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How far either you or your wife (or your in-laws) are willing to drive for that free daycare service you're counting on is a key factor. So, keep it in mind.
Another key factor is getting to the bottom line of what will be the cost of monthly taxes/heat/mortgage/other homeowner necessities along with leaving something for unforeseen expenses on the house you choose. If those monthly costs are comfortable you've got it made. But, if not don't even be tempted to buy a house just because a "mortgage calculator" says it's okay to do. How you're doing with your current rent and whether you have any left over at the end of the month is a great indicator of what you are able to pay for a home on a monthly basis. Believe me, it's going to cost you A LOT more to run a house than it's costing you to rent.
There are an awful lot of people who lost their houses in the past several years because "some authority" told them they could afford them! Please don't let yourself be another statistic.
1300 a month in Bayside for rent? WOW!! Thats cheap...
You would like Massapequa.
I agree with 41Will
Massapequa Park or Massapequa sound ideal for your situation. You're about 20-25 minutes from Central Islip, 1 hour LIRR to Penn., and 25 minutes from Bayside (if you ever want to drop by Bayside and visit friends/family?) and close to the amenities of Nassau County, plus you're in a great SD.
Ronk is about 30 minutes from the Massapequa's, your fiance can drop off the kids in C.Islip on the way to work.
Babylon's not bad either. Your commute to Penn will take longer but your DH's drive will be a little shorter. Bab's further out east though. Sounds like you can afford between a $300k-$450k house with that income and no real debt.
Sounds like you can afford between a $300k-$450k house with that income and no real debt.
Don't know how you arrived at that price range. A house at $450K, with a down payment of $60K and let's assume closing costs of no more than $10K (rolled into the mortgage?) still leaves a mortgage of $400K; at 5%, that's $2040/mo just for principal and interest. Add the $1,800 the OP is spending now (those numbers won't change), plus heating costs PLUS homeowners insurance and last but definitely not least, RE taxes!
Let's assume the house they find will actually be in move-in condition - there are always expenses when moving into a house, especially when coming form rentals. Few people nowadays are willing to live with orange crates as furniture
Mid $300s I can see, mid $400s - no lender will even approve them in this environment with the income mentioned.
Don't know how you arrived at that price range. A house at $450K, with a down payment of $60K and let's assume closing costs of no more than $10K (rolled into the mortgage?) still leaves a mortgage of $400K; at 5%, that's $2040/mo just for principal and interest. Add the $1,800 the OP is spending now (those numbers won't change), plus heating costs PLUS homeowners insurance and last but definitely not least, RE taxes!
Let's assume the house they find will actually be in move-in condition - there are always expenses when moving into a house, especially when coming form rentals. Few people nowadays are willing to live with orange crates as furniture
Mid $300s I can see, mid $400s - no lender will even approve them in this environment with the income mentioned.
OK, off the soapbox JMHO...
They don't have to put the whole $60k down. As long as the lender knows they are good for it, they could probably do 10%, 5% or even 3.5% down, like the previous poster stated (sacrificing a little bit on the interest rate of course). I would say they could definitely afford a $450k home. It might be a little tight, but they will get approved if they shop around.
$2900k gross Mortgage/PITI of ~31%, gross expenses about another 2k/mo, and still plenty of cushion for the unexpected. Plus, a big fat Tax Return come February when they get to deduct the RE taxes and Interest on their itemized returns.
They could even ditch one car and save a bundle on insurance/gas/auto payments if they move near an LIRR station. It's definitely possible. 5 years ago, they would have probably been approved for a $600k Mortgage lol.
Remember when doing your budget to replace your $1300 rent with the mortgage payment you get from the calculator. Also, might be obvious but remember to subtract your down payment from the loan amount when inputting data to the calculator.
I plugged your numbers into my budget excel file and with your income you could easily afford a home in the mid $300's with property taxes near 10k/year. With that home and tax price with a 5% interest rate, your payment would be roughly $2600/month. Stick to a budget and you’ll have a nice cushion of disposable income for savings, and shopping, eating out and misc. entertainment.
I would also suggest using a FHA and only putting down 3.5% and keeping the rest in savings. With interest rates so low, and the availablity to claim the interest on your taxes, it is 'cheap money'. Leverage is a GREAT thing if used wisely, which means not putting down 3.5% and blowing the rest of your 60K by spending it, rather save it or invest in less risky investments.
The guidelines are not too strict, just need to be able to show 4 months worth of mortgage payments in the bank/retirement accounts ect. The OP 60K would easily cover the 3.5% down and four months worth of payments.
Remember when doing your budget to replace your $1300 rent with the mortgage payment you get from the calculator. Also, might be obvious but remember to subtract your down payment from the loan amount when inputting data to the calculator.
I plugged your numbers into my budget excel file and with your income you could easily afford a home in the mid $300's with property taxes near 10k/year. With that home and tax price with a 5% interest rate, your payment would be roughly $2600/month. Stick to a budget and you’ll have a nice cushion of disposable income for savings, and shopping, eating out and misc. entertainment.
I would also suggest using a FHA and only putting down 3.5% and keeping the rest in savings. With interest rates so low, and the availablity to claim the interest on your taxes, it is 'cheap money'. Leverage is a GREAT thing if used wisely, which means not putting down 3.5% and blowing the rest of your 60K by spending it, rather save it or invest in less risky investments.
Very reasonable.
To the OP, I'd be very wary of going over 400K regardless of what anyone tells you here or anywhere else....unless you're the person who doesn't enjoy going out to eat or going on a vacation every now and then.
Wow you all have been so helpful! The reason our car payment is so high is becasue I combined the car approx. $350/month with Insurance. We have two cars and one we are still paying ($350) the other is paid for but has insurance.
My future husband would be the one dropping the kids off in Central Islip, but I suppose if we lived close enough, say in the Islip area we could also have my in laws come to our home.
Putting the full 60K down scares me, since we have had this cushion for a while I wouldn't feel great not having anything in the bank.
Since we have never owned a home can someone give a rough estimate as to what it costs to maintain a home (i.e. heat, electric etc). I know these are things that can vary, but I really have no clue.
Thanks gain I can't tell you how apperciative we are!
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JMHO...
