Buying A Home
jynxiie
member
Dear Community,
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.
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.
Opinions please!
So FI and I are looking at buying a home after the wedding.
The homes in our area are very expensive but our family lives here. If we got a house in our budget (if we could even find one) it's going to need a lot of work... It's also going to be so tight money wise. FI also works in this city, so of course he could keep his job (he would like to find something else).
Our other family lives about 40 minutes away. The housing there is very inexpensive, and I mean... 1.5x the price.
We would be able to buy our house quicker - we would like to eventually turn it into an investment property so this is important.
FI's field is HUGE in this city (he works with steel) both are equal distances from his side job of teaching tae kwon do.
The only issue is... The neighborhoods are not nice. In fact it even has the highest sexual crimes.
We don't have children. We don't want children for quite some time if ever.
I do believe I want to go with the quick option for investment reasons... But I don't know if I'm not realizing how important neighborhoods are. I have never had issues with any neighbors in the past - but I've heard horror stories.
The homes in our area are very expensive but our family lives here. If we got a house in our budget (if we could even find one) it's going to need a lot of work... It's also going to be so tight money wise. FI also works in this city, so of course he could keep his job (he would like to find something else).
Our other family lives about 40 minutes away. The housing there is very inexpensive, and I mean... 1.5x the price.
We would be able to buy our house quicker - we would like to eventually turn it into an investment property so this is important.
FI's field is HUGE in this city (he works with steel) both are equal distances from his side job of teaching tae kwon do.
The only issue is... The neighborhoods are not nice. In fact it even has the highest sexual crimes.
We don't have children. We don't want children for quite some time if ever.
I do believe I want to go with the quick option for investment reasons... But I don't know if I'm not realizing how important neighborhoods are. I have never had issues with any neighbors in the past - but I've heard horror stories.
Re: Opinions please!
Don't buy in a bad neighborhood.
Take your time and prepare yourself financially to buy. Save 20% down and also closing costs, utility deposits, moving costs, repair/renovations, decorating/additional furniture/appliances, yard items/tools - AND have a 6 month's emergency fund, Get rid of consumer debt also.
Rent an inexpensive apartment now, live frugally and save, save, save. Cut back on eating out, and other non essentials. Get second PT jobs.
Don't be in a hurry - and yes, I know it takes alot of time and $$ to be ready to buy a home in a HCOL area (took us 6 years to save that amount of money).
A good rule of thumb to keep in mind:
Housing costs should be no more than 25-28% of your TAKEHOME pay (30-35% in a HCOL area). That includes (mortgage+PMI+insurance+taxes+HOA+utilities). More than that amount will find you house poor.
Read these 2 books- Home Buying for Dummies and Mortgages for Dummies- very helpful information
It's one thing to buy in the suburbs to save money...but quite another if that is considered dangerous/bad area. It will make resale harder, especially since most buyers have children. Something to consider.
The best advice I can give is don't be in such a hurry to buy that you take on more than you can chew. It's much better to save for a long time and buy the right house the first time without having to stretch, than it is to buy a house in the wrong location and/or a house that needs a ton of work that you may not be prepared for.
Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!