Part I: Up Close and Personal
Ray and Susan (mostly Susan) want to buy a house. Ray says their small condo is adequate, but Susan has pitched more than one screaming fit, demanding that their two-bedroom hovel is unacceptable for their growing needs. Ray is a lawyer for the city of Los Angeles and Susan is a elementary school teacher in Los Angeles. The young couple, 27 and 28, have been married for four years, have a 2-year-old child, and are expecting their second bundle of joy in less than 2 months–one of the reasons Susan is pushing to close the deal on a new house A.S.A.P.
Ray’s base salary is $85,ooo year, but with his extra work as a writer he thinks he can push it to $110,000. Susan has a masters degree and has been teaching for 4 years, but due to California’s financial crisis, the Education budget was slashed and Susan lost her job. However, she was called back to work for one year. She’s not too upset about the fact that she will only be teaching one year since her real desire is to be a stay-at-home mommy.
Even though their bank has graciously pre-approved them for the loan, Ray has spent many sleepless nights wondering how it could be possible. Susan’s logic was that their friends can buy a house, they can too. After many screaming fights and numerous threats from Susan, Ray caved and agreed to make an offer on the lovely little “bank-owned” property that Susan said, “…was not perfect, but she did like the big yard for the kids.” She said they would have to remodel later.
The bank’s asking price is $490,000 for the “not perfect” property. Susan is anxious and wants to close the deal and get moved. She argues that there’s not enough time to look for another house before the baby comes. She told Ray they must make a serious offer. They presented the bank with an offer of $485, 000 and crossed their fingers.
March 7, 2010 at 7:42 am
It looks to me like they can probably afford the house. Although being from Northern Minnesota I can’t even fathom spending that kind of money on a house, the most my husband and I combined have ever brought home was 55k in one year. My only concern is that Ray is a lawyer and I’m not sure that banking on his writing is the smartest decision. They should be looking at what they can afford on his regular salary. And if they don’t have a big down payment on the house and money in the bank to handle if Ray loses his writing income they should make do with what they have until they are financially prepared. I also think they are pushing the decision because of the upcoming baby. Maybe they should look at houses after the babies born, lets face it the baby doesn’t take much room for awhile.
March 7, 2010 at 8:06 am
Stay tuned for the continuation to the story about the lawyer and his school-teacher wife. Regardless of what part of the country you live, the story is relative to us all.
December 27, 2010 at 7:18 pm
They have to be in unity on this decision. If anything goes wrong their relationship can’t be in a place where he resents her for talking her into it or where she resents him for not buying it.
The most important thing is that they come together to make the decision. That they both understand what they are giving up and that they realize that nothing is certain and that a mortgage is a big commitment. I think that on his salary he could save several thousand and build some margin into the deal so that there is little chance of ending up upside-down on the house.
PS. Move out of California than you can afford to raise a family and buy a house and live within one’s means.
November 26, 2011 at 5:16 pm
A few year’s ago, I caved into my ex-wife’s pleas for a timeshare. I have been paying ever since for that decision and now the timeshare is basically worthless and maintenance fees every year whether I use it or not. I would say that both need to come into an agreement or don’t do it.
February 23, 2012 at 3:48 am
This is a tough one, tough in the sense that Susan is piling up so much pressure, and leaving Ray without a “No Deal” option. I think it is a bad deal, looking at their financial situation and the fact that it is not the perfect house. Ray’s biggest challenge in my opinion is how pass this over and still keep his marriage intact. There are better and cheaper houses in the market if they look long enough