Raybyrnes, I agree with you. I have had to play it a different way because I never made that kind of money other than sweat equity and bubble money. I have always gone for home purchases that I couldn’t really lose my ass or much of my freedom on. Look at the flexibility underspending relative to personal income/wealth will give you raising your family. Today my 4 year old and I will get our “victory garden” started .That isn’t every one’s dream life of course just an example.
One of my friends is going to retire to a good middle class life style when he is 50 because he pyramided his equity and some excess family income into about 20 rentals. His personal residence is nice but not excessively oppulent compared to his rentals and he didn’t buy it until he got the ball rolling with an owner occupied duplex and a few single family rentals.He and his wife are above average earners but not by much. BTW he was upside down on his first modest home, the duplex.He has flipped some stuff for profits. None of this would have likely happened w/o the first modest purchase.
I always tell people who are buying for a personal residence to buy less than they can afford based on full time employment or don’t buy. They never listen unless they had already made up their minds that way. Of course lots of people have the previous generation of family members backing them up so the admonition is less relevant.
Anyway, good luck. I hope you will keep us posted.
