how much $ to save for 250K house

Ksahlberg · November 2012

FHA loan requires 3.5 % down + closing costs and I don't want to be house poor. We are looking at a house that is listed at $210,000.

I'm just trying to work out realistic numbers on what I should have in savings....Any advice is much appreciated, I want to buy soon!

vpine · November 2012

Have you gotten pre-approved for $210K? That would be my 1st suggestion, sometimes we look for a price range but the pre-approval can be for less...I would have the 3.5% down payment plus $7K or so for closing costs/home inspection, etc and some more for emergency fund. If you don't have furniture, that will need to be purchased too. We lived in apartment prior to house and we've spent a great deal on blinds ($130/each blind from Home Depot and we have a lot of windows), major appliances to include washer/dryer/fridge, furniture, etc.

Sisugal · November 2012

Keep your monthly housing costs to no more than 25-28% of your TAKEHOME pay. That would include mortgage+PMI+insurance+taxes+HOA+Utilities. Less if you have alot of other debt.

30-35% if you are in a HCOL area.

Remember you also need to plan for moving costs, utility deposits, repairs/renovations, decorating/furniture/appliances, yard items, tools, ladders etc. AND still have an emergency fund in place after all of that.

ABColeslaw · November 2012

We are closing on a $250,000 home tomorrow. We saved $10,000 for the down payment, inspection, and appraisal feeds. We got our seller's to credit us money for closing, so our home price reflects the money they are giving us for closing. Basically read that last line as we are paying for closing costs, but they are being financed in. We have an additional $5,000 for things like moving costs, start ups, and an Oh crap fund. Honestly, I'd feel much better if we had more, but our son has special needs and a lot of our money goes to medical bills. For us is made sense just to bite the bullet, but if I didn't have a child to think about, I would have held out longer to have a larger savings.

kibskix · November 2012

We played it super safe because we also don't want to be house poor. While we were oggling houses for 319k for about half a second, We got lucky and found a flipped house in the neighborhood we wanted in Austin for 178k, we got it for 175 and put down 35k. We also paid for a survey and inspection, and got the sellers to fix a couple weird things we didn't catch that they did (ALWAYS DO INSPECTION!)
We were pre-approved for a loan much bigger than the price of the house we actually got, and after the dp our loan is only about 140, which we will be able to pay off SO much faster. Which makes me a happy girl.

Personally, I wouldn't buy a house 200 and up unless you have a very sizable amount for a downpayment in your savings. the more, the better. We over-did it apparently (according to our friends who all had maybe 5-10k to put down, while we had 40 in all but only used 35) but we've both been saving (long before we ever met) specifically for that reason. We close next month and i'm going to sleep a lot better at night knowing we had a nice chunk to put forward.

as far as moving costs, we really dont have any. Since we aren't moving far away, we have friends helping us move, not paying people to do it for us. I'm not worried about having money for decorating or extra furniture any time soon either, because that's simply not terribly important right now. As long as I have a roof over my head, i'll mess with extra stuff as it comes!

Ksahlberg · November 2012

Thanks for the tips!

We got pre-approved for 250, but, I'd like to stay under that. We have about 10K saved, and we saw 2 houses we like for 210 and 225. I'd like to hold out to save more, but, our area is "the" most desirable town to live in within our state so houses move fast and our lease is up in March...

DavidStamps · November 2012

I would definitely have the 3.5% saved, 8-9K for closing and a miscellaneous 3-5K for last minute fees (those always exist), moving costs, basic furniture and random repairs once you move in. I guarantee you will find a few things that will require a repair man or several trips to Home Depot or Loews.

kibskix · November 2012

it also depends which lender you're going through. Were using USAA and they have some program thingy where if you use the particular realtor they assign you, you get money back if they sell you a house. So we're getting about 1,000 back after we close on the house since we used their guy. And if you're lender is anything like ours, they tend to overestimate closing costs to be "safe", and it will give you a heart attack for a minute.

atlcatlover · November 2012

Ksahlberg:
Thanks for the tips!
We got pre-approved for 250, but, I'd like to stay under that. We have about 10K saved, and we saw 2 houses we like for 210 and 225. I'd like to hold out to save more, but, our area is "the" most desirable town to live in within our state so houses move fast and our lease is up in March...

Sorry, but with only $10K saved you aren't near ready to spend this much money on a house. I'd suggest you lease for another year and save save save very aggressively.

cudababy71 · November 2012

I would assume that you aren't quite ready for a house in that price range if you're seriously considering on putting the bare minimum down. I'm on the hunt with my DH right now and we have 20% saved for the downpayment plus any and all closing costs. The only reason we are still hesitating is because we want a bigger "emergency/house decorating/cushion". Good luck.

Amanda1443994 · December 2012

I would say you def. need to save at least the 3.5% down, closing costs, and an additional $10k on top of that. When we bought our first house this past June, there were soo many costs we were not aware of. We bought our house for $425k, so we put down the 20% plus $7k for closing. On top of that, we had to buy all new furniture ($10k), blinds, curtains, and other essentials for the house. Plus, you do not want to be left with no savings after that. Try and outline as many of these costs that you're aware of and add a couple thousand on top for the unexpected.

anssett · December 2012

We're in the starting to save spot looking ahead to when my 4 year contract ends (and we'll likely move). That's when we want to be ready to buy. In our neighborhood now the average house prices are more like 400K for the size we'll need (us plus 1 kid). The plan is to have 100K saved in the next 4 years so if we have to buy around the 400K mark it's reasonable (about 20% down with some wiggle room to offset for closing costs, inspections, furniture, moving, etc). This is based on not wanting to make the same mistakes I've seen SO many people make about not having enough in a house to be able to sell when you need to (without losing a ton). You have enough saved for me to feel comfortable buying.

how much $ to save for 250K house

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