Where to live?

[stephwin]

Originally Posted by hbdwihdh378y9

You can afford a lot more than a $300,000 house. Easily.

That doesn't mean they should. OP said they want to put money towards savings and retirement. Plus they will be having a kid soon, which means added costs in the future. They probably don't want to max out what they can afford because they might not be able to afford healthcare costs or daycare in the future (maybe one of them wants to stay at home after the kids come). And we all know how much we gripe every year when May 1st rolls around and our taxes go up.

[AceGoldstein]

Originally Posted by hbdwihdh378y9

You can afford a lot more than a $300,000 house. Easily.

Anyway, why would you not simply live between Garland and downtown?Listen to Turtle Creek's advice.

If the general rule of thumb is no more than 2.5x of income, I'd much rather be in the 2-2.25x range. I have friends with solid income ($100K combined) that are in $300-325K homes. That seems like a huge stretch to me.

I'm going to a few open houses this weekend in the areas TC mentioned.

[GBCommenter]

Originally Posted by stephwin

That doesn't mean they should. OP said they want to put money towards savings and retirement. Plus they will be having a kid soon, which means added costs in the future. They probably don't want to max out what they can afford because they might not be able to afford healthcare costs or daycare in the future (maybe one of them wants to stay at home after the kids come). And we all know how much we gripe every year when May 1st rolls around and our taxes go up.

Originally Posted by AceGoldstein

If the general rule of thumb is no more than 2.5x of income, I'd much rather be in the 2-2.25x range. I have friends with solid income ($100K combined) that are in $300-325K homes. That seems like a huge stretch to me.

I'm going to a few open houses this weekend in the areas TC mentioned.

Sounds like Ace already has this figured out, but do what's comfortable for your wife and you. You know your budget, goals, and priorities (which none of us really know your preferences). It seems far better to have a house that isn't as flashy, but you're perfectly comfortable living in, and have dollars you can set aside.

Better to be able to save for an uncertain future (as all of our futures are ultimately uncertain), and have money you're able to spend on fun stuff without wringing your palms. Also, it's frankly better to start investing/saving when you're young and have more time to take advantage of compound interest - especially when things like Social Security are unlikely to provide the promised benefits for Gen X and Millennials (though that's entirely another topic).

Hopefully your friends who bought those $300K houses aren't regretting it because every frivolous purchase is now a major decision so they end up never doing anything leisure.