u/Buddro89

My wife has recently left her job and does not plan to go back to work for a year or two. I am applying for work back home and expect to be able to get a job earning around 80K annually (in the united states). This is all in early stages for us and I am not ready yet to go to loan rate calculators but am trying to do a little planning.

I am trying to ballpark reasonable homes and plan ahead in case I do get hired on. We would be selling our current home and expect to have 120K to put into the loan on the next home. We would both be on the loan and have excellent credit although my wife does not plan to go back to work for some time. We own our three vehicles outright and have no debts other than our current mortgage. I know I am leaving a lot out here but I am just trying to ballpark.

My concern is that the cheapest viable house we have seen on the market so far is $430K. Lets assume 7.5% apr. Thoughts on taking on a mortgage for around 330K with an income of only 80k? What if we were to throw an additional 50K into the down payment?

As I get ready for my yearly foray into clipless riding, only to inevitably decide some article says flats are just as efficient and I like walking around places without my cleats destroying the floors, it occurs to me...every discussion of flats vs clipless has several posts talking about the immense danger of not coming out of your pedals fast enough. There are always a couple of "I hate coming off of my pedals when I shouldn't in flats" but coming off of the pedals is always an inconvenience of flats and not a hazard of flats. I know personally of more than a few injuries some life changing as a result of feet slipping off of pedals, it amazes me that it doesn't seem to be touted as a hazard very often.

Edit for clarity, Not being able to come out of clippless fast enough is a hazard of clipless. Slipping off of flats is an inconvenience but not a safety issue.

Not trying to make a strong argument against flats here, or open another debate about the two, just musing. Like I said I flip flop between both and don't have a strong opinion either way, this time I am thinking that as am chasing more technical riding I may have more fun being able to move and position my rear wheel more easily.