Hi everyone, I'd like to ask for some advice about my situation. What would you do? Disclaimer: all numbers have been very roughly converted to US dollars.
Income: around 3000 per month
Savings rate: around 50% (around 70% not including rent)
Savings: around 20k, all in stocks, getting around 5% in dividends.
Situation: I'd like to buy a house/apartment as soon as possible, because I'd love to have my own place, and I'm lucky enough to be in an area where exactly what I want is extremely cheap. I've seen a couple of places I'd love for around 35k-40k. The problem is that I'm not a citizen of this country, so in order to buy, it would have to be in cash, rather than a mortgage. Saving 1500 per month, that means I could afford it in 10-14 months.
The main thing I'm now worried about is where to keep my money. I feel like putting all of my money in cash is kind of throwing away the dividend payments, though of course there is a risk that my holdings will decrease in value. Another risk is that all of the houses I'm looking at will not be available in a year's time.
Also, I did some calculations about whether it's better to buy a house as soon as I have enough money to do so, or whether it's better to build up enough dividend money to cover my non-housing expenses, then buy the house. Buying the house first came out way ahead, but I also feel a little strange about buying a house and going back to zero cash.
First world problems are so tough, aren't they!? :-)
Still, what would you do in my situation? Buy the house ASAP or wait? Keep the money invested in stocks or sell everything and just keep cash. By the way, I'm leaning towards buying the house ASAP and keeping the money in stocks (selling only when I have the amount I need), but I'd be interested to hear if anyone thinks this is a bad idea.