Posted by: arbiter June 6, 2016
Login in to Rate this Post:
0
?
First off, congratulations! This is an exciting time for both of you! I was in a similar situation just a couple of months ago, so hopefully, I can shed some clarity.
I would say, the purchase has to make sense to you financially. For my down payment, I initially thought about putting 20% down, but ultimately decided to put 15% so that I have a bit of cash for unforeseen circumstances. As to what you need to put down, it all depends on how much cash you have and if you can invest cash in investment where you can bring more return. The way to think about it is—the more you put down the more your cash is tied up. If you put less down and invest the rest in stocks (or some other products that produces higher return), then putting less down makes more sense. On the other hand, the less you put down, the higher your monthly payment will be. So, it’s a balance. To be little safe, your monthly payment needs to be less than 40% of your net income (my personal opinion). If you intend to stay in the house no more than 10 years, it makes sense to pay PMI as well.
You need to get a house with at least 4 bedrooms, it seems. There are both pros and cons of buying a new vs old house. I bought a relatively new home…and it feels good to have everything new and functioning but you also pay premium for that. But personally, once I started looking into new construction, the older homes didn’t look too appealing.
Definitely hardwood—at least in the main floor. Once you start looking into homes with hardwood, carpets look very dirty! Hardwood floor just gives character to home.
In the East Coast, you won’t get a decent townhome for your budget in a good neighborhood. But if you can get a house with a backyard for that price, I would say go for it. Just make sure that there is a lot of maintenance involved.
One important thing you need to consider is school district. This is how poor people get fuckedup in this country. The schools are funded by property taxes and the district where rich people live obviously have better school districts. So, you wan to keep that in mind while you look for homes in your areas.
And I really find that home buying is a two-step process: i) selecting a home, and ii) selecting a lender. Both are equally important.
Post if you have any more questions.
I would say, the purchase has to make sense to you financially. For my down payment, I initially thought about putting 20% down, but ultimately decided to put 15% so that I have a bit of cash for unforeseen circumstances. As to what you need to put down, it all depends on how much cash you have and if you can invest cash in investment where you can bring more return. The way to think about it is—the more you put down the more your cash is tied up. If you put less down and invest the rest in stocks (or some other products that produces higher return), then putting less down makes more sense. On the other hand, the less you put down, the higher your monthly payment will be. So, it’s a balance. To be little safe, your monthly payment needs to be less than 40% of your net income (my personal opinion). If you intend to stay in the house no more than 10 years, it makes sense to pay PMI as well.
You need to get a house with at least 4 bedrooms, it seems. There are both pros and cons of buying a new vs old house. I bought a relatively new home…and it feels good to have everything new and functioning but you also pay premium for that. But personally, once I started looking into new construction, the older homes didn’t look too appealing.
Definitely hardwood—at least in the main floor. Once you start looking into homes with hardwood, carpets look very dirty! Hardwood floor just gives character to home.
In the East Coast, you won’t get a decent townhome for your budget in a good neighborhood. But if you can get a house with a backyard for that price, I would say go for it. Just make sure that there is a lot of maintenance involved.
One important thing you need to consider is school district. This is how poor people get fuckedup in this country. The schools are funded by property taxes and the district where rich people live obviously have better school districts. So, you wan to keep that in mind while you look for homes in your areas.
And I really find that home buying is a two-step process: i) selecting a home, and ii) selecting a lender. Both are equally important.
Post if you have any more questions.