Your First Home Together as Newlyweds?

[blushingbride]

We are newlyweds who just got married a little over a month ago and are living in my DH's condo in downtown Manhattan. We are very happy down there since being along the water makes us feel as if we aren't in the big city sometimes - not as much hustle and bustle.

Also, DH was lucky enough to get a condo which has 3 bedrooms which is huge for New York standards. I absolutely LOVE the place!!! We have 25ft high ceilings in our living room AND master bedroom which is very unique for a condo. We have granite countertops and stainless steel appliances in our kitchen and hardwood floors. Not to mention a modern gym & spa, valet service and conceirge.

It's wonderful....BUT....we are getting burned out from the city. Everything is so stressful in New York and we can't see ourselves here much longer. We are hoping to save enough money to move out and buy a house in the suburbs in a few years - which is equally as expensive as living in the city, but I guess when it comes to New York, it's all about location, location, location.

 

[Keepingthefaith21]

Date: 10/1/2007 7:20:42 AM
Author: argh&stuff

One thing that has me annoyed with the process is how mortgage brokers try to talk people into owing a lot more than is feasible to pay off. I know people make more income as they age (typically), but it''s just asking for trouble when you tell a couple making less than $100,000 a year, with not much debt but some (thanks college loans!) that they can afford to get a home upwards of 400-500,000. That''s insane.

I''m sorry if I am out of line by responding to this thread because I am not married. I do own a home with my SO. We have lived there for about a year and I have no regrets. We found that the rental costs were skyrocketing and we calculated we were paying only a small amount less than a mortgage. When you have pets, finding a good apartment that is inexpensive is very difficult.

This comment really struck a chord with me. While my SO and I were looking for our home we were shocked at the amount the mortgage company was willing to approve us for. It''s ridiculous that they judge your ability to pay based on pre-tax income. Same goes for Adjustable Rate Mortgages. There are many homes in my area up for sale because people were talked into getting an ARM and can no longer afford their payments.

Luckily we had a very wonderful (and supportive) mortgage broker who issued us a pre-approval letter in the amount we were comfortable spending. This prevented realtors from trying to push us on properties that were just too expensive and kept us within our budget.

 

[nytemist]

We married Halloween lat year; I was 35 and he was 38. He bought a condo north of Boston in July 2005. That''s where we are now and unfortunately will have to stay for a while. It''s me, him and his two cats in 680 sq.f. and it sucks. With the market how it is, we can''t get anything for it if we tried to sell it now.

Blushingbride- I envy you! You are where I want to be in the kind of space I love!

 

[eks6426]

For my first marriage, I was married 2 weeks after college graduation. We were both 22. We lived in a 1 bedroom 700 sq ft apartment for about 18 months. Then we had our first house built and moved in when we were just turning 24. It was 1580 sq ft 3 bedroom 2.5 baths in suburbia. We were definitely "ahead" of our friends at the time. We had by far the nicer house and more settled careers. We had our child when I was 25. Then he passed away from cancer and I sold the house and moved into the city-center in a 1400 square foot house that has 3 bedrooms 1.5 baths. When I remarried in 2005 my husband and his then 15 year old moved in with us. We are still trying downsize the sheer amount of stuff. (Friends are amazed we didn''t sellout and get a bigger house) But I love living in the city much better than the suburbs. There is just something so much more friendly about the city living. Not sure I can put my finger on it but so much of the suburbs in our area played the "keeping up with the Jones" game.

 

[DivaDiamond007]

I was 22 and DH was 26 when we married in May of 2005. At the time we lived in a tiny 1 bedroom/1bathroom upper apartment in the same city we live in now. We lived there for about a year and a half and then moved into a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom apartment in another city. It was much bigger than our first and the rent was more but it was nice having more room and 2 bathrooms. About two months before our lease was up we found out that the rent was going to go up by about $200/month and we didn''t want to pay that much. We started looking for a new place when the house we live in now came available. It''s owned by my husband''s Great Uncle (who recently passed away) and was built in the late 1800''s. It is a 2 bedroom/1 bathroom 760 sq. ft. ranch style home with a huge front porch and fenced in backyard. We love it so much. The kitchen and bathroom are outdated, but oh well - it is so much better than living in an apartment - and we just found out that the appraisal was within our budget so at this time next year we should be homeowners !

Jess

 

[Mara]

i was 29 when we got married and he was 35. we bought our first 'house' (a new 3 bedroom townhouse) 5 months before our wedding. we've been there 4+ years now...it was always intended to be a ~5 year plan but now we are wondering where to go from here. it was absolutely the best decision we have made to get into our place before getting married...it's appreciated beyond what we expected *and* we love it here. so nope, wouldn't change a thing (other than kicking ourselves for not buying TWO...one to sell! haha).

 

[Haven]

Oh, goodness, KeepingTheFaith--Don''t apologize for responding to this thread! Your comments are ALWAYS welcome, married or not!

I agree with what some of you are saying about lenders approving people for far more than they should--the first lender I spoke with when I was looking for my condo approved me for an amount that would have me spending nearly 50% of my pre-tax income on my mortgage! And I''m a public teacher, so I have to put over 10% away into my teacher pension every year, ouch!

It''s really criminal, if you ask me.

Thanks for everyone''s responses, I love peeking into your newly married lives! I''m not sure what FI and I are going to do yet, he was just saying how nice it would be to just buy a real home (instead of a condo) right away, but I''m not ready to move out of the city yet. Decisions, decisions.