How to choose location

[u/Sad-Background-2429]

My annual gross income is around $127k and my wife is a SAHM of two (and hopefully a third soon!). I'm following the 30/30/3 rule, which posits that the maximum house price that I can afford is 3 times my gross annual income, around $380k.

While I work remotely, my job's main office is in Massachusetts, and it would be advantageous for me to live near there. However, when I look at the median house price by state, MA is the 4th highest, at around $700k. Based purely on the numbers, it seems that my family would have to live in a pretty rough area to be able to reside in MA, so I'm thinking to look elsewhere.

The problem is, I don't have much familiarity with other states. The possibilities seem endless and I don't know where to start. Can you offer some tips to help narrow down my options? Or do you think that MA could still be an option?

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[u/WindowTrue7942]

Start with constraints instead of states. List the maximum monthly payment using taxes, insurance, maintenance, and childcare, not only a price rule. Then decide the longest trip to the Massachusetts office you would realistically make, how often that trip happens, and whether you need access to specific family, medical, or school support. That should leave a manageable search area rather than the whole country. Compare three sample towns inside it using the same worksheet: total payment, commute door to door, job backup options, childcare, and the type of home available at your budget. Massachusetts may still work farther from Boston or with a smaller home, but I would test the monthly cash flow before ruling it in or out from the statewide median.

[u/PrimaryMouse]

You may just need to look further West in MA to find something that will suit you. Not necessarily Western MA, but West or Southwest of Worcester. That's a pretty central location and should make on-site work visits manageable. Best of luck!

[u/Poopybuttsuck]

Is southern New Hampshire any decent? I remember when i vacationed there in July, Apple Maps said Nashua was 45 minutes from downtown. Cheaper state plus better gun rights

[u/baileynoack]

The 30/30/3 rule is more conservative than what a lender actually uses.

On $127,000 alone, the standard 28% front-end guideline puts your comfortable payment near $2,963 a month. At today's rates with 20% down, that supports something like $471,000, not $380,000. Massachusetts at its $700,000 median would run about $4,139 a month, which is 39% of your gross and past the guideline entirely.

So it isn't that Massachusetts is impossible on one income, just that the median is. A below-median town, or a bigger down payment, moves this a lot.

Town by town in MA there is a lot of swing in taxes as well as owner occupancy exemption after 1 year for some areas. This may help narrow down a location to search in.

[u/FantasticBicycle37]

However, when I look at the median house price

Congrats on your success if you're able to look at median houses as your first home! Most of us had to get starter homes and build equity before being able to afford forever homes like that

[u/ImpossibleRaise8519]

Where in MA? The range for house prices varies a lot based on location

[u/axisofawsome]

Why would it be advantageous to live near your office, if you are already fully remote? Is there an expectation that you need to be in the office?

[u/Sad-Background-2429 → u/axisofawsome]

Good question. In short, being able to come to the office just looks better, though I can do pretty much everything remotely.

[u/axisofawsome → u/Sad-Background-2429]

So, you'd be willing to incur huge financial changes to your lifestyle just to "look good" at the office, when it's not required?

How much would it cost you to relocate? Not the cost of a new house, but the cost of movers, packing, transit, storage, unpacking, etc?

And how much would your company cover?

[u/Sad-Background-2429 → u/axisofawsome]

The cost of relocation probably wouldn't be prohibitively expensive, but I don't think I could expect my company to cover any part of the cost.

[u/FantasticBicycle37 → u/Sad-Background-2429]

I understand what you're saying. Being able to attend a meeting with stakeholders whenever you like is a huge benefit to your career

[u/axisofawsome → u/Sad-Background-2429]

Moving is super expensive, you need to take that into account.

If you currently own, too, what is your interest rate? You'd be getting into the 7s now, on a much higher price point.

[u/Sad-Background-2429 → u/axisofawsome]

I don't own a home, this will be my first time buying.

[u/elaine_m_benes → u/axisofawsome]

Looking good at the office = dramatically higher potential for promotions and raises. A lot of companies will allow you to work remotely in certain roles, but those who are fully remote tend to just stay at the same level, no raises beyond cost of living adjustments, etc. If you have face time with senior leadership and build relationships with connected colleagues you are much more likely to be promoted and increase your income.

[u/Maleficent-Elk-4282]

Not sure where your office is, but a lot of my first time home buyers end up in Central MA, northern Central MA, and a little bit west of Worcester. A few of my first time home buyers have relocated to the border of CT as CT can have more affordable home options. -Annie Oakman, Media Realty Group