Update — if I were to buy a 700k family home, it should have multiple storeys and I need to lease multiple rooms on other floors to collect $2k-4k rental. The luxury condo model (389 Washington St) is completely unsuitable for me.

I tend to think I could afford a 700k home with the pTax + HOA, but I might be over-confident.

• pTax up to $20k/year … way too high
• mtg $3000/month (depending on down payment percentage) too heavy and much higher than rental!
• closing cost and necessary renovations
• down payment (excluding renovation) at least 20% 140k
• (I guess the only way I can afford 700k house is massive $400k down-payment)

Issue #1: Could I afford to pay 5k/month? 4k/month is about my max. My overseas rental income (see blog on 4 ffree scenarios) will build up a reserve.  I still want to squirrel away $1k/month as a savings habit.

Issue #2: A severe problem is rent-out. It’s hard to rent out for a large $4k rental to cover the monthly cost, so I will feel “tied down” just like Jack He.

Staying rented is safer and more flexible as we can move to a cheaper home if we later find out our burn rate and saving rate are not as good as planned.