How much of your net income do you spend on rent/mortgage a month?

[monkeydust]

My landlord just let me know that he is going to list my condo on the market if I don't want to buy it. My rent is pretty cheap compared to other places in this neighborhood.

If I were to buy this place, I'd have to spend about half of my net income a month on mortgage/building fees opposed to now paying about 1/3 of my net income a month on rent.

I just don't know what I want to do. I'm used to having quite a bit of free money. But, I haven't been making any equity since I have renting for the last few years. I've been able to buy whatever I wanted to for the last few years. But, if I buy this place, my money would be much more restricted.

I don't know if I should try to find a house in a cheaper neighborhood or go with this place (this is probably about the most expensive neighborhood in town). Any advice for a n00b homebuyer?

EDIT: By the way, I'm 32 years old, single and have not had any roomates for years (since college).

[Sazar]

too much :(

almost 50%... imagine the upgrades et al I could do with that money... or the car I could drive :)

currently 460 or thereabouts per month... but I have 2 rooms in a 4bed 3 bath house with huge front and back lawns and a large swimming pool in a very nice neighborhood :D

on the plus side my car insurance plummeted due to neighborhood as well as garage :)

[digitalwanderer]

Technically I'm spending 0% as me wife is the one working, but if I figure it right we're blowing about 20% of her salary on the house monthly.

[CurtMan]

Currently, none because I'm in a dorm, but next year it is going to suck because I'm getting an apartment. I'll be paying 720....yuck. All I can say is it sucks.

Just my luck, when all the sweet games are about to come out, I have no money (not to mention sweet movies). Guess I'll live with watching NBC and playing old games.

[monkeydust]

Well, I'm paying about $850 a month in rent right now which is a pretty good deal for my place in the neighborhood that I am in (the lieutinent governor for the state lives down the hall from me).

If I bought this place, it would cost me about $185k. Mortgage would run me about $1250 a month with another $250 a month in building fees. So, $1500 a month is quite a bit more than the $850 that I am used to. That would really cut into my computer upgrade money. ;)

I could probably get a nice house for that much money. My condo is about 1200 sq. ft.

I just don't know if I want to get a house in a cheaper neighborhood (a nice house in this neighbohood would run me about $500k at least) or pay $185k for this condo.

[Smokey]

When my wife and I were working in London, we had about £1200 a month between us. The rent for a 2 bedroom flat, brand new in south east London (Zone2) cost us £750 per month, plus council tax, plus water.

Buying a house is a hard choice to make, as its alot of money, it can be a big risk. The thing I like about renting is that it keeps me debt free, and I can move to where and when I want :)

[monkeydust]

Originally posted by Smokey
The thing I like about renting is that it keeps me debt free, and I can move to where and when I want :)
Yeah, that's a big thing with me. I am completely debt free and have plenty of spare money around. I am big anti-commitment person too. That's one of the big reasons why I haven't bought a house yet.

[saturnotaku]

If I didn't have a roommate, my mortgage would be about 75% of my net monthly income. As it sits right now, even combined with our monthy condo association dues, my outlay for living in my new place is less than 50% of my monthly net income and it's a hell of a lot cheaper than trying to pay rent. This is especially true considering that I live in one of the top five most expensive counties in the nation.

[lightman]

Personally, I spend about 60% of my net income in rent alone... For a 600 sq.ft. apt.

Another 25-30% goes for electricity, water, heat, gas, phone and adsl.

Another 40-45% of the income goes in food.

Luckily, my gf works, too, so we can (barely) make it.

Buying a house here is out of question. The cheapest ones goes for about 400 euro (that's about 600$) per sq.ft. and the average wage is around 1000 euro per month (we getting about 2200 euro/month, the two of us) ... do the math ...

[MUYA]

Holy thread revivals Bat man...closed