How does anyone afford a house?

So now that we are married we are doing some research on purchasing a home. Maybe not for 2-3 yrs but Im just googling for information.

i figure knowledge is power but you know what... all this knowledge is doing, is making me terrified.

It seems impossible to afford ANYTHING. We make decent salaries but nothing close to what we need. This may be a 5-10 year plan.

Scary and discouraging, unless I want to move to the middle of the forest and purchase a shack somewhere.

HOW DOES ANYONE AFFORD A HOUSE AND HAVE KIDS AT THE SAME TIME!!?

Message edited 3/10/2011 11:00:36 AM.

Re: How does anyone afford a house?

We live in debt or do without.

I had a coop in Garden City before I got married so when I sold that.. It was our down payment on the house. If it weren't for that.. we wouldnt' have been able to afford a house.

Re: How does anyone afford a house?

Its very very difficult, but you just have to jump into it. You get used to cutting things out that you don't need. We also bought a forclosure which helped us get into a house in a good area.

Re: How does anyone afford a house?

we saved, saved, saved. we moved into a basement studio in my ex's dad's house (no rent), cut back on spending entirely.. not eating out as much, bringing lunch in. cheap dinners (hello ramen noodles! lol) we even picked up side jobs to save....

Re: How does anyone afford a house?

the first thing you need to do is sit down and look at your finances

Your & DH Income
Savings & Assets


Debt - student loans, credit cards, car loans, etc
Monthly Bills - utilities, dry cleaning, grocery, pharmacy, dining out, entertainment, gifts, MTA Metrocard, LIRR Ticket, Gas for cars, etc and so on
Miscellaneous --- all those little things you don't count on (track your expenses for 3 months and see what you really spend on...)


After you do all that, you can kind of see what you can afford monthly and take it from there. Historically, your salary & benefits will go up, so you have that in yor favor ... There are benefits to owning a home & having children (deductions, etc...), also property taxes kind of take the place of NYC tax so that helps....

Your best bet is to get your financial house in order .... understand it - know your money flow. From there, talk to someone (a Real Estate Agent or Mortgage Broker) who will give you more information and ask away on he boards.

Good Luck

Re: How does anyone afford a house?

Continenal Home loans is having a first time home buyers seminar on 3/31

they are super informative- no pressure and pizza

FM me if you want to come- I think it will calm your fears

if you can't make it on the 31st they have them monthly- just let me know

Re: How does anyone afford a house?

Re: How does anyone afford a house?

Ummm move out of NY?

Re: How does anyone afford a house?

Re: How does anyone afford a house?

Posted by Elbee

the first thing you need to do is sit down and look at your finances

Your & DH Income
Savings & Assets


Debt - student loans, credit cards, car loans, etc
Monthly Bills - utilities, dry cleaning, grocery, pharmacy, dining out, entertainment, gifts, MTA Metrocard, LIRR Ticket, Gas for cars, etc and so on
Miscellaneous --- all those little things you don't count on (track your expenses for 3 months and see what you really spend on...)


After you do all that, you can kind of see what you can afford monthly and take it from there. Historically, your salary & benefits will go up, so you have that in yor favor ... There are benefits to owning a home & having children (deductions, etc...), also property taxes kind of take the place of NYC tax so that helps....

Your best bet is to get your financial house in order .... understand it - know your money flow. From there, talk to someone (a Real Estate Agent or Mortgage Broker) who will give you more information and ask away on he boards.

Good Luck

Re: How does anyone afford a house?

I have 3 little kids and we just bought a little over 6 months ago

It's all about organization and a budget

I know what I can spend, how and where.

Sometimes (like today for spring clothes ) I can spend whatever I want, but most of the time every penny has it's place.

We also save a lot so that makes for less spending on "whatever".

Re: How does anyone afford a house?

we don't have kids so we have a house. we can't have both and might be able to because we don't make very much and have debt now. If we can pay down our debt and get a raise possibly then we could have children or we have to sell and live with parents or apartment.

Re: How does anyone afford a house?

We moved OOS. We could afford a house up north but too far from our jobs, crazy commutes.

We took a transfer to NC and now we have the life we want for our family.

Re: How does anyone afford a house?

It is all realistically about a budget
If you are not planning for 1-2 years, set a budget now so that you can save as much $$ as possible
More money saved means more of a down payment and less of a mortage payment
You also need to look at your finances and track what you bring in and what you spend
From there you can determine what you need to cut out and how much of a mortgage you can afford
But you have to keep in mind with a house - you will hit many bumps - like one month the heat might not work and you have to pay to get it fixed
Just make sure you can account for the emergencies

Re: How does anyone afford a house?

This is the EXACT reason we ended up buying a two-family with my mother. We didn't know when we would get the chance to do it on our own, so we chose a different path. It works for us, we split all the bills down the middle, we pay mortgage, and mom pays taxes.

Re: How does anyone afford a house?

well we did an FHA with a small amount down and bought a tiny 2bed house in an area we could afford, that didn't need loads of work just small cosmetics. No sense in living above our means...

Re: How does anyone afford a house?

It really depends where you look and your budget. There are starter homes on LI.

Re: How does anyone afford a house?

Posted by Jenny614

Ummm move out of NY?

Re: How does anyone afford a house?

The housing affordability on LI is better than ever now, with low interest rates. And rentals are kind of scarce on LI, compared to other areas, so rent for even relatively small spaces can be high.
If you can qualify for a good interest rate and have a decent downpayment, a lot of times a mortgage payment can be equal to or less than monthly rent.

I would say that you should try to save for a down payment (and closing costs, which are usually around 6% of the purchase price for a buyer), and make sure that your credit is good (if not, try to improve your credit score now). Then, when you are ready to start seriously looking, sit down with a mortgage professional to find out what you can afford and what your monthly payment would be.

A lot of people get hung up on the overall price of a house, but that is not really relevant unless you are paying all cash. If you are going to get financing, then you need to look at what the monthly payment will be (including taxes, insurance, PMI, if you need to pay it, etc.).

Don't get discouraged! If you ever have questions, feel free to contact me.

Re: How does anyone afford a house?

The worst part about buying a house for us was the downpayment. We bought our house 18 months ago right before we got married.

I had lived in my apt for 10 years. My rent when I left was $1,700 + utilities. DH was paying $1,200 including utilities. Our monthly mortgage payment (with taxes, insurance, etc.) is $2,900. Neither one of us really notices a difference because we're both paying more or less what we were before.

However, saving the $$ for the downpayment was rough. Luckily, DH is an AMAZING saver. Because of him, we were able to put down 20%. Without his savings, I would have only been able to get an FHA loan.

It's hard not to get down, but you can do it if you take a realistic look at your budget.

Re: How does anyone afford a house?

Honestly, I think its just a matter of making do with what you have... cutting back where you need to etc...

DH & I dont make all that much but so far we can pay the mortgage on a 3 bed condo and still able to shop, eat out etc... We know that will all change though once we have a child... We have an FHA loan on the house ... you can put down as little as 3.5% ... We put down about 7% bc thats what we could do... and we were loaned closing costs which we pay back to FIL monthly... Where there's a will, there's a way...

As long as you're loooking at houses that are within your means, you will figure out a way to get it done! Dont lose hope

Re: How does anyone afford a house?

We banked my salary for 7 years and lived on DH's alone before buying a house and having a baby. We put down 25%, and that enables us to cover childcare/working less to care for DS.

I don't know how people put down so little and still afford to live once you have a DC and pay for childcare.

Re: How does anyone afford a house?

Honestly in today's market I think its completely doable. We took our wedding money for downpayment and closing costs. We did an fha loan. We are ttc and I think we will be fine. We both make good money but pay more per month in student loans than our mortgage is. Just don't buy a huge house in the best neighborhood. We fixed our up.

Re: How does anyone afford a house?

you'd be surprised at how much you can afford.

once you sit down with a lender (I'd run, not walk, to Continental Home Loans when the time comes), you will probably be surprised at how much you will be qualified for.

Re: How does anyone afford a house?