Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Austin
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 11-29-2012, 09:19 PM
 
57 posts, read 120,983 times
Reputation: 17

Advertisements

Looking for some advice for a first time home buyer for my wife and I (with possibility of parents moving in down the road).

We both have great jobs that gets us roughly 65k after taxes we are comfortable within our apt and our so-so lifestyle without the heavy college partying as we are trying to live like poor college kids and pretend the money isn't there but we do enjoy our normal dinner dates etc and watch our road trips to see family.

With that said, we are experiencing some raising rent concerns 830+water 2 yrs ago, to now 1150+water for new lease. then about 950 in bills for internet/elec/able/car/phone etc.

With a total around 2k for rent+bills; and possibly some room of 500 additional, what is the most house we can afford out here with about 20-35k down? with avg credit... are we being realistic that we are ready for a home? are we looking at something closer to $200k or am i blowing it out of proportion for mortgage(w/tax/ins)+util and we can go upto $275-290?

(yes ive seen the morgate calculators etc but i need more realistic home owner advice with what everyone is paying for taxes/inssurance/util etc for austin a month. We live north around 35 and howard, we want to be in the 45/35 area and willing to goto 45/130 area (or 45/183) and new build of course (wifey only wants new build lol).

Ideally looking for:
2400+ SQ ft
4bd +
1/2 story dont matter.
new build!
Range? not sure! where to begin before we go get pre-qualified. Think we need to find somthing within next 6-9 months!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 11-29-2012, 09:52 PM
 
2,633 posts, read 6,398,883 times
Reputation: 2887
With where interest rates are, 250 shouldn't be much of a stretch. That would leave you with a mortgage (including taxes and insurance) somewhere in the 1700 range, depending on what interest rate you get.

You'll find that your utilitity bills in a newer home vs. apartment won't be much higher, and may in fact even go down.

Add to that the tax advantages of the mortgage interest deduction and you really won't be spending much more than what you are right now.

There are quite a few options in the area you're looking for. As a first step, I'd talk to a lender and see what they say - they're very conservative on the debt/income ratios right now so it'll give a realistic picture for you. If you're looking for new build that you select all the finishes, count on a 4-6 month process, minimum, from the time you sign a contract.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-29-2012, 09:55 PM
 
18 posts, read 33,901 times
Reputation: 10
Call a mortgage broker who specializes in the area you want to buy a house and get prequalified. That is the ONLY way you will know the reality of your situation.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-30-2012, 03:34 PM
 
57 posts, read 120,983 times
Reputation: 17
Thank you for your replies so far! I'm hoping my wife gets a paybump to nicer salary at least and hoping for myself as well!

Anyone recommend one builder vs another? i know KB homes and lennar have their bad vibes but are ryland, david weekly, or others any better? want bang for buck obviously but better quality for what we can afford.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-30-2012, 05:36 PM
 
Location: Round Rock, TX
1,317 posts, read 4,057,281 times
Reputation: 766
Quote:
Originally Posted by EzPeterson View Post
Add to that the tax advantages of the mortgage interest deduction and you really won't be spending much more than what you are right now.
Isn't the government thinking of eliminating this soon?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-30-2012, 06:39 PM
 
2,633 posts, read 6,398,883 times
Reputation: 2887
Quote:
Originally Posted by mickey65 View Post
Isn't the government thinking of eliminating this soon?
Depends on who you voted for, and how much fear-mongering you buy
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-30-2012, 06:54 PM
 
8,009 posts, read 10,424,435 times
Reputation: 15032
Quote:
Originally Posted by chailof View Post
Thank you for your replies so far! I'm hoping my wife gets a paybump to nicer salary at least and hoping for myself as well!

Anyone recommend one builder vs another? i know KB homes and lennar have their bad vibes but are ryland, david weekly, or others any better? want bang for buck obviously but better quality for what we can afford.
David Weekly is good, but I doubt you'll find anything in your price range.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-02-2012, 04:52 PM
 
11 posts, read 33,141 times
Reputation: 30
Ryland makes a good home. You might try Falcon Pointe in Pflugerville or Teravista in Round Rock. I know they are building in both of those communities and both have houses under 250k for what you are looking for.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-02-2012, 07:05 PM
 
Location: Texas Hill Country
2,392 posts, read 9,650,964 times
Reputation: 806
We have a Pulte and no major issues in the 5 yrs since it was built.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-03-2012, 07:07 AM
 
Location: Austin, TX
732 posts, read 2,125,905 times
Reputation: 477
You have 65k total after taxes or 65k each?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Austin

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:23 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top