I agree with what John Weeks said.

You say you're closing in a few weeks, so I guess the discussion here goes more
towards how to handle the coming years.

I'd like to ask some bottom line questions, mostly out of curiosity and maybe to
help others, but also perhaps to help you clarify to yourself what is happening
here. So:

1. What's your monthly, after tax, take-home salary?

2. How much will your monthly mortgage payment be? Include insurance on the
mortgage.

3. How much are your property taxes going to be each month?

4. How much are the monthly utilities (heating, cooling, light, water) and
insurance for this house?

5. Do you have other loans (e.g. credit card, car, school) that you are now
paying off?


6. What are you spending on clothes each year?

7. Do you have an emergency fund (stashed in a money market account, U.S.
savings bonds, or similar) that equals about a year of what you'd need if you
were suddenly unemployed?

IIRC personal bankruptcies are at some kind of record high now. I suspect it's
partly because banks have lowered the standards for giving people loans.

At the suggestion of some people here, I recently skimmed _The Millionaire Next
Door_. It's a circa 1996 book by a couple of PhDs who studied millionaires in
the U.S. These millionaires tend to be first-generation rich and, above all
else, they lived below their means for years to get where they are today:
Comfortable and no worries. One interesting observation is that many of these
millionaires maintain a spreadsheet of their monthly budget. They watch their
cash outflow very carefully, so as to ensure they do not exceed their means.

I don't know what exactly your financial goals are, and maybe you've already
perused this book. If not, then the suggestions in this book might help you to
clarify them. Ebay often has copies for under $10.

In article <d7bcffde.0404092016.4e374cc8[at]posting.google.com> , kevin
<pete131[at]optonline.net> wrote:

- quote -

Yes, we would all like to live in a mansion on the hill. But
consider what would happen if anything goes wrong here. Lets
say you get hurt in a car accident, skiing, or have a medical
problem. How long can you pay those $2600 first mortgage payments
and the $500 a month H/E loan payments?

Even if your job remains stable, you are cutting things down to
the wire every month for 30 years. How long before that gets
old? What happens when you want to buy furniture or replace the
curtains? You are not going to have any money for this stuff.
Not to mention what happens if you end up with a special needs
child in the house.

I think you need to get a 2nd and 3rd job, and put your wife
to work, or take a drive a bit further down the road and find
a $200K home that you can afford.

-john-

--
================================================== ==================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john[at]johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ==================

Hi all,

Great newsgroup. I am making 118K/yr and put 10% on a $543k house. I
am closing in couple of weeks. But I am very nervous because I am
pushing the envelope way above my limit. We like this house and
mortgage appraisal is 1000 above the sales price. I am taking a 7/1
ARM and my doing 80-10-10. My loan in Jumbo because I' m borrowing
$434400. Does anyone have similar situation like me? or experienced
similar situation. I think I will only save $1000 from my monthly
salary. I spoke with my wife and she is okay with the risk that we are
taking.
any suggestions bad or worse is appreciated?

Thanks,
Pete