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Damn $20 is not enough! If that's the case I'll never be able to buy a home here! LOL . Working in health care and several raises and money saved is not enough. I guess I'm renting until I die
It might be enough. Go get preapproved use a real home about $200K as a guide as to what you want to buy. Depending on the loan between 30 to 45% of your debt to income ratio is acceptable so if you don't have any student loans or a lot of credit card or monthly car payments you could be fine.
Your monthly gross is about $3200 so you can afford a monthly payment of $1100 if you don't have a lot of other debts a VA loan may give you a higher amount of your income to use to qualify.
I just checked and a VA loan can go to 41% is $1312 a month. You may have to find a cheaper place in Tacoma or find a cheaper place to buy, but don't get sucked into high rents instead.
That’s a great house for $210K! I love the loft in the main house and the upstairs office is the backyard shed. I’d buy this over a condo all day. Only 30-40 minutes to Seattle too.
To the OP don’t get too caught up on paying $600 more than you currently pay in rent. Don’t forget every month a good portion (20%+ in the beginning ) will go towards principal. That’s your money. Think of it as forced savings account. There’s also the tax benefits and stable housing costs. Something that only gonna keep climbing in the Seattle area. Not sure if you want one at age 38, but you could always bring on a roommate to help offset your mortgage. Buy the SFR closest to Seattle and/or your job that works for you and don’t look back.
Taco, please explain "every month a good portion (20%+ in the beginning ) will go towards principal". Do you mean that the amount he borrowed then goes down because he has paid off part of what he borrowed and then actually owns part of the house scot-free? Does that decrease the mortgage payment?
I agree with those who say buy a house. I still cannot "see" condo apartments. So much is totally out of your control.
Damn $20 is not enough! If that's the case I'll never be able to buy a home here! LOL . Working in health care and several raises and money saved is not enough. I guess I'm renting until I die
I have done it and made out quite well. But, I'd surely not try it on the west cost, having observed the difficulties of a friend there. She paid three times what I pay to rent a house the size of my apartment.
Maybe I have just been lucky but, on the whole renting hasn't been a bad deal. I'd still recommend that a young person try to invest in property, though, if you can. But not what I call and apartment condo. Get a good place that will hold its value.
OP-Just curious with that type of experience have you not shopped around for higher paying jobs in your field? $20 after 10 years of experience sounds very low to me.
Um, no. But you may be renting until you relocate!
There's a whole country east of Seattle. Face north and turn right!
Actually, I would say face South and you only have to go about 60 miles to find a place with plenty of health care jobs and much more affordable housing.
OP-Just curious with that type of experience have you not shopped around for higher paying jobs in your field? $20 after 10 years of experience sounds very low to me.
I am a pharmacy tech in a nursing home. $20 is low? I started out at $13 an hr back in 2009.
I have no debt and alot of money saved up. No car . Biggest overall expense is rent. Then food. Overall I am pretty happy. Debt free life is awesome. I guess even $20 is not enough to buy a condo here. Thanks for the answers.
Last edited by leegary1982; 01-16-2020 at 07:10 PM..
The only purpose of condo is convenience and not having to move once your lease is up (or even thinking about it).
But, your HOA fees may go up significantly any time and your income doesn't look like it could handle that well. Then what ? You're gonna wreck your credit or keep throwing money out of the window till you sell it ?!?
I think you should start making a large excel sheet covering all major areas in U.S. with property prices, climate, taxes, etc.
Spend 6 months on it, each week researching a different area. Life's too short to spend it in financial anxiety just because at this very moment you happen to be stuck at a place that is supposed to be occupied by a different income class.
For example, there's large 3-5 bedroom houses all around North Dakota for under $20k. But, you might not fully appreciate the weather here (-30 is a regular occurrence here) and the commute can be problematic in winter (which can run from Late September through late May) - you actually really need a good truck around here to drive through all the snow and deers. Feeding that truck (< 10 MPG) will add up real quick for sure.
But, it should be a part of the excel sheet (column - "driving costs") nonetheless so you can look at each area multidimensionally and make a final decision.
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