Anonymous wrote:$2200 a month on 270K HHI. Whatever that is. I wouldnt be comfortable with a higher %.

Ours is higher with half the income and a preschooler in daycare, but we are frugal. We expect income to go
up a bit soon, however. We had paid the same in rent for 18 months so knew we could swing it.

$2200 a month on 270K HHI. Whatever that is. I wouldnt be comfortable with a higher %.

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is 190 and our PITI is about 25% of net income. We have expensive childcare costs right now, so 25% is a stretch. But worse than that is maintenance - in the first year of home ownership we've had around 12-13k in repairs (including new ac) and there are a lot of things we have deferred. This doesn't even touch less urgent or cosmetic stuff that would be nice, like new radiator covers that don't fall off constantly, resealing deck, repointing bricks, installing better lighting than the $10 ikea lamps ... Homeownership is expensive!!!

This is us, except our HHI is $250 k and our PITI is 30%. Our childcare costs are insane, and it's driving me crazy trying to figure out what we can do to reduce other miscellaneous spending so we don't feel stretched. We are happy with our house even though we are not so excited about the cosmetic stuff and basic repairs we can't really afford right now.

I think one big consideration is the cost of maintenance. What size yard will you have and will you do any of the work on it? I spend 1K/year on mulching and fall clean up (do the weeding and mowing myself). Are there a lot of old trees? I've spent $700-2500 in many years on tree trimming or removal of large branches that have come down in a storm. Are the windows, roof, appliances, and HVAC system new(ish), or will they need replacing? Is there a lot of wood trim and windows that will need repainting? Thanks 1000's every few years.

The other thread on this was in the Real Estate forum, FYI.

We are at 29% with an HHI of $240K. But we have no other debt and have plenty of money left over. We also opted for a 15 year mortgage so that we would have everything paid off by the time the kids are in college.

we are at 30%, with a HHI of @$140K. It is tight because we have a car payment, credit cards and not all of our retirement funds and life insurance and such come out of our paychecks. If that weren't the case, we would have no issue.

HHI is $197K and is PITI is 27% of net. I wouldn't want to do much more than that, though when we bought our interest rate was much higher and our payment was about $900 more a month and we made less. But we didn't have kids then and daycare is huge line item.

Our HHI is 190 and our PITI is about 25% of net income. We have expensive childcare costs right now, so 25% is a stretch. But worse than that is maintenance - in the first year of home ownership we've had around 12-13k in repairs (including new ac) and there are a lot of things we have deferred. This doesn't even touch less urgent or cosmetic stuff that would be nice, like new radiator covers that don't fall off constantly, resealing deck, repointing bricks, installing better lighting than the $10 ikea lamps ... Homeownership is expensive!!!

Anonymous wrote:Our income is $90k. Take home is just under $5k a month. Mortgage incl tax and insurance is $1500. Exactly 30 percent. We live very comfortably, but I don't think I'd be happy with a higher mortgage payment.

PP again. I would not consider ourselves to be "house poor" in any way. However, we do not have any debt or any childcare costs.

Our income is $90k. Take home is just under $5k a month. Mortgage incl tax and insurance is $1500. Exactly 30 percent. We live very comfortably, but I don't think I'd be happy with a higher mortgage payment.

We have done that in the past. To me it depends a little on whether you expect to be at that income for the foreseeable future, or whether you have a decent expectation that over time the bite would become less. Also if you are a first time homeowner, you should consider that the mortgage interest deduction may give you real money back on your taxes (although that can be offset by increased maintenance on your home).

Bottom line, I think it's a personal decision. Having been on both sides, I would say we did not mind being house poor for a while to get a house we really liked, but now that we have more flexibility in our budget we are even happier.

Ours is approximately 20%. It depends largely on both your HHI and what other expenses you have. Someone making $1M a year would still have more than enough left over for bills and other incidentals after spending 30%. Someone with a HHI of $100K, not so much. Also, do you have student loans? Are you paying (or expect to be paying) for a nanny or childcare? Private school?

We're at 12% of net, but we're very conservative, and we bought into the DC market early so we were able to beat the insane housing price ride.

FYI, there was a long thread about this just a couple of weeks ago; lots of good information there.

You're right to be wary of what someone else tells you is in your comfort zone. Ideally you'd try living a few months by saving the mortgage and expenses and see how it feels for you.

We are in the process of deciding if we can stretch for our dream house. We can make a 20% down payment, but are concerned about monthly expenses. The mortgage payments (including insurance) would be approximately 30% of our net monthly income. (By net, I mean after taxes, and other pre-tax witholdings such as insurance and 401K.) I am told this is well-within "the comfortable range" but I am not so comfortable. I'm trying to get a feel for has worked for other people in the area.

I apologize if there are alot of other threads on this. I couldn't quickly find one that addressed percentage of monthly net.

Thanks in advance!