Stalemate : House Buying

[ItsRdoubleU]

Would appreciate some others insight and discussion as an alternative to my own regarding a home search / purchase

Scenario :
- Currently debt free (In our Mid 30s)
- Option A : Can buy a less than optimal setup (in our opinion) with no debt = Neighborhood house
- Option B : Or can take on a 100-150K loan + saved money to for something we feel would be a better living experience = House with some land/space to do as you please
- Option C : Find a blend of the two BUT have been actively searching for quite some time (few years) while we save and have yet to see affordable option due to housing market being in strong growth

My Concerns / Anxieties :
- Currently being debt free I have some anxiety about getting locked into a Mortgage
- As many of you have discussed it appears we are in top of the market (whether it will pop or stagnant or go down who knows) Fear of Miss Timing the market comes into play
- Option A : Hey we are saving money etc. but we feel trapped inside the house because not a huge fan of close neighbors restricted freedom etc.
- Option B : Hey we have all this freedom to do what we want and space but we are now feeling trapped to this mortgage

So as you can see I am at a stalemate > Trapped in my own head due to my constantly running Pro/Con list and perceived ability to see into the future

Thoughts?

[rubybeth]

Obviously I don't know the details of your income but a mortgage of $100-150k is not all that much. You can always pay it off early, but interest rates are fairly low on mortgages right now. Don't think of the house as an investment, just a place to live: https://jlcollinsnh.com/2013/05/29/why-your-house-is-a-terrible-investment/

[ItsRdoubleU]

Very good point and article link > Working on the YouTube and podcast now mentioned in the article that covers the same info.

I guess you could say its a conflicting mindset and ongoing battle : You read the articles > Agree the simpler path is better > But you start looking at the housing market and want to creep the budget up since you can technically afford it with as you mentioned not too bad of a mortgage

[Jon Bon]

Too put it more bluntly.

Don't buy a shitty house with cash because you can. You gotta live in somewhere. You might as well like where and what you live in.

A mortgage is secured debt. So if shit hits the fan you hand the house back to the bank. And guess what, you are still debt free. Focus on happiness, not on maximizing every dollar.

[FINate]

Option D: Rent a larger house/property to see how you like it. Keep saving aggressively. Bide your time and watch the market for a good deal.

[AlotToLearn]

I would go with option D if you HAVE to make a move.

[ItsRdoubleU]

Another good read : https://jlcollinsnh.com/2013/03/20/roots-v-wings-considering-home-ownership/

[debittogether]

I owned for 8 years and hated it.  Last summer I sold and moved to a rental apartment.  It's the cheapest place that had what I needed to be happy, in an extremely nice suburb.  If I calculate my yearly rent expense,  it's about what most people in this town pay for real estate taxes on a fixer upper plus maintenance. So I just save extra each month into long term savings since i'm not paying a mortgage on top of that RE tax and maintenance cost.

I am extremely happy with this decision and have no desire to be tied to a home for the foreseeable future.

[SunnyDays]

Another option could be to buy land only and put something cheap(er) on it, like a mobile home to see if you really like the "country" experience before you put your dream home on it.  Ready-to-moves can be a good alternative to building from scratch.  This would take more time and may be a bit more expensive in the long run, but might get you the combination of land you like and a good house in a way that looking for an existing combo might not.

[Abe]

Agree with Sunny Days. Alternatively, find a fixer-upper on a large plot of land and either build a new house and rent out the original house to help with the mortgage cost, or scrap it and use the reclaimed materials in the new house.

Without knowing your budget we can't advise on the financial stretch option B entails. However, if your job is fairly secure geographically, then it may be worth the extra financial burden for peace of mind.