Woah, woah, woah! I did not expect to be made to feel such an extreme idiot for even asking this question. I wouldn't be here, after months of browsing the MMM blog and forums, asking this question, if I didn't have very good reasons for proposing to buy! I realize our financial situation is complicated and unusual, and our lifestyle is difficult to understand and plan for when framed in a format such as this. Obviously I didn't explain myself clearly enough or give enough details.
But before I dive into the details, I want to express that I am actually offended by Another Reader's point-blank dismissal of my relationship with my fiance. Thank you, brandino, for coming to the defense of committed couples-that-happen-to-not-be-married. It bothers me that "it has Been Discussed At Length in these forums" apparently offers carte blanche for very rudely dismissing an alternative (though hardly a minority) lifestyle. For the record, we committed first (years ago, sometime after that nearly-life-ending accident I referenced, but before I dedicated nine months of my life to his recovery and standing by his side while he relearned how to walk, run, ski and climb), and then began discussing buying a house and only now, after the important stuff is out of the way, are working on throwing our families a party to celebrate our commitment.
(Also, on a more minor point, I misspoke--rent up here is likely to be $1400
without utilities on a house worth $200,000.)
I only started researching buying a house when I stumbled across a rent or buy calculator (the one at MSN money--
http://money.msn.com/home-loans/rent-or-buy-calculator) which said that, even with conservative assumptions (monthly rent of $1200, annual inflation of house 2%,
moving in three years), buying still comes out $8,000 ahead. Right, I know, not enough to make it worth the hassle or risk, but--like I said, conservative assumptions, and the possibility (likelihood?) of living here longer only increases the savings associated with buying. With more data-driven assumption, and increasing the big guess factor of how long we'll live in Anchorage to 6 years, buying puts us ahead $45,000.
In another attempt to prove my non-idiocy, I'd like to discuss the rest of the research I've been putting into this idea of mine. We've visited two lenders, and have received pre-approvals from both (so you're wrong on point 2, Mr. Reader). I have been looking seriously at the housing market in Anchorage since February, and less seriously for almost a year. I've toured many a home, and am getting a good sense of what's a good deal and what isn't. I well know the two neighborhoods in which it would make sense to buy, having taken nightly walks around them when I am not in the field. And, I've lived in Alaska for a cumulative nine months now, and have figured out that it is just as possible to live a frugal lifestyle up here as down South. I am not going into this blindly and "viscerally"--though obviously my emotions are having some effect on my decision making, else I wouldn't be here being rather brutally berated by you folk.
And for my next trick, I will attempt to contextualize why it
might (just might--despite my rigorous defense of my ego, I'm still undecided) make sense to take this risk anyway. The thing is, with our lifestyle, it will take us at least a decade before we can make a better guess about our mid-term future than we can now. Knowing that I will be working here for the next three years, and that I will be most likely to get a permanent job in 2016 in Alaska, is the best window into our future that we've had since 2010. I strongly feel that the alternative--waiting until we "know" in what city we're going to live--would put us reconsidering buying a house in more than quite a few years, when the market and interest rates will certainly be much less favorable for first-time homebuyers. And, crucially,
it as likely that we will stay in Anchorage for a decade as move in three years. To me, starting careers in our field, it truly doesn't seem like a "now, or wait a year and see" sort of choice. It seems more like a now, or miss the window for up to a decade and then hope that the housing market is as favorable as it is currently.
And this is what I need your advice on--whether or not taking this epic risk might make sense given
our currently happily nonmarried, thankyouverymuch lifestyle.