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re: Anyone ever reeeeeally stretched on a home purchase?
Posted on 7/14/26 at 9:56 am to JohnnyKilroy
Posted on 7/14/26 at 9:56 am to JohnnyKilroy
$2400/month for 2 in a small private daycare.
vs $2100/month mortgage @ a 2.4% interest rate.
vs $2100/month mortgage @ a 2.4% interest rate.
1
Posted on 7/14/26 at 9:58 am to Klark Kent
Damn. I'm at about 2700 between 2 in daycare and 1 in private school.
Factor in summer camps for the one in school and it's probably about 2850 or so per month for all 3.
Factor in summer camps for the one in school and it's probably about 2850 or so per month for all 3.
This post was edited on 7/14/26 at 9:59 am
Posted on 7/14/26 at 9:59 am to NolaLovingClemsonFan
quote:
Once they’re teens and beyond we’d wanna take em places but shite, when they’re young, grilling and hanging at the house seems like a great time to pinch pennies!
You sweet summer child......
Posted on 7/14/26 at 10:00 am to UpToPar
quote:
You sweet summer child......
What do you mean?
Posted on 7/14/26 at 10:01 am to JohnnyKilroy
I get a $2400/month pay raise starting next month. 
And I'll be able to walk them to their public elementary school about 100 yards away from my front doorstep. I doubt we do private school for elementary or middle school, but it's not off the table if the schools start to turn. Or we just move again.
And I'll be able to walk them to their public elementary school about 100 yards away from my front doorstep. I doubt we do private school for elementary or middle school, but it's not off the table if the schools start to turn. Or we just move again.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 10:04 am to NolaLovingClemsonFan
Unless you have a large down payment I would consider renting.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 10:07 am to NolaLovingClemsonFan
Don’t do it
Posted on 7/14/26 at 10:08 am to NolaLovingClemsonFan
quote:
but either will likely be a 7-10 year home. We don’t have kids yet but plan to
quote:
while the big home in the B location doesn’t feed into the middle and high school districts that my wife wants.
If it's a 7-10 year home then the middle school and high school district are irrelevant.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 10:14 am to NolaLovingClemsonFan
Do you all wish to be financially independent? If Y, my 2 cents:
Live below your means and invest the difference in cash generating assets
(income - investments = expenses).
10-20% below will create wealth like you might not have ever imagined possible.
It is incredible and liberating. Don’t strangle your future selves for today. Stay in affordable range.
Safety margin ($) in life is a major life stress antidote.
If get home, cars and medical costs right…your future selves (including your children), will thank you.
Never do this to yourself. If stress is present in the best of times, imagine distress in worst of times (economic recession or worse, health situation (God forbid), black swan financial market event).
PS, A home is not an investment. While it can generate cash, it consumes a lot of cash. Home is where your family lives, creates memories together, etc. From experience, this can happen at your A, B or C scenarios.
Good luck!
Live below your means and invest the difference in cash generating assets
(income - investments = expenses).
10-20% below will create wealth like you might not have ever imagined possible.
It is incredible and liberating. Don’t strangle your future selves for today. Stay in affordable range.
Safety margin ($) in life is a major life stress antidote.
If get home, cars and medical costs right…your future selves (including your children), will thank you.
quote:
I don’t love the idea of the stress.
Never do this to yourself. If stress is present in the best of times, imagine distress in worst of times (economic recession or worse, health situation (God forbid), black swan financial market event).
PS, A home is not an investment. While it can generate cash, it consumes a lot of cash. Home is where your family lives, creates memories together, etc. From experience, this can happen at your A, B or C scenarios.
Good luck!
This post was edited on 7/14/26 at 10:26 am
Posted on 7/14/26 at 10:15 am to NolaLovingClemsonFan
I would personally do the exact opposite.
Don't get so focused on one "must have" and "stretch" on patience instead.
Enjoy having extra money to relax and always have more options. Not worry about going out for a nice dinners or taking trips.
But people have different priorities.
Don't get so focused on one "must have" and "stretch" on patience instead.
Enjoy having extra money to relax and always have more options. Not worry about going out for a nice dinners or taking trips.
But people have different priorities.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 10:16 am to NolaLovingClemsonFan
Is the rule of thumb still housing ( rent or own) should not exceed 25% of your income or is there a new criteria?
Posted on 7/14/26 at 10:19 am to Witty_Username
quote:Wife and I did this, got married young (at 22), fresh out of college and that poor college lifestyle. We both had decent paying jobs, bringing home $125-$150k combined.
Why don't you stay where you are for a couple of years and just do this so that you can save up a nice chunk of change to be able to afford your A+ location?
We both wanted a house. That’s what you do; graduate college, get a job, get married, buy a house, and have children.
We wanted to wait 5 years for kids, so we decided to continue to live/spend like college students for 4-5 years. Rent and utilizes were $1,000/mo, and we were both able to save $20-25k/yr for a down payment. We ended up doing this for 8 years, and had almost $500k saved up and was able to skip the starter home stage and bought our forever home at 30.
Not for everyone, but that dual income, no kids, and sacrificing while we were young set us up for life. That $250k we didn’t put down on the house has now doubled and is more than enough to cover the principle remaining on our home. No financial stress whatsoever, even with planning for 3 children to go to high school at $15k/yr per child.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 10:23 am to NolaLovingClemsonFan
Sounds like you need to go with the starter house. I would try and apply what I am saving on the mortgage into an investment.
If you put in $1,000 a month (let's say that is the difference between mortgage in option a and option b), you'd have ~105,000 in 7 years (at 6%).
Also in this scenario, if you can't afford to put the extra away then 1) you can stop and 2) you know you made the right choice.
Your first home does not need to be forever home.
If you put in $1,000 a month (let's say that is the difference between mortgage in option a and option b), you'd have ~105,000 in 7 years (at 6%).
Also in this scenario, if you can't afford to put the extra away then 1) you can stop and 2) you know you made the right choice.
Your first home does not need to be forever home.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 10:34 am to Tifway419
quote:
No financial stress whatsoever, even with planning for 3 children to go to high school at $15k/yr per child.
This!!!
Well done, congrats.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 10:34 am to TheDeathValley
quote:
you'd have ~105,000 in 7 years (at 6%).
You'd also have to pay closing costs coming and going, moving costs, and the preferred neighborhood has very likely significantly increased in price over those 7 years, whereas the less desirable neighborhood that he is trying to sell out of may have not increased relatively as much.
It may very well still be worth it financially, but its not so cut and dry.
Speaking from personal experience, my net worth today would be substantially lower had I opted for the "cheap starter home" in a lesser neighborhood than the house I purchased in the A-tier neighborhood. That house appreciated massively during my ownership whereas the "lesser" neighborhoods we were considering appreciated, but not nearly as much.
This post was edited on 7/14/26 at 10:37 am
Posted on 7/14/26 at 10:38 am to NolaLovingClemsonFan
When I bought my house, the banks pre-approved far more than I could actually afford.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 10:38 am to NolaLovingClemsonFan
Did something similar when I bought my first house. Stretch for me = top of my personal budget. I chose to take the stretch, and was definitely house poor for several years when kids were little. Learned to do a lot on a small budget.
Flash forward 10+ years, and I'm glad I did. House has absolutely appreciated, as has my income. But I couldn't afford to move into this area now, even with increased income. But I'm also very stable, physically. No desire to move. I'm now looking at paying off the house early, and doing a second home once the primary mortgage is settled and off my books.
Again, the stretch was based off of my personal budget. I didn't listen to what the broker could qualify me for - I took my own numbers around what I could swing monthly, and worked backwards.
Flash forward 10+ years, and I'm glad I did. House has absolutely appreciated, as has my income. But I couldn't afford to move into this area now, even with increased income. But I'm also very stable, physically. No desire to move. I'm now looking at paying off the house early, and doing a second home once the primary mortgage is settled and off my books.
Again, the stretch was based off of my personal budget. I didn't listen to what the broker could qualify me for - I took my own numbers around what I could swing monthly, and worked backwards.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 10:41 am to JohnnyKilroy
2 in the bush
Bird in hand
Also bird in hand
Invest the difference gives optionality and safer growth glidepath.
In my life’s lessons, life was better when home capital gains were a mindset bonus and not a feature of the decision. I used to see home as a financial asset. Not anymore.
Get that growth from financial markets. Enjoy your life and home. Distinctly different. If home produces a capital gain, bonus.
My view.
quote:
the preferred neighborhood has very likely significantly increased in price over those 7 years
Bird in hand
quote:
Stressful
Also bird in hand
Invest the difference gives optionality and safer growth glidepath.
In my life’s lessons, life was better when home capital gains were a mindset bonus and not a feature of the decision. I used to see home as a financial asset. Not anymore.
Get that growth from financial markets. Enjoy your life and home. Distinctly different. If home produces a capital gain, bonus.
My view.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 10:50 am to NolaLovingClemsonFan
Just remember:
Mortgage is the LEAST you will pay for a home. Added expenses ALWAYS show up, the question is how bad and how frequently
Rent is (generally) the MOST you will pay
Life happens
Mortgage is the LEAST you will pay for a home. Added expenses ALWAYS show up, the question is how bad and how frequently
Rent is (generally) the MOST you will pay
Life happens
Posted on 7/14/26 at 10:52 am to Everyday Is Saturday
quote:
Also bird in hand
Invest the difference gives optionality and safer growth glidepath.
In my life’s lessons, life was better when home capital gains were a mindset bonus and not a feature of the decision. I used to see home as a financial asset. Not anymore.
Get that growth from financial markets. Enjoy your life and home. Distinctly different. If home produces a capital gain, bonus.
My view.
I'm talking more about the very real possibility that even with years of savings, the A+ neighborhood may not get anymore "affordable" than it is now.
I know plenty of people who bought well below their means in ~2015 with the aim to upgrade in 5-7 years. Well covid hit, prices went nuts and despite making more money and stacking cash all those years, the neighborhood they were planning to buy in with that upgrade is now LESS affordable than it was when they decided to buy a cheaper house and save.
While they may have been house poor for a time, now 10+ years later they're kicking themselves priced out of the neighborhood they really wanted to be in (and could have stretched to afford 10 years prior).
I'd barely be able to afford my first home today, despite making almost triple what I did back when I bought that house.
This post was edited on 7/14/26 at 10:53 am
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