How much should you have saved up before buying a house?

my advice? throw 8k at the student loan. pay that sucker off. you will save loads in interest and then buy a house after a 6 months to a year.

 

buying is good as the mortgage payment will be a good tax write-off and just as importantly, real estate makes a great investment

if you have Stafford Loans etc, I suggest that you dont pay off your student loans as generally the interest rate is below prime so you can't beat that. also, school loans is tax deductible as well

alot depends on your income and how stable that is etc.

but I think as a rule of thumb on the conservative side, i would suggest that you have enough in liquid assets/cash equal to at least 1 years mortgage payment.

good luck and congrats

 

Just make sure you have 6 months savings and really know the true cost of house ownership.

 

Put down 20%, but make sure you also have 6 months of expenses saved as well. Your 6 months save should not include your investments.

 

Just wait until you can pay it in full with a briefcase full of cash.

 

Pay student loans last always, defer if you can. First rule of the science to paying bills. Better idea to pay off that chicks car.

 

I didn't see you list taxes. That's going to be the biggest difference between renting and owning.
Financially it might be a wash but there is definitely a nice psychological boost to owning a home. I bought early when I was just 24. I'm in my 2nd house now and even though there is always something to fix or do, I love it.

 

I would pay off your outstanding debt first, but I don't know how long the insanely low interest rates are going to continue for home loans. I keep thinking that they have to bottom out and start going up, and keep being surprised. Those historically low rates are the only reason that you might consider not paying off your debt before you get a house. I didn't see what rate you believe you're going to be able to get, but I noticed that you thought paying off that student loan at 1.7% is a mistake. Well, if you have your cash on deposit, you are earning less than that 1.7% (unless your bank is far better than mine!), so even with that very small rate, it's costing you a little bit more in interest (again, I'm guessing). No credit card debt? Good for you! As for the car, car loans generally don't factor into your credit rating, so no biggy, and you have a good rate. And the earlier advice to have 6 months worth of month to month expenses is a good one. You never know what might happen in the future.

So what rate can you get for the mortgage?

 

Can you explain to me how the tax write off is? Do you just input how much was spent on the mortgage? Or do you get a one time tax write off?

 

You write off your mortgage interest and property tax (usually composed of ISD tax, county tax, and water district tax). So not all of your mortgage. It's every year.

 

read this, and then decide.

http://patrick.net/housing/crash3.html

and definitely don't buy for the tax deduction. calculate how much that will actually save you. also, if you house is further away from work that also is an indirect increase in home ownership. people don't ever seem to take that into account.

i'm not a big fan of home ownership (more specifically, too much house) but i know it's right for a lot of people. just research the true cost of it.

 

I put down 10% on a 235k house 3 years ago. I have a car loan and a student loan at the same time. It was very scary to put down that much money and I definitely did not have 6 months savings in the bank after buying the house. In fact, I still don't have that much in the bank.

With two wage earners, stocks on the side, and a full year's worth of salary, I think you're in a much better position than I was. My interest rate was 5.3, which I then re-financed to 4.25. Now I think mortgage rates are around 3.5. I say if you intend to stay there for a few years, you're probably in pretty good shape.

 

Buying a home should be exciting, but it's usually such a painful process. You should be in good shape with two incomes. It could get tricky when the wife has kids and stays home. Then you may have financial strains and changes in lifestyle. That play money could dry real quick. I wish I was a first time buyer now. Good prices and excellent rates. My second house, I bought in 2005 around the peak. That house is now worth $100K less than my purchase price. Worst decision ever. I ended up renting it out so I wouldn't take the hit when I bought my current house. It was really stressful to carry two mortgages before the house was rented out. Good luck.

 

So much misleading information in here it's not even funny.