Is buying an expensive house ever a good idea?

As I’m sure most of you read, I was offered a full-time job last week (!!). In addition to my exciting news, my husband was also offered an incredible opportunity to work for the company he worked with back when we lived in Arizona. He accepted the job yesterday and we both start in a few weeks.

While there are many, many benefits to working for yourself (like my husband and I both do/did), there are also many drawbacks. One huge one for us was not being able to purchase a home right now. We want to take advantage of low interest rates plus, if I’m being honest, we are both ready to buy. There are some huge benefits to renting – our AC broke a few weeks ago that we didn’t have to pay for, and I love love LOVE this house – but when push comes to shove, we’re not working towards anything on the house-front by renting. Now that we’ve been in Charlotte close to a year, we know that this is where we want to be for the long-haul. Our kids love it here, the weather is gorgeous and I feel very at peace and happy in this environment.

In just a few short months, John and I will begin house-hunting.

I want this to be our forever home and I am completely all over the map when it comes to just about everything regarding a house. I’m not sure on the specific location since I love just about every area I’ve been to, I don’t know if I want a small lot with less yard work or a large lot for privacy and space for the kids, I don’t know if I want a house that would be perfect for us now size-wise or if I want one slightly bigger in case we decide to have another baby, I’m not sure how much I want to spend, etc…etc…etc.

Luckily, even though we can start the process in a few months, we are not in a rush to buy. John and I both want to make sure we make the best, most thought-out decision for ourselves and our family. We plan on viewing multiple areas, neighborhoods and properties and are willing to wait years (if that’s what it takes) to find the perfect home for us.

Today, I wanted to discuss whether or not buying an expensive home is ever a good idea. We most likely will buy about half of what we qualify for, but there’s always a small part of me that wants to buy something that we just love. We’ll be close to debt-free when we go to buy our home and we’re both young, able and willing to work hard and do what it takes to pay off our mortgage. Whatever we buy, we want to pay it off within 15 years or less.

Pros of buying an expensive house

We’d be in a better neighborhood. I’m not going to lie, I love almost every neighborhood I’ve ever been to in Charlotte – whether it’s a super expensive one or a very affordable one. Almost all of the neighborhoods have pools and playgrounds, and just about everyone takes good care of their yards. Of course, my absolute favorite neighborhoods are the more pricey ones. I mean, that’s just human nature, haha.

We’d sell it and downsize once the kids left home, and have a larger profit. This is, of course, assuming the market continues to appreciate.

We’d have less spending money. To me, this is a pro. Most people think of it as a con since people are all about having extra miscellaneous income. While I definitely would like extra income to save and invest, normally with extra income comes buying things you don’t really need. I know there are some very, very disciplined people out there. But for us, if we have an exceptionally good month we both save more and spend a bit more. Neither John nor I are huge shoppers or spenders, but we are a little looser with our finances if things are going well. This is kind of backwards thinking, but I’d rather put an extra few hundred to our house rather than on frivolous, miscellaneous expenses.

Cons of buying an expensive house

We’re limited in terms of buying rental homes. I’ve made it clear that John and I both want to own rental properties. If we purchased a more expensive home, we wouldn’t be able to get a rental property until we either paid off our house or significantly increased our income. I don’t want to get stuck in the grind and wind up trapped because of our mortgage payment. No thanks.

A house is just a place to store your stuff. Right now, we basically live in our dream home…yet we still prefer to be out and about. I spend a lot of time here simply because I work from home and have kids, but on weekends and even during the evenings, my husband and I love to take the girls to the park, go for a drive or run an errand or two. We like to be out and about! Why spend a fortune on a house we’re never in?!

Our immediate future is planned out for us. I do not like the idea of being trapped. Even though I never plan on leaving Charlotte, I sleep better knowing if I wanted to, I could. If the market took a dip and we wound up upside-down in our home, we would not be able to sell. Purchasing a home well below our budget gives us much more flexibility with our lives.

What will we decide?

If you’ve read my blog for a while, you most likely know that we will be buying something well within our means. As much as I want the bells and whistles of a fancy neighborhood, it’s just not what’s going to make us happy in the long-run.

Did you buy an expensive house? Do you regret it or are you happy with your decision?