OK, so long story short..I'm moving with my wife very shortly. We will walk away from our house with maybe $10,000 from the sale or just break even with loan value and sale price.
We live well within our means, and have the ability to really upgrade our home once we move.
Not to bore people with how poor I am, but $250,000 would be an absolute limit when taking into account our ability to throw down 20% down payment and keep payments reasonable.
We are used to paying a $150,000 mortgage.
Anyway, cost of living in this new area compared to current area will be low...but I'm not a huge fan of the housing options right now. Although, some I DO like are within range.
Realizing that I won't pull the trigger on new home until my old one sells, let's say hypothetically I just sold my house. Now I have some interesting options I've been thinking of.
1. Buy a really cheap house in a decent neighborhood, like sub $75,000.00. Throw down a huge down payment and then pay off the remaining loan in a few years....or just have miniscule monthly payments with a modest down payment. Upside, financially sound. Downside, I won't feel like I'm in a better place then before, and eventually I will have to move again...if anything the house might be substantially worse.
2. Rent. Rent an nice apartment for $500-800 a month. Wait for the right house. Upside, your only obligation is the lease and you won't have to deal with the real estate drama when you find the house you want. Downside, it might be difficult finding a nice apartment with a month to month lease or yearly contract with low penalties. I don't want to find my dream house and be 1 month into a 12 month lease D:
3. Just buy the house of our dreams. Upside, It will be nice to finally live in a "real" house and feel all growed up. Downside, a much larger house payment will need to be made, leaving less wiggle room.
4. Buy a modest home, but don't go overboard. Upside, might be able to latch onto a decent property that meets needs/wants. Downside, it might be much tougher to upgrade from a home like this and if value drops again, you are caught in a trap.
========================================
Any other alternatives? I feel like buying a cheap house, (and yes there are MANY sub 80k homes where I'm moving, even in OK areas) might make more financial sense then renting...but renting will be less of a headache.
We live well within our means, and have the ability to really upgrade our home once we move.
Not to bore people with how poor I am, but $250,000 would be an absolute limit when taking into account our ability to throw down 20% down payment and keep payments reasonable.
We are used to paying a $150,000 mortgage.
Anyway, cost of living in this new area compared to current area will be low...but I'm not a huge fan of the housing options right now. Although, some I DO like are within range.
Realizing that I won't pull the trigger on new home until my old one sells, let's say hypothetically I just sold my house. Now I have some interesting options I've been thinking of.
1. Buy a really cheap house in a decent neighborhood, like sub $75,000.00. Throw down a huge down payment and then pay off the remaining loan in a few years....or just have miniscule monthly payments with a modest down payment. Upside, financially sound. Downside, I won't feel like I'm in a better place then before, and eventually I will have to move again...if anything the house might be substantially worse.
2. Rent. Rent an nice apartment for $500-800 a month. Wait for the right house. Upside, your only obligation is the lease and you won't have to deal with the real estate drama when you find the house you want. Downside, it might be difficult finding a nice apartment with a month to month lease or yearly contract with low penalties. I don't want to find my dream house and be 1 month into a 12 month lease D:
3. Just buy the house of our dreams. Upside, It will be nice to finally live in a "real" house and feel all growed up. Downside, a much larger house payment will need to be made, leaving less wiggle room.
4. Buy a modest home, but don't go overboard. Upside, might be able to latch onto a decent property that meets needs/wants. Downside, it might be much tougher to upgrade from a home like this and if value drops again, you are caught in a trap.
========================================
Any other alternatives? I feel like buying a cheap house, (and yes there are MANY sub 80k homes where I'm moving, even in OK areas) might make more financial sense then renting...but renting will be less of a headache.
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