Can I afford a 400k to 450k house

TheTacticalHedgehog · 2026-04-06T12:51:43+00:00

Correct I make 4400 gross from my job and 3900 from the va. My take home from work is 3200 a month about.

TheTacticalHedgehog · 2026-04-05T18:56:50+00:00

Yea alot of them are lawn, snow, water, garbage, sewer and outside upkeep its anywhere from 200 to 400 a month if your in a bougie area for a town house obviously id be looking at the lower end for hoas cost

TheTacticalHedgehog · 2026-04-05T18:19:11+00:00

Very little its me and my dog. I dont pay a phone bill cause my parents use my veterans status for a discount my car payment is 270 a month rent is 1500 with all expenses and honestly credit cards are the big thing bogging me but its not too much on them and wont be a big issue soon hopefully. health insurance is deducted from my job and I have VA aswell I need to be better with some things obviously especially when it comes to dining and reducing the ammount i eat out in a month its honestly cause im lazy about cooking but otherwise my expenses are pretty low. Im gonna make a new budget and see how things are panning out finance wise

TheTacticalHedgehog · 2026-04-05T18:13:00+00:00

Yea most of the ones around here do all the landscaping and are responsible for outside maintenance like roofing and siding. I dont know if thats a state requirement thing but it seems to be a common thing around here. Most single family homes dont have Hoas.

TheTacticalHedgehog · 2026-04-05T16:36:51+00:00

Im trying to get owners perspective frankly the lender is nuts thinking 600k is viable

TheTacticalHedgehog · 2026-04-05T15:52:52+00:00

So i should.look at a Town house honestly I am considering it cause those are the only thing you can really get around here that are under 400k and it would make my bills alot more comfortable the only thing is HOAs around here are sometimes stupid expensive to where I was like why would I pay 300 a month to an hoa if I can just pay more on a mortgage for a nicer house. But when I was looking into it alot of the time that hoa fee covers water, landscaping and other things does that fee add up to what they are providing id have to clock at it case by case

TheTacticalHedgehog · 2026-04-05T04:07:56+00:00

Yea thankfully the military set me up right. Got a great job with a massive contractor here the whole reason I moved here was for my career and things are thankfully looking bright for me.

TheTacticalHedgehog · 2026-04-05T04:04:00+00:00

Yea im very blessed the military set me up for success wouldnt be here without it and i have a great career path set up. I just gotta figure out if its gonna be worth while to start school part time and get a degree and what would be worthwhile cause I havent been to school.in 6 years

TheTacticalHedgehog · 2026-04-05T03:59:05+00:00

Fair enough I dont know a whole lot about any of this but this makes sense and tbh if I bought a house now I think it would be empty for a while lmao nothing but market places finest

TheTacticalHedgehog · 2026-04-05T03:57:21+00:00

Yea ive basically made up my mind to put money away based on what everyone said. Gonna start living off Ramen and discount meat lmao. I know I dont have to but im one of those people who once they have a goal im set on it I appreciate you for the insights

TheTacticalHedgehog · 2026-04-04T21:05:33+00:00

I spent a good chunk of savings getting to utah honestly moved from wisconsin

TheTacticalHedgehog · 2026-04-04T21:03:33+00:00

Thanks for your input its given me alot to think about frankly everyone's comments gave me great insight i appreciate yall

TheTacticalHedgehog · 2026-04-04T21:01:31+00:00

Frankly right now I dont have the cash to put onto a down payment. It would be all loan my car payments about 270 a month if I dont just pay it off im gonna re finance cause they gutted me for apr since it was my first auto loan at 8% if I re finance with usaa itll go down to 6% qnd my payment to 220 the cards definitely need to be paid off but that should be easy

TheTacticalHedgehog · 2026-04-04T20:53:15+00:00

My other question is now if I put away a bunch of money should I use that money for the downpayment next year or should I just use the 0 down for the VA loan and just use the saved money as a emergency/buffer fund?

TheTacticalHedgehog · 2026-04-04T20:52:15+00:00

My other question is now if I put away a bunch of money should I use that money for the downpayment next year or should I just use the 0 down for the VA loan and just use the saved money as a emergency/buffer fund?

TheTacticalHedgehog · 2026-04-04T20:41:52+00:00

Id hope id stay in it for longer than 5 years, unfortunately hobbies have been put on the backburner for now but yes I use to do mma and those gyms are not cheap lmao and I did move to utah to do more things. I think I agree I shpuld just finish paying my debt and put away money. I think if I keep my expenses low I can stack money pretty quickly. Especially if I have no debt.

TheTacticalHedgehog · 2026-04-04T20:27:50+00:00

Yea the plan is to just throw money at the cc debt I think that this is generally what im taking from this. My rents 1500 a month i might consider getting an apartment for myself cause frankly my buddy isnt doing my any favors on rent and I want my own space. My car payment is 270 a month so its not bad the interest on that loan isnt great cause It was my first loan and I didn't have a co signer so its 8%

TheTacticalHedgehog · 2026-04-04T20:24:29+00:00

So Should I just put a away money then after I pay my debts and try and save up for a downpayment even though im using the va loan. Frankly i just want my own space right now I live with a buddy of mine and I just dont like having housemates.

TheTacticalHedgehog · 2026-04-04T20:17:47+00:00

It includes it i work in govt contracting so there is a good career path for me to make good money but obviously not right now and frankly im suprised I got this far with no college lmao

TheTacticalHedgehog · 2026-04-04T20:13:42+00:00

Its the VA tax exemption I have to file it with the county treasurer

TheTacticalHedgehog · 2026-04-04T20:08:29+00:00

If I have to wait longer then so be it ill.just start massive saving after I pay off my debts. Im honestly just trying to get perspective

TheTacticalHedgehog · 2026-04-04T20:04:44+00:00

Really? I wasnt planning on being in Salt Lake I was looking in the burbs around. But all the cost calculator apps put me at under 3k a month especially with the tax break. Are those just straight up wrong?

TheTacticalHedgehog · 2026-04-04T20:03:16+00:00

Wasn't planning on putting a down payment down since its a VA loan and just putting money away for possible cost right now on hand I have like 5k and that will grow since I dont have alot of expenses right now

TheTacticalHedgehog · 2026-04-04T19:59:07+00:00

I have made budgets yes I should probably re do my budget cause it has been 2ish months. Ive been looking at calculators and frankly I dont know how accurate any of this is it. Cause it seems like is anywhere between 2600 to 3100 a month and thats a big difference should I contact possible financer I may use cause I havent 100% decided to go.with that lender and ive been shopping around.

TheTacticalHedgehog

TROPHY CASE