How much did you buy your house for and what did you make at the time?

Hardloper wrote:

[quote]rojo wrote:

How do you know the mortgage payment? Can't it be some kind of mortgage that starts of lower and gets higher as years go by, assuming your salary will do the same?

Rates for a 30 yr fixed were around 5% in 2009. Payment on 350k at 5% would be 1871/month. I didn't hear of too many escalating payment types of loans being written after the BIG BANK FRAUD era.

Another Bay Area person here. $1.525M purchase price in 2007. Mortgage was $1.3M and was making $470K (combined) at the time. Very risky and felt the stress.

Mortgage is now $950K on earnings of $675K (combined). Much better situation.

In case you're wondering, our money is not the result of any special talent. Me and spouse both at large law firms and get inflated SF salaries. (People here focus on inflated real estate prices but usually fail to acknowledge fact that we also enjoy highly inflated wages.)

Always amazed at the size of the mortgages banks will approve and the lengths people will go to buy a house. Combined income of $550k and we live in a $400k home. Have been looking for a larger place and wouldn't feel comfortable with a mortgage of more than 1.5 to 1.75x gross income. Going higher limits all sorts of things: saving for early retirement, saving for college, eating out, going to sporting events, trips, having nice stuff, hobbies, etc. Just maxing out your 401k isn't nearly enough in my opinion. You also inevitably get to a point where you hate your career. Who wants to be forces to continue working just to pay an inflated mortgage? Finally, being handy helps. If you learn even basic skills like tiling and painting you can save yourself tens of thousands of dollars. Expand that to more serious renovation skills and you'll be in the hundreds. It's not like most "craftsmen" are Rhodes Scholars. Most of that stuff is something any idiot can do with practice.

Purchased in 2007 just before the collapse.

Total Price: $160,000

Down: $9,000

Yearly Taxes: $1,400

Combined Income: $105,000*

Location: Charlotte, NC

* Wife and I knew that we wanted kids. We used combined salary and credit scores to secure the loan at a great rate but internally we structured our finances and made decisions based on my income only ($75K at the time, closer to $90K now).

We purchased less home than realtors and lenders wanted us to because we had the future in mind. They were all dumbfounded, "But don't you want this $350K house? You can afford it!" No thanks, we're good. I would much rather have something nicer, but I can sleep at night knowing that if I lost my job and needed to work at Wal-Mart I could still pay our monthly bills.

Not bragging... just a word of advice to the younger folks and first time home buyers out there.

1983: $60K house, 5% down. $40K combined.

1989: $105K house, 20% down, $60K combined.

2005: $550K house, 20% down, $210K combined (but knew it was going to $300K+ with new job).

1991 first home was a 3 bedroom 1600 sq ft 1.5 bath split level in nice suburb setting with 0.28 acre lot. price was $105k and I was earning around $30K but with room for some growth. Put down 10%. Property taxes are very low in my area. Under 2k

Sold the above in 1999 for $135, purchased next house - a 4br 2.5 bath 2500 sq ft colonial in a more remote suburban setting on 0.5 acres. Price was $235k. Income was $55k and wife was working part time bringing that up to around $70k. Put down 15%. Taxes are about $3.5k

House is now worth at least $400k and nearly paid off. Income has climbed to $130k and wife no longer needs to work. In a good position now but still don't waste a lot of money in restaurants or on toys and hobbies. Still run in cotton sweats in the dead of winter, which doesn't seem to negatively impact my fitness.

rojo wrote:

Howdy wrote:

437k in 2009, southern California. Paid 20% down. Combined income $85k.

Really? Whate are the taxes out there?

So you have a 350k mortgage on 85k in income? The mortgage payment on that is $2k a month. Then you have taxes. In the two places I've most recently lived which have huge taxes (Ithaca and Baltimore), you'd be paying another 1k a month basically in property taxes (2-3%).

So you'd be paying a minimum of $36,000 a year just for the taxes/morgage.

Throw in a few repairs and we're at $40k.

The take home pay for someone making 85k a year is just 60k.

So that leaves you 25k for all of your other expenses for the year. So you are spending just 2k a month on expenses as a couple? Good for you. You are both only spending $30 a day. Very frugal.

a few other details since there is some speculation here:

I had the majority of my down payment from inheritance, as a grandparent died. I purchased the house from the in-laws, and it was built by my wife's great-uncle. It's a 4bd, 2ba, on a 1/2 acre in OC. In regards to repairs, I have done the majority of them, and am in the process of a seismic retrofit. It's relatively easy as long as you have the tools and materials, of which I have both. most materials were given to me free from a contractor friend. In the first 9 months, i re-wired the house, re-plumbed the house, took several rooms down to the studs and rebuilt them, rebuilt the kitchen and 1 bathroom (and have since done a 90% restoration on the smaller bath), and have done a few other things. I did this while my wife was pregnant with round 1 and we now have a second with a third on the way. My employment is inconsistent, but I'm a man of faith, and God provides every step of the way. some of you may not want to hear that, but it's the truth--I could not have bought the house at 27 under the circumstances without His help. but you're right Rojo--we live a frugal life right now.

rojo wrote:

Howdy wrote:

437k in 2009, southern California. Paid 20% down. Combined income $85k.

Really? Whate are the taxes out there?

So you have a 350k mortgage on 85k in income? The mortgage payment on that is $2k a month. Then you have taxes. In the two places I've most recently lived which have huge taxes (Ithaca and Baltimore), you'd be paying another 1k a month basically in property taxes (2-3%).

So you'd be paying a minimum of $36,000 a year just for the taxes/morgage.

Throw in a few repairs and we're at $40k.

The take home pay for someone making 85k a year is just 60k.

So that leaves you 25k for all of your other expenses for the year. So you are spending just 2k a month on expenses as a couple? Good for you. You are both only spending $30 a day. Very frugal.

Pretty sure I got this beat...

In 2008, 585k, 85k down,, 5.25% interest rate. For a townhouse in not the best area in Silicon Valley. HOA $235/mo.

Income maybe 100k?

Property Tax was 1.25% at the time.

It was rough, but rent on a 3 bedroom here isn't better averaging $2500-3500 per month. There are a lot of people who make a lot of money here. 99% scrape by like me.

also, for those of you who are involved with home improvement projects, you may enjoy Adam Carolla's Ace on the House podcast:

http://www.adamcarolla.com/AceOnTheHouse/

Current house: $510,000, 20 percent down, household income $202,000.

First house: $320,000, 20 percent down, income $90,000.

84k I put down about 1k and the seller paid 4k which covered a tiny bit more than closing costs.

I paid off my car note entirely at the same time (about 13k).

I got the 8k first time homebuyer credit.

4.875%' taxes are 599/year

I made 20k

I make 32k now

3.5 years later I owe 50k on the house.

1st house: $115K - 60k/yr, about $1000 for taxes/year

2nd house: $230K - 220K/yr, $2700/taxes/year

We like to travel, save for retirement, support two elderly parents, three kids to put through college, and so forth. Decided to be very conservative when purchasing our second home. Glad we did because our mothers have required a great deal of financial assistance the last ten years.

We're buying in Westchester, NY in January - one of the highest tax regions in the country. However, as as a west-coaster mentioned earlier, we also enjoy inflated salaries, along with inflated real-estate prices.

We're buying at 727.5K, putting 20% down, and are at a combined income of 300K. Taxes are 13K a year. We're stretching more than we have in the past, but we will be okay.

Happy new year to all!

rojo wrote:

Howdy wrote:

437k in 2009, southern California. Paid 20% down. Combined income $85k.

Really? Whate are the taxes out there?

So you have a 350k mortgage on 85k in income? The mortgage payment on that is $2k a month. Then you have taxes. In the two places I've most recently lived which have huge taxes (Ithaca and Baltimore), you'd be paying another 1k a month basically in property taxes (2-3%).

So you'd be paying a minimum of $36,000 a year just for the taxes/morgage.

Throw in a few repairs and we're at $40k.

The take home pay for someone making 85k a year is just 60k.

So that leaves you 25k for all of your other expenses for the year. So you are spending just 2k a month on expenses as a couple? Good for you. You are both only spending $30 a day. Very frugal.

In good ole Cali property taxes are roughly 1.25% of property value and and annual increase is heavily limited by Prop 13. So on a 437K house his taxes were probably only ~4300/year.

Me: bought my house for 818K, put down 30%, made ~200K at the time. NorCal.

Not relevant but perhaps of some interest.

We bought our first home here in Australia, 18 years ago, 4 bedroom in Melbourne suburbs for $aus 90,000, deposit was $10,000. Combined income was $40,000. We had 3 young kids at the time.

We bought our current place 9 years back, a rural historic cottage on an acre next to National Park for $145,000 using equity from the other house. Income was a combined $60,000 at that time.

We rented the suburban house then sold it for $280,000 8 years ago

We bought another house 2 years ago as an investment for $180,000 renting it to my son and 2 friends for $250 per week.

renewed marathoner wrote:

84k I put down about 1k and the seller paid 4k which covered a tiny bit more than closing costs.

I paid off my car note entirely at the same time (about 13k).

I got the 8k first time homebuyer credit.

4.875%' taxes are 599/year

I made 20k

I make 32k now

3.5 years later I owe 50k on the house.

This may be the most impressive post in the thread. To purchase a house with a cost of 4x income and have it 40% paid off in 3.5 years is the sign of someone destined for financial success.

Thanks for your kind words. I certainly hope so!

I am metering down the principal payments now. I'm moving in a year and want to save up on a down payment for another place (or travel the world for a year). I may sell this one, but would prefer to rent it.

side question.

I'm always torn about ira contributions. I started one last year and put 3k in. it's hard to know if I Should be putting more money in there vs paying off the house. any people or there wiser than I? it seems to me like my plan is okay to use extra cash to save up for the next house but if I do so there's no way I can contribute much to the ira... thoughts?

Thanks

rm

I would be interested to see what people paid for houses back in 60's and 70's compared to income.

As a financial advisor, these numbers show the problem I see in society every day.

25 years old, 100k income, single, 15% down. 145,000 house, 120,000 mortgage. No thanks to any more of a payment then that.