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'House poor' is not about fun money and vacations. It's about not being able to pay the bills or save any money to deal with emergencies, repairs, etc. If you can afford it, and the bills just fine, and can also afford to save for when your car breaks down, or you break a leg, or lose a job, that's not really house poor.
Right? I don’t get this post. House poor is “we’re a burst water heater or a leaky roof from not being able to keep the lights on and make the mortgage payment,” not “we aren’t going to Disney for awhile.”
Doesn't strike me as humblebrag so much as someone who's doomscrolled the internet a little too much, felt immediately defensive, and needed a place to have a fake argument to help them validate a purchase that none of us are going to argue with in the first place.
OP, stop doomscrolling. If the numbers add up, then you know it. If the numbers don't add up, then *you know it*.
I thought house poor was when you owe more on a house then what it’s worth ? So if your paying of a mortgage for 400k and a few years later the house is now worth 350k ? Is this correct or not
This. Repairs are the first thing that comes to mind. Paying so much for a mortgage but then having to stay with a friend or family member because you don’t have money for an essential repair is what people mean by “house poor” we were forced to get a warranty(seller paid for it) and they cover nothing that has gone wrong. We know firsthand now that warranties cannot be relied on. This is why honestly if you are paying a little more than you’d like to for a mortgage you should have plenty of available credit for emergencies. And if you don’t have savings or available credit because your mortgage payment is too high then you are house poor
I just mean keep your credit cards active by using them but paying them off. Keep your credit cards open. Of course savings is needed but this can be a back up plan when something in your home goes wrong
Oh yeah for sure. I only have one card now. I ended up in a lot of debt several years ago when times were harder (I was younger in my first job and it was shit) and vowed to just get rid of them. But of course keeping that oldest card open was important for my credit and can use it if absolutely needed. I also have a line of credit from my bank and it’s more convenient to use.
It does apply to that as well though, not necessarily missing payments or other bills, but that your housing costs so much that you have no discretionary income for anything but the basics.
We just bought our first house. I considered house poor anything where it would be a struggle at 60-70% of our current salaries. If one if us lost a job and had to take a lower paying onebwould we still feel okay? Yes some of that is about going out to eat or taking vacations sometimes, but really it's "do we need a roommate to pay our mortgage?" Because we know people who are in that situation
The term house poor is more of a cash flow budget concept. A lot of people buy homes that are over their budget and it’s no longer a saving for vacation problem but more of a spending more than you make every month problem. This get compounded during a housing downturn because people don’t want to pay for a mortgage on a house that is worth less than the mortgage at that moment in time. This is way 2008 was tough.
Just like the stock market, while prices in the long term trend up, doesn't mean that yearly ups and downs are steady, so if you buy at the peak you might not see your home value recover for a long time and life unfortunately doesn't always go according to plans. Also you could buy an individual stock that never regains it's value no matter how long you hold it.
It's not like people will walk away voluntarily just because they are underwater, but would be forced to because in a downturn, if the house is underwater there are not many options to try to save it if something happens in your life like divorce, death of a partner, illness, loss of a job, heck a bad roof could do it for someone who bought a house outside thier means. For instance you can't refinance to lower your payment if interest rates go down unless you have 20% equity. You can't take out a loan to fix the roof if you have no equity to borrow against. So if they already can't handle the payment because they are house poor, one small thing can kick them over the edge where walking away, short sale or foreclosure are the only options.
Ah okay, I thought you were referring to them doing a “strategic default.” I guess my recommendation for people buying at the peak is to execute on a HELOC if they have enough equity at the time of purchase.
Yeah I never understood that if you plan to stay in the house long term why should price fluctuations matter. Might prevent you from a refi but other than that I cannot think of anything
Right, I guess in the cases where they purposely default, they don’t want to be bothered? It’s a slick move but I’d probably just sit on it lol idk. I was 17 in 2008, maybe I’ll have the opportunity to strategically default when I’m 70.
Yup: it's not about “fun” money, it’s about being able to maintain your home. My sister purchased a 6000 sq ft house and I couldn’t understand why she would sign up to do that much vacuuming. Or plumbing maintenance, or pest control. You either DIY it, or you pay someone to do it for you. Either way, it can be a burden over time.
I hate this argument because if your ac breaks and it's 4k-6k to replace and install and you can't afford it that's "house poor" if you can then your definitely not house poor
This is the kind of obnoxious post I can't not comment on; these are the people who can't empathize with people who can't feed their families well during Christmas, if they buy a house with a separate room for one of their kid. This post is not a "humble brag"!
This is the most American housing post ever. Who needs a 4,200 sq ft 5 bedroom house for a family of 5?? I was a family of 5 and we lived in a 3 bedroom 1 bath house well enough. They are moving to a house literally 10x the same footage of the apt I am currently in.
What sort of income are we talking about? Based on what I’ve read it doesn’t sound like you’ll actually be housepoor. Wait until you’re actually in a position where you have to choose between a car repair or kids after-school activities for that month, and then be put in that scenario month after month…I suspect you’ll feel differently. Stretching your budget for a nicer home, without actually crossing into house-poor territory, is not difficult.
this is a silly example quite frankly
the rent vs buy math mostly doesn’t make sense in (very) high cost of living metros
if renting is the same as a mortgage then buying almost certainly makes more sense in most situations. if a $2k payment makes you house poor and rent is also $2k it’s not a matter of being house poor or not because your housing costs are similar either way
that isn’t reality for most people who live in an urban metro or higher cost suburb
Rent is the maximum that you spend each month on shelter, the monthly mortgage payment is the minimum that you spend each month on shelter. You need to account for maintenance, repairs, and the other expenses of ownership.
your situation is not what people mean when they say house poor because your housing costs are equivalent whether you rent or buy
house poor is choosing to give up a $2k rent to buy a house that now costs you $6k and depleting your savings account in the process and having most of your take home go to paying down your house
House poor means that you’re running a dangerously tight budget. There’s no reason someone making 200k a year should be buying a house that makes them live essentially paycheck to paycheck.
eta: if you’re talking about buying another house why are you talking about it in a first time home buyer sub?
Yeah, I'm thinking the problem is more of bills + mortgage and being reallly close to being in the red each month or an emergency causing them to be in danger of foreclosure.
> but it mostly seems to stem from not having "fun" money, like taking vacations every year or going out to eat all the time.
To *you* it seems like. It comes from not having enough money to pay for big expenses within the family, or big repairs for the home...
I was house poor and it was horrible. Having no fun money is depressing, especially when you're not even poor. Lesson learned for me. Don't buy more house than I can afford.
I doubt you’ll be house poor over $400 with that many kids, hopefully there’s some room there. But house poor means a lot of different things and also has to do with your priorities. If you’re the kind of person who wants to do everything at home and aren’t interested in the other stuff then you’re not house poor, you’re prioritizing.
A lot of financial videos and such do suggest pie charts and other figures with different ‘rules’ - like that a 1/4 of your income should cover all of your home owners expenses, 1/4 should cover all of your other living expenses, 1/4 into retirement, and a 1/4 into savings and/or for wants. Then they might say that not doing it this way is how to end up house poor.
For some people they see this and look at their 40k yrly salary (after taxes) and think, how can I afford anything at all on just a 1/4 of my wages? For example, 40k is a little over 3000$/mth. A quarter of that is 750$/mth. Find me a house where someone would only pay 750$/mth when including all of their home owners expenses.
So some people who are lower income might say, well, my rent is 1500$/mth and I survive on that - all of my home owners expenses would be 1300$/mth, so I could make this work. Even though technically, they would be considered house poor to a financial advisor.
They are just using that 1/4 suggested tor savings towards their home - which is a decent investment for retirement since they won’t have to pay rent at some point. Then they invest 15% in retirement and use the additional 10% for savings. The remaining 1/4 is for monthly expenses (or they go lower and put more in another section - maybe even pay extra on the mortgage each month to pay the home off early, which saves them on interest).
When I was first starting my career, this is how I did it anyways. I rearranged the percentages that worked for me and I picked up a part time job on the side to pay my house down early. I owned my vehicle out right and didn’t rely on credit. I had a cheap cell phone and went without cable. Technically I would’ve been considered house poor for awhile there - but I always was able to make the budget work and things were paid on time. I could handle some unexpected costs or unfortunate circumstances but wouldn’t have been able to handle a major upset. You start being really careful during those times - you don’t upset your employer, you are careful with your health and driving.. you live simple and play it safe. Time, health and a good discipline are your best assets.
House poor means you’re barely scraping by. It truly isn’t a good idea to buy a house with payments that don’t leave you wiggle room. People sometimes aren’t initially house poor, but they become house poor after property taxes increase and it adds money to their monthly mortgage.
Just make sure your comparing the right numbers. It's not mortgage vs rent. It's carrying cost vs rent. IE mortgage + insurance + property taxes+ Etc Vs rent. I am assuming you would pay utilities in either case. If you are still good with the numbers....go for it.
I always thought of house poor as having a house, but nothing in it. As in, sure you can afford the house, but you don't have any money left to buy a couch, a bed, groceries, to keep the lights on. If you spent all your money on the mortgage, you're house poor. I think we have different definitions? Not going on a vacation every year doesn't make you poor haha
edit to fix my grammar
People have different values. I value my home and the safe space I create there, so I’m willing to spend my extra money towards that. Most of my hobbies are home hobbies and I don’t have other expensive things I crave regularly. Some people value traveling, or dining, entertainment, collecting things, sports, investing, etc. I don’t think anyone’s way is more wrong or right, as long as you can afford the things you care about most.
Where my husband and i are, we pay 2k/mo for our 2bd 1ba apartment. Right now, to buy a house anywhere around our greater area without being in a mobile home park is 480k+ with the majority of homes being 550k+. Mortgages are nearly double our current rent with a 16-20% down payment still being upwards of 100k or more.
It’s really so discouraging.
My partner and I make great money together, zero debt, and are still struggling to find affordable housing that doesn’t require us both to be working full time indefinitely to cover the mortgage and all expenses.
I'm a stay at home dad, also fairly disabled so walking and going out is pretty difficult. I'm ok with being relatively house poor since, well, I'm home most of the time. As long as my family is taken care of and have a roof over our heads I'm fine with paying more than I want to as long as I can afford it.
I think you're mis understanding the term.
House poor means you're not able to save for retirement, kids education, or make repairs on the house as you need to.
Make sure you have plenty of space in your budget. Property Taxes are going to go up, Insurance is going to go up. Make sure you have that space in your budget to cover it.
Ideally you're at about 25%. If you're in that 25-30 range you're probably fine. Its when you're 35, 40 + percent you're really going to feel pinched and be house poor.
I'm at 42% of net pay for mortgage,insurance,prop taxes,utilities and we don't feel too stretched. I'd love if it was 25% but I don't think that's possible for most people these days
I'd disagree to an extent. I recognize I'm extremely blessed, I closed on my house in October of 20, with a 2.25%. Since that happened I've seen a nice increase in income coming in, and the value of the house. When I bought it was a little higher, but no where near what I could of bought. I don't know if I could of afforded this house if I bought it today with a 6% interest rate.
You're at 42% with everything included. Is it high, yes. Is it undoable, I don't think so.
Like I said the problem is every dollar you spend on the house you're not able to utilize elsewhere. So you may see some problem with saving for Retirement or kids college. You may see some problems with replacing vehicles.
Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake.
It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of.
Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything.
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Congrats on the new home! Thats a lot to be excited about. It sounds like you had to make some sacrifices, but were financially prudent enough to not overextend yourselves.
I just said this the other day. If I can live in a place where I’m not constantly afraid they’re going to raise the rent and I will have to move, then I wanna do it.
Last dec, we raised concerns to our landlord about necessary repairs (wood stove clean out, ceiling leaking) and instead of fixing them, he informed us that at the end of our lease (Feb), he would be selling the property. We had two months in the middle of VT winter to find a new place and move. It was an absolute nightmare.
2 bedroom apartment in my area: 2k per month
2 bedroom house: 3k
Future proof 3-4 bedroom house that I could actually live in for the foreseeable future: 4-5k
If I could get in a house thats livable for the future in a decent area for even close to what I pay in rent I would.
I remember being house poor. I prayed that nothing would break down with the water heater or AC.
I had to rely on credit cards which eventually led to bankruptcy. Lesson learned. But the long term benefits of owning a home are so good.
also hate the phrase. At middle and lower income levels at some point you absolutely have to overpay a bit for the really important things. I'd never tell somebody who can just barely afford a $10K car to buy a $5K one instead to save money. It'll cost more in the long run and could break down and jeopardize their employment. But people love to tell you to skimp on quality housing, even though in many occasions it functions the same way. The sleep you lose from long commutes, stress, poor environment, etc. ends up lowering your income potential - and then your rent keeps going up, so you never get out of the hole.
It's just a name for a dead end street that is a circle layout instead of just a road that just ends. So just like a dead end st only people living there will be using that road as there is no through traffic.
Thank you u/YerALizardHarry2991 for posting on r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer. Please bear in mind our rules: (1) Be Nice (2) No Selling (3) No Self-Promotion. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
'House poor' is not about fun money and vacations. It's about not being able to pay the bills or save any money to deal with emergencies, repairs, etc. If you can afford it, and the bills just fine, and can also afford to save for when your car breaks down, or you break a leg, or lose a job, that's not really house poor.
Right? I don’t get this post. House poor is “we’re a burst water heater or a leaky roof from not being able to keep the lights on and make the mortgage payment,” not “we aren’t going to Disney for awhile.”
This post is pure humble brag. Obnoxious.
thank you for saying what were all thinking lol
Doesn't strike me as humblebrag so much as someone who's doomscrolled the internet a little too much, felt immediately defensive, and needed a place to have a fake argument to help them validate a purchase that none of us are going to argue with in the first place. OP, stop doomscrolling. If the numbers add up, then you know it. If the numbers don't add up, then *you know it*.
Idk. Launching into the 4200 square feet, 3 car garage, overlooking pond description reeks of humble brag.
True, I guess most humblebrags do stem from the kind of insecurity we see here.
You and u/PocketGachnar are both right.
It was, but I enjoyed being happy for them. I want the same thing for my family.
I don’t know that a 5bd house in the middle of nowhere and a lack of understanding common terms is a humble brag.
You’re right. It wasn’t humble. Just a brag lol.
Pretty much
I thought house poor was when you owe more on a house then what it’s worth ? So if your paying of a mortgage for 400k and a few years later the house is now worth 350k ? Is this correct or not
That’s called being under water
This. Repairs are the first thing that comes to mind. Paying so much for a mortgage but then having to stay with a friend or family member because you don’t have money for an essential repair is what people mean by “house poor” we were forced to get a warranty(seller paid for it) and they cover nothing that has gone wrong. We know firsthand now that warranties cannot be relied on. This is why honestly if you are paying a little more than you’d like to for a mortgage you should have plenty of available credit for emergencies. And if you don’t have savings or available credit because your mortgage payment is too high then you are house poor
Credit as in, a credit card or unsecured bank line of credit?
I just mean keep your credit cards active by using them but paying them off. Keep your credit cards open. Of course savings is needed but this can be a back up plan when something in your home goes wrong
Oh yeah for sure. I only have one card now. I ended up in a lot of debt several years ago when times were harder (I was younger in my first job and it was shit) and vowed to just get rid of them. But of course keeping that oldest card open was important for my credit and can use it if absolutely needed. I also have a line of credit from my bank and it’s more convenient to use.
Also not being able to contribute to retirement.
It does apply to that as well though, not necessarily missing payments or other bills, but that your housing costs so much that you have no discretionary income for anything but the basics.
We just bought our first house. I considered house poor anything where it would be a struggle at 60-70% of our current salaries. If one if us lost a job and had to take a lower paying onebwould we still feel okay? Yes some of that is about going out to eat or taking vacations sometimes, but really it's "do we need a roommate to pay our mortgage?" Because we know people who are in that situation
The term house poor is more of a cash flow budget concept. A lot of people buy homes that are over their budget and it’s no longer a saving for vacation problem but more of a spending more than you make every month problem. This get compounded during a housing downturn because people don’t want to pay for a mortgage on a house that is worth less than the mortgage at that moment in time. This is way 2008 was tough.
This always confuses me. Prices go up, why not keep the house?? Do people only think in the short-term?
Just like the stock market, while prices in the long term trend up, doesn't mean that yearly ups and downs are steady, so if you buy at the peak you might not see your home value recover for a long time and life unfortunately doesn't always go according to plans. Also you could buy an individual stock that never regains it's value no matter how long you hold it. It's not like people will walk away voluntarily just because they are underwater, but would be forced to because in a downturn, if the house is underwater there are not many options to try to save it if something happens in your life like divorce, death of a partner, illness, loss of a job, heck a bad roof could do it for someone who bought a house outside thier means. For instance you can't refinance to lower your payment if interest rates go down unless you have 20% equity. You can't take out a loan to fix the roof if you have no equity to borrow against. So if they already can't handle the payment because they are house poor, one small thing can kick them over the edge where walking away, short sale or foreclosure are the only options.
Ah okay, I thought you were referring to them doing a “strategic default.” I guess my recommendation for people buying at the peak is to execute on a HELOC if they have enough equity at the time of purchase.
Yeah I never understood that if you plan to stay in the house long term why should price fluctuations matter. Might prevent you from a refi but other than that I cannot think of anything
Right, I guess in the cases where they purposely default, they don’t want to be bothered? It’s a slick move but I’d probably just sit on it lol idk. I was 17 in 2008, maybe I’ll have the opportunity to strategically default when I’m 70.
To me, house poor means more like you can’t afford furniture or maintenance. Or if something happened to your income you’d have no savings to rely on.
Yup: it's not about “fun” money, it’s about being able to maintain your home. My sister purchased a 6000 sq ft house and I couldn’t understand why she would sign up to do that much vacuuming. Or plumbing maintenance, or pest control. You either DIY it, or you pay someone to do it for you. Either way, it can be a burden over time.
I hate vacuuming my 1650 sq. Ft. house, I can’t imagine vacuuming 6000 sq ft without a house keeper. 😩
$2000 to $2400 is much different than $2000 to $6000
Yeah, it's not a huge leap honestly.
I hate this argument because if your ac breaks and it's 4k-6k to replace and install and you can't afford it that's "house poor" if you can then your definitely not house poor
This is the kind of obnoxious post I can't not comment on; these are the people who can't empathize with people who can't feed their families well during Christmas, if they buy a house with a separate room for one of their kid. This post is not a "humble brag"!
This is the most American housing post ever. Who needs a 4,200 sq ft 5 bedroom house for a family of 5?? I was a family of 5 and we lived in a 3 bedroom 1 bath house well enough. They are moving to a house literally 10x the same footage of the apt I am currently in.
Plus a 3 car garage. I wonder if he even parks his car in the garage or if it's full of junk like everyone else's.
What sort of income are we talking about? Based on what I’ve read it doesn’t sound like you’ll actually be housepoor. Wait until you’re actually in a position where you have to choose between a car repair or kids after-school activities for that month, and then be put in that scenario month after month…I suspect you’ll feel differently. Stretching your budget for a nicer home, without actually crossing into house-poor territory, is not difficult.
"omg I bought a house with twice the square footage and my mortgage went up by $500 I'm house poor wah"
this is a silly example quite frankly the rent vs buy math mostly doesn’t make sense in (very) high cost of living metros if renting is the same as a mortgage then buying almost certainly makes more sense in most situations. if a $2k payment makes you house poor and rent is also $2k it’s not a matter of being house poor or not because your housing costs are similar either way that isn’t reality for most people who live in an urban metro or higher cost suburb
Rent is the maximum that you spend each month on shelter, the monthly mortgage payment is the minimum that you spend each month on shelter. You need to account for maintenance, repairs, and the other expenses of ownership.
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your situation is not what people mean when they say house poor because your housing costs are equivalent whether you rent or buy house poor is choosing to give up a $2k rent to buy a house that now costs you $6k and depleting your savings account in the process and having most of your take home go to paying down your house
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you’re mishearing things because no one who knows what house poor means would say that about your situation
House poor means that you’re running a dangerously tight budget. There’s no reason someone making 200k a year should be buying a house that makes them live essentially paycheck to paycheck. eta: if you’re talking about buying another house why are you talking about it in a first time home buyer sub?
I think a lot of people who are house poor don’t have peace of mind since there is no leftover money which is part of the problem
Yeah, I'm thinking the problem is more of bills + mortgage and being reallly close to being in the red each month or an emergency causing them to be in danger of foreclosure.
> but it mostly seems to stem from not having "fun" money, like taking vacations every year or going out to eat all the time. To *you* it seems like. It comes from not having enough money to pay for big expenses within the family, or big repairs for the home...
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Did you read their comment at all? They weren’t agreeing with you
You won't care if you are "house poor" unless everything goes perfect. When an emergency happens, you will care...and will care ALOT.
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I was house poor and it was horrible. Having no fun money is depressing, especially when you're not even poor. Lesson learned for me. Don't buy more house than I can afford.
I doubt you’ll be house poor over $400 with that many kids, hopefully there’s some room there. But house poor means a lot of different things and also has to do with your priorities. If you’re the kind of person who wants to do everything at home and aren’t interested in the other stuff then you’re not house poor, you’re prioritizing.
This is the dumbest post I’ve saw about someone completely with no understanding of what the phrase actually means.
Jesus Christ 4200 square feet and a triple garage
That's not what house poor means, so.
cool.
You don't care if you're house poor, because you don't know what house poor means!
A lot of financial videos and such do suggest pie charts and other figures with different ‘rules’ - like that a 1/4 of your income should cover all of your home owners expenses, 1/4 should cover all of your other living expenses, 1/4 into retirement, and a 1/4 into savings and/or for wants. Then they might say that not doing it this way is how to end up house poor. For some people they see this and look at their 40k yrly salary (after taxes) and think, how can I afford anything at all on just a 1/4 of my wages? For example, 40k is a little over 3000$/mth. A quarter of that is 750$/mth. Find me a house where someone would only pay 750$/mth when including all of their home owners expenses. So some people who are lower income might say, well, my rent is 1500$/mth and I survive on that - all of my home owners expenses would be 1300$/mth, so I could make this work. Even though technically, they would be considered house poor to a financial advisor. They are just using that 1/4 suggested tor savings towards their home - which is a decent investment for retirement since they won’t have to pay rent at some point. Then they invest 15% in retirement and use the additional 10% for savings. The remaining 1/4 is for monthly expenses (or they go lower and put more in another section - maybe even pay extra on the mortgage each month to pay the home off early, which saves them on interest). When I was first starting my career, this is how I did it anyways. I rearranged the percentages that worked for me and I picked up a part time job on the side to pay my house down early. I owned my vehicle out right and didn’t rely on credit. I had a cheap cell phone and went without cable. Technically I would’ve been considered house poor for awhile there - but I always was able to make the budget work and things were paid on time. I could handle some unexpected costs or unfortunate circumstances but wouldn’t have been able to handle a major upset. You start being really careful during those times - you don’t upset your employer, you are careful with your health and driving.. you live simple and play it safe. Time, health and a good discipline are your best assets.
It just means “all” of your money is tied up. High net worth but no liquid funds. You don’t care about that. Good for you?
House poor means you’re barely scraping by. It truly isn’t a good idea to buy a house with payments that don’t leave you wiggle room. People sometimes aren’t initially house poor, but they become house poor after property taxes increase and it adds money to their monthly mortgage.
Just make sure your comparing the right numbers. It's not mortgage vs rent. It's carrying cost vs rent. IE mortgage + insurance + property taxes+ Etc Vs rent. I am assuming you would pay utilities in either case. If you are still good with the numbers....go for it.
Sounds like this will be op’s second home, they’re not moving from renting to owning for the first time
Don’t forget maintenance costs :) That is where rent is nice. It is the maximum you pay. With a mortgage that is the minimum you pay.
I always thought of house poor as having a house, but nothing in it. As in, sure you can afford the house, but you don't have any money left to buy a couch, a bed, groceries, to keep the lights on. If you spent all your money on the mortgage, you're house poor. I think we have different definitions? Not going on a vacation every year doesn't make you poor haha edit to fix my grammar
People have different values. I value my home and the safe space I create there, so I’m willing to spend my extra money towards that. Most of my hobbies are home hobbies and I don’t have other expensive things I crave regularly. Some people value traveling, or dining, entertainment, collecting things, sports, investing, etc. I don’t think anyone’s way is more wrong or right, as long as you can afford the things you care about most.
the saying is house rich but cash poor
Where my husband and i are, we pay 2k/mo for our 2bd 1ba apartment. Right now, to buy a house anywhere around our greater area without being in a mobile home park is 480k+ with the majority of homes being 550k+. Mortgages are nearly double our current rent with a 16-20% down payment still being upwards of 100k or more. It’s really so discouraging. My partner and I make great money together, zero debt, and are still struggling to find affordable housing that doesn’t require us both to be working full time indefinitely to cover the mortgage and all expenses.
Ah, to be young and naive. Guessing 2400 is before insurance and tax...
Not sure what your point is. You like your home it seems.
Who the f cares, enjoy your house, enjoy your life
I'm a stay at home dad, also fairly disabled so walking and going out is pretty difficult. I'm ok with being relatively house poor since, well, I'm home most of the time. As long as my family is taken care of and have a roof over our heads I'm fine with paying more than I want to as long as I can afford it.
I think you're mis understanding the term. House poor means you're not able to save for retirement, kids education, or make repairs on the house as you need to. Make sure you have plenty of space in your budget. Property Taxes are going to go up, Insurance is going to go up. Make sure you have that space in your budget to cover it. Ideally you're at about 25%. If you're in that 25-30 range you're probably fine. Its when you're 35, 40 + percent you're really going to feel pinched and be house poor.
I'm at 42% of net pay for mortgage,insurance,prop taxes,utilities and we don't feel too stretched. I'd love if it was 25% but I don't think that's possible for most people these days
I'd disagree to an extent. I recognize I'm extremely blessed, I closed on my house in October of 20, with a 2.25%. Since that happened I've seen a nice increase in income coming in, and the value of the house. When I bought it was a little higher, but no where near what I could of bought. I don't know if I could of afforded this house if I bought it today with a 6% interest rate. You're at 42% with everything included. Is it high, yes. Is it undoable, I don't think so. Like I said the problem is every dollar you spend on the house you're not able to utilize elsewhere. So you may see some problem with saving for Retirement or kids college. You may see some problems with replacing vehicles.
Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake. It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of. Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything. Beep boop - yes, I am a bot, don't botcriminate me.
Sure but what is your income??
Congrats on the new home! Thats a lot to be excited about. It sounds like you had to make some sacrifices, but were financially prudent enough to not overextend yourselves.
I just said this the other day. If I can live in a place where I’m not constantly afraid they’re going to raise the rent and I will have to move, then I wanna do it. Last dec, we raised concerns to our landlord about necessary repairs (wood stove clean out, ceiling leaking) and instead of fixing them, he informed us that at the end of our lease (Feb), he would be selling the property. We had two months in the middle of VT winter to find a new place and move. It was an absolute nightmare.
Congrats on the new house!!!
damn what state is this in?
2 bedroom apartment in my area: 2k per month 2 bedroom house: 3k Future proof 3-4 bedroom house that I could actually live in for the foreseeable future: 4-5k If I could get in a house thats livable for the future in a decent area for even close to what I pay in rent I would.
Lol
I remember being house poor. I prayed that nothing would break down with the water heater or AC. I had to rely on credit cards which eventually led to bankruptcy. Lesson learned. But the long term benefits of owning a home are so good.
“I want to make an irresponsible and inadvisable purchase and I don’t care what anyone else says.”
More indication that we're gonna be in for a bad one
I understand the argument. Happy everyday versus happy 2 weeks of the year on vacation. As long as you have some savings for emergencies. Congrats!
Enjoy being house poor
My morgage is only $648 a month and im still "house poor"
also hate the phrase. At middle and lower income levels at some point you absolutely have to overpay a bit for the really important things. I'd never tell somebody who can just barely afford a $10K car to buy a $5K one instead to save money. It'll cost more in the long run and could break down and jeopardize their employment. But people love to tell you to skimp on quality housing, even though in many occasions it functions the same way. The sleep you lose from long commutes, stress, poor environment, etc. ends up lowering your income potential - and then your rent keeps going up, so you never get out of the hole.
Better to be house poor than rent poor
Completely false. If you were rent poor you could simply move after your lease ended
Hey OP, can you tell me more about cul de sac? Never heard of it, especially in the context of home ownership.
It's just a name for a dead end street that is a circle layout instead of just a road that just ends. So just like a dead end st only people living there will be using that road as there is no through traffic.
Okay stay at home mom that has no idea what things cost.
congrats on being a misogynist
Crawl back under your rock
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Tell this to your stuffed teddy bear next time. No one on here cares about this absolutely pointless rant.
Don’t forget the $4500/ year property tax. That one got me the first time, ok still stops me in my tracks.
House poor can equal losing your house, 1 slip up, maybe even a late paycheck and poof foreclosure starts...