Originally posted by Blistna
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My husband and I sat down and figured out our finances before buying our house 12 years ago. He's a professor so he has a very stable salary that isn't going to go up or down drastically. We can plan on about a 2% raise every year and have our retirement taken out and they pay much of the health insurance so figuring out what we have to spend is pretty straight-forward.
Anyway, the number we came up with that we could afford every month was lower than what the mortgage company said we could afford so we had no problem getting our mortgage....and we stuck with the number we came up with ourselves which has turned out to be a very good choice because even with our stable income you never know when a bunch of expenses are going to pop up. Especially in regards to keeping a house in good repair. We bought a new house so we've only had basic stuff but that still adds up to at least a couple of thousand dollars a year after 12 years. If the house you're thinking about is over 15 years old, there's going to be a lot of expenses that could hit you at any moment.....painting (we just got an estimate of $5000 for that), new roof, water heater, carpet, basic repairs, etc., etc. If you do buy an older home, make darn sure you get it inspected first by an inspector you really trust. If there's water damage or dry rot or any of that kind of thing and you are right at the limit with your mortgage payments you could find yourself in big trouble.
Also, with a baby coming you don't want a lot of financial worries. (Trust me, you'll have plenty to stress over without worrying about money all the time, too.)
All that being said, if it is a good house in good shape and a good neighborhood with good schools and you can afford it without too much trouble, I think I'd go with the house.....assuming you're going to want to sell either the house or the mobile home at some point within the next twenty years or so.
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