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

Bought in Jan 2013. Paid $109,900 (seller paid $3,000 in closing cost). Put $2,000 down (used VA loan). Making $45,000. First house, 26 years old.

1st house paid cash 35K

2nd house, 2007 sale price 335K, 20% down (about 75K @ closing), income 175K

First house was 420 (400k loan at 5%). Combined income between wife and I was around 130 at the time. Sold it and bought a new house this past summer for 635 (500k loan at 3.4%). Our combined income at that time was around 200k. Both homes are in the NYC suburbs, so a pricey area in other ways as well (commuting, groceries, activities).

I purchased my current house for $757,000 in February of 2006. I put 20% down. At the time I was making about $280,000 per year.

Purchased for $218,500 in July 2000 with a 20% down payment. Household income was approximately $120,000 (before tax) at the time.

2010 for $399,999, put 3% down

Combined $150k

In 2004: $750K, 20% down, $100K income. For a starter home/fixer-upper. Welcome to the Bay Area. The good news is that the house is now worth $1.1M.

But who gives out a mortgage based on those numbers? I was earning 63k and our loan ended up being 147k I think. Maybe a little more. I think if we had followed the "aggressive" guidelines, we might have found somoeone to finance us for a 300k house, but we would have been desperately poor.

expensive areas wrote:

[quote]Howdy wrote:

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

That sounds normal in California or in New York.

Job Seeker wrote:

But who gives out a mortgage based on those numbers? I was earning 63k and our loan ended up being 147k I think. Maybe a little more. I think if we had followed the "aggressive" guidelines, we might have found somoeone to finance us for a 300k house, but we would have been desperately poor.

expensive areas wrote:

[quote]Howdy wrote:

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

That sounds normal in California or in New York.

Wow, talk about being house poor! No thanks.

2013 79k. 20% down. Make 50-55k.

midWestlovi wrote:

Job Seeker wrote:

But who gives out a mortgage based on those numbers? I was earning 63k and our loan ended up being 147k I think. Maybe a little more. I think if we had followed the "aggressive" guidelines, we might have found somoeone to finance us for a 300k house, but we would have been desperately poor.

That sounds normal in California or in New York.

Wow, talk about being house poor! No thanks.

I'm similar. $340K house, 20% down in 2011. Income was $49K. I do have a lot of savings ($250K including retirement).

Forgot to add taxes are about $5K per year. My total monthly payment including taxes and insurance is about $1660.

Gcol wrote:

2010 for $399,999, put 3% down

Combined $150k

Nearly the same numbers for me.

I also bought in 2002 for $150K at 0% down on $80K combined income.

Bought first house 10 years ago for $239. At the time combined income was about $80K.

Bought current (and probably permanent) home last year for $287 and combined income of $140K. I consider this reasonably modest given our current means.

$330,000 last year. Combined income about $110k. Taxes are $425/mo. 3.375 rate. Put down 25%.

Rule of thumb is you can afford about three times your current income. One should always do 20% down as it is the least amount you can pay without having to pay extra insurance on the mortage.

I haven't purchased a home.

Haven't bought a house, but since you're trying to figure out what you can/should afford, I wanted to add this.

I just read "Stop Acting Rich... and Start Acting like a Real Millionaire", by Thomas Stanley, and he suggests the following guideline (based off his studies of people that have been good at turning income into wealth):

Purchase a house so the mortgage is no more than 2x your annual gross income. He said most of the millionaires he surveyed had followed that rule with their house purchases. These are high net worth folks... and often not necessarily high income folks.

It might be more difficult in a high cost of living area. I did notice that several people in this thread were within the "mortgage less that 2x income" threshold, and I plan to be under it as well when I buy in the next few years.

Good thread.

Price $385k

Down payment $90K

Income (combined) ~$170k

Not sure on the monthly taxes.

239,000 HOUSE in 2006

0% down

Huge balloon payment

Paid 700/month for 3 years and quit making payments

House foreclosed on 3 years ago but we are still living in it

Already got 60k in saved rent for when we have to move.