Thread: When Should I Buy A New Home?

Hey 4,

I've been in this town house since Dec 31, 2007. It's been great. I'm starting to feel my wife and I are outgrowing it a little, though.
We both need our own office/hobby rooms, I need at least a 4 car garage, and we're planning to have our first baby within 3 years.

I'm looking for advice from current homeowners of places in the 600k-1m+ range. If you got in yours without saving enough and you're stressed now, I want to hear your advice. If you bought your home cash, I want to hear yours. I just don't know anyone around me who is in a similar situation.

I personally am thinking I'll keep working my ass off building my business in order to save at least 50% down payment for the home.. just whatever is enough to make it a regular loan instead of jumbo. But if you think I'm stupid for even considering getting a loan, I want to hear your advice too.

Thanks guys. BTW, Rossion pics and GoPro driving videos coming soon

Due to the housing / credit crisis, it's definitely a lot harder to get yourself in trouble now because banks are much stricter about how much they'll loan you. We have our second kid on the way and just went through the pre-approval process for a new mortgage (we already own a condo) so that we can upgrade to a house.

You should be fine. Banks won't give you more than you can "comfortably" afford these days.

As far as getting a loan or not...I'd say do it. Interest rates are so low right now that it's practically like free money. If you wait a few years for your business to take off...who knows what interest rates will be then. I'd doubt they'll be lower than today.

Not only that but while you're worrying about the cost of financing, your "could be" house is still going up in value. Buy something now and upgrade in a few years if you need to, but you have to get started with something . Equity in real estate doesn't come from saving money. Also if you don't have kids now you have more flexibility to put your money towards for house and toys. My 2 cents.

two office/hobby rooms and a 4 car garage all under a million bucks??? damn I should consider moving.

Originally Posted by Justin D

two office/hobby rooms and a 4 car garage all under a million bucks??? damn I should consider moving.

Yeah I'm sure that would be extremely expensive in NY. I'm in TN so it's pretty different here haha

Originally Posted by IanZ63Q1

Yeah I'm sure that would be extremely expensive in NY. I'm in TN so it's pretty different here haha

Yes, I agree. You can have 2 home offices in your 4-5 bedroom house, by using the other bedrooms as offices. Without kids, you can be super flexible. And even if you cant get a 4 door garage, you can always build a detached garage OR build an economical car-port. I would say to buy the MAX of your budget. The pay off will be great when it comes time to sell. (I'm assuming you're buying in a relatively decent area and the area isn't full of foreclosures)

Originally Posted by VINCENZO

who knows what interest rates will be then. I'd doubt they'll be lower than today.

Rates have already gone up just a hair.

I don't think you'll get advice that is any better than what you've got in here thus far.

-Markus-

One other thing to think about is kids.

Even if you don't have any now, a house is often a pretty long term investment so it might be worthwhile to think about what school district it's in if you're thinking you might have some rugrats in the next 5-10 years. Not sure if it's a big issue in TN, but here in the San Francisco Bay Area, the school districts can vary somewhat considerably and private school (even private elementary school) is expensive!

Yeah, we've decided on school district, city, everything... Franklin/Brentwood TN. We love it there. There is also a lot of country land with new home developments in the 400-700 range. It will be a while before I can save up enough of a down payment to make it not a jumbo loan though. But I agree guys, rates/prices are going up.

Sounds like a similar position my best friend/business's partner was in about ten years ago. Makes about $220/yr, bought $1.1 mill w/$250k down (prop tax about $13k). I'm sure he's okay with the payments but his youngest son now needs medical treatment which costs about $2000/mo. Couple that with his/wife's car leases ($1500/mo), he's now starting to sweat a little more than usual.

House: $6500/mo
Car: $1500/mo
Medical: $2000/mo
Total: $10k/mo

This is all without paying for normal cost of living and contributing to savings/retirement. Bottom line, he tells me he wishes he purchased a little less home because he feels like he is cutting things a little closer than he's accustomed to living.