1st time buyer advice

[Dominique C.]

Hi hoping i can get an objective opinion here and thank you in advance for anyones comments.

I am a 53 yr old single female - I owned my own business for many years as a graphic design freelancer and really never made long term plans for retirement - I began working with a company four years and have managed to save money and been contributing to a Fidelity acct although i won't be retiring for a years to come - its a savings and its coming around slowly. 

My dilemma is this...market and interest rates are up...is it worth it for me to buy at this stage of my life (i would have to prob dig into some retirement money) for closing fees or do I wait and save more $$ so i don't have to dig into savings. I have been approved for an FHA so i can put down only 3.5% - but between that and closings I'm essentially putting down most of my savings....I've been pre approved for $220 but i am trying to stay well under that - been considering in the 180's....thoughts?

[Jaysen Medhurst]

@Dominique C., you don't want to buy a place and then have no reserves should (when) something goes wrong.

Have you considered house hacking a multi-unit property? If you live there for a year, you satisfy the FHA requirements. Then rent out the "owner unit" and have some cash flow coming in for now and retirement. Maybe you get really aggressive and try to pay it off in 15 yrs, right when it's time to retire.

You are right the interest rates going up and the Fed has indicated that they will continue to do so. The market? Who knows, people have been saying we're at the top for 3+ years. It's always a fool's move to try to time the top or the bottom of a market.