Mark Wetherell: Struggling to buy first home
Accountant, 30, Denver, Colo.
I like the life my wife and I have started together. We have a beautiful 20-month-old daughter, Maya, and one more on the way. We are excited to give our daughter a sibling. We live in a 900-square-foot box and have been renting for the past four years in Denver.
I'm scared for our future living situation. We have already outgrown our apartment as it is and now we need to make room for one more in our two-bedroom place. We decided we can't afford to live in Denver and have planned to relocate to Augusta, Ga., or Columbia, S.C., where housing costs are considerably cheaper and to be near family.
My wife and I both work in the finance field and have a decent combined salary but it seems like it is not enough. We're confident we can find accounting jobs in our next location. Bottom line is we need a house in the next two years and we can't do it where we are at!!
Luckily we have saved well and live within our means and have also kept up contributing to our retirement saving programs. But life is tough and it's hard now for young couples to buy homes and get ahead in today's world.