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re: Anyone ever reeeeeally stretched on a home purchase?
Posted on 7/14/26 at 5:27 pm to NolaLovingClemsonFan
Posted on 7/14/26 at 5:27 pm to NolaLovingClemsonFan
I think this depends on the city/market and investment liquidity if you need to come up with $20k quick. If you’re in a growing market (Nashville, Charlotte, Atlanta, etc) with a diversified local economy (housing prices unlikely to fall apart in an industry-specific downturn), you will have selling as a fallback option if things get too tight over time. You also may never get a chance at the good neighborhood for the same reason.
I would say no in smaller markets, even if it’s rapidly growing right now.
I would say no in smaller markets, even if it’s rapidly growing right now.
This post was edited on 7/14/26 at 5:28 pm
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Posted on 7/14/26 at 5:56 pm to NolaLovingClemsonFan
My two cents for what it’s worth.
Buy as much house as you can comfortably afford. If it’s a stretch on paper it will be more so in reality. You will be miserable after the newness wears off.
Buy on the lower end of any neighborhood. You can turn those quicker if you must.
Be prepared for increases in your monthly payment. The payment on my mom’s house has increased 30% in last several 4 years.
I downsized to a house half the size but able to buy it outright. Owning your home opens up a lot of options.
Buy as much house as you can comfortably afford. If it’s a stretch on paper it will be more so in reality. You will be miserable after the newness wears off.
Buy on the lower end of any neighborhood. You can turn those quicker if you must.
Be prepared for increases in your monthly payment. The payment on my mom’s house has increased 30% in last several 4 years.
I downsized to a house half the size but able to buy it outright. Owning your home opens up a lot of options.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 7:02 pm to NolaLovingClemsonFan
Your monthly mortgage payment shoukd NOT exceed more than 25% if your monthly take home pay ( after taxes).
Do that and you and the wife will have a good comfortable happy life.
Don’t do that and there’s no need to worry about schools because you’ll be DIVORCED before you have kids.
Nothing worse than being house poor.
Do that and you and the wife will have a good comfortable happy life.
Don’t do that and there’s no need to worry about schools because you’ll be DIVORCED before you have kids.
Nothing worse than being house poor.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 7:15 pm to NolaLovingClemsonFan
Debt is modern day slavery. Avoid debt.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 7:23 pm to NolaLovingClemsonFan
I am curious what the board thinks a max mortgage would be for someone taking home 15-16K a month.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 7:31 pm to GREENHEAD22
After taxes?
Posted on 7/14/26 at 7:33 pm to NolaLovingClemsonFan
What kind of debt to income ratio we talkin bout baw?
Posted on 7/14/26 at 7:47 pm to NolaLovingClemsonFan
Do you have optimism about the growth of your companies? Yes to that would make my recommendation go to “Buy it”.
My wife and I stretched for our first home. Not intentionally. I had done a budget which showed us with a couple hundred extra dollars per month. This was 1985 so that went a ways. I learned a lot about budget contingencies from that, but we made it through and had four kids while living in that house. We had no extra, though. That was okay for us, because I was a typical frugal man and my wife is an atypical frugal woman.
My wife and I stretched for our first home. Not intentionally. I had done a budget which showed us with a couple hundred extra dollars per month. This was 1985 so that went a ways. I learned a lot about budget contingencies from that, but we made it through and had four kids while living in that house. We had no extra, though. That was okay for us, because I was a typical frugal man and my wife is an atypical frugal woman.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 8:07 pm to GREENHEAD22
When doing the math on this, the 25% rule us a good rule of thumb, but you also have to really look at discretionary income. There is a big difference between 25% of $8,000 and 25% of $16,000.
Obviously with $16,000 per month net income you can stretch the percentages and still have discretionary income left over.
Obviously with $16,000 per month net income you can stretch the percentages and still have discretionary income left over.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 8:18 pm to NolaLovingClemsonFan
Yes, we stretched the hell out of our budget for our current house when we moved in 2020. It was probably 20% more than our comfort zone. However, it ended up being the best decision we made. We have a low interest rate and our income has increased significantly over the past 6 years. Also the home value is up 60%. We took a leap of faith and it has worked for us.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 8:40 pm to NolaLovingClemsonFan
This is a great question. My girlfriend and I are thinking about getting married and houses in our desired area are in the $700k range. We take home about $24k a month and could technically afford it but after property tax and insurance we would be at about $6k a month. I am frugal and am not very comfortable with this but she’s adamant she wants the good school district. We are 34 and 31 so at this point in our lives we only want to buy once
Posted on 7/14/26 at 8:50 pm to NolaLovingClemsonFan
Don’t be house poor.
I’ve done it before and lived to regret it.
Do not do it.
I’ve done it before and lived to regret it.
Do not do it.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 8:53 pm to High C
quote:
Unfortunately, my nature tends to focus on the negative first. When I hear your plans and situation, I question why you don’t already have that level of discipline. I don’t know you guys, but those spending habits, especially for a woman, can be very difficult to reel in. The discipline you speak of, if already in practice, would make your current situation moot because you would have already saved thousands by not spending all of that disposable income on “fvck-its.” Be sure that that level of discipline is even possible for both of you.
I totally understand this. I’d say we’re fairly disciplined people, but we also recognize that we have a shitton of flexibility right now so it does make absolutely battening down the hatches financially a bit more difficult. We still put aside north of $150K a year in 401K / investments so I feel we’re being atleast defensibly disciplined, but I like the idea of bringing us back to a more disciplined life earlier, as opposed to later.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 8:54 pm to NolaLovingClemsonFan
Clemson will be stretched by LSU on Labor Day weekend.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 9:04 pm to NolaLovingClemsonFan
Owning a home is like owning a boat
There will be unexpected and expensive repairs and upkeep. You might can handle the monthly payment and all, but could you handle replacing HVAC unexpectedly? A busted pipe in wall leading to a complete remodel?
There will be unexpected and expensive repairs and upkeep. You might can handle the monthly payment and all, but could you handle replacing HVAC unexpectedly? A busted pipe in wall leading to a complete remodel?
Posted on 7/14/26 at 10:31 pm to NolaLovingClemsonFan
Please listen to what I’m about to say.
Our first home wasn’t a complete shithole but I definitely wanted better for my family. It was however in a poor school district in Shreveport. Once my first child was old enough to start school, we moved. No way I was sending my kids to Shreveport public schools. We moved to the Stockwell Elementary school district in Bossier. Technically we were in Dogwood Subdivision in Haughton but the front half is in Bossier school district. Wasn’t a mansion by no means but it was a decent 3BR/2BTH 1600sf home with garage. It was absolutely at the extreme edge of our budget. We didn’t spend an extra penny on anything that wasn’t absolutely necessary. It was pretty tough for a few years but over time my income increased as I moved up in my job. After about 5 years we could at least breath. After about another 5 years I had advanced enough that if we wanted we could have moved up in quality of housing. Thinking back on that first 5 years there we said hell no and stayed put. We had updated things over the years and it was home. The kids had tons of friends in the neighborhood. We loved our neighbors and the school district was good. My career advanced more and with the additional money we were able to save/invest quite a bit. Now once the kids were out of school, we came into a little inheritance money, sold that home and upgraded to a nicer home in North Bossier but honestly still didn’t even go as high as we could have.
Take what you want from my story. I definitely can relate to wanting to make sure your family is in a safe area and your kids are in good schools. But don’t make yourself house poor unnecessarily. I have always tried to teach my kids to live slightly below there means. They always called me cheap and my son would always say I settled for less to much. Hopefully they see now that I was just careful with my finances and that our true joy came from time spent with them and not necessarily material possessions.
Our first home wasn’t a complete shithole but I definitely wanted better for my family. It was however in a poor school district in Shreveport. Once my first child was old enough to start school, we moved. No way I was sending my kids to Shreveport public schools. We moved to the Stockwell Elementary school district in Bossier. Technically we were in Dogwood Subdivision in Haughton but the front half is in Bossier school district. Wasn’t a mansion by no means but it was a decent 3BR/2BTH 1600sf home with garage. It was absolutely at the extreme edge of our budget. We didn’t spend an extra penny on anything that wasn’t absolutely necessary. It was pretty tough for a few years but over time my income increased as I moved up in my job. After about 5 years we could at least breath. After about another 5 years I had advanced enough that if we wanted we could have moved up in quality of housing. Thinking back on that first 5 years there we said hell no and stayed put. We had updated things over the years and it was home. The kids had tons of friends in the neighborhood. We loved our neighbors and the school district was good. My career advanced more and with the additional money we were able to save/invest quite a bit. Now once the kids were out of school, we came into a little inheritance money, sold that home and upgraded to a nicer home in North Bossier but honestly still didn’t even go as high as we could have.
Take what you want from my story. I definitely can relate to wanting to make sure your family is in a safe area and your kids are in good schools. But don’t make yourself house poor unnecessarily. I have always tried to teach my kids to live slightly below there means. They always called me cheap and my son would always say I settled for less to much. Hopefully they see now that I was just careful with my finances and that our true joy came from time spent with them and not necessarily material possessions.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 11:11 pm to NolaLovingClemsonFan
quote:Why didn’t you lead with this? That is an incredibly strong savings rate.
difficult. We still put aside north of $150K a year in 401K / investments so I feel we’re being atleast defensibly disciplined
Posted on 7/14/26 at 11:15 pm to saderade
500O words OP and all the relevant info he leaves out.
Approx age, price of house, savings, income etc.
Approx age, price of house, savings, income etc.
Posted on 7/15/26 at 4:55 am to NolaLovingClemsonFan
Don't do it. How will you afford family vacations with the kids, cost of living increases, needing a newer model vehicle in the future, covering emergency situations, or putting monies into a savings account?
Keep looking for something in your budget range that doesn't strain the family finances.
Keep looking for something in your budget range that doesn't strain the family finances.
Posted on 7/15/26 at 5:20 am to NolaLovingClemsonFan
If you don’t have kids now, you have no idea how much they will cost down the road. If you think you may send them to private school especially. I’m paying the equivalent of another mortgage for my 3 kids tuition. Plus all their other expenses.
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