I’m looking for a house currently. I have found a house that my wife and I really like. But it’s a little bigger than our requirement. My family consists of my wife and I, and our newly born first baby. Our parents might stay with for around 5 months in a year during summers. This house that we like is 2300 sqft / 4 bed / 3 bath. We were imagining 1700 sqft / 3 bed / 3 bath might be ideal for us. This additional size of the house comes with an additional budget as well. Do you think I should take the risk and get the bigger house ? I can afford the house now (got pre-approval from lender) but I am just nervous about over investing. What do you think?
Blind rule #1
This is the most polite way over TC/GTFO 🙂. This is good.
Are you ok to rent the extra room out? If so, I think you will be ok.
The house is such that the 4th room can’t be rented out separately, so I doubt that’s an option.
That house also sounds like a pain to maintain in terms of cleaning and all that. However it does give you room to expand your family more and make your parents more comfortable when they visit.
2300 vs 1700 becomes a pain to clean?? He said it's one more bedroom...
Buy only what you need, don’t get swayed by what others say, do or think.
Buying what you can and like is prob better here.
Buy multiple properties if you can, but use only what you need
With in-laws visiting I don’t think 2300 is big enough lol. Jk, if you already have plans for people to be staying, more space is better. You’re probably west coast so the price difference is probably significant
Without the TC/house price, how do we help you assess the risk...
Household TC : 350K (my wife’s and mine put together). Both of us are 30 yrs old. 2300 house is priced at 900K. 1700 house (in that area) is priced at 700K. I will be downplaying 10% so the 900K house would result in a ~5K monthly payment, while the 700K house will result in a ~4.5K monthly payment.
Go for the bigger one. 5k vs 4.5k doesn’t make so much difference to you given your TC. The difference on down payment is also only 20k, if you have the cash now, you’ll get the dent fixed at your next stock vesting. You have enough # of people to justify the extra room. You’ll need room for possibly more kids while you want to keep a computer room for work/entertainment By the way, are you sure you did the math right? 200k divided by 360 months is already 550 dollars, you’ll have interest on it which likely will make it something like 800/month?
If you are planning of having more than 1 kid, you might consider getting the bigger house. A room just for the parents that are there almost HALF of the time is essential. So..,1 room for you and spouse, 1 room for kid, and 1 room for parents. The extra room can become an office or the future bedroom of kid # 2...
Better to buy a slightly bigger house than a small one. The small one will annoy you everyday and the big one will annoy you once a month
If your 2300 sq ft house is The One, and you feel The Vibe when you walk into it, just get that one, if it has a good school district (you will need the extra space with the grandparents visiting constantly). You will appreciate the extra space, the intergenerational relationship growth, and the "AHH" factor of coming home to a place that you just gel with, especially given your wife likes it too! Granted, you didn't mention the price difference, but by the sound of your post, it doesn't seem to worry you, so I would say go for it. Great homes are hard to find.
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Reading the title I thought you must be considering 4000+ sqft. 2300sqft isn’t big anyway. I have the same family size as you and won’t consider anything smaller