Looking at buying a house...

[Frügal]

Hello all. Long time no chat. Things have been pretty busy around here lately.

Recently, we have been thinking about purchasing a home in slightly nearby Tacoma. Doing so would certainly mean a lot of things. A lot of goods, some bads, and some so-so's.

The Goods
• Yard
• Own home
• Garden
• Lower housing costs
• Bedroom for our daughter
• Plenty more!
• At least $100/mo cheaper.

Bads
• 30-35 mile commute one-way. This equates to over 20,000 miles per year if I work as much as I currently do. Also equates to more wear on our vehicle. We don't put but maybe 250 miles per month on our vehicle now with living on-site at work.
• 1 to 1 1/2 hour commute. Time is money. Or so it is said. The commute time sure would be a downer. Also would not be able to have lunch at home like I currently do.
• Would leave wife & daughter at home without a vehicle.

So-so's
• We are responsible for all housing costs, including repairs/maintenance.

My number one concern is the increased maintenance/repair costs. More wear on the car. Home to care for. Even if I take that $100/mo and divide it, that's only $50/mo more to put aside for either category (Home Maintenance and Auto Maintenance). To me, that does not seem like enough. However, our car is low mileage (46,000) and I drive like a granny and maintain it, and the home we would get would be inspected to ensure that it is not a money pit.

We are meeting with an agent this weekend to help us look, get to know the market, and get to know better what we can do with our income.

I want to know what you all thought about it.

I also posted this in my blog, but I wanted to reach out to forum-goers as well.

[Like2Plan]

Too much! I average about 45 hours per work. Really, I should be working more in order to pay off debt and replenish our savings more, but it is so hard when you have so little downtime. One whole day off is dedicated to grocery shopping and putting in an hour or two at work to check up on things. The next day is half dedicated to getting the rest of our groceries. >.< We never get enough sleep and rarely feel like we fully get to relax and just enjoy each others' company.

Just looking at your response from the how many hours you work in a week thread, I would say it might be too early to be buying a house.

I expect your commuting costs alone will end up costing much more than $100.00/month. You already feel like you don't get enough sleep-and you will be cutting at least 2more hrs out of your day with the commute.

But, go ahead and post your numbers--what does your budget look like, will you still have debt? What % of a DP will you have?

[daglivewire]

I was commuting about what you would each day. 1 hour to work, 90 minutes back. It was a terrible experience. I got to work and got home exhausted and drained each day from the driving. Had to wake up and go to bed ridiculously early which affected my lifestyle even on the weekends. It felt like I had no free time and little control over my life. I tried everything to make the experience better. Woke up at 5 am to avoid traffic. Played MP3s of books I wanted to read during the drive. Nothing really made up for the lost time and the lost control in my life. I made it for 3 months and then couldn't take it anymore and moved closer to work.

I do know some people that commute that long each day but almost all of them carpool or take the train. Having to drive 3 hours a day has a very, very negative impact on the quality of your life.

[humandraydel]

Having to drive 3 hours a day has a very, very negative impact on the quality of your life.

This, a thousand times. I did a 1.5 hour drive (one way) every day for about 2 months and it was NOT fun. The only thing that got me through it was knowing it was very temporary. Also, I'd like to point out that 45 hours per week is really not that much, so if you already feel that way, adding at least 15 hours (3 hours * 5 days) to your work week will NOT help you in any way.

[Frügal]

Yep. You guys/gals are right.

I did figure the extra $200/mo for gas into the new house budget, and we would end up saving $100/mo over our current situation that way. However, we may move to another apartment (where I work) and could possibly save $100 on top of not having to commute.

The allure of a house of our own is just so prevalent, it is hard to ignore it. Ha.

[elessar78]

I was commuting about what you would each day. 1 hour to work, 90 minutes back. It was a terrible experience. I got to work and got home exhausted and drained each day from the driving. Had to wake up and go to bed ridiculously early which affected my lifestyle even on the weekends. It felt like I had no free time and little control over my life. I tried everything to make the experience better. Woke up at 5 am to avoid traffic. Played MP3s of books I wanted to read during the drive. Nothing really made up for the lost time and the lost control in my life. I made it for 3 months and then couldn't take it anymore and moved closer to work.

I do know some people that commute that long each day but almost all of them carpool or take the train. Having to drive 3 hours a day has a very, very negative impact on the quality of your life.

Yup. It's a fool's deal. I did it too. 50+ miles round trip through two of the worst interchanges in the country. Never again. I've never lived more than six miles from work since!

If you think of 8 hours of sleep, 3 hours of commuting, 8 hours for work—that's 19 of 24, what's left for you? For family?

[snafu]

Not smart to look at buying until you've saved at least 20% down payment. You can look at listings on-line complete with photos of what's available in your price range.

Remember the rules, no more than 28% of income on accommodation or you'll easily get swamped financially. The mortgage is just one cost, there are property taxes, HOA fees, utilities, insurance, and a long list of never ending repairs and an incredible amount of work.