Buying A Home
JBugNR
member
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Where to go from here...
We've been married a whopping three days, exciting, I know.
DH and I have been talking about buying a house and moving for while, so I know its what we both want...but I don't have any idea where to start.
I'm from the south and he's lived here in WI his whole life. I'd love to move a little further south, because snow, eww. But he wants to stay close-ish for his mom. I guess I'm just lost and I'd like to have some sort of an idea to bring to him.
Sorry for my crazy rambles.
Re: Where to go from here...
Get your finances in order - pay off your consumer debt and establish an emergency fund of at least 6 months of expenses - which you keep in place even after the purchase of your home.
Take some time to decide on what you need - those are things you do not compromise on.
Then add in things you would want - those are things you may get some, but not all in a house.
Save, save, save -
you need a good down payment 20% is best, closing costs, moving costs, start up deposits, repair/renovation costs, decorating/furniture/appliances, yard items & tools, ladders.
Establish a budget - know where your money is going.
Keep your housing expenses to no more than 25-28% of your TAKEHOME pay --- that means
mortgage+PMI+insurance+taxes+HOA + utilities. (30-35% in a HCOL area.) More than that will find you house poor.
As for moving to a new area - learn about the area that interests you, visit it, and if you still want to be there - you need JOBs first - rent for the first year so you know the neighborhoods, schools etc - and and happy with the area and your jobs ---- get finances in order -- THEN look at buying.
Take your time - learn how to talk about issues and make decisions that will work for you BOTH. Neither will get everything you want.
IMO -
First thing to think about. Where can you find a job that will support you? A house is a long term investment. The bank doesn't care that you just lost your job. So you want to be in an area where there is long term stability for your line of work and in the event that you lose your job, you can find another one quickly.
Do you plan to have kids? Are one of you going to stay home after? Then that job needs to support all of you.
Figure that out before figuring out how to buy a house.
Not to be a buzz kill, but this is something y'all should have decided before marriage.
When he says he wants to stay closeish for mom, does he mean close like an hours drive, or close like an hours flight. Thats an important distinction.