I think we need to be very careful about housing.
I was talking to an older gentleman a couple of weeks ago - he noted that “everyone knew” back in the day that your mortgage payment should be no more than a week’s wages.
One of the ways that we can be intentional is making plans that are realistic - we won’t be able to do the fun stuff (15% towards retirement, build up school savings for the kids, pay off the house early) if we’re on a treadmill involving a mortgage payment we can’t afford.
We’ve always had small down payments, never been debt-free, never had an emergency fund - we were too broke to buy a house.
One of the problems is pressure - there's pressure from people around you to build wealth by buying a house young - even if you can just barely get into it.
I’ve paid to have homes re-plumbed, re-wired, full HVAC conversions including ductwork modifications, had to do structural renovations - and that was one house. Other houses have involved A/C installations, furnace installations...
You don’t need a house when you’re too broke to fix it.
You don’t need a house when you’re too broke to heat, insure and pay the property taxes for it.
You need a house when it’s going to be your home, when your emergency fund is built up and HVAC systems, electrical issues or a plumbing service call don’t cause you total panic and a sleepless wife, but mild annoyance.
If you need to have a $150,000 down payment in order to make your mortgage payment equal to or less than 25% of your family’s take-home pay, then I guess you need to start saving.
You won’t win with money by rushing in.
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