Quote:
Originally Posted by Handro
I dunno, maybe it's down to personal budget priorities, but I'd feel pretty house-poor based on the math we've done together paying more than 350, with a major stretch up to 400. We (currently) would have about 20k to put down based on a moderate estimate of the potential sale price of our current (tiny) North Center condo.
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Getting a little off-topic here, but remember that if you commit to a $3,000 mortgage today, it will still be a $3,000 mortgage in 30 years. That means you will have 30 years of (likely) increased pay while your monthly payment stays mostly the same. That said, the property tax portion of your monthly payment will likely increase. If you are below 20% down, you will have the PMI on top of your mortgage and it sounds like that is actually your biggest hurdle to a reasonable monthly payment.
My wife and I were similar to you before we bought in Irving Park. At the time, it was a tight fit, but she got a raise and now we have much more breathing room. Mortgage is still below $3,000 after we re-financed a year ago.