Personal Finance Question (apartment, rental, condo)

[MurphyPl1]

And we'll never know because the OP probably isn't coming back

[TeamLynn]

I'd like to see you pay off your credit card debt before you buy.
Do you have to do that...NO....
You'll be a lot happier if you do.
Knock that out.....you should have enough stuff by now with that kind of balance.

[UnfairPark]

It looks like our OP got scared of our assumptions and speculations. You have to give it to us that we did what we could with the limited information he provided.

[Stevehanrahan41]

I'm certainly not what you would consider fiscally conservative, but having CC debt that's 1/3 of your annual income seems foolish. Whether your making 50k or 150k.

[andros471975]

I am reading carefully - appreciate all the fine opinions. There are certainly knowledgeable people on this board.

[andros471975]

Credit score is around 725.

[tcualum]

Have you considered meeting with a fee based financial advisor?

[andros471975]

I have met with one. He gave some useful advice. Looking at the likelihood of rising interest rates he recommended buying a house but also paying down the debt as aggressively as possible.

[BLDSoon]

Originally Posted by andros471975

I have met with one. He gave some useful advice. Looking at the likelihood of rising interest rates he recommended buying a house but also paying down the debt as aggressively as possible.

I agree. I say buy the house now. You can easily afford to. Once thats done, take a hammer to that credit card debt, because again, you can afford to. Once thats done, pay cash for things or if you get perks on your cards pay them off monthly. Quit carrying balances, cause you can afford not to.

Pretty simple really..

[Annikan]

Is there anything else you are leaving out of the overall picture? What's the 5 year plan? Are you fully funding your 401k? Do you have anything else (IRAS, ROTH, other investments?) Planning on any type of grad school in the near future?


Are you single, married, kids, no kids? What's the rush to get a house--are marriage/kids in the near future? I'm asking that because many people rush for the house right before they plan to marry or have kids. And they base what they can afford on their previous single life. If you want to have kids any time in the next 3-5 years and you don't expect enormous raises in that time, then you should factor in the future costs of childcare. My friends still in Dallas tell me full time daycares are anywhere from $1300-2000/kid, with nannies anywhere from $14-$20/hour. So let's say you have two kids--that's anywhere form $2600-$3600 a month in childcare expenses alone, nevermind all the other things like food and diapers and clothes and toys and classes.