee. New roofs, A/C goes out, termite bonds, trees falling in storms, etc. As my dad would say, it’s easier to buy a house than sell it too. You are going to lose money if you buy and don’t stay there at least 5 years and that’s just closing costs and upkeep. If market goes down you could be really stuck.

If you are worried about losing out on appreciating real estate then invest in a real estate fund…but you’d likely be better off just putting more money in a stock index fund.

Summation, I’d just keep renting cheaply and maintain my flexibility until I was sure I really wanted to live in a specific place permanently. Alternatively, keep looking for a great deal. You’ve got the cash to be able to move quickly on a foreclosure or fire sale for something small and you don’t need a lot of room. Renovations on a small property are not extremely expensive. I’d find a realtor who specializes in foreclosures and ask them to keep an eye out for you. I bought a Homepath property as a foreclosure for $115k and put $200k into it. It’s worth over $500k now. Plus it’s done exactly how I want. Homepath requires you to live in the property for 12 months so flippers avoid these.

Beware the online house affordability calculators. They always overshoot what you can “afford” and don’t take into account the maintenance, repairs, variety of monthly services, etc. and certainly don’t account for lifestyle or savings habits.