Need honest opinions. Can I afford this house ? (loan, real estate, credit)

[DawnW]

I think the better question is: Could you really afford the cars you have?

Use that $1,400 extra per month to pay off at least one car and then re-evalutate.

Dawn

[6SigGuruMD]

The wife is right. You are not allowing for any wriggle room. Homes are expensive. Things add up. And everybody wants to go buy something every once in a while that isn't planned. Afterall, paying the electric bill is hardly "sexy."

If you ditch a car or get ones without such high payments, then perhaps you can get a house. They are contributing to over 20% of your take home. That is A LOT in my honest opinion.

All the best... :-)

[Bette]

Originally Posted by heydade

Here is the deal...my mortgage including taxes and insurance would be 2,600.

take home salary for me : 4500/month
take home salary for wife : 2300

= 6,800 combined take home

-HOA dues 46
-Electricity 200
-water&garbage 70
-car payments 900
- cable 85
- cell phones 150
- car insurance 200
- life insurance 60
- groceries 400
- internet 65
- credit card debt 300
- gas 400


We are left over with about 1424 a month. Would you buy a home that left you with 1,424 a month when all is said and done. And yes, I have a pension system so I am contributing to my retirement...it is automatically taken from my paycheck. What do you think ? I say yes..lets go for it...she says no.

Look at your payroll deductions. Right now, if you do not own anything, your incomes together are high and you are paying more income tax than if you owned a home. The escrows sound high ($800) - I am guessing the home is around $370K with 20% down. Insurance should be around $2100 per year.
If you owned a home before in Florida, you may qualify for the portability option. It's good to check into that.

If you have a CPA, have them pencil out an approximate scenario for you for next year - then you will have a better idea of where you will be.

[HEATHER72]

Looks like you can afford the house, but can you afford the house and those big car payments? Plus you won't believe how much $$ a house takes besides the monthly payment.

[jhlcomp]

Technically you can afford it, but if you feel squeemish about it then walk away. I think your comfort zone would be around $2000 per month. There are other expenses not mentioned such as eating out or going away for a weekend or braces for the kids.

[Sage of Sagle]

Have $900/month in auto payments and $300/month in credit card debt is a red flag to me.

If you were my buddy and we were talking turkey (I'm just a careful guy, not an expert), I would say you don't have $1400 a month extra...you have $600 a month too much installment debt.

get your credit card paid off, get your car payment total down to $600, then you have $2K buffer each month with no credit card debt.

Take the extra $12K a year, figure $5K a year for unforeseen events, and then make at least one extra house payment each year toward principal ($1800). Still leaves you $5k a year toward vacations, big purchases, etc.

[#Littledog]

Check out Dave Ramsey's website. He would also tell you to ditch the car payments and credit card debt first.

[frogandtoad]

When you say cc debt do you mean you're not paying it off in full each month? If you're making payments on it, then I say no you cannot afford the house. I don't believe in carrying any cc debt at all. Once that is fully paid off? Well...I would say this:

--If you can possibly find something livable in a safe area for less, I would not buy that house. I do not think $1400/month is enough left over.

--That said, if you live somewhere like San Diego and there is no way to find a house which is livable for less then I'd probably go for it but again only after paying off ALL cc debt. And at least one car.

[DawnW]

Oh, and wait, does that $1400 include taxes and insurance? Or is this ONLY mortgage.

Our mortgage is $1200, but insur. and taxes add an additonal $350, and I live in an area with VERY cheap taxes!

Dawn

Originally Posted by heydade

Here is the deal...my mortgage including taxes and insurance would be 2,600.

take home salary for me : 4500/month
take home salary for wife : 2300

= 6,800 combined take home

-HOA dues 46
-Electricity 200
-water&garbage 70
-car payments 900
- cable 85
- cell phones 150
- car insurance 200
- life insurance 60
- groceries 400
- internet 65
- credit card debt 300
- gas 400


We are left over with about 1424 a month. Would you buy a home that left you with 1,424 a month when all is said and done. And yes, I have a pension system so I am contributing to my retirement...it is automatically taken from my paycheck. What do you think ? I say yes..lets go for it...she says no.

[mkal]

I definitely side with your wife. If i were you, i wouldn't pay more than $1800/month. Also, you should really look at paying off your cars. Seems excessive to me. My husband and i make $12,000/ month. Our mortgage payments and all the other expenses included in your list, don't exceed $2200/month.