How much of a percentage do you pay in mortgage or rent?

[beenhereandthere]

A huge problem in America (and probably Canada) now? These rents, especially in Urban, West Coast and the Northeast areas, are not sustainable. I see signs all the time around here, for example about companies offering "competitive" or basically bragging about a starting wage of $20 per hour. Well around Seattle and in again, most of the West Coast, most top "major" Cities in America and the Northeast, this is what you're up against trying to find housing.
This is assuming you're single and/or don't have kids. If you do, make it twice as worse. I recall when I started in 2015 with my current job between 2 jobs my wage was a little bit more than 20 (22 and change at current job, 20 and change driving a school bus in the AM). My net pay was usually around 1200 between the 2 jobs so say, 2400 per month.
Try finding, using the 1/3 or 1/4 of your income formula, places that are say around 700 to 1000 on your own around here. You positively can't on 20 per hour. On 20 per hour and 2400 net? Most of the 1 bedrooms around here are 1200 to 1400, with your own bathroom. Then go ahead and figure 70-100 a paycheck for decent food, no eating out, 80 for gas, if you have a compact car to get to and from work every 2 weeks. Then there's car insurance which is probably another 100, cell phone service with no restrictions? Another 100 there. Even basic Cable and Internet is probably 100 a month. Then there's light bills which are usually 200 per month for a small 1 bedroom during the Winter Around here (or during the summer in a place like Palm Springs), Add all this up? That's about 400 to 500 left a month for things like medication, that's just for you.
How the hell can this continue? We all know that most jobs around there that are "unskilled" don't pay 20 or more.
When I worked in 1997 and made I think 11 per? That take home was probably around 1700 per month. My rent for a 1 bedroom was only 335 around Kent. That same 1 bedroom now is 1100. Even if you're making 22 (double that salary)? That's still 40% of your income going towards rent.
What can be done to make this sustainable and stop these crazy rents or at least make salaries that are in line?
What's a shame is some of our operators (bus) because they have kids or whatever (so they can't get a small studio or 1 bedroom) is that even on one of the top operator rates in America (37.22), they still have to work 10 to 20 hours of OT per paycheck to afford 2k for a 2 or 3 bedroom.
It's wrong and in California, Hawaii and maybe NY, Boston and DC, it's even worse. 2022, better start to change it.
I pay about 1/3rds but 90% of the jobs out there at least for little or no previous experience don’t start at $37 per hr and change

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[Kairi Zaide]

That's what happens when housing becomes seen as an investment rather than a basic human need.

And the reality is that it's not going to change. It's going to worsen.

Love capitalism.

 

[John Price]

the chinese are jacking up rent prices in vancouver and toronno by buying up all the properties

 

[Neil Racki]

----

35% of my monthly base pay (after taxes) goes to mortgage.

 

[Bumpus]

A hair over 9% of my monthly post-tax wages here for my 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath home on about a 1/8 acre lot in town.

Not too bad in West Virginia.

 

[LarryFisherman]

Our mortgage is about 12-15% of our take-home wages on dwelling, in Arvada Colorado. Which is f***ing ridiculous. I pay an extra $500/mo every month to reduce some of the interest cost and kill the mortgage a little bit early, so the actual percentage is higher.

We bought this place right before covid really took off (8 dec, 2019 was close date) and it's shot up about 30% in value. We paid 458k and some houses in the hood have nearly topped 700k over the last 18 months. Ours is probably closer to 600k, but still. It's insane. I though we paid 100k too much for the damn thing back then. I still think we did.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

House is paid off

Still have taxes of course, between my wife and my salary, about 6% goes to property/school taxes. Can't WAIT to move down south in a 5 years with my juicy pension and crypto and live like a king with the cost of living being peanuts compared to NY.

 

[Basement Cat]

Own a condo in Hudson County, NJ. Mortgage is about 15% of our take home pay (after taxes and maxing out both 401k contributions). Add in property tax, HOA (self-managed so probably half what it would be with a third party), and home insurance? About 26%. We were paying about the same percentage in rent a year ago.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

House is paid off

Still have taxes of course, between my wife and my salary, about 6% goes to property/school taxes. Can't WAIT to move down south in a 5 years with my juicy pension and crypto and live like a king with the cost of living being peanuts compared to NY.

I used to live in Northern Florida during grad school (around 15 years ago) and my 1-bedroom (not a studio, a full 1 bedroom apartment) rent was $340/month.

Think of how many years back you have to go in NYC for 1-bedroom rent in a decent area to be that price. Staggering.

 

[beenhereandthere]

Our mortgage is about 12-15% of our take-home wages on dwelling, in Arvada Colorado. Which is f***ing ridiculous. I pay an extra $500/mo every month to reduce some of the interest cost and kill the mortgage a little bit early, so the actual percentage is higher.

We bought this place right before covid really took off (8 dec, 2019 was close date) and it's shot up about 30% in value. We paid 458k and some houses in the hood have nearly topped 700k over the last 18 months. Ours is probably closer to 600k, but still. It's insane. I though we paid 100k too much for the damn thing back then. I still think we did.

Guess what housing prices (700k) like that tend to cause? Even less housing in this way. People are now doing Air B and B for their extra rooms or room to rent out to make more money instead of monthly renters. This has caused too many people who were working on low wage jobs, to now work 60 to 70 hours a week to live in a room (not an apartment) or even work, but still be homeless, depending on gym memberships to shower and bathe.

 

[LarryFisherman]

Guess what housing prices (700k) like that tend to cause? Even less housing in this way. People are now doing Air B and B for their extra rooms or room to rent out to make more money instead of monthly renters. This has caused too many people who were working on low wage jobs, to now work 60 to 70 hours a week to live in a room (not an apartment) or even work, but still be homeless, depending on gym memberships to shower and bathe.

The amount of homlessness in Denver has skyrocketed. It's overflowing on many downtown blocks now. And yeah, it's not hard to see why. The market over here in the metro-denver area has always been a little goofy, but since covid it's absolutely exploded.

It's not good for the community around here at all. My wife and I were born and raised here in CO, and we've been talking seriously about leaving in the next 5 years - which is something we never really thought we would do. Buying some nice land in northern washington or hitting the east coast seems like a prudent move between all the wildfires, suburban fires, horrible air quality in the summers, and overall gentrification and class inequalities hitting these days. Not that running away from it fixes the problem - it obviously doesn't. But it's just not a nice place to live anymore like it used to be.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

The amount of homlessness in Denver has skyrocketed. It's overflowing on many downtown blocks now. And yeah, it's not hard to see why. The market over here in the metro-denver area has always been a little goofy, but since covid it's absolutely exploded.

It's not good for the community around here at all. My wife and I were born and raised here in CO, and we've been talking seriously about leaving in the next 5 years - which is something we never really thought we would do. Buying some nice land in northern washington or hitting the east coast seems like a prudent move between all the wildfires, suburban fires, horrible air quality in the summers, and overall gentrification and class inequalities hitting these days. Not that running away from it fixes the problem - it obviously doesn't. But it's just not a nice place to live anymore like it used to be.

My aunt lives in Colorado Springs and has pretty much the same thoughts as you. 5 years ago she was 100% retiring in CO, now she's kind of 75% not.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

The amount of homlessness in Denver has skyrocketed. It's overflowing on many downtown blocks now. And yeah, it's not hard to see why. The market over here in the metro-denver area has always been a little goofy, but since covid it's absolutely exploded.

It's not good for the community around here at all. My wife and I were born and raised here in CO, and we've been talking seriously about leaving in the next 5 years - which is something we never really thought we would do. Buying some nice land in northern washington or hitting the east coast seems like a prudent move between all the wildfires, suburban fires, horrible air quality in the summers, and overall gentrification and class inequalities hitting these days. Not that running away from it fixes the problem - it obviously doesn't. But it's just not a nice place to live anymore like it used to be.

That's cause they are spending all their monies on weed.

 

[LarryFisherman]

That's cause they are spending all their monies on weed.

you spelled fentanyl wrong mate

 

[Killer Orcas]

I live in Abbotsford hour East of Vancouver BC Canada the prices here are starting at a Million for a fixer upper house. Prices have literally jumped 50-80% in last two years. No idea how people are buying houses here now. I probably couldn't afford my own if had to buy today. Prices in Vancouver as you can guess are way more this market is insane. Most everyone in this area however has built secondary suites in their homes to rent out to help cover the costs. It's sad that houses are just that now and not homes here. I believe I read every 4th house in my area sold now is an investment property.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

I live in Abbotsford hour East of Vancouver BC Canada the prices here are starting at a Million for a fixer upper house. Prices have literally jumped 50-80% in last two years. No idea how people are buying houses here now. I probably couldn't afford my own if had to buy today. Prices in Vancouver as you can guess are way more this market is insane. Most everyone in this area however has built secondary suites in their homes to rent out to help cover the costs. It's sad that houses are just that now and not homes here. I believe I read every 4th house in my area sold now is an investment property.

I have no hard data on this but both real estate costs in cities and student loan debt have grown at rates FAR, FAR exceeding the purchase power of potential buyers. How the f*** is a recent grad supposed to have a chance? They don't, for the most part.

 

[Hierso]

Around 650€ per month since we only took a short time loan (5 years) to get it over with quickly. Once we're finished paying that loan we might take another one to fix the second bathroom.

We bought the house + the guest cabin for 250.000€ and the majority of it was spent out of pocket from my inheritance (around 210k). The cabin will also need some renovations (another 30,000€ probably) but we're not going to take a loan for that one.

The utility bill is where it hurts the most.

 

[Unholy Diver]

Probably about 18% between me and the wife

Thankfully Pittsburgh has remained a fairly affordable metro area for housing, though our taxes are pretty high

If you are willing to live in a adjoining county and 45-60 minutes from the city (I am not) you can find a small house for 50-75k and the taxes are much better

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Probably about 18% between me and the wife

Thankfully Pittsburgh has remained a fairly affordable metro area for housing, though our taxes are pretty high

If you are willing to live in a adjoining county and 45-60 minutes from the city (I am not) you can find a small house for 50-75k and the taxes are much better

Where the f*** are houses that cost 50K?? Is it a cardboard box?

 

[Unholy Diver]

Where the f*** are houses that cost 50K?? Is it a cardboard box?

No, they are regular houses, like I said 45-60 minutes from Pittsburgh, in the adjacent counties, like Washington county and Fayette and Westmoreland counties, sometimes even closer, this place is 25 mins from downtown

908 Worthington Ave, Clairton, PA 15025 | MLS #1516923 | Zillow

For sale This 1232 square foot single family home has 2 bedrooms and 2.0 bathrooms. It is located at 908 Worthington Ave Clairton, Pennsylvania.

www.zillow.com

 

[Factorial]

House is paid off

Still have taxes of course, between my wife and my salary, about 6% goes to property/school taxes. Can't WAIT to move down south in a 5 years with my juicy pension and crypto and live like a king with the cost of living being peanuts compared to NY.

Is your pension in crypto dollars?

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Is your pension in crypto dollars?

Unfortunately not

 

[Pip]

I live in Abbotsford hour East of Vancouver BC Canada the prices here are starting at a Million for a fixer upper house. Prices have literally jumped 50-80% in last two years. No idea how people are buying houses here now. I probably couldn't afford my own if had to buy today. Prices in Vancouver as you can guess are way more this market is insane. Most everyone in this area however has built secondary suites in their homes to rent out to help cover the costs. It's sad that houses are just that now and not homes here. I believe I read every 4th house in my area sold now is an investment property.

My partner and I decided to move out to Calgary since we knew we’d never be able to afford to own or even live semi-comfortably in the lower mainland. We have a ton of friends in the same boat. Shit sucks man.

Edit- Don’t get me wrong I’ve loved things since moving out here, it just really sucks that we felt we had no other choice.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

My partner and I decided to move out to Calgary since we knew we’d never be able to afford to own or even live semi-comfortably in the lower mainland. We have a ton of friends in the same boat. Shit sucks man.

And even then, Calgary prices are climbing pretty rapidly also.

 

[Pip]

And even then, Calgary prices are climbing pretty rapidly also.

Yeah it’s crazy. We were very fortunate to get in last year when we did. For friends of ours planning to come this way in the next couple years they may not be so lucky