Hi,
I'm moving to a new area in April, and am considering buying my first house. I'm 26, have no debt, and have been renting. I make $70,000/yr, and I have about $25,000 in my 401(k) and $62,500 in a separate investment account, in dividend growth stocks and REITs, yielding about 4-5% in dividends overall.
I'm was thinking I can probably safely afford a house in the $150,000-200,000 range. All the mortgage calculators tell me to get more house, but I'd rather stay on the safe side. I can get really more house than I need in my new location (western NC) for this price.
One question I had was how much money would a true Mustachian in my situation put down on a house? Would he spend about what I'm thinking, or more or less? Would he take some of the money out of the investment account to put towards the down payment, or rent a little longer and save up money from his salary to get to a 20% down payment? 15 or 30 year mortgage?
I'm leaning towards 15 because I plan to pay it off before I'm 30 anyway, so I might as well get a lower rate... right?
I'm new to this, I'd appreciate your help.
Thanks!
-Dan Hall