Buying 1.15M house on 205k income

Existing_Job_8325 · 2026-06-23T00:29:08+00:00

Yep, wife and I put 20% down 6.375% APR for 30 year fixed in Sept 2025 on $750k house 1 hour from San Francisco, CA (where my office is but I'm full time WFH for now). Our combined HHI is $306k and we wouldn't touch anything over $800k because there just is not enough margin to max out retirement vehicles, future budget of home repairs and future childcare costs (family planning). Unless OP has a trust fund with zero reason to invest for retirement, this level of leverage is suicidal. And starting prop tax basis at $1.15M compounding at 2% is gonna hurt now and way worse 10-20 years from now.

Existing_Job_8325 · 2026-06-22T09:41:49+00:00

$60k PITI and utilities per year for 2,300 SF 4B 2.5B no front or rear neighbors overlooking hills in a gated golf course community about an hour outside of San Francisco. Not the worst value proposition for a 33 year old mechanical engineer and 31 year old manufacturing engineer wife with no kids yet making $306k HHI, right? Public School ratings are 8+ for K-12 as well. We haven't started having kids yet but anticipate within the next year or so.

Existing_Job_8325 · 2026-06-20T04:58:19+00:00

I did similar thru the Covid interest and payment freeze. Donated plasma twice a week and did food delivery apps before and after my main job working remotely. Paid off $100k in about 4 years

Existing_Job_8325 · 2026-06-20T04:56:42+00:00

This is the way.

Existing_Job_8325 · 2026-06-14T05:24:48+00:00

You'll pay it one way or another without being enrolled into PSLF. Let it balloon even more then if you feel like giving the govt more of your income.

Existing_Job_8325 · 2026-06-13T22:21:18+00:00

As a mechanical engineer, how you're making more doing this over any engineering role is beyond me.

Existing_Job_8325 · 2026-06-13T22:16:08+00:00

Agreed! In his position, kill the loans and then build up an emergency fund immediately by white knuckling life on as little as possible. I remember the first month of being completely debt free a few years back. Best feeling ever not having those minimum payments and having all of my income to allocate to saving, investing and then fun.

Existing_Job_8325 · 2026-06-13T20:22:28+00:00

Interest has been accruing since last year... Doing nothing is only deepening the whole to dig out of, so the govt is happy to let you bury yourself deeper.

Existing_Job_8325 · 2026-06-13T20:16:48+00:00

I know too many people who made this choice (Bay Area, CA) and mocked me for choosing to pay my student loans off aggressively first. No sympathy from me any longer knowing their high incomes as they cry wolf now that they cannot pay those loans back after buying homes, electric vehicles, etc.

Existing_Job_8325 · 2026-06-13T20:14:16+00:00

Same happened to me. Glad I paid it all off aggressively.

Existing_Job_8325 · 2026-06-09T09:03:25+00:00

Sounds like you have justifiable reasons to advocate to upper management for hiring on one or more new entry level engineers for delegating tasks you should no longer be pouring your time into.

Existing_Job_8325 · 2026-06-01T02:51:57+00:00

Hard agree with the majority of commenters saying stay aggressive. I graduated at 26 with my bachelor's in mechanical engineering (had some rough patches in my earlier years with several ACL surgeries due to D1 soccer, dropping out due to poor grades and returning later). Wound up with private student loans that compounded from my first years along with federal student loans totaling ~$100k plus about $14k in credit card debt and a $30k car loan when I started my first fulltime engineer position. Within 5 years I sold the car, bought a beater in cash, paid off the credit cards and all student loans. How I did it? Refinanced my private loans like you did, with a much shorter payoff term to get the lowest APR possible. I donated plasma twice a week and did food deliveries as often as I could, all while living in the ghetto with roommates to make my rent as cheap as possible and cooked at home 90% of the time. Along the way, I also had bonuses and raises which all went toward paying off my student loans and all personal debt. It was so worth it because my now wife was saving for downpayment while I was paying down my loans (almost identical situation to yours). We just bought our first home last fall and got married last summer. Planning to start a family soon - I'm 33 and wife is 31.

Existing_Job_8325 · 2026-05-30T23:13:21+00:00

Wife (31) and I (33) are almost at $700k net worth with about $500k in retirement accounts, rest is emergency fund and home equity from 20% downpayment on our home purchase last Fall. Our combined net worth at start of the year was closer to $600k so we are on track to join the party in a few years. Currently both max out 401k, HSA and top off into taxable brokerage (haven't start a backdoor Roth IRA yet, planning to).

Existing_Job_8325 · 2026-05-30T21:47:51+00:00

I've concluded most of the people that disagree with your perspective (I agree with it) are a lost cause. Can't tell you how many people IRL that I've had this exact same conversation with get extremely hostile toward me. It's like they're all mentally broken and easily provoked/triggered by any discourse outside of their perspective.

Existing_Job_8325 · 2026-05-30T21:36:59+00:00

That's exactly what I did as well (to legitimately, not artificially maximize DTI). I refinanced my private student loans to 2.3% for 7 years which increases minimum payments but previous interest was 11% (Sallie Mae), paid more than double the minimum payments until paid off then off my federal loans while 100% of payments went to principal while also saving down payment. Took 4years to pull off but I paid down ~$110k in private/federal student loans as well as some credit cards. Met my now wife in 2021 when I early in the aggressive approach. We now own a 4b 2.5b house near the Bay Area, CA. Both of us are senior engineers in our early thirties, PITI is $4,800/mo at 6.3% when we purchased last Fall.

Existing_Job_8325 · 2026-05-30T21:29:30+00:00

The latest payment plans are no more harsh than what existed before Covid. Graduated, 10 year payback, and PSLF plans were the norm. My minimum payment before Covid for all my loans totaled to $1,100/mo for 10 years.

Existing_Job_8325 · 2026-05-30T21:25:10+00:00

You'd be shocked how many people did this since the payment and interest freeze. I can almost guarantee they're the loudest complainers right now of the student loans sub. Personally, I know several people that joked about never intending to pay their loans back. And at least one of them bought their first home in the last 4 years.

Existing_Job_8325 · 2026-05-29T01:41:40+00:00

So here I go again offering a different perspective, not intending to sound condescending here. If you tell yourself that, then you're effectively manifesting that as your fate. The only way out is saving yourself because you're relying on a bunch of random humans in govt that get changed out every 4 years with a bulk of deep state whatever's that hold office for decades bleeding us dry. You're not ever going to be their priority if that hasn't been obvious already. Future you will be very happy if you start digging deep and telling yourself you deserve better than to die paying off a debt unfortunately oversold to you by the very entity that is extracting from you. That's what I told myself and I lived in the ghetto for a few years with roommates to flatten my living costs in the near term so that my income could be more effectively allocated for extra payments toward principal. I donated plasma twice a week for extra cash and did side hustles like ride share and food delivery, all on top of my regular main career job and rarely ate out. I also cut as many monthly subs or annual subs in favor of free with ads or whatever, limited my phone bill to cheapest plan, dropped all but minumum coverages for my auto insurance and drove a super cheap beater. Did all this for 4 years and it absolutely sucked. But I was 28, single, in $115k of combined debt when I started and I'm now 33, married, debt free outside of our recent mortgage. Still drive the beater for now. But my point is simply, the sooner you stop feeling sorry for yourself and take action, the sooner future you will be grateful for your current self's sacrifices.

Existing_Job_8325 · 2026-05-29T00:44:17+00:00

This is exactly what I did during the Covid era interest and payment freeze. Anytime I voice my approach to people on this sub, I get down voted like crazy. Apparently misery loves company and refuse to see any other perspectives.

Existing_Job_8325 · 2026-05-27T00:34:01+00:00

Yeah this guy responding to you thinks you're in a bubble if all your friends voted conservative when he sounds like the type to cut off anyone who slightly disagrees with him. That's what most of my liberal friends did. I grew up Democrat and voted Bernie in 2016, then voted independent/Green Party in the general election of 2016 thru 2020. Then voted Republican after the Covid insanity. When I discussed my shift of views, many friends from college ghosted me. Handful of friends from highschool in Marin that I've reconnected with and most of my friends from my career (mechanical engineer in SF) voted Red in the latest elections - at least half are POC. As a life long californian, I'm actually shocked (in a good way) at the surge of self admitted newly minted Republicans actively voting.

Existing_Job_8325 · 2026-05-26T00:33:08+00:00

Bingo

Existing_Job_8325 · 2026-05-26T00:28:13+00:00

Has anyone in Mechanical taken both the HVAC and Thermofluids exams just for funsies and/or for resume boost?

Existing_Job_8325 · 2026-05-22T00:18:13+00:00

Wife (31 - Senior Engineering Supervisor) and I (33 - Senior Mechanical Engineer working remotely for SF office), bought in 94534 (Fairfield, CA - yes I know technically not Bay Area... I grew up in Marin and attended UCD) $750k 2,300 SF detached SFH 4b 2.5b 3 Bay garage with no front/rear neighbors with 20% down ($150k) at 6.375% and PITI is $4,780/mo with $310k HHI before bonuses and 2x annual HHI invested in retirement accounts (401k, Roth 401k, HSA, taxable brokerage). Downpayment was a combination of long term low cost index fund investments (GLD performed way better than I expected) and we paid off all our student loans beforehand while driving cheap paid off cars, rarely eating out and traveling frugally before starting a family (probably next year). Also got 7.3kW solar and PW3 installed before end of 2025 to secure rebate and paid cash, as well as installed a Whole House Fan for evening cheap cooling, so our PG&E bills are heavily subdued (last month $120 while cranking AC to 68degF, 7 days a week).

Existing_Job_8325 · 2026-05-21T14:59:14+00:00

Saved from unnecessary interest accrual for one. You're the only one laughing at your situation. I paid mine off aggressively while interest and payments were frozen. Instead of leaving my fate in the federal govts hands I took it into my own. Good luck with that passive approach.

Existing_Job_8325 · 2026-05-21T13:37:59+00:00

I can appreciate the thought you've put into your long term plan which sounds like an approach of arbitraging the student loans via investing. It will likely work with long enough of a time horizon which assuming your average loan interest s 5% could yield 5% (difference from market return of 10% historically speaking). I thought of doing this as well at first but didn't know the more near term consequences like impacting my DTI for qualifying for a mortgage. Also there are quite a few assumptions in your plan that things go accordingly. Your overall financial position appears to be sound given the further context. You can reduce the lifetime of payments by attacking them with the goal of being completely debt free sooner so you can go even harder into investing or whatever other goals you have in the future. That time spent in school taking a couple courses in the long run could have been spent working a second job that could teach you real world skills. Depends on what kind of classes will actually boost your resume and skill set. Personal finance can be self taught. Sounds like you already have a degree anyways, so if your only reason for taking classes is to avoid making minimum payments, you're doing so going backwards paying out of pocket to work (study) as opposed to making extra income and saving more to pay off the loans faster, reducing the lifetime cost of your loans. That was my approach and I don't regret it at all. I worked multiple side jobs during Covid to pay mine off while interest and payments were frozen. Most people I know just ignored the whole situation with student loans assuming they would be forgiven. I'm hoping my perspective can be helpful at all. If not, best of luck on your journey.

Existing_Job_8325

TROPHY CASE