Hey folks--I don't want this to be a "Can I afford a house" thread. I'm asking on the specifics of withdrawing contributions from my Roth IRA, as depending on the answers it might change the type/term/lender of the loan.
But since you're asking:
-My wife and I are 26 (me) and 27 (her)
-I have between 90% and 120% my annual income saved in retirement accounts (2 401k's, IRA)--it varies depending on vesting schedules
-She has about 40% of her annual income saved in retirement accounts (2 401k's, IRA)
-She has student loans with a balance of about 40% of her annual income. We're paying those off aggressively. This is our only debt.
-We have, between the two of us in stocks and cash, enough for about 20% down on a house. However, this would be depleting our emergency fund entirely and it doesn't account for closing costs. Which would normally lead you to say "Don't buy". And I'd agree, buttt...
-We're getting priced out of rentals. Chicagoland housing sucks. (Not going into it here, I have spreadsheets upon spreadsheets weighing the pros and cons of renting vs buying)
-We have "other issues" that are limiting our search area (health, family, commute, safety, affordability, future considerations)
-We're looking at the bottom tier of houses in said search area. At the top of our price range, if one of us were to lose our job we'd have to decrease our savings rate to 10% (of the remaining salary) and we'd be eating Ramen, but still staying afloat.