Most You Would Spend on Personal Residence?

[ixtap]

I think Warren Buffett’s primary residence is worth about $650k.

Maybe so.  But his beach house was on the market for 11 million last I checked.  :P

Right? Everyone comments on that one house that he has kept forever, as if it were his only house. So, the man likes his house, that in and of itself does not make him frugal.

[mountainfamily]

I'd say we'd spend 3-4x our annual income on our next house. We are in a high cost of living area but now have an income level to match. Our starter house was 6x our annual income when we bought it (ouch) but since our income went up, the starter home is only 2x our annual income. It was the only thing we could get, scraping close to the bottom of the market. If we'd been able to get something just a little bigger or nicer, I'd stay and pay it off. But we both work from home and I love being at home. I don't like our current house enough to stay indefinitely. Most rooms are too dark/gloomy, and there's not an easy way to remedy that due to layout/lot/etc.

[2Birds1Stone]

10% of net worth.

[talltexan]

I see the case for comparing the value of your house to other assets on your balance sheet to diversify risk. I'll vote for 25% of the assets on your balance sheet.

[JLee]

I don't know, 10 million dollars?

You could buy a million bananas for that!

You are spending way too much money per banana....

Not an Arrested Development fan, I see!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl_Qyk9DSUw

[norajean]

10% of net worth.

For W Buffett that would imply a $7 billion house.  How many bedrooms would that be?

[norajean]

I think Warren Buffett’s primary residence is worth about $650k.

Maybe so.  But his beach house was on the market for 11 million last I checked.  :P

But that is a secondary home, not his primary residence.

[GuitarStv]

I think Warren Buffett’s primary residence is worth about $650k.

Maybe so.  But his beach house was on the market for 11 million last I checked.  :P

But that is a secondary home, not his primary residence.

Guess I've just never been frugal enough to own multiple homes at the same time that I wasn't renting out.

:P

[Dicey]

10% of net worth.

Hmmm, $100k per million NW? Where ya gonna live?

[Cassie]

It depends on what part of the country you live in. We have spent as little as our yearly income and as much as 3xs.   

[Dicey]

10% of net worth.

Hmmm, $100k per million NW? Where ya gonna live?

Detroit? https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/01/10/top-10-us-cities-where-you-could-buy-a-home-for-under-100000-dollars.html

Hahaha! I mentioned somewhere on the forum that for free frugal fun in the time of pandemic, DH and I play a little real estate game.  We choose a place, look at the current listings and decide which property we'd buy. .Last week, Detroit and specifically the cost of housing there came up. Just to be contrarian, we chose Grosse Pointe, mostly because of its storied history, and because this is for entertainment and that's where the mansions are. We were kind of shocked at what a million, million plus gets you. But then there are the maintenance costs, particularly snow removal. That certainly is a comparatively minor cost, but no matter how well you do it, you keep having to do it over and over. Ugh, no thanks, lol!

[GuitarStv]

10% of net worth.

Hmmm, $100k per million NW? Where ya gonna live?

Detroit? https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/01/10/top-10-us-cities-where-you-could-buy-a-home-for-under-100000-dollars.html

Hahaha! I mentioned somewhere on the forum that for free frugal fun in the time of pandemic, DH and I play a little real estate game.  We choose a place, look at the current listings and decide which property we'd buy. .Last week, Detroit and specifically the cost of housing there came up. Just to be contrarian, we chose Grosse Pointe, mostly because of its storied history, and because this is for entertainment and that's where the mansions are. We were kind of shocked at what a million, million plus gets you. But then there are the maintenance costs, particularly snow removal. That certainly is a comparatively minor cost, but no matter how well you do it, you keep having to do it over and over. Ugh, no thanks, lol!

Snow removal costs are 20$ for a shovel.  Usually you get 5-10 years out of a shovel . . . so, about 2-4$ a year?  And you save on gym fees because of your free exercise!   :P

[Dicey]

10% of net worth.

Hmmm, $100k per million NW? Where ya gonna live?

Detroit? https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/01/10/top-10-us-cities-where-you-could-buy-a-home-for-under-100000-dollars.html

Hahaha! I mentioned somewhere on the forum that for free frugal fun in the time of pandemic, DH and I play a little real estate game.  We choose a place, look at the current listings and decide which property we'd buy. .Last week, Detroit and specifically the cost of housing there came up. Just to be contrarian, we chose Grosse Pointe, mostly because of its storied history, and because this is for entertainment and that's where the mansions are. We were kind of shocked at what a million, million plus gets you. But then there are the maintenance costs, particularly snow removal. That certainly is a comparatively minor cost, but no matter how well you do it, you keep having to do it over and over. Ugh, no thanks, lol!

Snow removal costs are 20$ for a shovel.  Usually you get 5-10 years out of a shovel . . . so, about 2-4$ a year?  And you save on gym fees because of your free exercise!   :P

It's the existence of snow that is the issue :-p

[GuitarStv]

10% of net worth.

Hmmm, $100k per million NW? Where ya gonna live?

Detroit? https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/01/10/top-10-us-cities-where-you-could-buy-a-home-for-under-100000-dollars.html

Hahaha! I mentioned somewhere on the forum that for free frugal fun in the time of pandemic, DH and I play a little real estate game.  We choose a place, look at the current listings and decide which property we'd buy. .Last week, Detroit and specifically the cost of housing there came up. Just to be contrarian, we chose Grosse Pointe, mostly because of its storied history, and because this is for entertainment and that's where the mansions are. We were kind of shocked at what a million, million plus gets you. But then there are the maintenance costs, particularly snow removal. That certainly is a comparatively minor cost, but no matter how well you do it, you keep having to do it over and over. Ugh, no thanks, lol!

Snow removal costs are 20$ for a shovel.  Usually you get 5-10 years out of a shovel . . . so, about 2-4$ a year?  And you save on gym fees because of your free exercise!   :P

It's the existence of snow that is the issue :-p

Don't you ever get tired of living in paradise though?

[Dicey]

10% of net worth.

Hmmm, $100k per million NW? Where ya gonna live?

Detroit? https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/01/10/top-10-us-cities-where-you-could-buy-a-home-for-under-100000-dollars.html

Hahaha! I mentioned somewhere on the forum that for free frugal fun in the time of pandemic, DH and I play a little real estate game.  We choose a place, look at the current listings and decide which property we'd buy. .Last week, Detroit and specifically the cost of housing there came up. Just to be contrarian, we chose Grosse Pointe, mostly because of its storied history, and because this is for entertainment and that's where the mansions are. We were kind of shocked at what a million, million plus gets you. But then there are the maintenance costs, particularly snow removal. That certainly is a comparatively minor cost, but no matter how well you do it, you keep having to do it over and over. Ugh, no thanks, lol!

Snow removal costs are 20$ for a shovel.  Usually you get 5-10 years out of a shovel . . . so, about 2-4$ a year?  And you save on gym fees because of your free exercise!   :P

It's the existence of snow that is the issue :-p

Don't you ever get tired of living in paradise though?

Not yet. Probably not ever ;-)

[nurseart]

Enough to want to quarantine there. I bought a 700 square foot cottage where we lived for almost a decade and then bought a gut job investment property. We moved out of the primary into the fixer as soon as there was running water in order to rent the primary to cash flow the project and lived in a construction zone in a not good area for a year. After a drive by shooting on our block we couldn't handle it and bought a house in a fantastic location walking distance to the river in a safe area that checked the boxes without being over the top. My mental block was at 300k but we spent 322k and is is the best purchase we've ever made. Is it the quickest way to FI? No. Would I do it again? Absolutely.

[talltexan]

My MiL took us all out on the boat for an early Fourth of July treat. Seeing those massive lake houses (this was about a half hour north of DT Charlotte where a lot of NASCAR drivers live) has me revising my willingness to spend upwards.

[DadJokes]

2.5-3x income was what we were striving for when we bought our last house. Unfortunately, we couldn't find something in that range that we agreed on. We ended up getting a newly built house for $325k (3.6x income when we bought in 2018, and 3x now). I have no regrets, as I absolutely love the house. It's more square footage than I wanted, but we use all of it.

If I were to buy another house, 3x would be my goal again, but it would be just as unlikely to happen now as it was then. Housing prices have grown rapidly in this area, due in part to a sizable influx of people and the fact that builders just keep building houses bigger and bigger.

[2Birds1Stone]

10% of net worth.

Hmmm, $100k per million NW? Where ya gonna live?

Yea, that's about what I would feel comfortable spending right now.

With current NW that gives us a $70k budget. It would be a creative housing solution, tinyhouse, condo/townhouse in a LCOL area (fixer upper maybe), something like a container home, build a cabin, kit house, etc.

But there are certainly sticks and bricks houses selling for those prices in many parts of the USA, two that I'm familiar with are North Eastern PA, and the Sun Coast of Florida.

[MudPuppy]

Seriously though. The size of the new builds is bonkers. We wanted to be a little be more East in the county but all the available houses were  nearly 3000sq ft.

[talltexan]

I must be a hoarder. Just moved from 3,088 square feet to 3,600, and--honestly--I could use another 20% easily. Especially during the summer heat, all this indoor space keeps the kids out of my hair!

[PGSD]

It may depend on your area  COL. In decent areas of SoCal, you'll be spending quite a bit more than in most places in the Midwest. You might be comfortable spending "only" $250K but, if you live out here, $250K likely won't get you much.

Instead, look at what you need, pick a smaller house that meets most of your needs that's in the best area you can somewhat comfortably afford (I'd stretch a little for a better neighborhood). It really is true when they say the three most important things in real estate are: "location, location, location."