How much house can I afford??

[dfwuno]

Judge Judy would say.. Don't play house..Wait till your married!!!!! Better for the one with the higher income to do it alone.

[orangecat1]

really different perspective here. You're both really young, and you have a chance to kill that student loan debt. I would say that you should get married, find the smallest, cheapest apartment you can live with, both get 2nd jobs, pay off the student loan debt, and then buy a home.

I say this as a teacher who is losing his very valuable stipend this year. I have teenagers. My wife works overtime at work, and I already work a 2nd job, every weekend. I have an interview this afternoon for a better 2nd job. The job itself is better simply because it is closer to home.

Also, don't spend more than you need to on a house because of the property taxes. Our neighborhood's appraisal went up 12-15% this year, and that announcement came on the heels of me barely being able to pay the property taxes last year. Iow, leave plenty of cushion for increases in property taxes. In 5 years, your property taxes could easily go up 50%. $5000 this year, then $7500 in five years. Can you picture that?

[ixxi]

My advice would be to buy a house that is affordable on one income.

[HockDad]

Originally Posted by ixxi

My advice would be to buy a house that is affordable on one income.

If they make equal money, that would be a 100k house. Do you know any nice 100k houses in Dallas?

[lphung129]

Originally Posted by esk1

Yes 20% You definitely don't want to pay PMI

Also if you are using an online mortgage calculator they usually have property tax pretty low in the 1.5% range. Since we don't pay income tax we pay much more property tax that most states so makes sure you look up the city property tax rate were your interested (usually 2-2.8% around dfw) otherwise you will think your going to be paying less a month than you will. The insurance rates they estimate are probably pretty average and can be undercut if you go with a private seller.

definitely great advice here. differences in property tax rates can really make a dent in the budget if not planned accordingly.

For those people that don't want to work the cost of PMI into their monthly budgets, some lenders will allow for the payment to be made up front, in cash, at the time of mortgage origination.

On the otherhand, for those who itemize their tax returns, and earn less than 120k, PMI is deductible.