Should I put all my equity to buying my first apartment?

[Sean Robinson]

Hi, I'm in 30 years old and planning on buying my first apartment this year. I still live with my parents here in Bergen, Norway.

- Full time worker with stable job
- $26.7 hourly rate
- $585K earnings in 2022 (I get 50% overtime)
- No loans, no personal car. I have a company car.

I have managed to save a total of $90K, but I have put aside around $14K for furniture and personal security, so my equity is around $76K.

I don't mind living outside the city (which I currently do) but looking at the prices in the area I can possibly find an apartment for as low as $237K which is a stretch. The more realistic price for 50 square meters apartment, and one bedroom is $260K - $285K.

I have put in some numbers in Excel that calculates the total cost depending on my: Equity, the loan, common cost, Municipal cost. It also shows how much in percentage I would save if I up my equity. All the loans are calculated for 30 years.

My question here is: Should I put all my equity into the mortgage and pay less each month, or should I put less equity, pay more each month but have equity in hand for future rental properties, or investments?

I do have a "dream" to buy a rental property in the future, but I would need to have equity to buy a second property which I won't have if I put all my equity into my first apartment.