Buying A Home
Kwoods1088
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.
Is Downsizing the Right Thing?!?
Hello fellow Nesters!!
So we officially went under contract about two weeks ago and are waiting for the appraisal to go through.... But for some reason I am having major anxiety about selling but at the same time there are so many benefits of selling...
We are fairly young(22), no kids but two dogs, and have been married for 3 &1/2 Years. Last year we put our house on the market but after about three months with no luck we took it off the market. We were doing our best just living paycheck to paycheck but you can only handle so much of that stress, we decided to put our house back on the market because we are sick of being house poor... It was literally on the market for 2 days and We got a full price offer and only have to pay half of closing costs and realtor fees of coarse. We are going to break even with everything... (Crossing our fingers)
So your probably thinking what's this crazy ladies point? Hahah well Rent where I live is ridiculously expensive and cost as much as a house payment! Leaving us in the same situation of living paycheck to paycheck with nothing in savings!! Sooo his mom has this Studio apartment in their basement. Separate entrance and quite private. She will be renting it to us at a fair price and we can still keep our dogs!! Which is a huge bonus!!
So my only drawback is living with his family... But we will be able to save soooo much money and be able to travel and do the things we want to do. We don't want kids for about 6 years... Giving us enough time to come up with a good down payment for a home and something that we could afford... Because right now in our house if I was to get pregnant I couldn't quit my job and take care of my kids... I just hate that we are moving backwards but I know how beneficial it will be because we could save money and that kind of thing....
My husband is also considering going to school so that he doesn't have to have such a manual labor job.
So basically what would you do.... Keep living paycheck to paycheck owning a home or move in with the inlaws and be able to do more traveling and saving money and getting out of debt?
So we officially went under contract about two weeks ago and are waiting for the appraisal to go through.... But for some reason I am having major anxiety about selling but at the same time there are so many benefits of selling...
We are fairly young(22), no kids but two dogs, and have been married for 3 &1/2 Years. Last year we put our house on the market but after about three months with no luck we took it off the market. We were doing our best just living paycheck to paycheck but you can only handle so much of that stress, we decided to put our house back on the market because we are sick of being house poor... It was literally on the market for 2 days and We got a full price offer and only have to pay half of closing costs and realtor fees of coarse. We are going to break even with everything... (Crossing our fingers)
So your probably thinking what's this crazy ladies point? Hahah well Rent where I live is ridiculously expensive and cost as much as a house payment! Leaving us in the same situation of living paycheck to paycheck with nothing in savings!! Sooo his mom has this Studio apartment in their basement. Separate entrance and quite private. She will be renting it to us at a fair price and we can still keep our dogs!! Which is a huge bonus!!
So my only drawback is living with his family... But we will be able to save soooo much money and be able to travel and do the things we want to do. We don't want kids for about 6 years... Giving us enough time to come up with a good down payment for a home and something that we could afford... Because right now in our house if I was to get pregnant I couldn't quit my job and take care of my kids... I just hate that we are moving backwards but I know how beneficial it will be because we could save money and that kind of thing....
My husband is also considering going to school so that he doesn't have to have such a manual labor job.
So basically what would you do.... Keep living paycheck to paycheck owning a home or move in with the inlaws and be able to do more traveling and saving money and getting out of debt?
Re: Is Downsizing the Right Thing?!?
Personally, I'd move in with the in-laws with a very clear cut goal to save X amount and be out within a certain amount of time. You see articles all the time about boomerang kids and failure to launch and in those cases it definitely is moving backwards to go back home when they're simply returning to mooch off mom and dad.
But if you've determined this is a smart financial move and you are dedicated to saving a good amount of money so that you can move back out and start a family then I don't see that as moving backwards - particularly where you are paying rent. Just make sure you maintain boundaries with his family.
You do NOT need to rent a "nice" apartment - there must be other basement suites, and similar less costly options in your area. (Did you not know the cost of renting in your area before putting your house up for sale??!!)
Saving to get on better financial footing is wise. I would also add 2nd PT jobs .
Establish an emergency fund of 6 month's expenses, a 20% downpayment, closing costs, moving costs, start up utility deposits, repair/renovation money, additional furniture/appliances and the outdoor misc. items needed. --- and still keep the emergency fund in place after closing.
Take advantage of this opportunity to learn to live on a budget and save. It may be tempting to spend they money you no longer need to spend on housing.
Keep your housing costs to no more than 25-28% of your TAKEHOME pay - more than that will make you house poor (30-35% in a HCOL area).-Mortgage+PMI+insurance+taxes+utilities+HOA.
IF you are planing to stay at home when you have a family - then only consider your DH's income when figuring what you can afford.
IF I was your IL and thought I was helping you to save and you spent those savings on vacations, travel and other things you cannot do because of tight finances, I would not be happy.
I am all about helping those who are willing to do what is needed to better their situation - but not while indulging themselves at the cost of IL generosity.
You are young. What kind of jobs do you have? Have you done anything to increase your earning potential?
The typical advice to stretch your dollars is to STOP eating out, limit clothing expenses (wear what you have, buy on clearance or consignment), VERY basic cell phones - no data & text, low cost used vehicles, sell stuff you have and no longer need/use, and get second part time jobs)