r/NewbHomebuyer

So, my husband and I live in santa fe NM. We both combined make a little over 200,000$ a year. Probably 210,000 before taxes, well anyway, he is 30, and I'm 27, I work part time and he works full time. The housing market here SUCKS and is expensive. It is about an hour commute for both jobs for a reasonable house ... ... like 500,000, but anything closer is easily 680,000+ into the millions ... Santa fe sucks ass, and not good for younger people but does those housing prices justify that we make 210,000 before taxes yearly? Or should we move to SC, buy a house for like 250,000 fully pay it off, and no debt? But, him and I would be taking a cut to about 150,000 yearly together... wtf should we do?!?!?! We are looking at next year. This is a MASSIVE decision

I work in the mortgage industry, and something I see people misunderstand is how much they should actually spend on a home.

Just because you're pre-approved for $500k doesn't mean you need to buy a $500k house.

A lender looks at your income, debts, credit, and other financial factors to determine what you may qualify for. But that doesn't necessarily mean the maximum amount is going to be comfortable for your lifestyle.

You still have groceries, car payments, savings goals, vacations, and unexpected expenses. Not to mention property taxes and insurance can increase over time.

I've seen people get so focused on what they're approved for that they forget to think about what they actually want their monthly payment to look like.

Personally, I think being comfortable with your payment is way more important than buying at the top of your budget.

Curious what everyone thinks. If you've bought a home, did you spend close to your maximum pre-approval or intentionally stay below it?

I work in mortgage and I feel like I hear this almost every day. People want to buy, but they’re holding off because they’re waiting for rates to come down.

I totally understand the thought process, but I think home prices and competition get left out of the conversation way too often.

For example, say a home is $700k today at 7.5%. The principal and interest payment would be around $4,895. If you wait and rates come down to 6.75%, but that same house is now $750k, the payment is still around $4,864. So you waited for a pretty decent rate drop just to save about $30 a month.

Then there’s the competition side of it. If rates do drop, there could be a lot of buyers who have also been sitting on the sidelines coming back into the market at the same time. That could mean more competition for the same homes and potentially higher prices.

Obviously nobody knows exactly where rates or home prices are going, and I’m not saying everyone should rush out and buy right now. I just think it’s worth looking at the whole picture instead of focusing only on the rate.

For anyone currently looking, are you waiting for rates to drop or would you buy now if you found the right house?