Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Plans for the future

I was talking to my friend Karol yesterday (you'll probably never see a picture of her, she HATES them!!!), about various stuff (I don't even remember how this conversation started)... So I was telling her that a few nights ago I was talking to John and I was saying something about the fact that now that I'm seeing some friends buying houses and having babies (I guess, pregnant right now) in San Diego, I feel like we SHOULD be able to do it too... I mean, we make OK money between both of us, and we could very probably pay the mortgage payments, and we're definitely stable and have a solid relationship to handle all the new challenges of a home and a family (and John really wants kids).

But we do not have enough savings (and even less after we buy the house) for an emergency or if something happens to our jobs... We also know that we need more space, heck we've pretty much outgrown our apartment already, but we didn't want to waste money by moving... And we know that if we do buy a house here, yes, we'll be able to make the payments... but not much else... We wouldn't even be saving what we can afford to save right now, and that's NOT a lot...

Which brings me to the St. Louis point... Like I said, we make OK money here, but over there we would make GOOD money, enough for a house in an upper middle class community (we would be paying LESS than what we're paying for RENT right and would finish paying the house of in 15 years!!!), a community where we wouldn't be afraid to let our kids go outside to play (or at least not super afraid), and a place where we would have enough money left for our savings, retirement plans, college funds for the kids, vacations and maybe even private schools if necessary...

Thinking about that I started showing Karol (we were sending messages on the IM) the houses we have been looking at in St. Charles, and she said "no wonder you can't wait to go!"... Reality is, I would prefer NOT to move, I would prefer to stay here and not miss my friend's lives... And even my in laws don't really want us to go... so that makes it tougher...

But sometimes you just have to make some decisions that make sense, even if it's not the easiest or most pleasant route... I feel that we wouldn't be just doing this for us, of course I'm really excited about getting a pretty house (please, LOOK at that!!! There's NO comparison!!!), but in the end, being able to raise our kids right (specially since we'll be able to afford for 1 of us to stay at home) will (hopefully) be worth it!

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Estaba hablando con mi amiga Karol ayer (probablemente nunca vean una foto de ella, las ODIA!!!), sobre varias cosas (ni me acuerdo como empezo esta conversacion)... Y le estaba diciendo que la otra noche establa platicando con John y le estaba diciendo que ahora que estoy viendo a algunas amigas comprar casas y tener hijos (bueno, embarazadas ahorita) en San Diego, siento como que nosotros DEBERIAMOS de poder tambien... Digo, creo que ganamos dinero mas o menos entre los 2, y probablemente si podriamos hacer los pagos mensuales de la hipoteca, y definitivamente somos estables y tenemos una relacion solida para manejar los nuevos retos de una casa y una familia (y John realmente quiere hijos).

Pero no tenemos los suficientes ahorros (y menos ya que compremos la casa) para una emergencia o si algo pasa con nuestros trabajos... Tambien se que necesitamos mas espacio, es mas, hace un rato que ya "no cabemos" en el departamento, pero por no gastar dinero en la mudanza no nos hemos cambiado... Y se que si compraramos una casa aqui, igual y podriamos con los pagos mensuales de la hipoteca... pero no mucho mas... Ni siquiera podriamos ahorrar lo que alcanzamos a ahorrar ahorita, y no es mucho...

Lo que me lleva a pensar en St. Louis... Como habia dicho, aqui ganamos mas o menos, pero alla ganariamos BIEN, lo suficiente para una casa en una zona de clase media alta (pagando MENOS de lo que estamos pagando de renta ahorita, y terminando de pagar la casa en 15 anios!!!), en donde no nos de miedo dejar salir a los ninos jugar en la calle (o bueno, menos miedo) y un lugar en donde nos va a quedar dinero para ahorrar, para nuestro retiro, para ayudar a nuestros hijos a ir a la Universidad, para irnos de vacaciones e incluso mandarlos a escuelas particulares si se necesita...

Pensando en eso empece a mandarle a Karol (estabamos platicando en el Messenger) fotos de las casas que estamos viendo en St. Charles y dice: "con razon te urge irte" y la verdad no es que me urja, la verdad prefiriria que no cambiarnos, quisiera que poder quedarnos y no perderme de la vida de mis amigos... Hasta mis suegros no quieren que nos vayamos, y eso lo hace mas dificil...

Pero a veces tienes que tomar decisiones que parecen razonables, incluso si no son las mas faciles o la ruta mas placentera... Siento que no estariamos haciendo esto nada mas por nosotros, claro que me encanta la idea de tener una casa bonita (o sea, MIREN las fotos, NO hay comparasion!!!), pero al final, poder criar bien a nuestros hijos (especialmente si nos va a alcanzar para que uno de los 2 se quede en casa un tiempo), va a (ojala) valer la pena!!!





House in San Diego (Encanto to be exact... does anybody know how's that neighborhood?) going for $225,000
Casa en San Diego (Encanto para ser precisos... alguien sabe como esta esa zona?) que se esta vendiendo en $225,000


This is a house that's selling for $228,900 in Lake St. Louis, MO


Esta es una casa que se esta vendiendo por $228,900 en el Lago St. Louis, MO

This house in North Park is going for $248,900

And this one for $245,000 (St. Louis)
Y esta por $245,000 (St. Louis)


House in Rancho Bernardo (close to where I live) that's selling for $669,000

This gorgeous mansion (I think) is going for $668,000
Esta preciosa mansion (digo yo) se esta vendiendo por $668,000
http://www.cbgundaker.com/search/advanced/detail.jsp?mls_num=660066&type=res




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4 comments:

Tessa said...

well you know how I feel about you leaving, but i can understand! honestly, i know that a lot people can't afford to stay home with their children, but we put off buying a home and made other sacrafices JUST so I could stay home and raise Isabelle. i think it's SO important...so if you have to move to St Louis so that one of you can stay home with your kids, then i think that is wonderful!!! plus i promise we'll come to visit as often as we can ;)

May 28, 2008 at 10:29 AM
Claus said...

Pues esta super bien, las casas se ven grandisimas y por la mitad de precio de lo cuestan en SD

May 28, 2008 at 5:12 PM
Unknown said...

wow what a reminder of how darn expensive san diego is. i'm w/ tessa, gives me a reason to visit you :)

May 28, 2008 at 6:15 PM
Pilar said...

Claudia: De que estan bien estan bien... Pero si esta lejos :-( Hoy estaba hablando con Marysol (fuimos al sushi) y me dicen "tienes como 10 puertas abiertas, no te apresures a tomar una decision tan importante"... Y pues si es cierto... esta de pensarse... Lo que si es que no nos estamos yendo ahorita... Igual y vamos en Julio y no me gusta :-S Otra cosa es que igual y "ahorita" a penas nos alcanzaria para la hipoteca... pero en 5-10 anios vamos a ganar mucho mas y la misma cantidad nos va a parecer menor...

Janelle: Yes, SD is VERY expensive :-( Like I said on the email, it seems that even vet services would be cheaper elsewhere :-( I talked to a friend today and she said "right now you have 10 doors open, don't hurry up to make such an important decision"... I think we'll just have to go there to visit and see if I like it in the first place :-S

May 29, 2008 at 2:10 AM

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