Excellent question!
Buy less house than you think you can afford and don’t ever assume it’s just a “starter house” unless you know you’re coming into the corpus if your trust in 5 years.
Good answer -- and it's double-true if you're a just-married couple who doesn't yet have children. You don't know what life has in store for you: will life throw you triplets, or a disability? ALWAYS buy a house that you can afford on ONE SALARY; that allows you choices down the road.
It's so easy to think, "The bank is willing to lend us this much -- they wouldn't let us get in over our heads." The bank doesn't care a bit whether you can never afford to go out to eat, can't afford to be a bridesmaid in your college roommate's wedding, or can't afford to trade your car. Never consider your house as a stand-alone item; think of it as one part of your whole budget.
For a young couple just starting out, you don't need duplicate dining areas, a dedicated guest room, a secondary living space, or a garage. Kids who have bedrooms don't also need playrooms. With telecommuting becoming more and more "a thing", a dedicated home office may be a need.
You do need adequate space.
You do need a conveniently located house.
Remember that less expensive houses are easier to sell (more people can afford them, giving you a larger audience).
Start with the basics -- and INVEST the money you're not spending on housing in your retirement. Your greatest asset is time, and while you're young the magic of compound interest is in your favor. Rather than having the big house and the flashy car, INVEST. If you do this from a young age, by the time you're in your early 50s, you'll be able to pay for your kids' college educations AND have enough to retire -- if you wish to do so, or if (like so many people I know) you're laid off in your 50s.
yeah, i'm with don't buy a bad floorplan.
Thing is, when I was younger I didn't grasp what a bad floorplan was. I understood room size and finishes.
We bought a 1970s fixer upper in 1990. I disliked all the harvest gold and dark stained (pine) trim ...
Yes. Don't chase trends. Keep your expensive /permanent stuff -- floors, tile, cabinets -- simple and neutral. Bring in trendy colors through curtains, throw pillows, accessories -- things that're easily and cheaply changed.
Get a 15 year mortgage instead of a 30
When we were first married, we bought a house on a 30 year mortgage ... but paid it on a 15 year plan. (Thank you, Mrs. Barringer, for making us repeat over and over in Algebra class, "I want a simple interest mortgage with no pre-payment penalty." I remembered.) We had the self-discipline to pay the not-that-much-more amount, but we always had THE CHOICE to drop back to the 30-year option. By the time we had a real financial emergency, the house was paid off.
Don't buy the big, cheap bargain because you want more space. Bigger houses cost more in taxes, repairs, upkeep and utilities while smaller homes of a better quality are so much easier to manage.
Yes, buy a house that's cheap-to-keep.
Same thing's true of cars: Our small SUV is quite expensive -- it can't pass a gas station without stopping for a drink, and tires cost a fortune. Now I drive a small Honda (and I'm about to buy another of the same), and if we need something bigger on occasion (moving a kid to college, bringing the nieces on vacation), we rent a van. It's much cheaper than maintaining the larger car all the time.
Don’t buy an old 1930s fixer-upper that was seriously neglected. Seriously. Run away!!
HGTV makes it look so easy, but before you test those waters yourself, you should seriously evaluate your own abilities and experience! And renovation is expensive.
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seems like good advice and why you shouldn't spend so much on trends and and encourages you to figure out what's lasting vs a trend.
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