Author Topic: Too much house, not enough mustache?  (Read 21000 times)

zolotiyeruki

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Re: Too much house, not enough mustache?
« Reply #50 on: January 17, 2015, 09:47:00 PM »
Thanks for the advice, not having kids but buying a place for them gets me too, though I worry that if we wait until things are on a timer due to pregnancy, we'll be in a poorer position to exercise caution and good judgement in purchasing.

Really, I hadn't planned on getting a place this year, it was more next year or two.  This place we're looking at though, after seeing over 50 houses in the greater Chicagoland area, is pretty special.  Nowhere else we've seen even approaches how much we like this place, there's just this perfect storm of all our must-haves, really-like-to-haves, and like-to-haves.  I think the main reason this place hasn't sold already is that it's on a hill, which means nasty shoveling/snowblowing/ice/salt/etc. in the winter, but that sounds like a character building exercise to me.
Once you're pregnant, you've got at least 9 months to find the perfect place.  I'd argue you have even more.  My wife and I had our first kid when we were in college, living in a 1-bedroom apartment.  We stuck the kid's playpen in our closet.  That gives you at least another 6 months to find a place to live.

So that sense of urgency is out.  It sounds like you still have a sense of urgency about this particular house, that you're afraid it'll get away after all the time you've been putting into your search.  But then you mention that you're looking at a 1-2-year time frame, so it must not be *that* urgent to get *this* house.

About 3.5 years ago, I changed jobs.  Old job had a 25-50 minute commute (depending on the project), new job has a commute <10 minutes.  It is incredible how valuable that time is, especially when you have kids.

So, as a one who is living in the way outer suburbs of Chicago, in a house like the one you're describing, with a wife and kids and a short commute, I say "don't do it."  Between the expense of the commute, the $10k/year you'll be paying in property taxes, and especially the loss of time with your family, I don't think it's worth it.

dragoncar

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Re: Too much house, not enough mustache?
« Reply #51 on: January 25, 2015, 11:25:46 AM »
Don't forget maintenance in your cost estimates.

Personally, I have a 1-hour each way commute and so far I like it.  Buying further out allows me to be retired when/if I finally have kids, so that commute shouldn't be a factor for long.

I'd love to have my suburban lot size in SF for the same price, but that's just not happening.

joleran

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Re: Too much house, not enough mustache?
« Reply #52 on: January 25, 2015, 11:58:41 AM »
Don't forget maintenance in your cost estimates.

Personally, I have a 1-hour each way commute and so far I like it.  Buying further out allows me to be retired when/if I finally have kids, so that commute shouldn't be a factor for long.

I'd love to have my suburban lot size in SF for the same price, but that's just not happening.

I budgeted $250/month for maintenance, but now that I'm after inspection, I anticipate for the first year the bill will be closer to $15k before that on-going maintenance becomes even vaguely accurate.  Deal could still definitely fall through with post-inspection negotiation, but we've weighed all of the pros and cons and things are proceeding with the purchase.  Ultimately, we wanted to be happy and secure in a house well before we add kids to the mix instead of trying to deal with both at the same time.

Total costs so far, having bought absolutely nothing, and ignoring the hundreds of hours spent learning/researching things and the time lost at work spending political capital to get away and focus on the house:
$500 - lawyer
$900 - inspection with radon testing
$300 - car rentals and gas
$14000 - inflation-adjusted opportunity cost of liquidating investments over 20 years

dragoncar

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Re: Too much house, not enough mustache?
« Reply #53 on: January 25, 2015, 10:01:22 PM »
Don't forget maintenance in your cost estimates.

Personally, I have a 1-hour each way commute and so far I like it.  Buying further out allows me to be retired when/if I finally have kids, so that commute shouldn't be a factor for long.

I'd love to have my suburban lot size in SF for the same price, but that's just not happening.

I budgeted $250/month for maintenance, but now that I'm after inspection, I anticipate for the first year the bill will be closer to $15k before that on-going maintenance becomes even vaguely accurate.  Deal could still definitely fall through with post-inspection negotiation, but we've weighed all of the pros and cons and things are proceeding with the purchase.  Ultimately, we wanted to be happy and secure in a house well before we add kids to the mix instead of trying to deal with both at the same time.

Total costs so far, having bought absolutely nothing, and ignoring the hundreds of hours spent learning/researching things and the time lost at work spending political capital to get away and focus on the house:
$500 - lawyer
$900 - inspection with radon testing
$300 - car rentals and gas
$14000 - inflation-adjusted opportunity cost of liquidating investments over 20 years
M
Whatever you decide, don't let the sunk cost fallacy affect your decison going forward

joleran

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Re: Too much house, not enough mustache?
« Reply #54 on: April 05, 2015, 07:23:01 PM »
We've since moved in to this place, and honestly, imagining doing this with kids is an utter nightmare.  Pretty happy about the decision to up-size the house before up-sizing the family.  I did buy a fancy new (used) phone so that I can finally get 4G for browsing the internet during the commute.  It's really fun to see mint.com tell me I'm $50k over budget due to the down payment! 

La Bibliotecaria Feroz

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Re: Too much house, not enough mustache?
« Reply #55 on: April 06, 2015, 07:38:58 AM »
We've now moved with kids 3 times. I admit, buying a house with the tots underfoot is challenging. 3 weeks later, we haven't unpacked any of our books yet, for instance. I'm glad you're happy with the decision, anyway, and I hope it continues to feel right.

Gumbo1978

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Re: Too much house, not enough mustache?
« Reply #56 on: April 06, 2015, 07:44:38 AM »
The most important factor has not been addressed - how close is the new house to Wrigley Field?

mtn

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Re: Too much house, not enough mustache?
« Reply #57 on: April 06, 2015, 10:27:57 AM »
The most important factor has not been addressed - how close is the new house to Wrigley Field?

Not close at all.

Gumbo1978

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Re: Too much house, not enough mustache?
« Reply #58 on: April 06, 2015, 01:30:57 PM »
The most important factor has not been addressed - how close is the new house to Wrigley Field?

Not close at all.

Agree with everyone else.  Don't do it.

joleran

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Re: Too much house, not enough mustache?
« Reply #59 on: April 06, 2015, 01:55:23 PM »
Agree with everyone else.  Don't do it.

The only reason to go to Wrigley is the guarantee that the bars have Malort.

deborah

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Re: Too much house, not enough mustache?
« Reply #60 on: April 06, 2015, 03:12:39 PM »
The important question is whether the house was worth it to you, and how it will affect your FIRE plans.

mozar

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Re: Too much house, not enough mustache?
« Reply #61 on: April 06, 2015, 06:39:49 PM »
What's your commute like now?

Ricky

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Re: Too much house, not enough mustache?
« Reply #62 on: April 06, 2015, 06:48:50 PM »
I couldn't swallow that commute.  This will ultimately hurt your FIRE plans but if you're happy then that's really all that maters. Here's to a great future in your new home.

mtn

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Re: Too much house, not enough mustache?
« Reply #63 on: April 06, 2015, 10:30:24 PM »
What's your commute like now?

Answering for him, since I have basically the same commute:
Drive/walk/bike to the train station (3 minute drive, 10-15 minute walk for me. Don't know for him). Get on the train, sleep* for an hour, get off train, 10 minute walk (for me). Reverse is the same.

*Sometimes instead of sleeping, I read a book, catch up on email, get ahead with work, learn to draw, might have a beer or two...

joleran

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Re: Too much house, not enough mustache?
« Reply #64 on: April 07, 2015, 06:22:06 AM »
What's your commute like now?

Answering for him, since I have basically the same commute:
Drive/walk/bike to the train station (3 minute drive, 10-15 minute walk for me. Don't know for him). Get on the train, sleep* for an hour, get off train, 10 minute walk (for me). Reverse is the same.

*Sometimes instead of sleeping, I read a book, catch up on email, get ahead with work, learn to draw, might have a beer or two...

Pretty much.  Haven't driven yet to the train station and it's an 8-10 minute walk.  Need to get a nice little commuter bike and it'll be a 3 minute bike ride (have a road bike, don't like riding it on normal streets).  On the other side, I just take an elevator directly to my work.

It does suck if I don't get to be on an express, as the train ride pops up to an hour twenty and the constant stops are annoying.