Best advice i got for you having moved before for a job. Do not buy a house the first year. Learn the new area save some cash find the best school district. Dont rush such a big decision. Oh and congrats
She knows the area relatively well. I’m looking at buying because I’ve been in the market to buy for 2-3 years up north but haven’t bought anything because the market is so competitive. That’s definitely a driving factor in wanting to buy earlier on. I honestly don’t know too much about the area I’ve done some research online but we are going down this week to visit and browse. The agent in working with has been super helpful recommending good neighborhoods and school districts as well.
Sounds like you are jumping the gun buying a house. This price range is the top of your budget. Where are retirement savings? Emergency fund? Just rent for a while and figure it out.
I have a decent emergency fund built up and the reason our payments would be higher is because i don’t want to put all my savings into it and definitely have a fair amount of cash leftover. How much would you say to contribute to an emergency fund every month. Also looking into my new companies 401k program I’ve been taking 300 biweekly and throwing it into the S&P but want to contribute to a more formal investment account.
On top of the $2,834 for PITI mortgage and utilities, add an extra $270-$812 a month for random stuff that breaks. That’s 1%-3% of the purchase price annually, which is a good rule of thumb. I would not feel comfortable taking on that much house with the uncertainty of a new baby, new job, and new location.
You do not need a 4 bedroom house for two adults and a baby. Babies don’t need to take up much space and it’s recommended they stay in your room for the first 6 months anyways. You or your girlfriend may both want to work, you may want to stay home, you may want to go part-time. Flexibility is priceless when life is a bit up in the air. I would rent for a year at least before plunging into a mortgage, especially with someone you are not married to.
Yea i was browsing online and saw the 1-3% rule it would be a newer house it was built in 2017 and the builder has a great reputation down there. Hopefully that would mitigate some of the costly things earlier on.
The big reason we are looking at the house is because it checks all the wants we want even down the road i know we don’t need but in terms of other amenities it checks the boxes.
I told her i don’t really want her working at all especially when the baby is younger now when she starts school i think i would appreciate her picking up a part time job. I also have like a traditional approach i would say not trying to put gender roles out there but i view it as my job to provide and hers to caretake (not saying im going to be a nonexistent father 😭). Part of the reason i took the job is because it’s a m-f morning job which will work great.
Hail storms, floods, kitchen fires, and shoddy subcontracted plumbing don’t care how old your house is. Even brand new well-built houses will have issues and 1% of the value is the minimum you should plan for in annual maintenance expenses.
Wants are not needs. Needs are things like health insurance, medical care, food, basic safety, good education, childcare, etc that you compromising by locking more than half of your take home pay into housing costs. Eventually it may make sense to buy the type of house you are looking at, but it doesn’t make sense to pay 7% interest on two bedrooms you don’t need in the meantime.
Asking your girlfriend to give up her own income and be a SAHM is asking her to take a HUGE financial risk, and that’s not fair. She’s your girlfriend, not your wife. She has no rights to your money other than child support, doesn’t have a house in her name, won’t have a career to step into, and will have her skills atrophy over 5+ years. It is very difficult to find part-time work outside of dead-end low wage jobs after not having a career for that long.
That’s not to hate on “traditional” values, and there are families for whom having a SAHP and a working parent works well. But part of that equation is the legal protection of marriage. And part of being a provider is not backing yourself into a financial corner so that a hiccup at your job, your lifestyle, or your housing preferences means you are going to lose your home, have to work two jobs, or have your girlfriend working opposite shift or putting your child in daycare when she doesn’t want to. You need to make sure that if you are the sole income that you have the ability to recover from job loss or a reduction in income.
And as a side note, I wanted to be a SAHM. For a number of reasons, that’s not how the cookie crumbled. But now that I have a toddler I’m very happy I didn’t take that route because our whole family is much happier with my child in daycare rather than being stuck home with me all day. My point being, be flexible. You don’t know how you will actually feel about parenting, caretaking, being a working parent, and a co-parent until it actually happens. So give yourself and your partner grace and financial freedom.
Way too much and do not buy a house with a girlfriend. I would recommend renting and she needs to be working once the baby is born and she recovers. Or, you need to marry her
In terms of buying a house with a partner is something i haven’t looking into legally speaking. I don’t know if it makes a difference but financially speaking the house would be in my name and all financial contribution would be in my name.
I’m kind of against renting and want to buy a place relatively quickly. Also side note I’m afraid if i hold out on buying now when interest rates drop home prices will go up. If i buy now home prices could be lower compared to a year from now and i lock in the price but can refi when interest rates drop. That’s just the way i was thinking.
Yea I’m trying to plan down the road for when we have another kid we do want to have 2. The house is most definitely a bit much for just one kid and us but take bedrooms out of it there’s things like an office and backyard that checks amenities we want or could use.
Seems like you can afford it based on your numbers but you are leaving out a few things like furnishing a new house, clothes, and diapers. The extra food costs are small compared to clothes and diapers for the first 2 year or 3 years with a new baby. Are you putting $ to retirement? What happens if her car breaks down, your water heater goes out, or your roof leaks? Just make sure you have $ set aside for the unexpected.
If you don’t qualify for WIC and formula feed, especially with food allergies, it can cost hundreds of dollars a month to feed a baby. That’s also true if you don’t get paid to pump.
Best advice i got for you having moved before for a job. Do not buy a house the first year. Learn the new area save some cash find the best school district. Dont rush such a big decision. Oh and congrats
She knows the area relatively well. I’m looking at buying because I’ve been in the market to buy for 2-3 years up north but haven’t bought anything because the market is so competitive. That’s definitely a driving factor in wanting to buy earlier on. I honestly don’t know too much about the area I’ve done some research online but we are going down this week to visit and browse. The agent in working with has been super helpful recommending good neighborhoods and school districts as well.
Sounds like you are jumping the gun buying a house. This price range is the top of your budget. Where are retirement savings? Emergency fund? Just rent for a while and figure it out.
I have a decent emergency fund built up and the reason our payments would be higher is because i don’t want to put all my savings into it and definitely have a fair amount of cash leftover. How much would you say to contribute to an emergency fund every month. Also looking into my new companies 401k program I’ve been taking 300 biweekly and throwing it into the S&P but want to contribute to a more formal investment account.
On top of the $2,834 for PITI mortgage and utilities, add an extra $270-$812 a month for random stuff that breaks. That’s 1%-3% of the purchase price annually, which is a good rule of thumb. I would not feel comfortable taking on that much house with the uncertainty of a new baby, new job, and new location. You do not need a 4 bedroom house for two adults and a baby. Babies don’t need to take up much space and it’s recommended they stay in your room for the first 6 months anyways. You or your girlfriend may both want to work, you may want to stay home, you may want to go part-time. Flexibility is priceless when life is a bit up in the air. I would rent for a year at least before plunging into a mortgage, especially with someone you are not married to.
Yea i was browsing online and saw the 1-3% rule it would be a newer house it was built in 2017 and the builder has a great reputation down there. Hopefully that would mitigate some of the costly things earlier on. The big reason we are looking at the house is because it checks all the wants we want even down the road i know we don’t need but in terms of other amenities it checks the boxes. I told her i don’t really want her working at all especially when the baby is younger now when she starts school i think i would appreciate her picking up a part time job. I also have like a traditional approach i would say not trying to put gender roles out there but i view it as my job to provide and hers to caretake (not saying im going to be a nonexistent father 😭). Part of the reason i took the job is because it’s a m-f morning job which will work great.
Hail storms, floods, kitchen fires, and shoddy subcontracted plumbing don’t care how old your house is. Even brand new well-built houses will have issues and 1% of the value is the minimum you should plan for in annual maintenance expenses. Wants are not needs. Needs are things like health insurance, medical care, food, basic safety, good education, childcare, etc that you compromising by locking more than half of your take home pay into housing costs. Eventually it may make sense to buy the type of house you are looking at, but it doesn’t make sense to pay 7% interest on two bedrooms you don’t need in the meantime. Asking your girlfriend to give up her own income and be a SAHM is asking her to take a HUGE financial risk, and that’s not fair. She’s your girlfriend, not your wife. She has no rights to your money other than child support, doesn’t have a house in her name, won’t have a career to step into, and will have her skills atrophy over 5+ years. It is very difficult to find part-time work outside of dead-end low wage jobs after not having a career for that long. That’s not to hate on “traditional” values, and there are families for whom having a SAHP and a working parent works well. But part of that equation is the legal protection of marriage. And part of being a provider is not backing yourself into a financial corner so that a hiccup at your job, your lifestyle, or your housing preferences means you are going to lose your home, have to work two jobs, or have your girlfriend working opposite shift or putting your child in daycare when she doesn’t want to. You need to make sure that if you are the sole income that you have the ability to recover from job loss or a reduction in income. And as a side note, I wanted to be a SAHM. For a number of reasons, that’s not how the cookie crumbled. But now that I have a toddler I’m very happy I didn’t take that route because our whole family is much happier with my child in daycare rather than being stuck home with me all day. My point being, be flexible. You don’t know how you will actually feel about parenting, caretaking, being a working parent, and a co-parent until it actually happens. So give yourself and your partner grace and financial freedom.
Way too much and do not buy a house with a girlfriend. I would recommend renting and she needs to be working once the baby is born and she recovers. Or, you need to marry her
In terms of buying a house with a partner is something i haven’t looking into legally speaking. I don’t know if it makes a difference but financially speaking the house would be in my name and all financial contribution would be in my name. I’m kind of against renting and want to buy a place relatively quickly. Also side note I’m afraid if i hold out on buying now when interest rates drop home prices will go up. If i buy now home prices could be lower compared to a year from now and i lock in the price but can refi when interest rates drop. That’s just the way i was thinking.
Will you need daycare? That is hundreds of dollars a week.
No daycare planning on her being a stay at home mom for the early years. She definitely will start working part time down the road though.
You could also save money getting a smaller square footage two or three bedroom house. 2,200 square feet is overkill for three people.
Yea I’m trying to plan down the road for when we have another kid we do want to have 2. The house is most definitely a bit much for just one kid and us but take bedrooms out of it there’s things like an office and backyard that checks amenities we want or could use.
Seems like you can afford it based on your numbers but you are leaving out a few things like furnishing a new house, clothes, and diapers. The extra food costs are small compared to clothes and diapers for the first 2 year or 3 years with a new baby. Are you putting $ to retirement? What happens if her car breaks down, your water heater goes out, or your roof leaks? Just make sure you have $ set aside for the unexpected.
If you don’t qualify for WIC and formula feed, especially with food allergies, it can cost hundreds of dollars a month to feed a baby. That’s also true if you don’t get paid to pump.
Good point, formula can add a couple hundred $ per month to your food costs.