Hello fellow Mustachians! I'd like some help with this particular situation. My wife and I currently live about 20 miles away from both of our jobs which are in the same city. We currently car pool together but I have wanted to move closer to work for some time now, while she likes the smaller town that we live in. We have been looking at the possibility of purchasing a place closer to both of our jobs; however, there is a possibility that we would move after I finish my degree which is being paid for by my company. The soonest we would move is about 3 years out but that is also "if" we move. With this in mind, it was always our intention that if we bought a place we would choose a place that would be a decent renter upon the possibility of us leaving. Well, my wife was searching around mls the other day and found a place that would be a pretty good compromise to what we both want. Overall, I also like the place from what I've seen but I'm just not too sure if we are in the best financial position to go forward and want to figure this out before we schedule a showing or anything crazy like that..... The main thing that worries me is we would be dipping into our "Emergency Fund" to come up with the 5% down (ideally I would want to put 20% down to avoid PMI but that's not a possibility right now). Below are before and after budgets to get a better view of where we are at and where we would be at if we went through with buying a place. FYI, we are in our early 20's and the place we are looking at would bring approx 1600-1700 per month in rent, maybe more.
Current budget
Average monthly take home pay = 4530.00 (Take home pay does not include 401k deductions(450 per month + 100% match), Medical deductions (insurance at 160 per month), and HSA contributions (560 per month).
Charity 453
Rent 1000 (1br + 1br 540Sqft, 20 miles from work & college classes)
Utilities 85
Groceries 300
Restaurants 100
Gas 300
Insurance 250
Meds 50
Blow Money 200
Entertainment 100
Total Expense 2838.00
Investments 1692.00
Total 4530.00
After Budget
Average monthly take home pay = 4530.00
Charity 453
Mortgage+T+I 1400 (30 year mortgage, 2br + 1ba 1050sqft + backyard. Work, school, grocery stores withing 2 miles)
Utilities 170 (Just my estimated increase for a larger place. Not sure if its accurate.)
Groceries 300
Restaurants 100
Gas 125 (Wife would still drive to work plus our commute back to church on Sundays)
Insurance 250
Meds 50
Blow Money 200
Entertainment 100
Total Expense 3148.00
Investments 1382.00
Total 4530.00
Current assets.
14k "emergency fund" ( 11k of this would be used for 5% down and approx closing costs)
34k Investments (These are all in retirement accounts across Roth 401k and Roth IRA's)
3k Month ahead buffer
Current Debts = NONE! :)
The biggest reason I want to move is to be closer to work and school, I am SICK of the commute, and this appears to be a good compromise between my wife and I (she is against renting again).
Advice and face punching is appreciated!