How much house can we really afford

[greenskeeper]

The 1st rule of buying a house is location, location, location. Unless you're in a 'hot market' location, you can ignore listing price and make an offer based on comparable 'solds' averaging the past 3 or so months in the chosen community.

Any competent realtor should already do this for you. With the internet you should be able to do this yourself when searching in an area to get an idea of what a fair price is.

[msomnipotent]

Bankrate.com has an easy-to-use calculator that includes taxes and insurance.
Why don't you just get a 20 year loan? I'm thinking of getting the 20 year when we move because the interest rate is lower than the 30 year and still gives us a little wiggle room compared to the 15 year.

[scfr]

I might approach it from a slightly different angle. I would ask myself "In order to buy a house that costs $xxx,xxx with a 20 or 25 year term and a mortgage payment of $1,100 how much do I need to put down?" and "In order to put "$xx,xxx down, how much do I need to save over the next 2 years for the down payment?"

I chose a maximum of a 25 year term because of your ages. Get the mortgage paid off before retirement, and recognize that sometimes retirement or semi-retirement is forced on us earlier than we wish due to physical or economic conditions. I chose the $1,100 monthly payment because that is what you are paying now.

Personally, I'd do these things: beef up the EF, get the car loans paid off, increase retirement savings significantly (since your husband has his own business it would be a good idea to check out retirement plans for the self-employed), create a plan to pay for the next vehicles so that they are paid for in cash, AND save for the down payment.

This will force you to look at your overall financial picture, and come up with a strategy to increase income, reduce expenses, or (probably) both in order to keep all of your important financial goals on track.

You still have almost 2 years to get things worked out. If you start now, that's a lot of time. As you approach the end of 2018, you can refine and revise your plans as necessary. You will probably adjust your plans as the time to buy a house approaches, and that is fine.