The house you love or the house you are grateful to be able to afford?

General
1

Which one would you go for in your 40s?

House 1: you love it. You will stretch a bit to afford it but you can.

House 2: you can learn to like it. You are not stretching to afford it but you are grateful to be able to afford it because you know that not many people can afford even that.

2

Definitely live within your means. Taxes and insurance are always going up. Maxing yourself out is only going to put you in more financial stress.

3

Ali said:
Definitely live within your means. Taxes and insurance are always going up. Maxing yourself out is only going to put you in more financial stress.

Can confirm. Bought house I dislike but I love the payment and location. Very happy with my 3/1 starter home. 1 bath isn’t all that bad actually after some adjustments.

4

@North
Only if I could add a bath.

5

Ali said:
Definitely live within your means. Taxes and insurance are always going up. Maxing yourself out is only going to put you in more financial stress.

Definitely this. We could have much more house, but love our smaller space. It has everything we need. There is so much to be said for the peace of mind financial comfort (savings) offers.

6

Ali said:
Definitely live within your means. Taxes and insurance are always going up. Maxing yourself out is only going to put you in more financial stress.

As a lender, I can’t tell you how many borrowers have walked simply because I wouldn’t max their loan size and decimate their DTI.

“But the other lender will go to 54% DTI” yeah because they don’t fucking care about you. Now you look at you, house poor and depressed.

7

@Perry
Or they buy the house and can’t keep up with the up keep.

8

Ali said:
Definitely live within your means. Taxes and insurance are always going up. Maxing yourself out is only going to put you in more financial stress.

True. And HOA fees!! Ours went up almost 40 percent this year.

9

@West
That sounds like a scam, HOA fees are not supposed to rise up 40% in a year. Most HOA fees remain nearly constant hovering around the 1000-1500 range.

10

Luca said:
@West
That sounds like a scam, HOA fees are not supposed to rise up 40% in a year. Most HOA fees remain nearly constant hovering around the 1000-1500 range.

Not if your HOA has a lot of grounds upkeep.

11

@Blair
Correct, ours does and it has lots of amenities.

12

Luca said:
@West
That sounds like a scam, HOA fees are not supposed to rise up 40% in a year. Most HOA fees remain nearly constant hovering around the 1000-1500 range.

Ah yes, something you don’t understand must be a scam. Meanwhile, in the real world, insurance increases alone could account for that much of an increase.

13

Luca said:
@West
That sounds like a scam, HOA fees are not supposed to rise up 40% in a year. Most HOA fees remain nearly constant hovering around the 1000-1500 range.

Not a scam. We live in a guard gated community with lots of amenities. We also live in the Southwest and have new watering guidelines. We had to upgrade the drip irrigation system and replace traditional grass landscaping with desert landscaping in all of the common areas. So those costs are being passed down to us. I went to a recent board meeting and it was heated to say the least. lol.

14

@West
Keeps the poor people out.

You can think of it that way.

15

Ali said:
Definitely live within your means. Taxes and insurance are always going up. Maxing yourself out is only going to put you in more financial stress.

Don’t forget maintenance like replacing the roof!

16

@Presley
And electricity/gas, water, food, and car stuff

17

I love a lot of houses I can’t afford. Just add it to your vision board and move on.

I also love traveling and not feeling broke.

18

Peyton said:
I love a lot of houses I can’t afford. Just add it to your vision board and move on.

I also love traveling and not feeling broke.

We prioritize traveling over square footage and have never regretted it. The government will want their share of whatever I leave my kids but they can’t open up their brains and steal 30% of their memories.

19

@Lior
Not yet.

20

The trick is to find a house you can afford and making it yours with updates/personal touches. I also like having money to do more than just enjoy my mortgage.
Cost can add up quickly insurance, taxes, maintenance,etc) . fYI the average person moves like every 7ish years… you can use this as a stepping stone to find or build a house you love.