First Time Home Buying Advice

[UncleBocky]

My fiance and I will be getting married at the end of this year and we need some advice. We are kind of in a unique and blessed situation when it comes to our finances. We had our own business throughout college and were able to make a significant amount of money. We are both 24 years old. After college, we both got stable jobs. We graduated 2 years ago. Being in this situation, I know we can afford a lot of house. I just don't know how much. Here are our finances.

Combined numbers:
$231k savings (project this to be over $300k by the end of this year - closer to the time we purchase our house)
$120k annual salary (pre-tax)
$20k in retirement

No debt
No car loans (both are paid for)
No student loans

We plan on having kids in about 4 years, so we'd like to get a nice size house. Once we have 2 or more kids, we will probably buy a bigger house at that point. So I guess we may live in this house for 7 years or so.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

[UncleBocky]

Really? No one has any advice?

[bjl584]

Where do you live? Housing prices where you live are an important part of the equation.

[Frugal]

In my opinion, everyone buying a home should try to get the best interest rate they can. We did, and ours is now locked in at 4.25% on our first house.

With as much money as you have saved up, it seems money isn't really an issue. I would talk to a financial advisor, however, and see what they would say. A large house is probably a pretty serious investment, and if it were me, I would want to get advice from a professional.

[UncleBocky]

I am in Kentucky. Although a $300k+ house is probably more than we need at this point, it probably makes sense to go ahead and purchase a large house since we can afford it and that way we don't have to sell and rebuy a bigger house in 5-7 years. Right?

[timdaily]

well you are going too far.. Just buy a house that has around 2-3 bedrooms , it will be sufficient.