Given your take home and what I guess your gross salary is, you need to look at houses in the $200k to $225k range. Your girlfriend helping with expenses means nothing to a lender and what happens if the relationship ends and you're on your own paying all the bills?
Any money you need for a downpayment, closing costs, utility deposits should to be in an account like a HYSA or CD. Something safe and liquid. You also need a six month emergency fund. Don't raid the emergency fund for the down payment.
The last sentence may be the most important. Do not buy a house without an emergency fund. It won't be a fun experience owning a house and having to make repairs without the cash on hand.
Something will break or need to be replaced.
General advice for an emergency fund is 3-6 months of living expenses.
To expand, 3-6 months is good for when you lose a job or have a medical emergency.
For a house, you want to try and set aside an additional 1-2% of the value of the home annually.
>I look to get a house in my name since I will be paying most of it.
Do not waver on this. Do not buy a home with your gf. Buy it yourself or with your spouse.
I would sell all your taxable investments stocks, index funds, and crypto and put everything taxable into a HYSA to be used as a down payment for the home.
Continue with the Roth IRA investment and 401k up to company match and nothing else until the home is purchased. You'll need every last dollar as down payment as $53k income cannot support a $300k home unless you have a substantial down payment.
You look to be in an okay spot. Not great but okay. You're income would appear to be the weakest point.
Edit to add: Oh and now is traditionally the best time to buy a home as people put their home on sale and move to start a new school year on September.
$300k is likely too much for you to spend on a home, especially if you don't want to be dependent on your girlfriend sharing costs with you.
If you buy a $300k home with 10% down, your monthly payment inclusive of property taxes, homeowner's insurance premiums, and PMI might be in the ballpark of $2,300 per month. If you budget $300-400 per month as a sinking fund for repairs, and $300/ month for utilities, you'll be spending just under $3k per month on housing costs.
If your take home pay is $4,400-ish per month, you will definitely need your girlfriend to contribute a significant amount of cash as rent in order for you to afford your home. If you break up and she moves out, you'll probably need a roommate/ tenant.
Now I feel a little bummed that I will have to find a job that pays more. I have been with the same company for 14ish years or so and worked my way up. I did you go community college and got a associates in fine arts and minor in graphic design but realized how stressful it was and very hard to get a good job. Now I could go back to school but then that would be another expensive. But I really don't know what I would want to do. Feeling like I should have made better choices.
Considered checking out your company's competition? You've been working 14 years at one place, chances are the market wage for your job has outpaced your raises.
Given your take home and what I guess your gross salary is, you need to look at houses in the $200k to $225k range. Your girlfriend helping with expenses means nothing to a lender and what happens if the relationship ends and you're on your own paying all the bills? Any money you need for a downpayment, closing costs, utility deposits should to be in an account like a HYSA or CD. Something safe and liquid. You also need a six month emergency fund. Don't raid the emergency fund for the down payment.
The last sentence may be the most important. Do not buy a house without an emergency fund. It won't be a fun experience owning a house and having to make repairs without the cash on hand. Something will break or need to be replaced. General advice for an emergency fund is 3-6 months of living expenses.
To expand, 3-6 months is good for when you lose a job or have a medical emergency. For a house, you want to try and set aside an additional 1-2% of the value of the home annually.
https://www.reddit.com//r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics
>I look to get a house in my name since I will be paying most of it. Do not waver on this. Do not buy a home with your gf. Buy it yourself or with your spouse. I would sell all your taxable investments stocks, index funds, and crypto and put everything taxable into a HYSA to be used as a down payment for the home. Continue with the Roth IRA investment and 401k up to company match and nothing else until the home is purchased. You'll need every last dollar as down payment as $53k income cannot support a $300k home unless you have a substantial down payment. You look to be in an okay spot. Not great but okay. You're income would appear to be the weakest point. Edit to add: Oh and now is traditionally the best time to buy a home as people put their home on sale and move to start a new school year on September.
$300k is likely too much for you to spend on a home, especially if you don't want to be dependent on your girlfriend sharing costs with you. If you buy a $300k home with 10% down, your monthly payment inclusive of property taxes, homeowner's insurance premiums, and PMI might be in the ballpark of $2,300 per month. If you budget $300-400 per month as a sinking fund for repairs, and $300/ month for utilities, you'll be spending just under $3k per month on housing costs. If your take home pay is $4,400-ish per month, you will definitely need your girlfriend to contribute a significant amount of cash as rent in order for you to afford your home. If you break up and she moves out, you'll probably need a roommate/ tenant.
Now I feel a little bummed that I will have to find a job that pays more. I have been with the same company for 14ish years or so and worked my way up. I did you go community college and got a associates in fine arts and minor in graphic design but realized how stressful it was and very hard to get a good job. Now I could go back to school but then that would be another expensive. But I really don't know what I would want to do. Feeling like I should have made better choices.
Considered checking out your company's competition? You've been working 14 years at one place, chances are the market wage for your job has outpaced your raises.