MrsK, you've described pretty much our exact residency scenario! We did an 80/20 so we avoided any PMI, but unfortunately they don't really do those anymore. We ended up selling it for more than we "paid", but closing costs and repairs got us.
We want to be in the house we end up buying through our kids' elementary and probably middle school years, so I don't think the lack of equity will end up hurting us like it did in the 4-year residency time frame.
So I'm leaning towards thinking if we can get somewhere where the mortgage is less than we're paying in rent, we should be financially better off, right? We'll likely be in whatever house we buy for at least 8 years, but hopefully longer, to get our kids through elementary school there. (High school is the same for the whole town, so when or if we move, they won't me changing schools then. And there are only 3 middle schools.)
ETA - Right now we're prioritizing paying off highest interest rate debt first, but as we pay that off, we'll roll that into mortgage payments, so we should be able to refinance after several years.
We want to be in the house we end up buying through our kids' elementary and probably middle school years, so I don't think the lack of equity will end up hurting us like it did in the 4-year residency time frame.
So I'm leaning towards thinking if we can get somewhere where the mortgage is less than we're paying in rent, we should be financially better off, right? We'll likely be in whatever house we buy for at least 8 years, but hopefully longer, to get our kids through elementary school there. (High school is the same for the whole town, so when or if we move, they won't me changing schools then. And there are only 3 middle schools.)
ETA - Right now we're prioritizing paying off highest interest rate debt first, but as we pay that off, we'll roll that into mortgage payments, so we should be able to refinance after several years.
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