I've been shopping for a house for the last 3 months. My spouse and I are expecting our first child in Jan. and we would like to buy a 4 bd SFR in Irvine. We're very middle class. We're having issues w/ our 2 bd townhouse and I feel it's a good time to get out. We'd like to keep it as a rental property though.
We found a 30 yr old home that we love for $900k (neighborhood comps $940k). We live on my income alone. My spouse is currently a compsci student at UCI and expects to grad. in Mar. 2017. We qualify for an 800k loan so we might need help from family (they are willing but not rich by any means). My spouse is a veteran so we can use the VA loan for a 0 down but we'd like to put at least 15% down (no PMI) so that our monthly mortgage isn't $4300 a month. However, if we use the zero down, we'll have cash saved up for 12+ month of emergencies.
My concern is that for about 1.5 years, our finances will be tight since we will be on a single income with a newborn baby. I don't feel we'll be living paycheck to paycheck but things could get stressful at times. However, we've seen over a dozen Irvine open homes and we love this home. We plan to raise our kids in it. I'm looking at it for the long term.
For anybody who has a family, would you buy this home despite an expected tight financial circumstances for 1.5 years? I'm concerned about rising interest rates but at the same time with the current economic state, i'm worried about falling home prices (only if it dropped over 10%) after we purchase. If we could save $50k now, it would be great but its unlikely.
The alternative is we stay in our small townhouse and wait for another great opportunity. However by then, I would expect rates to rise, negating any potential savings in falling home prices.
Any advice / personal experience / housing outlook is welcome.
We found a 30 yr old home that we love for $900k (neighborhood comps $940k). We live on my income alone. My spouse is currently a compsci student at UCI and expects to grad. in Mar. 2017. We qualify for an 800k loan so we might need help from family (they are willing but not rich by any means). My spouse is a veteran so we can use the VA loan for a 0 down but we'd like to put at least 15% down (no PMI) so that our monthly mortgage isn't $4300 a month. However, if we use the zero down, we'll have cash saved up for 12+ month of emergencies.
My concern is that for about 1.5 years, our finances will be tight since we will be on a single income with a newborn baby. I don't feel we'll be living paycheck to paycheck but things could get stressful at times. However, we've seen over a dozen Irvine open homes and we love this home. We plan to raise our kids in it. I'm looking at it for the long term.
For anybody who has a family, would you buy this home despite an expected tight financial circumstances for 1.5 years? I'm concerned about rising interest rates but at the same time with the current economic state, i'm worried about falling home prices (only if it dropped over 10%) after we purchase. If we could save $50k now, it would be great but its unlikely.
The alternative is we stay in our small townhouse and wait for another great opportunity. However by then, I would expect rates to rise, negating any potential savings in falling home prices.
Any advice / personal experience / housing outlook is welcome.