Unless I'm not, of course. Be honest, even if it bursts my bubble.
Due to my high debt, average income and devastated savings, my prime directive right now is to be fiscally sound, not to live in my dream situation.
Basics:
Recently divorced and left the house with my spouse.
One child still at home, who lives primarily with me, walking distance from ex.
Income $70K plus another 6K in support, which will be reduced to 4K in three years.
Debt $70K in student loans, no other debt.
401K has just $110K because I only started working full time/contributing five years ago :(
Cash on hand less than 5K (emptied by paying attorneys for a year+, spouse not remotely mustachian. Hope to be done and start rebuilding that account soon.)
Live in an average COL area and no plans to relocate for at least 15 years as my career is very location-specific.
Currently renting 2/1 apartment for $780 per month plus average utilities of $100. I don't know that I want to stay in this particular apartment forever, but this is about the price range I would expect to stay in.
I'm 50. My parents are from the countryside and from the generation where the dream was to buy a home and not "waste money on rent". It really hurts them that I'm living in an apartment because they picture it as throwing cash out the window never to be seen again.
I originally considered the apartment an unpleasant stepping stone until the dust settled. But now I am loving it. I had a maintenance request last week and called from work around lunchtime. It was taken care of before I got home. After decades of arguing with a person who didn't want to spend $120 to have a plumber repair a leak that was costing $50 a month, that felt like I'd died and gone to heaven.
Anyway, when I was thinking of buying, I had my eye on some condos that cost about $130-150K for a "fixer upper" (which is what I would buy) and have monthly condo fees of $250. I do love those condos and if someone gave me one I'd be happy as a clam to live there, but I don't know that buying one makes better financial sense than renting.
An obvious alternative would be to buy a house for $130-$150K and not have the condo fee. A problem there is that the smallest/shabbiest houses in the neighborhoods I'm limited to* start at about 70K more than the condos.
I don't have the kind of brain to figure out whether it's better to pay $200K for a house and not have the condo fees, better to have the condo, or to keep renting. That's why I'm asking for help.
I'm hoping some of you math artists can help clarify which option is the most frugal and why, in a way that my folks can understand. They are bottom-liners at the heart, so if I can show them that renting is not throwing money away, maybe they will stop worrying.
On the other hand if buying makes better sense, I will plan for that and cry quietly in the corner about losing that speedy maintenance. Sigh.
What do you say?