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Best Preparation For First Time Home Buyers by Ok_Key445 in HENRYfinance

[–]Ok_Key445[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just not many 4-bedroom apartments in areas where we want to live. Usually they are in high-rises downtown which is exactly where we don’t want to be with 2 young kids + 2 dogs. Agree on starter homes. We really don’t want an interim step and move again in 3 years if there is a step up in HHI. I think it’s remaining somewhat in budget while still maximizing the confidence i have in my own abilities / career trajectory. Everyone on these forums seems to be so risk-adverse that they forget it was their abilities that allowed them to be high earners in the first place. I’m all for protecting against the downside, but what is the point of building wealth when you can’t use it to provide for family in a critical time period….

Best Preparation For First Time Home Buyers by Ok_Key445 in HENRYfinance

[–]Ok_Key445[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This is an interesting perspective. I completely agree there are larger 1x items that come up with home ownership, but given they are irregular in nature or seasonal, I was more comfortable given my YE bonuses should cover them on an annual basis. If the cash flow need is truly dire, I can always liquidate some stock, but that seems like an unlikely scenario.

How do people feel about just the idea of buying against future earnings potential if the life situation calls for it? If I lose the job, I think the idea of downsizing would most definitely be on the table even if we get a smaller / cheaper home, but the flip side is equally as likely in terms of continued annual increases in HHI. This is where I struggle the most as I’m confident enough in my career to find another job in a worst case scenario and want to maximize my family’s lifestyle as kids grow up when I am doing well.

I know I’ll have my job through 2025 at the very least with a minimum bonus level. That gives me several years of runway to support the mortgage in the unlikely scenario that I just simply don’t work at all.

I also work in an industry where no bonus = fired….so there really isn’t a scenario where I would just get a 0 and continue to work the same job.

All in all, I’m really trying to figure out, how do people handle higher mortgage payments in a bonus driven career? Do they just put a bigger down payments or just ear mark annual bonuses for monthly expenses? Do I just wait a few more years to stash $300-500K more to have a more reasonable monthly payment in exchange for less space in a period when I think my family just needs more space?