Do I buy a house outright or leave some money liquid?

Question

I am 28 years old and I am in the military. I make about 40k. My wife is 26 and makes 40k a year. I will get out of the military in two years after serving for four. We have about 150k saved and should have another 40K or so in two years. We are want to buy a house for about 150k when I get out. Neither of use have much money saved for retirement--only about 20k. Should we buy a house outright or pay a large part on a down payment and finance the rest allowing us to invest some for retirement or just for emergencies? Advice?

Answer 1

Put a good chunk of money down and finance the rest. Lock yourself into a fixed rate mortgage, that will keep your payments at a similar rate throughout the years of your loan. (the only thing to make it fluctuate would be your taxes and insurance that would be rolled into your loan each month) Keep some money in a savings to cover major and minor repairs that will happen no matter what the condition of your home is. And always keep money at hand for emergencies, you never know when they can occur. Good luck.

Answer 2

Ok, here's my 2 cents worth :-)

I would put a sizeable chunk down on the house, get a 15 yr mortgage and invest the rest in fairly agressive funds (since you are young yet). Something like a Roth IRA for part of it, and the balance in some type of Fidelity/Jannus/etc fund.

I would also keep $ for about 6 months worth of all your expenses (housing, electric, car pmts, etc) in your checking/savings account as an emergency fund.

The reasoning behind investing the way I suggest is to:

1/ Optimize the use of your money because you'll make more money off the investment in funds than what you will pay in interest on your home loan

2/ will get the tax advantage of a home loan

3/ A Roth IRA you pay the taxes up front, so you don't have to pay them when you retire (this is a killer deal, I think!)

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I am not a financial advisor, but I know what I have done, and this has worked well for me. Good luck to you, if you are starting now to plan for retirement you should be in good shape by the time you get there :-)

Answer 3

First speak with a good C.P.A. - not one who has products to sell. There are tax ramifications unique to you, especially with military retirement pay, that you must take into consideration. If you have a long way to go to retirement and are paying a check to Uncle Sam every year, then finance a chunk of the house for the write off - no more check to the IRS! Your C.P.A. can help you figure how much of a mortgage you will need for this offset. He/she can also recommend some vehicles for retirement investing. He/she can assist you in assertaining how much you will need for retirement, how long you will need it, and how aggressive you should be with these vehicles. All have tax ramifications. do this first, then make your decision. You can always take out a loan against the house for emergencies or retirement investments later if you purchase with cash, but every loan comes with costs. If you can make more money that what the interest rate costs you for the financing, (consider the after-tax benefits), then why pay cash?

Answer 4

Your crazy..................dont pay for a house outright! Dont put a huge downpayment down! It doesnt make sense. Money today I dont care who you are is worth far more then it will be in the years to come! Minimize costs putting down only what you need to then use the rest for those unforseen emergencies that always have a tendency to pop up or to begin to save for retirement! Put that big chunk of change into a high interest bearing account make some money on your money and watch it grow. If you were my client I would then recommend the MTA program for your 1st house to cut your payments in half where once again youd be minimizing your costs anywhere from 30-55%. When you are serious Id recommend calling me @ 727-789-1265. My name is Joe LaRaia and Im here for you whenever you would like!

Answer 5

If I were you I would not pay the whole thing off right away. You really should begin saving for retirement and keep some money invested in savings for emergencies as you stated. I think it's better to be safe than anything else. You can make payments for the house from savings and once you save some more you can make larger payments.

Good luck!

Answer 6

Unless having a mortgage keeps you up at night, would you consider leave some money liquid.

Having cash for emergency is always a good idea. In addition, if you invest some money in your retirement account, you may feel safer with your assets in different investment vehicles.

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As housing market continues to slump, if you don't plan to delay your plan, please interview several and pick a good realtor or agent.

Bad ones will talk you into buying the largest property at your credit limit. Good ones will find you a good deal (Sellers are offering discount and incentives now).

Try to stay away from Adjustable Mortgage, because 30 year fix mortgage rate is very low right now. There is no reason to use Adjustable loans except fatter commission for loan agents.

Interests only loans are not good iether. Mortgage payment consists of two parts: interests and principal. Interests are like rent, which doesn't add to the equity to your house. It simply disappear as your pay it. If you want to use interests only loans, might as well rent, especially during market downturn, because housing price won't appreciate.

Finally, for tax benefits, talk to your CPA or tax accountant. Do not consult finance with realtors or agents. They get commissions when you sign the check!

Good luck!

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http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/08/real_estate/caught_in_the_bubble/index.htm?postversion=2006090814
http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/05/real_estate/Ofheo_home_prices/index.htm?postversion=2006090514

Answer 7

Listen to Dave Ramsey (daveramsey.com) and have your emergency fund...but pay as much as you can. What the majority of all the previous people above me are NOT pointing out or even asking is how long you plan to live in the house? What is the average appreciation rate of homes in your area? Is that rate sustainable? Have you looked at an amortization schedule to actually see how many THOUSANDS of dollars you pay in interest the first year? Tax Benifits?? Unless you and your wife itemize, mortgage interest don't matter buddy! Take the 10k standard deduction and call it good. So what if you get 25-28% of your interest payments back...LOOK AT the overall in interest payments that DOESN't Come back......Make a full contribution to your 401k and pay as much as you can for the house upfront--my two cents

Answer 8

a house is a investment for retirement and a very good one if you all ready have a very good credit rating buy it out right and every year it makes money on it's own as long as you keep it nice and improve it you can get small loans as needed or even a loan for full amount if ever you need it or want to buy another place and sell the one you buy first and never haveing a large morgtage is allways great buying other things on credit is cheaper to build perfect credit rating then the intrest rate on a big loan

Answer 9

Finance the house. If you have enough cash in collateral your rate will be very low. You will be able to write off the interest on your taxes which will save you money every year. Invest the money you have in a good set of mutual funds and it will probably make what you pay in interest anyway.

Answer 10

Old fashioned girl here, secure your lodgings. Invest some of your savings. Have just a little fun in life, confer with your maker often and be good to each other. Shop just a bit less. Sell what you've lost interest in. No sense in forcing yourself to do extra dusting or extra hauling when the time for moving comes around.