Anonymous
Post 03/20/2014 22:41     Subject: Mortgage Payment on 200K salary?
This is some thing the DH and I argue about. We're a higher than 200 but he won't go over 1800 with 20 - 30% down because he is very debt averse. Its been our payment for 10 years now. I've been paying 2.5 times the payment each month which has been fine for us so I would guess you'd be good at about 3600. I keep telling myself that I'll be happy not to have a mortgage soon but I'd rather a bigger house.
Anonymous
Post 03/20/2014 09:36     Subject: Mortgage Payment on 200K salary?
Our HHI is 220k. Our childcare cost is $26k a year. Our mortgage is $3,350 a month, and it is very comfortable. We still max out our retirement and save 2k a month in savings to add to our investments.
Anonymous
Post 03/15/2014 07:57     Subject: Mortgage Payment on 200K salary?
Our HHI is $280k and take home (after taxes and 401k contributions) is monthly about $12000. Childcare is about $26k annually. Our mortgage (alone, we don't escrow) is $2300. Very comfortable. When we first bought it was $3500 but refinancing 2-3x over the last few years has really brought it down.
Anonymous
Post 03/15/2014 07:33     Subject: Mortgage Payment on 200K salary?
Our PITI is 2800 (1930 for mortgage) on a 250k income. We are still able to save a couple thousand every month even though we have daycare (3500) for our two kids and put away 10% to retirement. Even after our ridiculous credit card bill!

While we don't have any other debt I'm always amazed how my coworkers in similar salary ranges constantly complain of not having enough money. We live very comfortably.
Anonymous
Post 03/14/2014 16:19     Subject: Mortgage Payment on 200K salary?
OP, this really depends on what other things you want in life. I figured out what we want out of life first and then decided how much to spend on a house. Do a budget and fill in the spot for a mortgage payment last.

For us, we bring home about $10k per month and have a $2400 PITI. Childcare is at $1600 for two kids. No other debt. If I wanted to cut the vacation budget and college savings I could have gone up to $4k for PITI, but a house isn't as important to me as experiences and the future. We purchased for $550,000 and put 25% down (which we saved over 5 years).
Anonymous
Post 03/14/2014 15:43     Subject: Mortgage Payment on 200K salary?
Our HHI, retirement savings and current liquid savings our the same as yours. No debt and cars are paid for. We have one in daycare ($1250 a month) and another on the way, We just bought a $450,000 house and have a $2100 mortgage (we put 20% down). Anything higher is probably very doable but just would have made me personally uncomfortable.
Anonymous
Post 03/14/2014 10:47     Subject: Mortgage Payment on 200K salary?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Our hhi is about $170, so lower than yours, but I wouldn't want to go higher than $2500. Our piti is $1900 and, with daycare at $1300 a month, I feel comfy, but wouldn't want to pay too much more.


This is a good example for comparison though ... assuming $30K extra HHI, after taxes that's probably about $20K, so about $1600 extra per month. Daycare costs are comparable (and OPs are going down to $900). Assuming a comparable lifestyle & other expenses, that would leave up to $2000 extra per month for other costs, including mortgage. It doesn't seem that unreasonable to me to devote much of that budget to housing if the quality of home / neighborhood / life justifies the price. I.e., if you had $2000 extra each month to subsidize extra housing cost, but kept everything else in your life constant, wouldn't that be a good situation?


Honestly, I would want to put the money towards other things (savings, etc), particularly sine you don't know when situations may change and it's easy to have lifestyle inflation when you move to a bigger house/nicer neighborhood. High mortgage costs are really scary to me. I'm not saying that others need to be risk averse, but that is how I am.
Anonymous
Post 03/14/2014 10:24     Subject: Mortgage Payment on 200K salary?
We're a similar HHI, will soon have 2k/month in childcare expenses, and have about 450/month in student loans. We'd done the math and can do about 2-2.5k/month in mortgage, home insurance, and taxes.

For you, I'm guessing 3k wouldn't be a hardship on you, especially if you're not anticipating more kids.
Anonymous
Post 03/14/2014 10:21     Subject: Mortgage Payment on 200K salary?
Anonymous wrote:Our hhi is about $170, so lower than yours, but I wouldn't want to go higher than $2500. Our piti is $1900 and, with daycare at $1300 a month, I feel comfy, but wouldn't want to pay too much more.


This is a good example for comparison though ... assuming $30K extra HHI, after taxes that's probably about $20K, so about $1600 extra per month. Daycare costs are comparable (and OPs are going down to $900). Assuming a comparable lifestyle & other expenses, that would leave up to $2000 extra per month for other costs, including mortgage. It doesn't seem that unreasonable to me to devote much of that budget to housing if the quality of home / neighborhood / life justifies the price. I.e., if you had $2000 extra each month to subsidize extra housing cost, but kept everything else in your life constant, wouldn't that be a good situation?
Anonymous
Post 03/14/2014 07:56     Subject: Re:Mortgage Payment on 200K salary?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We net approximately $11000 per month and our mortgage payments, RE taxes and insurance is about $6000 per month. Been doing this for years without any financial pressure.

We vacation a couple of times a year of which one of the trips is usually to an international destination.

$5K per month is more than enough for all other expenses. We have zero debt other than the mortgage. No childcare expenses and we have enough saved for the future.


Do you have kids?


Yes, but they are done with college and are self-sufficient. We spent over $500K putting them through college which is why we owe money on the house.

BTW, when I say we have enough saved for the future, it is certainly less than some of the ridiculous amounts some on DCUM say they need to make them feel secure for the future.
Anonymous
Post 03/13/2014 21:41     Subject: Mortgage Payment on 200K salary?
Our hhi is about $170, so lower than yours, but I wouldn't want to go higher than $2500. Our piti is $1900 and, with daycare at $1300 a month, I feel comfy, but wouldn't want to pay too much more.
Anonymous
Post 03/13/2014 19:13     Subject: Re:Mortgage Payment on 200K salary?
Anonymous wrote:We net approximately $11000 per month and our mortgage payments, RE taxes and insurance is about $6000 per month. Been doing this for years without any financial pressure.

We vacation a couple of times a year of which one of the trips is usually to an international destination.

$5K per month is more than enough for all other expenses. We have zero debt other than the mortgage. No childcare expenses and we have enough saved for the future.


Do you have kids?
Anonymous
Post 03/13/2014 19:12     Subject: Re:Mortgage Payment on 200K salary?
We have similar salary but with additional expenses. $3,300 mortgage is no problem at all.
Anonymous
Post 03/13/2014 19:12     Subject: Re:Mortgage Payment on 200K salary?
We net approximately $11000 per month and our mortgage payments, RE taxes and insurance is about $6000 per month. Been doing this for years without any financial pressure.

We vacation a couple of times a year of which one of the trips is usually to an international destination.

$5K per month is more than enough for all other expenses. We have zero debt other than the mortgage. No childcare expenses and we have enough saved for the future.
Anonymous
Post 03/13/2014 18:55     Subject: Mortgage Payment on 200K salary?
$4K a month is way too much. We made that mistake once, never again.

Our HHI is $275K - payment is $3K and it is a nice "sweet spot" for us. Gives us room to breathe and enjoy life.