Can I afford a $100K house with a $200K down payment?

This forum is full of the same posts over and over. ‘I make X dollars, and the house is X dollars—can I afford it?’

No one mentions taxes, insurance, emergency funds, or anything else important.

Should we create a better template for posts? Or just link people to one of the thousands of online calculators that can give them the answer?

Agreed. Half the time these posts are just weird flexes anyway: ‘I make $500K a year, no debt, and have $1M in retirement savings. Oh, and I’m 20 years old with a 50% annual raise. But these 6% interest rates are just destroying me!’

@Yan
So true.

I had to click into this post because I was like, ‘What the heck?’ :rofl:

Finley said:
I had to click into this post because I was like, ‘What the heck?’ :rofl:

Haha, I figured most of the clicks would be rage clicks, but at least people agree with the point.

A lot of these posts are just people flexing their salaries, savings, or household income.

I kind of want these folks to buy the houses just to see the posts six months later: ‘How screwed am I for buying this house on my income?’ or ‘Help, I regret buying this house.’

No wonder there’s $18 trillion in household debt in the U.S.

@Eli
My wife and I bought an expensive house last year. We have a high mortgage but also a good household income.

The first year was tough because we had to repair major things like the roof, which we didn’t know about when we bought it. Our savings took a hit, but we’ve recovered now. Things have settled, and we’re planning to refocus on retirement savings this year.

It’s doable, but there are tough moments. Still, owning your own home can be worth it.

Why do people keep asking this? Isn’t that the whole point of getting preapproved?

No one posts realistic situations because everyone on here will just tell them not to buy. :joy:

Here’s an example of what this sub would hate:

‘Hey, can I afford a $290K house with a $10K down payment on a $75K salary? I have no savings and $50K in a 401(k)—which I’ll need to borrow from to cover the down payment and closing costs. My monthly payment is $2,200, including taxes and insurance. No kids, no pets. Can I afford this?’

Of course, no one posts stuff like this. Only wealthy people are comfortable sharing their situations here.