What % of gross income do you spend on rent/mortgage?

[grap0013]

I am surprised and humbled at the same time. Ours, including property tax and insurance is around 20%, which is on the HIGH end here. Up to this point, I felt that we lived well below our means but now I am not so sure. I am really surprised at that large number of people here at only 5-10%.

Cosmo

20% is perfectly fine. There are some very large incomes here. For example, 1 or 2X gross of 300K gets you a very nice house and some very low numbers in this thread.

[EmergDoc]

Greetings To All:

The Munchkin Man spends approximately 25% of the Munchkin Man's monthly gross income on the Munchkin Man's monthly rent.

The Munchkin Man lives in a studio apartment building on the 4th floor of an old high rise apartment building built back in the 1960s.

The Munchkin Man's studio apartment has a balcony view which overlooks the skyline of downtown Norfolk, Virginia.

The Munchkin Man can see the building for the national headquarters of PETA from the Munchkin Man's balcony.

The Munchkin Man's rent includes all basic utilities and 24-hour security.

The Munchkin Man's apartment building is also located right across the street from a hospital and medical building.

The Munchkin Man is also in walking disance to several restaurants.

Even though rents in the Munchkin Man's area tend to run high, the Munchkin Man can probably find a place for less.

But the Munchkin Man would probably get a lot less in return.

In view of all of the above, the Munchkin Man is content to stay where the Munchkin Man is for the time being.

Best Wishes,

Munchkin Man

I just realized I can pinpoint the Munchkin Man's residence within 100 feet.

[stemikger]

0%. Thanks for asking!

Me Too!!! I just paid mine off recently!!!

I Chased Chase away from my life forever!!!!

[ram]

Mortgage paid.
Taxes and insurance ~3% of family income.
Rent used to be 33% during my younger poorer days.

[interplanetjanet]

Renting, about 14%. I hope to buy in the next year or two and intend to keep my mortgage+taxes+insurance+projected maintenance at the same figure. I have less disposable income than this figure would indicate due to legal obligations, so it's important to me not to overspend on housing.

[travellight]

60% plus taxes and insurance etc. Self imposed penury.

[ks289]

11.5%
Maybe more if I take more vacation time.

[dewey]

1.2% w/out taxes.

[kermit]

22.7%. The San Francisco Bay Area is very expensive; before we moved here we payed closer to 9%.

[2wolves]

Greetings To All:

The Munchkin Man spends approximately 25% of the Munchkin Man's monthly gross income on the Munchkin Man's monthly rent.

The Munchkin Man lives in a studio apartment building on the 4th floor of an old high rise apartment building built back in the 1960s.

The Munchkin Man's studio apartment has a balcony view which overlooks the skyline of downtown Norfolk, Virginia.

The Munchkin Man can see the building for the national headquarters of PETA from the Munchkin Man's balcony.

The Munchkin Man's rent includes all basic utilities and 24-hour security.

The Munchkin Man's apartment building is also located right across the street from a hospital and medical building.

The Munchkin Man is also in walking disance to several restaurants.

Even though rents in the Munchkin Man's area tend to run high, the Munchkin Man can probably find a place for less.

But the Munchkin Man would probably get a lot less in return.

In view of all of the above, the Munchkin Man is content to stay where the Munchkin Man is for the time being.

Best Wishes,

Munchkin Man

The Munchkin Man needs a new schtick. Just saying...

[Toons]

Greetings To All:

The Munchkin Man spends approximately 25% of the Munchkin Man's monthly gross income on the Munchkin Man's monthly rent.

The Munchkin Man lives in a studio apartment building on the 4th floor of an old high rise apartment building built back in the 1960s.

The Munchkin Man's studio apartment has a balcony view which overlooks the skyline of downtown Norfolk, Virginia.

The Munchkin Man can see the building for the national headquarters of PETA from the Munchkin Man's balcony.

The Munchkin Man's rent includes all basic utilities and 24-hour security.

The Munchkin Man's apartment building is also located right across the street from a hospital and medical building.

The Munchkin Man is also in walking disance to several restaurants.

Even though rents in the Munchkin Man's area tend to run high, the Munchkin Man can probably find a place for less.

But the Munchkin Man would probably get a lot less in return.

In view of all of the above, the Munchkin Man is content to stay where the Munchkin Man is for the time being.

Best Wishes,

Munchkin Man

I just realized I can pinpoint the Munchkin Man's residence within 100 feet.

+1 Ditto,,,,Know the building well,,born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia(to be specific Ghent section of Norfolk)

[22twain]

20% is perfectly fine. There are some very large incomes here.

And some of us live in areas with rather low housing costs.

[SurfCityBill]

Greetings To All:

The Munchkin Man spends approximately 25% of the Munchkin Man's monthly gross income on the Munchkin Man's monthly rent.

The Munchkin Man lives in a studio apartment building on the 4th floor of an old high rise apartment building built back in the 1960s.

The Munchkin Man's studio apartment has a balcony view which overlooks the skyline of downtown Norfolk, Virginia.

The Munchkin Man can see the building for the national headquarters of PETA from the Munchkin Man's balcony.

The Munchkin Man's rent includes all basic utilities and 24-hour security.

The Munchkin Man's apartment building is also located right across the street from a hospital and medical building.

The Munchkin Man is also in walking disance to several restaurants.

Even though rents in the Munchkin Man's area tend to run high, the Munchkin Man can probably find a place for less.

But the Munchkin Man would probably get a lot less in return.

In view of all of the above, the Munchkin Man is content to stay where the Munchkin Man is for the time being.

Best Wishes,

Munchkin Man

I'm kind of happy the Munchkin Man lives right across the street from a hospital and medical building.

[Kircheis]

I pay 5% of my gross on rent. Trying to save for a down payment on a house...

[William4u]

We live pretty far below our means. We are lucky.

2.5% on mortgage.
2.5% on taxes, insurance, upkeep, and maintenance.

[rr2]

IMO, this is not an apples-to-apples comparison. If you own your home instead of renting, then the more appropriate thing to compare is the imputed rent. You should add the imputed rent to the income side of the ledger as well.

[wander]

20.0%.

[traveltoomuch]

14%, though I dream of less.

[burt]

Rent is 16% of gross.

burt

[Super Hans]

My rent is 10% of gross in Arlington, Va.

[FordBiggs]

Wow. Most of the answers here are paying way lower than what I'm paying for rent and I have a feeling that most even have higher income. I'm paying 35% - such is the curse of living in NYC. (I'm also living in a mediocre, cheap but safe area) I would be paying even more if I lived in Manhattan!

This % will change for the better once I graduate and increase my income though. Can't wait!

[Meg77]

15% of base salary and 11% of total wages is spent on my 15 yr fixed mortgage, HOA, taxes, and insurance in 2013.

However my "total income" consists of other interest distributions and gifts some years which means my actual percentage may be lower...on the other hand I don't always get such a big bonus. And then again with a 30 yr mortgage it would be lower. So yeah there's no apples to apples comparison but I am happy to see how low that percentage is!

[yehudimenuhin]

About 8% of gross in Mort/Ins/Tax. Then another 3% prepayment against principal.

[pomomojo]

Age 34

Slightly less than 9.5% for a rental in Brooklyn.

Given my neighborhood, my living expenses are quite reasonable. Taxes and tolls, however, are a whole different issue.

[pennstater2005]

10% including taxes. Eh, not too bad I guess. I like my house.

[Jerilynn]

I currently spend exactly 20% of my income to rent my 1 bedroom apt in the city, minus utilities. Wondered about others? Fire away....

I spend 5.442% of my *after tax* income on my rent. (I just have a 2 bedroom/2 bath place right now) At this point in time, I am living below my means. In the future, I am considering renting a 4-5 bedroom house so I have more room for my many hobbies. I'm assuming that when I do that, my rent % will go up a tad.

I am keeping my fingers crossed for another housing slump so I can get a beautiful house to rent for cheap.

[nisiprius]

What rent? What mortgage? We spend about 3-5% of our current gross income on real estate taxes, but as we progress further into retirement it will probably be more like 7%. I'm very much afraid we've kept lousy records on maintenance; at a very rough estimate I'd guess perhaps we've averaged another 5%-6%/year.

[tacster]

About 10% of gross including taxes, insurance and a little extra principal. Could just pay it off but with a mortgage of 2.125% I choose to invest.

[tacster]

I am surprised and humbled at the same time. Ours, including property tax and insurance is around 20%, which is on the HIGH end here. Up to this point, I felt that we lived well below our means but now I am not so sure. I am really surprised at that large number of people here at only 5-10%.

Cosmo

When I took out my mortgage in 1994 the payments were about 20% of my gross income. Since then the percent of gross has dropped due to increases in personal income. I've also benefited by having an ARM which is currently at an extremely low rate, along with driving my monthly payments even lower by prepaying significant principal over the years. You didn't say how long you've had the mortgage but I don't believe 20% is a bad starting point.

[6miths]

0% on mortgage

about 1% on property taxes and insurance

[TheEternalVortex]

IMO, this is not an apples-to-apples comparison. If you own your home instead of renting, then the more appropriate thing to compare is the imputed rent. You should add the imputed rent to the income side of the ledger as well.

Yeah, this is why threads like this one are never very useful (unless you exclude homeowners).

[newbeginning]

Mortgage Payment (Including Property Tax and Insurance) - 11.3% based on 2012 Gross.
Very low cost area (both property tax and values). House is 2800'.

[BHCadet]

0% - zilch

Ok - 1.6% for property tax