maybe somewhere around the Arboreteum? (West, Westlake: real estate, rental, homeowners insurance)

[OpenToSuggestions]

I work in Westlake, she works at Parmer and Mopac. We are trying to limit our commute time so we are trying not to crawl too far up the 183 corridor. I'm 40 and she's 38, we have paid off our first house and want to keep it as a rental (and to help fund the education of our 6 and 7 year old kids). Where would we find the ideal house and how big a mortgage should we try to shoot for? I was hoping that someone could give us some suggestions using only these parameters as a guide.
Any number of search engines allow me to look for houses using a price range as a determinant, but only people could provide suggestions with these kinds of metrics. I'm doing this backwards on purpose. Thanks.

[Austin97]

great hills/northwest hills. Price range 550-600K. For around 3000 sq ft.

[RoadWarrior12]

There is literally no way of answering that question without knowing:

1. Your risk tolerance

2. Current income

3. Available down payment

4. Current debt situation (debt/income ratio)

[Idlewile]

Northwest Hills.

Do you know what your ideal PITI is? Mortgage lenders prefer PITI to be equal to, or less than 28%, of a borrower's gross monthly income:

Front-end ratio: The housing expense, or front-end, ratio shows how much of your gross (pretax) monthly income would go toward the mortgage payment. As a general guideline, your monthly mortgage payment, including principal, interest, real estate taxes and homeowners insurance, should not exceed 28 percent of your gross monthly income. To calculate your housing expense ratio, multiply your annual salary by 0.28, then divide by 12 (months). The answer is your maximum housing expense ratio.
via http://www.bankrate.com/finance/mort...ou-buy--1.aspx

[OpenToSuggestions]

1. Your risk tolerance
Low

2. Current income
Him $85K, her $45K

3. Available down payment
$80K

4. Current debt situation (debt/income ratio)
No mortgage, no car loan, $15K in student loans, but only $60K in a Roth 401K (to which I am contributing approximately 10% of my income and have an additional 15% match from my company)

[OpenToSuggestions]

Thank you, Idlewile. I know how much house I CAN buy, but I'm trying to decide what house I SHOULD buy given our situation.

[RoadWarrior12]

Originally Posted by OpenToSuggestions

1. Your risk tolerance
Low

2. Current income
Him $85K, her $45K

3. Available down payment
$80K

4. Current debt situation (debt/income ratio)
No mortgage, no car loan, $15K in student loans, but only $60K in a Roth 401K (to which I am contributing approximately 10% of my income and have an additional 15% match from my company)

That's a pretty good spot to be in, debt-wise.

I'd say take your Gross - taxes on the rental - student loan payment - 401K and use that as your gross income for determining your PITI. At 28% and back of the envelope math, that would put you around 350K for a mortgage amount. There will be stuff in your range, but it'll go quickly.

Check Barrington Oaks and the area between Mopac/Duval/183. There's some pretty cool stuff in that second area.

[Idlewile]

Originally Posted by OpenToSuggestions

Thank you, Idlewile. I know how much house I CAN buy, but I'm trying to decide what house I SHOULD buy given our situation.

These questions are for the Mortgage forum.

[OpenToSuggestions]

Thanks.

[Austin97]

At 300k look around barrington oaks around spicewood springs and 183 or on the other side of 183 around amherst and parmer.

barrington oaks feeds into cathy caraway (I think), canyon vista, westwood. One of the toughest and best school chains in the city.