Buying a House on a Nurse's Income: How Do Nurses Afford $450,000+ Houses?

[SilverBells]

One of my goals is to eventually be able to purchase a house.  Many of my nursing colleagues are purchasing homes that are worth $450,000, $500,000 or even more.  Sadly, my budget is about half of that or even less, which means the houses I have to choose from are not appealing.  Most of them are small, old, or both. 

I am just curious how other nurses manage to purchase decent houses? I've been looking through my income, and I just can't find a way to make it possible to incorporate such a house into my budget.  I am salary, so there are no opportunities for overtime.

What are other nurses' experience with buying houses? How did you make it work? Did it require switching jobs? Inquiring minds want to know!

Thanks ? 

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

15 hours ago, DesiDani said:

Well when you go from making $9 per hour to $30 per hour (In my state) after finishing school you dream big. Then reality sinks in, but it is too late after you sign on the dotted line. 

Some creditor will sign you up because you make a lot per hour and have no qualms in repo/foreclosing you when you can't make those payments.  

At least they will smile both times once when you sign and again while their laughing as they tow your Tesla away

That is an odd response.  I doubt many nurses drive Teslas.  Though I agree many people have trouble with money and nursing is one of the few jobs that pay a living wage.  I can understand that one can feel rich after becoming a nurse compared to what they did before and fall into financial traps.

I advocate that personal finance be taught in high school and certainly before signing for student loans.  But the reality is most high schools are focused solely on college, that practical living skills are neglected. 

I applaud Congresswomen Elizabeth Warren who was instrumental in creating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau which was meant to help Americans who have been defrauded by unscrupulous lenders.  I also believe that Bankruptcy protections should be restored to student loans.  Public student loan forgiveness programs and Income based forgiveness programs have been a huge disappointment so far.  The PSLF denied over 99% of the applicants who completed the ten year process, mostly on technicalities, with the remedy to start over at square one.  There are ongong lawsuits, but will most likely take years and with a conservative far right Supreme Court it is doubtful to be fixed fairly.

We are all adults here so we are able to learn about personal finance.  Take a class in college or online.  There are even free classes online.  Also credit unions give free info.  You can check out MSN money or Yahoo personal finance.  With the internet there is so much knowledge available.  Also I suggested some good money books.

I was not laughing at my coworkers.  I'm sad these things happened and related these experiences as a cautionary tale, not a put down.  There are predatory lenders out there one needs to be aware of from student lenders to banks, credit cards, car loans and mortgages.  The CPFB was meant to level the playing field, but it has limited power.  It is truly buyer beware, but we can educate and protect ourselves and then make good financial decisions.

[DesiDani]

I was going to say Lexus. The bump in income can cloud your thinking.

[DesiDani]

Don't forget about peer pressure. "You should get it. You can afford it now". Those cheerleaders aren't there when you can't make a payment or suggest you work 6 12hr shifts.

[DesiDani]

My mom went from maid to pantry at buffet to RN. When she finished she got a townhome. She was there for about 1 and half years. She said the payments were too much even at her increase in pay. She was glad to get rid of it and regretted buying it. It was in a nice gated suburban area too.

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

8 minutes ago, DesiDani said:

I was going to say Lexus. The bump in income can cloud your thinking.

I had a friend that felt poor growing up and then went crazy buying lots of clothes and expensive gemstone jewelry when she became a nurse.  When she got an office job it became like a contest re fashion and jewelry.  In the end she filed bankruptcy and has sworn off credit cards.

Although my income doubled after becoming a nurse, I never felt rich between my rent, student loans and car payment I didn't have a lot of extra money.  But it wasn't until I bought my house that I learned about personal finance.  The housing counselor was a godsend.  I learned so much from her and she steered me to a good, fair fixed rate loan.  Even reviewed my home owners insurance policy and discovered my agent had lied about my coverage!  I would not have read the fine print and would have ended up paying more for subpar coverage. 

[DesiDani]

13 hours ago, brandy1017 said:

buying lots of clothes and expensive gemstone

Did she try to sell her $1000 designer purses to her coworkers for $700?

Seen that happen

[DesiDani]

That she bought last pay, no doubt.

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

13 hours ago, DesiDani said:

Did she try to sell her $1000 designer purses to her coworkers for $700?

Seen that happen

Wow!  No but there was peer pressure at the office that spurred on impulse buying.  One thing you don't have to worry about at a hospital with everyone wearing scrubs!

Nowadays you can find lots of purses etc on Poshmark for a good price.  It is a resale site.  I was in love with a old purse I bought at Macy's that eventually wore out and I was able to find it there.  So happy! 

[kmRN33, MSN, RN]

I live in LA, there is no way that there is even a single family home for less than $400,000.00 (2 bdr, 2 bath, garage, and small yard—if you’re lucky). Prior to the pandemic, we were a 2 income household. We purchased our condo about 10 years ago and it was a little under $300,000.00, not including the HOA fees. Granted, we don’t live in the best neighborhood...nor do we have a yard... but, it’s what we could afford at that time. With the current pandemic, it’s been a struggle because I am paying the mortgage by myself. I have considered moving to other states where the cost of living in not high...

I think that as a first time home buyer, you can get a lower down payment percentage...it might help to look at what is within your budget. I know that I don’t live in a big house or have a backyard, pool etc. but we’ve been very happy here. Later on down the road, we can always use the equity to send our children to college...

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

4 hours ago, KmRNrodriguez said:

I have considered moving to other states where the cost of living in not high...

A friend of mine moved from CA to outside of Bloomington, IN. She misses home, but not the prices.

She's a nurse at a dialysis clinic, and her hubby is a truck driver. The home and land that they bought here for 200grand would have easily been 2-3 million there, for house alone, half the land. Cost of living is killer there. I'm not envious of anyone in that boat

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Part of me hates being a home owner.  I've been in my house 20 years having bought it with my ex and am now single and got the house and had to refinance.  In a span of two years I had to get a new air conditioner, water heater, stove, refrigerator and washer and dryer.  I need to redo my bathroom and kitchen.  It's always something.  I live in Florida and the flood and hurricane insurance is almost as much as the mortgage itself and keeps rising every year.  

That being said, it's a good investment and my investment counselor says it's my asset to sell to get into an ALF when the time comes.  

From someone that's 61 my two cents would be to save 10 to 15% for retirement, save a six month's emergency fund, and then consider a home that is what you can afford and doesn't stretch you out too thin.  Live within or modestly below your means.  If you don't need a $400,000 house don't consider it.  You can't take it with you and save that money for other things like travel.

[hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I]

8 hours ago, DesiDani said:

I was going to say Lexus. The bump in income can cloud your thinking.

I'm glad you clarified because the base cost of a Tesla is moderate as far as luxury cars go. It's on $46,000.00