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Filed for H1B extension, extension approved till aug-2024 (stamping not done), switched from tcs to infosys before stamping. I have new petition documents with me. Assuming infosys agrees to use my H1B, is there a possibility to file H1B transfer or reuse my visa.? Thanks
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It may lead to buyer's remorse. I bought last year, with stats not too dissimilar from your own. The place I bought was $635k. I was pre-approved for $750k. I'm confident I couldn't have comfortably afforded a $750k house. But I was also adamant that I didn't want to be house poor. The biggest piece of advice I can give, if you don't already have one, create and maintain a budget for a couple months. Factor in the expected cost of the mortgage and additional household expenses and see how it feels. I had to temporarily cut back on my retirement contributions to make it work. I knew I had a promotion and large pay bump coming in the months following my closing, so I wasn't too worried about it.
So far, so good! Sometimes I walk around the house, and I'm like damn(!), this is my house, I'm a homeowner, and I feel very proud of my accomplishment. Then something needs fixing, and I'm like damn... I'm a homeowner 😅.
I do think I'd probably be less excited about it if I had the same salary as when I bought ($119k). I went from maxing out my 401-k to contributing 6%. It would have been harder for me to afford the things I love to do. Four months after closing, I bumped up to $142k. A few months ago, I got a new job and am at $155k. I'm back to maxing out my 401-k and am still able to travel and do weekend getaways with my friends. I'm also saving outside of retirement, albeit not nearly as much as before I bought, but that'll come. Fwiw, I think you made a sound decision on not pulling the trigger.
Well with 180k cash that leaves about 120k you can use for the down payment, the other 60k would be required to cover closing costs, moving costs, and maintain an emergency fund (3-6 months of expenses). That means you can put about 15% down which means you’ll have to pay PMI. You’re probably looking at about $5,400/mon after P&I + property tax + insurance + PMI, obviously this is all very dependent on the individual home. I’d round that to probably like $5,800 to also factor in gas, electric, water, sewer, and trash, hopefully it’s less but I’ve seen a lot worse. With 122k you make $9384 gross per month assuming biweekly pay. That means about 61% of your pay will be housing costs. A quick tax calculator estimates you pay about 23.5% in taxes (28.6k/yr) that leaves you with about $1300 a month to do everything else including retirement savings.
Thanks for the in-depth commentary here, I appreciate it. Spoke with my financial advisor this morning and did an in-depth run of the numbers for my specific situation, the specific house etc. Verdict was could afford, but would heavily sacrifice quality of life in other areas and be house-poor. So not going to pull the trigger
When I bought, I made sure to look at places closer to the bottom of my price range, so that I had wiggle room to pay for repairs, maintenance, and upgrades as well as savings and investments.
I think you’re pushing it and it’s going to stress you out.
You could do it OP but you would definitely be house poor at the end of the day. I guess it depends on what you value most. For me I enjoy being able to travel and go do things with friends so I would much rather have a little smaller less expensive place than have to stay home all the time.
🤷♂️ I make double that and wouldn’t do it. Housing market is getting weaker. You might want to run that through a rent vs buy analysis. They have one on Redfin. I’d reassess next year. Lower interest rates for sure. Likely higher unemployment should mitigate price increases, not sure if we’ll actually get a decline in Seattle. More probable away from the city.
Seems like a stretch.
True good point
Some additional factors to consider - single, no kids and don't want them, very handy (DIY for upgrades)