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[lokheed]

The big news on the home front lately is that Kris and I have started looking for a house.  We went to see a mortgage broker the other day and were basically told we could afford a $250k house, which is of course insane.  Sure, we can be approved for a house that expensive, but there is no way we could afford to pay our bills with a mortgage that large.  We should be talking to a buyer's agent in the next few days, and I think our real target is going to be a house in the $150-200k range.  Neither of us wants to be house poor.  Looking at the online real estate listings, I am finding quite a few properties that look interesting.  Of course, they could all be crack houses that have been prettied up.  We'll see.

Comments

[stannius.livejournal.com]

I think we could get a condo around here for $250k.

Since I assume you make more than me, and both Kris and Nat work, that means we would probably qualify for the same or less of a loan. So I guess we'll keep saving for now and buy a house later...

[lokheed.livejournal.com]

Bear in mind that I am also paying a large chunk of change to child support each month, and I also still have a large pile of revolving debt. (Granted, I've progressively moved that debt away from extremely high interest cards and onto cards under 10%, with one down to 2.9%.) So unless your monthly non-rent debt service is over a thousand bucks, you are probably actually in a better position than we are.

[stannius.livejournal.com]

My non-rent debt service is $50/month (an interest free student loan). I am not disputing that we may be in a better position, but there is a limit to what they'll loan you that is based on your income, independent of other debt. Though other debt does come into play. last i heard the limits were max 25% of income for mortgage payment, max 36% of income for all debt payments including mortgate. so you're right that this may have limited the amount they were willing to loan you, differently from how I would be limited.

I've heard that 2 to 2.5x income is a reasonable loan size. Not quite enough to get a decent house around here. But Nat and I live cheaply enough that we could probably stretch the limits to the max if we need to.

[stannius.livejournal.com]

According to at least one mortgage calculator, we can afford a $380,000 house. That's probably enough to get a decent place, even in Seattle. (not in San Francisco, of course)

[lokheed.livejournal.com]

I don't know how *anyone* is ever able to buy a first home in the Bay Area. I mean, once you have your first house and live in in long enough to build up some equity I can see how you could trade up to something, but who in their right mind would pay a million dollars for the privilige of living in Hayward?