Percentage of income for housing expenses?

[coleslaw]

What percentage of your income (either gross or net) do you guys aim for in terms of rent/house payments?

The reason that I'm asking is that I'm trying to decide if I should move into this really nice apartment (http://www.rent.com/apartments/texas/houston-and-vicinity/stafford/8996/) in a month and a half. Here's a good picture:

http://a1724.g.akamai.net/7/1724/2850/20021115204601/www.apartments.com/propimages/102085/114/PL010132.JPG

I can't find any pictures of the inside other than the 360 degree "tours" they have on rent.com, so I can't show any of those. ;)

I'm working with an apartment locator and I won't be able to drive or fly down to Houston before I move, so I have to go by her word or the pictures that I can find online.

It seems really nice, with oversized Roman tubs with ceramic tile in the bathroom. :hihi:

I would be paying half of the price that I was quoted for a 2 bdrm/2 bath, which is less than 10% of my monthly gross income. Does this seem about right?

I know that the leasing managers usually look for a monthly income of 4 times the cost of rent, so we're good there. We're just wondering if we should live in this nice place or get something more modest and risk living in a bad area (which I have had happen in the past).

Thanks! :)

[WhiskeyPapa]

I teach a 13-week financial management class twice a year at our church. Our materials suggest your housing expenses (payment/interest/taxes/insurance) should be no more than 25% of your monthly take-home pay on a 15-year fixed rate mortgage. I suppose it would be the same for rent and insurance.

If this place is less than 10% of your gross, it's probably 15-20% of your net, right? If so, I don't see any problem at all.

[brainsmile]

find a hole in the wall... save your money and buy a house. :P That's where the money is. Wife and I are buying house #3 this month. We signed contract 4 weeks ago... it's already up about 30K

[Jenny]

Slaw, get that one. For the price, if it is in a good location and is as nice as it sounds & looks, you can't beat it.

[brainsmile]

yeah it does seem nice... when's the housewarming party?

[whitak24]

i spend about 25% of my gross at my current job.

at my old job (which i had when i signed the lease), it was about 12% of my gross.

either you're going to be making bank or else apartments in houston are dirt cheap. that place looks super nice :thumb:

[jstreet]

Half. Rent in DC is -killer-... I'm going to be in debt for the rest of my life.

[whitak24]

Originally posted by DarkFury


25% of Gross... YIKES!!!! :eek:


Sounds like it's time to move... :2far:
yeah, especially since i drive 60+ miles each way to go to work.

basically, i was locked into my lease, so i couldn't move.

it's not as bad as it looks, because my taxes are almost non-existant (small business deductions cut my gross in half, and i'll be quitting work in july).

of course, it's only going to get worse this fall when my income drops to $0 and my rent doubles :eek:

[Butch]

Originally posted by Ben_Williams
Half. Rent in DC is -killer-... I'm going to be in debt for the rest of my life.

I'm with you . . . a little over half of my net goes to rent. That's what I get for living by myself in Manhattan.

[gear02]

Wow! I know that place. I used to live right by there for the past 8 years and my parents still do. Welcome to Houston and Sugar Land! :D

The place is near the Fountains which is a fairly big shopping center which includes a movie theater (Loews), several restaurants (Kim Son being a good one for real and fake chinese food), and others. Also, you're very near 59, which is the main artery into First Colony and Sugar Land.

Let me know if you have other questions about the area. It's a great place to live, in my opinion since there are tons of restaurants and stuff. Heck, if I had a job down there I would jump and go to it right now!

[johnnymk]

Originally posted by Butch


I'm with you . . . a little over half of my net goes to rent. That's what I get for living by myself in Manhattan.

I was at the Jacob Javitz Center today. I couldn't believe how much nicer New York City is compared to about 15 years ago when I was there.

I was wondering what it cost to rent a decent place there. It must really be outrageous..right?

[rtse313]

Originally posted by coleslaw
What percentage of your income (either gross or net) do you guys aim for in terms of rent/house payments?

The reason that I'm asking is that I'm trying to decide if I should move into this really nice apartment (http://www.rent.com/apartments/texas/houston-and-vicinity/stafford/8996/) in a month and a half. Here's a good picture:

http://a1724.g.akamai.net/7/1724/2850/20021115204601/www.apartments.com/propimages/102085/114/PL010132.JPG

I can't find any pictures of the inside other than the 360 degree "tours" they have on rent.com, so I can't show any of those. ;)

I'm working with an apartment locator and I won't be able to drive or fly down to Houston before I move, so I have to go by her word or the pictures that I can find online.

It seems really nice, with oversized Roman tubs with ceramic tile in the bathroom. :hihi:

I would be paying half of the price that I was quoted for a 2 bdrm/2 bath, which is less than 10% of my monthly gross income. Does this seem about right?

I know that the leasing managers usually look for a monthly income of 4 times the cost of rent, so we're good there. We're just wondering if we should live in this nice place or get something more modest and risk living in a bad area (which I have had happen in the past).

Thanks! :)

seriously i wouldn't worry too much if i am only spending less than 10% of my gross income on renting apartment.

my suggestion is to buy a house !!! you can afford that.

[gear02]

Good lord...10% of your gross income = $965? You gots lotsa money there. Mind sharing some? At least tell me how you got them :D

Actually, you SHOULD buy a house in Sugar Land. Housing is very cheap down there. For $160K (equivalent of a 1 bedroom condo here in the DC metro area), you can get a 2500 square foot house with at least 3-4 bedrooms. The houses down there are beautiful.

Trust me. Get a house. I would if I were you. Like I said before, I'm counting the days before I can move back to Houston and enjoy life where it's cheap :D

[whitak24]

Originally posted by gear02
Good lord...10% of your gross income = $965? You gots lotsa money there. Mind sharing some? At least tell me how you got them :D

Actually, you SHOULD buy a house in Sugar Land. Housing is very cheap down there. For $160K (equivalent of a 1 bedroom condo here in the DC metro area), you can get a 2500 square foot house with at least 3-4 bedrooms. The houses down there are beautiful.

Trust me. Get a house. I would if I were you. Like I said before, I'm counting the days before I can move back to Houston and enjoy life where it's cheap :D
:stupid:

if i'm doing my math right (and i might not be, especially if the math involves coordinates on the x and y axis), then you're going to be grossing around $120k/year. you can get financed for a house in the $150k-$200k range in a heartbeat, most likely with 2-3% down (there are a lot of great programs out there for first-time homebuyers). friends of mine have easily gotten financed for homes in the $140k-$160k range with incomes in the $45k range.

your payments will be slightly more, but you'll be building equity. of course, if you're lazy like me, look for a nice condo. the benefits of owning, minus the responsibilities of upkeep, etc.

as for the housing market in the houston area, my understanding is that it's hella cheap. when i was working in west virginia, all of us from detroit would grab the real estate books there and check out these huge houses you could get for practically nothing (by detroit standards). but then our clients who were moving back from houston started griping about how "expensive" west virginia real estate is. apparently, you can get a virtual mansion in the houston area for $200k-$225.

[brainsmile]

at that much money heck you can finance a house much more than the 150k range. so why are you renting is the better question?

[coleslaw]

OK, first of all, I said that HALF of the rent is less than 10% of my gross income. ;)

Secondly, the girlie and I don't have any cash right now to make a downpayment on a house; I've got some student loans to pay off and a new car that I will start making payments on in January '04; my dad has been unemployed for a good 9 months thanks to this wonderful economy and my mom is a pre-school teacher, so asking to borrow money from them for a downpayment is out of the question right now.

So our best (and only real option) is to rent an apartment for at least a year to save up some cash for a down payment.

Finding a hole in the wall is not exactly the best idea in Houston because you never know what you're going to get - especially from not being able to check the places out before we move.

gear02: I am very familiar with this area. I have lived in Houston before (although, that was in the Westheimer/Westchase area and the Beechnut area). I would actually be working less than 2 minutes away from this apartment, so I could walk or bike to work if I wanted to. Sure, it's a highly commercialized area, but having a place that nice and that close to work more than outweighs the cost of not living way out in the "peaceful" suburbs, having to drive down 59 or Beltway 8 every day. :rolleyes:

[gear02]

Sorry about that 10% thing. I'm a bad engineer and I don't read quite right...

What you say makes a lot of sense. Stay in an apartment and save up some money and then look for a place. That way you won't be rushed to getting a place. I know there are some loans, especially for first time buyers that don't require huge downpayments so maybe that's for you. But, as you may know, housing is butt cheap in houston so moving to a house as soon as possible is the best option.

I think you may have misunderstood me. That area really isn't that commericalized like god-awful Westheimer. I'm saying that you're near that huge strip mall, so there's stuff you can do that's within walking distance. Having Kim Son within walking distance really makes me jealous. The only problem with Sugar Land is that 59 is the main artery between it and houston, so it gets packed during rush hour and may get kinda busy, though nothing like here in DC. So, in effect, you would be living in the suburbs but at the same time be near to stuff. It's a really good place!

Who are you going to work for down there? Can I get a job down there too? :D I really want to go back there :D:)

[coleslaw]

Originally posted by gear02
I think you may have misunderstood me. That area really isn't that commericalized like god-awful Westheimer. I'm saying that you're near that huge strip mall, so there's stuff you can do that's within walking distance. Having Kim Son within walking distance really makes me jealous.

No, I didn't misunderstand you. I have spent plenty of time in The Fountains (Sam's Boat for a few beers and Golden Tee after work, $5 movies at Loewe's, lunch at Razoo's and Kim Son et al). What I meant is that it may not be the most "peaceful" place to live, but I guess things are different when you live in an apartment rather than a house.

And technically, it's not really Sugarland there yet. I think it's still Stafford.

I'd rather not say where I work, but I will say that it's on the corner of Southwest Freeway and Airport. ;)

[Jenny]

Originally posted by coleslaw
I'd rather not say where I work, but I will say that it's on the corner of Southwest Freeway and Airport. ;)

That's right, folks. You're the first to hear it admitted. Slaw works on the corner! :eek:

[gear02]

Originally posted by coleslaw

I'd rather not say where I work, but I will say that it's on the corner of Southwest Freeway and Airport. ;)

Ahh.... :D

Btw I think that area is peaceful. Quite a nice place. My high school is down the street. Dulles High School :D

[coleslaw]

Originally posted by Jenny


That's right, folks. You're the first to hear it admitted. Slaw works on the corner!

Yep. I'm a gigolo - but I draw a premium price over at the fire station with my infamous "firepole dancing". :hmm: