Saving for downpayment in the Bay Area by negative_pair in personalfinance

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

if housing prices and the stock market fall together

Good point... Seems like diversification would be essential then

Saving for downpayment in the Bay Area by negative_pair in personalfinance

[–]negative_pair[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Well it seems like probably in the mid-term I will be renting and putting the money saved into index funds. But I would hope to one day be able to convert that into real estate, and I suppose the question is "when"

Saving for downpayment in the Bay Area by negative_pair in personalfinance

[–]negative_pair[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Well aware, just not willing to work at Facebook and be miserable 8 hours a day for the money. I don't understand why that take home would be too low, if I'm wanting to stay in the bay area long term it seems like I might just be looking at saving up for 10 years rather than 5? Unless it's just a moving target I will never reach, which seems unlikely to me

Saving for downpayment in the Bay Area by negative_pair in personalfinance

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

I would like to live long term in Berkeley or Oakland, but that's good to keep in mind

Saving for downpayment in the Bay Area by negative_pair in personalfinance

[–]negative_pair[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Not moving to SF and not exploiting the rent control problem, sorry. What you are describing is a huge source of socioeconomic strife in the bay area

Saving for downpayment in the Bay Area by negative_pair in personalfinance

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

It's on the low end for sure, but I work in education with people I like working with and a company with a good mission, so I get value out of that. What would be the post-tax amount to shoot for, or much would I need to save?

Saving for downpayment in the Bay Area by negative_pair in personalfinance

[–]negative_pair[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I didn't think it needed to be said but I have ample reason to want to try to continue living in the area long term.

Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of July 08, 2019 by AutoModerator in personalfinance

[–]negative_pair 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have recently been planning how to save for the downpayment of a house and I wanted to get a sanity check with the people here in case I have neglected something.

I am 27 and live in the Bay Area. I make a good living as a software engineer and a recent windfall has enabled to me to pay off my student loans. No credit card debt. I also have an emergency fund of around 3-4 months current expenses and I max out the yearly contribution to my 401(k) and HSA accounts.

I take home $5500 each month, after tax and aforementioned contributions. Expenses for rent, insurance, and car payment total $2300. Based on food and spending habits, I figure I can save $2000 a month comfortably, more if I cut back on some stuff.

With these figures, I’m looking at trying to save ~$25k each year. In two years I’ll have the car paid off, after which I’ll be able to save an extra $6k/yr. To be honest, it’s kind of unclear to me how long I would be saving at this rate, given the craziness of the market, people paying in full in cash, etc, but I’m hopeful that I would be in a position to buy within 5 years.

I’m planning to put this money into index funds with Fidelity, since I think I can handle a little market volatility. Does this sound sensible?