To buy a house or rent?

[abitbroken]

I suggest leasing a house. Then you will know what it entails while keeping in mind, you will be responsible as a homeowner for upkeep, maintenance, repairs, costly property taxes and higher everything every month such as lease payment, higher utility bills and the like. See if this is your cup of tea or not.

 

If a house is not for you, at least you're not saddled beyond a year of remaining in the house as a legal commitment.

 

If you don't mind a financial tightrope given your circumstances (unemployed boyfriend, risk of working less than 160 hours, working for a baby and unemployed boyfriend's survival, pinching pennies, living paycheck to paycheck, student loan debts and these types of financial burdens), then try leasing a house to give you some options short term.

 

That's a good idea - to get a taste for it.

But i would hesitate to call him unemployed if they both consciously chose for him to be the parent to stay home for a few months. We wouldn't fault if the mother stayed home with the baby for the first year if they had no family, daycare was astronomical and they decided they could do it even if it was tight, to give the child the benefit of a parent at home. regular Daycares are the pits for babies with all the germy kids. He should do something, even if its gig work either on her day off, or half of the evenings that she is home (leaving the other evenings to actually see eachother) . If he is doing the grocery shopping, doing the picking up, etc, so she doesn't have to and can just come home after work, then that's something but it is awfully precarious if they are not married

[Cherylyn]

That's a good idea - to get a taste for it.

But i would hesitate to call him unemployed if they both consciously chose for him to be the parent to stay home for a few months. We wouldn't fault if the mother stayed home with the baby for the first year if they had no family, daycare was astronomical and they decided they could do it even if it was tight, to give the child the benefit of a parent at home. regular Daycares are the pits for babies with all the germy kids. He should do something, even if its gig work either on her day off, or half of the evenings that she is home (leaving the other evenings to actually see eachother) . If he is doing the grocery shopping, doing the picking up, etc, so she doesn't have to and can just come home after work, then that's something but it is awfully precarious if they are not married

 

Thanks, abitbroken. With all due respect, when I referred to "unemployment," I referred to lack of income contribution towards monthly household expenses which is a strain on an already tight budget. Then you factor in student loan debts on top of that, lease payments or monthly mortgage, risk of less than 160 hours which means less monthly income, pinching pennies and living paycheck to paycheck, it is living hand-to-mouth. I know because I lived it growing up. Quality of life continues to plummet.

 

All I'm saying is to the OP (Beautiful-Love), don't make the financial strain worse than it already is IMHO. Remain pragmatic no matter how harsh the economic reality is to survive month to month. It's not fun squeaking by.

[abitbroken]

Thanks, abitbroken. With all due respect, when I referred to "unemployment," I referred to lack of income contribution towards monthly household expenses which is a strain on an already tight budget. Then you factor in student loan debts on top of that, lease payments or monthly mortgage, risk of less than 160 hours which means less monthly income, pinching pennies and living paycheck to paycheck, it is living hand-to-mouth. I know because I lived it growing up. Quality of life continues to plummet.

 

All I'm saying is to the OP (Beautiful-Love), don't make the financial strain worse than it already is IMHO. Remain pragmatic no matter how harsh the economic reality is to survive month to month. It's not fun squeaking by.

 

Ok -= for me "unemployed" is different than "stay at home mom/dad".

 

I actually grew up with only one parent working, too, but my parents didn't have college debt. They had one car, we wore handmedowns and we were happy. We had one car, one tv, etc. They got a second car when i was in 3rd grade. Dad worked 2 jobs (one midnights full time, one day not quite full time) when i was born until i was 3 and then he found a good job and he just worked one. Mom started working on weekends after the youngest child was born and then worked saturdays (dad was home) and one night a week and a day when we were all in school.

[Cherylyn]

Ok -= for me "unemployed" is different than "stay at home mom/dad".

 

I actually grew up with only one parent working, too, but my parents didn't have college debt. They had one car, we wore handmedowns and we were happy. We had one car, one tv, etc. They got a second car when i was in 3rd grade. Dad worked 2 jobs (one midnights full time, one day not quite full time) when i was born until i was 3 and then he found a good job and he just worked one. Mom started working on weekends after the youngest child was born and then worked saturdays (dad was home) and one night a week and a day when we were all in school.

 

You are unusual. Both of my parents worked and my mother worked all her life. My husband and I work plus raised a family together. We live in a house which requires combined incomes in order to sustain a comfortable standard of living in a great, fairly affluent suburban neighborhood.

 

I'm sure many parents can survive on one income but in desirable, very safe neighborhoods, real estate is expensive. It's really hard to survive and then if you add mounting debts such as mortgage AND student loan debts, this is simply drowning in debts and paying enormous interest plus compounding interest. Then for the OP, there's risk of less than 160 work hours, no partner / boyfriend / spouse to supplement her income, pinching pennies and living paycheck to paycheck is a sweaty nail biting life. Who in their right mind wants to live like that?

[Snny]

Less down payment, the bigger the monthly mortgage plus interest. Usually families in particular prefer to live in a desirable area which isn't cheap.

Not in my case because I qualified for a federal rural loan. Low interest rate and reasonable monthly payments. In fact I ended up walking out of settlement with money because it was a home I was renting. There are homes out there with good mortgage deals.

[abitbroken]

Not in my case because I qualified for a federal rural loan. Low interest rate and reasonable monthly payments. In fact I ended up walking out of settlement with money because it was a home I was renting. There are homes out there with good mortgage deals.

 

Agree. There are many ways. And there is something called a starter house.

[Cherylyn]

Crunch the numbers first and see if you can afford it with student loan debts, unemployed boyfriend and risk working less than 160 hours. Budget for property taxes, repairs, maintenance and other hidden costs of home ownership. That's the harsh reality check.

 

I hope it works for you though however way you obtain your home.

 

For interim, try renting or leasing a house short term and see if financial conditions are optimal for you. I hope it is!

[LootieTootie]

I suggest leasing a house. Then you will know what it entails while keeping in mind, you will be responsible as a homeowner for upkeep, maintenance, repairs, costly property taxes and higher everything every month such as lease payment, higher utility bills and the like. See if this is your cup of tea or not.

 

If a house is not for you, at least you're not saddled beyond a year of remaining in the house as a legal commitment.

 

If you don't mind a financial tightrope given your circumstances (unemployed boyfriend, risk of working less than 160 hours, working for a baby and unemployed boyfriend's survival, pinching pennies, living paycheck to paycheck, student loan debts and these types of financial burdens), then try leasing a house to give you some options short term.

 

Everyone gave great advices but this one I agree with the most.

 

I am also in your shoes, but with no kid and have a working spouse. We live in California and if we were to buy a decent house in a decent area plus juggling the costs of fixing a house and all our other bills, would be more of a financial burden. Be smart.

[Cherylyn]

Everyone gave great advices but this one I agree with the most.

 

I am also in your shoes, but with no kid and have a working spouse. We live in California and if we were to buy a decent house in a decent area plus juggling the costs of fixing a house and all our other bills, would be more of a financial burden. Be smart.

 

Thank you, LootieTootie.

[boltnrun]

I'm currently renting a townhouse. Recently two very major appliances took a dump. Completely and totally broken, needed replacing. All I had to do was notify the property manager and they took it from there. It was inconvenient, yes, but it didn't cost me a dime.

 

A coworker of mine owns her home and her water heater went out and flooded her house. She spent THOUSANDS on cleanup and replacement of the water heater and mold remediation.

 

If you have enough to pay your bills, have a bit left over and have savings in case of a catastrophe, then owning probably makes sense. But if you would be financially ruined if your water heater blows up or your washing machine dies and you have to not only replace them but pay for cleanup and/or remediation, then it might make more sense to save up until you have a cushion.

 

And I may have already said this, so apologies if this is redundant.