Skokie mom here highly recommend Skokie /Evanston area. Skokie schools are amazing, lots of great parks, close enough to the city if you want to go to a cubs game or concert, but Skokie has its own nice areas to shop like old orchard. Tree lined streets and houses all look different plus there’s a huge variety of religions and cultures around here! In terms of buying and how we did it, when we were 28 we bought a condo in the in the city and then once we had our first kid we moved to Skokie. So our first home wasn’t our “forever home” with a big house and a yard but after a few years we upgraded and it got our foot in the door.
We’re in a very similar position as you guys. We make a pretty good income (about $80k a year, which is very livable where we are in Texas), have $70k saved for a down payment, and you can get a starter house in our area for under $300k. That isn’t so bad. But when you throw on top of it that interest rates are almost 7%, and property taxes here are some of the highest in the country, it would put our monthly payment on a 30 year mortgage at $1900, and we would pay almost $600k over the life of the loan for our $300k house thanks to interest. And that’s with a 30 year mortgage! My husband is 36, and we don’t really want to be finally paying off our house when he’s hitting retirement age, but if you drop to a 20 year mortgage, our monthly payment is $2200, which is almost half our income. That’s not counting maintenance, repairs, updates, or the inevitable increase in our utilities. And I know refinancing is a possibility, but I don’t want to go into it expecting for rates to go down. For reference, we pay $1200/month right now for our apartment, so the more I crunch the numbers, the less it feels worth it. Everyone talks about how renting long term is a waste because you never get a return on your rent payments, but no one says how the interest you’re paying on your mortgage, not to mention the property tax, HOA fees, and home insurance is also money wasted that you’ll never see again. If you look back at my example of the 30 year mortgage, even after 10 YEARS of the loan (2032), $1600 of the $1900 payment is still going to interest, taxes, and insurance with about $300 to principle. That’s $1600/month that we’re “throwing away,” as opposed to the $1200/month that we currently “throw away” on rent! All that to say-it’s rough out there. I don’t know how anyone is affording a house. I don’t say any of this to complain because we have a very good life, great health, loving family, etc. But we’re at a point where we’re ready to settle down and stop moving so much. But sometimes the best thing you can do for your family is to not put yourself in a financial bind. We’ve been looking at moving to Arkansas since it’s cheaper. We love Texas, and all our family is here, but the housing market is just tapped out for now. If I was in your position, I would take the plunge and move back to somewhere cheaper (especially since you don’t love the Midwest). But I also know how hard it is to make the decision to move away from family again :(
Totally agree with you on all of this! It's tough out there for a lot of people. I'm grateful we have a nice house and can afford the crazy high rent for now. Honestly I think if we want a house at some point, we'd have to move back to Raleigh just based on prices of homes in Illinois plus property tax is crazy here, too. I hate it when people talk about "throwing away money" for rent. Like... yes, but also... when our pipes broke and flooded earlier this year our landlord paid the $30K bill, not us. Nobody takes into account how much money to save in case something goes wrong!
My husband’s dad gifted him a house in his mid-20s (around 2009?) to ‘start his life’. He had worked a lot to be able to pay it all up front, which was generous, we now raise our baby here! It was a fixer upper (partially burnt hence the price) for $250k in New York suburban area (NY is SUPER SUPER expensive and this was a steal) and they fixed it together along with others which did involve $$ but still cheaper than buying a brand new home. Our fixer upper house now and brand new houses in my area go for $1M now, cheapest is $700,000. My husband also got to choose new everything since the house had to be completed renovated. Since we have no mortgage all we pay for is gas, water, and the property taxes of the house which you have to pay quarterly (school tax, town tax, general tax on a house) in NY where we live it is $15,000+ a year total. I dont know how we would be able to afford that on top of a mortgage. A lot of friends i have just think they have to pay for a mortgage and thats it but they dont account for the property taxes you have to pay for a house quaterly. What I have found is the nicer the location the higher the taxes, the closer to a city you are the higher the taxes, and also if its a popular area to live in then it will be high. Our issue is that our taxes keep going up every year! I think thats something thats important to know as future homeowners. I know some other rural places in NY it is way cheaper like $3000 a year, my mom lives in VA and her taxes are dirt cheap at $2500 a year. Also home insurance (which also fluctuate in pricing every year), if you live somewhere where its flood prone or any kind of disaster area prone then it will be sky high! It happened to my friend and was unfortunate as they were struggling already. It is something to consider and keep in mind. Oh and it also helps if you or Ben know how to fix things instead of always hiring someone to fix things around the house. A HUGE money saver. My neighbor paid $600 to do a simple fix on a HVAC unit and my husband did it for them in 5 minutes for free 😂 Insane. Dont feel too bad that you cant afford a house now! Soon you will. Everyone’s situation is different. Its a combination of luck, saving, planning. For now try to research whats out there but try not to be too picky as first time homeowners usually dont get everything they want unless they have UNLIMITED amount of money or customize a house.
Thank you for sharing! Taxes are insane in so many places and not things that people always factor in. I think we'll probably have to hold off on buying for awhile which is okay. And I hear you on fixing stuff - unfortunately Ben and I aren't great with that, haha! Ben wants to learn. His dad and my dad are good at that stuff so if we stayed in the midwest they could help... but also, we can't afford a house in the midwest currently so... 😆
We bought our house in 2017. My husband was in the military so we used a VA loan, so we put very little down but paid all the closing cost. Before we bought, our rent was $1500 a month, which at the time was very low relative to our income so it was easy for us to double that with a mortgage. Back then the interest rates were lower and houses cost much less. I will say that once your buy a house, you need a very hefty savings because house maintenance and upkeep is so expensive 😬
Yes! Thank you for telling me your story. My best friend also bought a house with her husband using a VA loan which was super helpful (and deserved!!) But yeah... interest rates and just prices of houses right now are insane. We're totally priced out of Illinois unless we buy something very beat up (which I don't want to do.) And I totally am with you on making sure you still have a hefty savings! That's a big thing for us, too. I don't want to put down all of our savings or close to it and then get screwed with upkeep! We might just keep renting for awhile haha :(
I am certain we used all our savings on closing cost. Once we bought a house that is when I started feeling poor, scarcity mindset and that’s when I really started to learn how to manage money well.
![ลักพาตัว เอาลูกเอิร์นกลับมา...!! [เอิร์นไดเม่]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/f4NVKlZ5qkk/mqdefault.jpg)
Skokie mom here highly recommend Skokie /Evanston area. Skokie schools are amazing, lots of great parks, close enough to the city if you want to go to a cubs game or concert, but Skokie has its own nice areas to shop like old orchard. Tree lined streets and houses all look different plus there’s a huge variety of religions and cultures around here!
In terms of buying and how we did it, when we were 28 we bought a condo in the in the city and then once we had our first kid we moved to Skokie. So our first home wasn’t our “forever home” with a big house and a yard but after a few years we upgraded and it got our foot in the door.
Love that! Thanks for the info. My friend lives in Skokie, too, so I'll have to look into it!
Agreed with the right now thought. It’s a nice feeling to have more choice , just not the time for it
Yes, exactly!
We’re in a very similar position as you guys. We make a pretty good income (about $80k a year, which is very livable where we are in Texas), have $70k saved for a down payment, and you can get a starter house in our area for under $300k. That isn’t so bad. But when you throw on top of it that interest rates are almost 7%, and property taxes here are some of the highest in the country, it would put our monthly payment on a 30 year mortgage at $1900, and we would pay almost $600k over the life of the loan for our $300k house thanks to interest. And that’s with a 30 year mortgage! My husband is 36, and we don’t really want to be finally paying off our house when he’s hitting retirement age, but if you drop to a 20 year mortgage, our monthly payment is $2200, which is almost half our income. That’s not counting maintenance, repairs, updates, or the inevitable increase in our utilities. And I know refinancing is a possibility, but I don’t want to go into it expecting for rates to go down. For reference, we pay $1200/month right now for our apartment, so the more I crunch the numbers, the less it feels worth it. Everyone talks about how renting long term is a waste because you never get a return on your rent payments, but no one says how the interest you’re paying on your mortgage, not to mention the property tax, HOA fees, and home insurance is also money wasted that you’ll never see again. If you look back at my example of the 30 year mortgage, even after 10 YEARS of the loan (2032), $1600 of the $1900 payment is still going to interest, taxes, and insurance with about $300 to principle. That’s $1600/month that we’re “throwing away,” as opposed to the $1200/month that we currently “throw away” on rent!
All that to say-it’s rough out there. I don’t know how anyone is affording a house. I don’t say any of this to complain because we have a very good life, great health, loving family, etc. But we’re at a point where we’re ready to settle down and stop moving so much. But sometimes the best thing you can do for your family is to not put yourself in a financial bind. We’ve been looking at moving to Arkansas since it’s cheaper. We love Texas, and all our family is here, but the housing market is just tapped out for now. If I was in your position, I would take the plunge and move back to somewhere cheaper (especially since you don’t love the Midwest). But I also know how hard it is to make the decision to move away from family again :(
Totally agree with you on all of this! It's tough out there for a lot of people. I'm grateful we have a nice house and can afford the crazy high rent for now. Honestly I think if we want a house at some point, we'd have to move back to Raleigh just based on prices of homes in Illinois plus property tax is crazy here, too.
I hate it when people talk about "throwing away money" for rent. Like... yes, but also... when our pipes broke and flooded earlier this year our landlord paid the $30K bill, not us. Nobody takes into account how much money to save in case something goes wrong!
My husband’s dad gifted him a house in his mid-20s (around 2009?) to ‘start his life’. He had worked a lot to be able to pay it all up front, which was generous, we now raise our baby here! It was a fixer upper (partially burnt hence the price) for $250k in New York suburban area (NY is SUPER SUPER expensive and this was a steal) and they fixed it together along with others which did involve $$ but still cheaper than buying a brand new home. Our fixer upper house now and brand new houses in my area go for $1M now, cheapest is $700,000. My husband also got to choose new everything since the house had to be completed renovated. Since we have no mortgage all we pay for is gas, water, and the property taxes of the house which you have to pay quarterly (school tax, town tax, general tax on a house) in NY where we live it is $15,000+ a year total. I dont know how we would be able to afford that on top of a mortgage. A lot of friends i have just think they have to pay for a mortgage and thats it but they dont account for the property taxes you have to pay for a house quaterly. What I have found is the nicer the location the higher the taxes, the closer to a city you are the higher the taxes, and also if its a popular area to live in then it will be high. Our issue is that our taxes keep going up every year! I think thats something thats important to know as future homeowners. I know some other rural places in NY it is way cheaper like $3000 a year, my mom lives in VA and her taxes are dirt cheap at $2500 a year.
Also home insurance (which also fluctuate in pricing every year), if you live somewhere where its flood prone or any kind of disaster area prone then it will be sky high! It happened to my friend and was unfortunate as they were struggling already. It is something to consider and keep in mind. Oh and it also helps if you or Ben know how to fix things instead of always hiring someone to fix things around the house. A HUGE money saver. My neighbor paid $600 to do a simple fix on a HVAC unit and my husband did it for them in 5 minutes for free 😂 Insane. Dont feel too bad that you cant afford a house now! Soon you will. Everyone’s situation is different. Its a combination of luck, saving, planning. For now try to research whats out there but try not to be too picky as first time homeowners usually dont get everything they want unless they have UNLIMITED amount of money or customize a house.
Thank you for sharing! Taxes are insane in so many places and not things that people always factor in. I think we'll probably have to hold off on buying for awhile which is okay. And I hear you on fixing stuff - unfortunately Ben and I aren't great with that, haha! Ben wants to learn. His dad and my dad are good at that stuff so if we stayed in the midwest they could help... but also, we can't afford a house in the midwest currently so... 😆
We bought our house in 2017. My husband was in the military so we used a VA loan, so we put very little down but paid all the closing cost. Before we bought, our rent was $1500 a month, which at the time was very low relative to our income so it was easy for us to double that with a mortgage. Back then the interest rates were lower and houses cost much less. I will say that once your buy a house, you need a very hefty savings because house maintenance and upkeep is so expensive 😬
Yes! Thank you for telling me your story. My best friend also bought a house with her husband using a VA loan which was super helpful (and deserved!!) But yeah... interest rates and just prices of houses right now are insane. We're totally priced out of Illinois unless we buy something very beat up (which I don't want to do.) And I totally am with you on making sure you still have a hefty savings! That's a big thing for us, too. I don't want to put down all of our savings or close to it and then get screwed with upkeep! We might just keep renting for awhile haha :(
I am certain we used all our savings on closing cost. Once we bought a house that is when I started feeling poor, scarcity mindset and that’s when I really started to learn how to manage money well.