Good morning Mustachians, I call upon you in a time of need:
My wife and I are happily shopping for our first house: 30k down payment saved, and we're looking to spend little on it. (130-180k) Our original goal was to get a house nearby to our job (we both work at the same place) and simply carpool in as we drop our daughter at daycare, or bike commute on nicer days. Boom, that's about a mustach-ey as it gets....
enter curve ball: there's a very nice house that is about a 30 minute drive from our job/daughter's daycare: benefits of the house are its low taxes ($600/year.....no that is not a typo) its low heating cost (less than $800/year, wood furnace heat and high efficency insulation) and its seclusion, its really off the beaten path, which is the way I prefer to live)
the drawback is that we would be giving up some liquid cash in the beginning as commuting would be more if we lived there, and the house is also more expensive (213k) however the exceptionally low taxes put it within our budget. Our salaries will continue to increase at our awesome job, so we're not worried about affordability.....
what say you mustachians? do we buy the "retirement" house early? with its energy efficiency and so forth but longer commute? or buy the more reasonable house in town with its minimal commute? Either way we would keep one car ( and my vintage Porsche....don't judge me.) so that upfront cost would still be there.... any thoughts.