1.1 million

I heard that the total of your house should cost what your income is x3. I've also heard that your mortgage should be 1/3 the price of your monthly income.

HHI is $500K. House was purchased for $1.6MM. But our mortgage is $600K.

HHI $350K.

Paid $850K for house, took out a $625K mortgage, put approx. $400K into an addition/renovation that we paid cash for. I wouldn't feel comfortable with a mortgage much larger than ours ($3800/month).

How did I miss this old thread? The OP sounds like she's 22.

$550k HHI. Put $415k down on a $830k house (50%) and then put $150k into renovating it. Mortgage payments are about $2700/month.

Paid $690K when we bought it 9 years ago. Appraised this year for $860K. HHI $400K. Staying put as we will want to consider private starting after ES.

Anonymous wrote:If your HHI is 350-400k, how expensive is your house (roughly)? Just ballpark list price please. We are going to talk to a lender, and I know MANY factors affect this (debt, down payment, etc.) but in the interim I am looking for some "informal" research regarding what our approximate price range will be given our HHI (between 350-400). Thanks!

$755K

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also factor for the fact that it's the most frugal on DCUM that generally respond to this kind of question...at your income level, you are correct, plenty of folks w/ homes north of $1M.

I think the 1/3 of take-home for PITI rule gives you a reasonable ceiling and a lot of space...you could really go up to $1.5-2M home if you have the 20%+ down if you wanted.

I disagree. If you have a nanny and/or private school tuition, you'll be squeezed if you spend 33% on PITI.

Agree with this poster. We are a little north of $450K and bought for $875K in 2009. Mortgage is about $4K per month. We have a full time nanny for two and preschool costs and we have to "watch" what we spend if we want to save. Things should get a bit easier when the kids are in school (planning on local public) and we only have to worry about extra care, camps, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Paid 689 when we bought it 9 years ago. Would likely sell in the 900s. HHI 380. Would like to upgrade, but income is tied up in private schools.

But presumably you weren't making $380 9 years ago, right?

Correct. It was probably around 175? But of course then we got approved for a LOT more with a 5% deposit, which we could never get now. We'd totally buy around 1.4 now if we could get approved with 5% down and no points. We can make the payments, but due to school expenses don't have the liquid savings.

Anonymous wrote:Paid 689 when we bought it 9 years ago. Would likely sell in the 900s. HHI 380. Would like to upgrade, but income is tied up in private schools.

But presumably you weren't making $380 9 years ago, right?

Paid 689 when we bought it 9 years ago. Would likely sell in the 900s. HHI 380. Would like to upgrade, but income is tied up in private schools.

OP, our HHI is $250-$300K (depending on bonuses, profit-sharing, etc.) and we are currently looking with a budget of $700K ($750 absolute max if the house needed NOTHING.)

We have 20% down (150K) and plan to rent out our current townhouse, but that will likely be revenue neutral or at best get us a couple hundred a month.

Curious to hear more responses.

HHI is $450k

Mortgage is $900k

We purchased the house for $1.5 but put down $600k

We have no debt and no school or daycare expenses but we agonized over this decision (which happens to be very recent). Our jobs are stable and we've been making these salaries for quite a while but you never know. We didn't green light it until we had 1.5 years of living expenses banked.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This post doesn't make a lot of sense to me. OP, are you deciding how much to spend based on how much other people in your HHI spend?

Of course not. As noted in my OP, I am just curious what people with my same HHI spend. I have been told that with our HHI we "should" live in a 1m house and thats what people with our earnings do. Doesn't look to be categorically true at all!

There's no "should." We plan to retire at 55. Our housing is going to be more modest compared to a couple who plans to work until 65 or 70, or had kids late, or any of a number of factors.

I agree - why are you even confirming whether you "should" do something or not? Are you new to this HHI range? Really, it is not that impressive for DC. DH and I've been in this income range for years, and we are only in our early 30s. It's pretty standard for DC.

Standard? Is everyone here a lobbyist or a lawyer or a govt contractor? There are no other professions and jobs in DC, really? Do all you people have such a great job security that you assume that you will be making this type of income and more forever? What if one of you loses a job or both of you do, for how long will you be able to make your payments? OP, think hard about your decision, don't base this upon what other people tell you. You need to consider the bad scenarios too, people lose jobs all the time and you need to get the payment you are comfortable making in the situation your income goes down. People with high HHI are not immune from foreclosures.

Also, what matter more is not your income but your networth. Some people may have lower HHI, but are millionaires, while others - high HHI, but in debt up to their ears. The latter people are more vulnerable and you don't want to be in this situation.