u/HonestPea4716

Trying to convince myself what house I can afford

Could someone help evaluate if I am comfortably able to pay for a house that costs $280k?

I make $111,084 a year and get roughly a $4k raise per year.

I've been approved for a 30 year traditional mortgage with a 6.5% interest rate for a $280k house with $30k down payment. This comes out to roughly $2200 per month (including PITI, PMI, Insurance, Taxes).

I contribute 5% to roth and my work matches that to 401k.

I have $10k in brokerage accounts, $17k across the roth/401k, and $50k cash ($30k of this is going to down payment and hopefully no more than $10k for closing cost)

Updated to say my monthly net after medical / roth / 401k is: $5,272.70

Here are my current finances:
Vehicle: $434.42 / month
Auto insurance: $88.17 / month
Internet: $100 / month
Electricity: ~$100 / month
Water: ~$30 / month
Trash: ~$30 / month
Groceries (including gas): $500 / month
Student loans (federal $281.34 private ~$300 / month)
Medical expenses: $120 / month
Cell phone: $16.67 / month
Spotify: $13.90 / month
Misc tech stuff: $9.83 / month
Vehicle registration (paid annual but it's $6.75 a month

This would leave me roughly ~$900 free cash every month for savings / personal brokerage account / paying down debt quicker.

My total private student debt is $12,495, which I am planning to use the $900 to pay down quickly. My federal student debt is ~$59k, which I pay $1 above interest for the time being while politics play out. Eventually, I can switch to a new plan and qualify for loan forgiveness, but this is a longer term strategy / post buying a house / post paying off private student debt. I figure the cost of interest on the federal debt is so low, my money is better spent with building equity / roth / 401k / brokerage accounts.

Thoughts? criticism?

EDIT: I also want to add that originally I was looking at a house around $240-250k. However, at that price, I would be getting a home that I would eventually need to put money into remodeling. At $280k I am getting a house with a remodeled kitchen / bath, hardwood floors, etc. There is nothing major I would need to do (knock on wood). Basically at $280k, I am paying a ~$40k premium to have a house I don't need to work on.

EDIT: Also, one last consideration I always forget about. While on paper my retirement doesn't look great for my age (39 now). I will be getting a federal pension in addition to my retirement accounts. I'm one year into the Federal Employees Retirement System and plan to work this job at least 30 years.

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u/HonestPea4716 — 4 days ago