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

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
Topic Author
crowd79
Posts: 640
Joined: Sun Nov 18, 2012 9:37 pm

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

Post by crowd79 »

I currently spend exactly 20% of my income to rent my 1 bedroom apt in the city, minus utilities. Wondered about others? Fire away....
livesoft
Posts: 86077
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2007 7:00 pm

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

Post by livesoft »

0%. Thanks for asking! :)
Taxes and insurance: about 3.5%.
Next someone is going to ask about utilities: So for us that's a fraction of the taxes.
Last edited by livesoft on Sat Mar 16, 2013 9:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Wiki This signature message sponsored by sscritic: Learn to fish.
User avatar
climber2020
Posts: 2708
Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2012 8:06 pm

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

Post by climber2020 »

6.3 %
User avatar
Aptenodytes
Posts: 3786
Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2011 7:39 pm

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

Post by Aptenodytes »

8%, but the number is meaningless out of context. I could make it zero if I wanted to but I choose not to. I could make it higher if I chose to but don't want that either. For many people the normal trajectory is for the mortgage to be sticky if not flat, and then to drop to zero; but for income to go up. So where you are on the career path shapes the percentage a lot. In graduate school I think I paid 40% of my income in rent.
rr2
Posts: 1071
Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2008 9:04 pm

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

Post by rr2 »

About 11%.
User avatar
Peter Foley
Posts: 5533
Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2007 9:34 am
Location: Lake Wobegon

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

Post by Peter Foley »

My mortgage is paid off. However, if I were to include my lake cabin in addition to my primary residence, the property taxes = 10% of our gross income. :(
I now pay as much in property taxes on my primary residence as I did on my mortgage on my first house (33 years ago).
gkaplan
Posts: 7034
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2007 7:34 pm
Location: Portland, Oregon

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

Post by gkaplan »

30.79109426811937%
Gordon
feh
Posts: 2011
Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2012 10:39 am

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

Post by feh »

0%

If we include property taxes, it's 4-5%.
User avatar
fizxman
Posts: 410
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2011 9:44 am

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

Post by fizxman »

About 8%
User avatar
mhc
Posts: 5260
Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2011 10:18 pm
Location: NoCo

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

Post by mhc »

0.0000000%
52% TSM, 23% TISM, 24.5% TBM, 0.5% cash
User avatar
Toons
Posts: 14467
Joined: Fri Nov 21, 2008 9:20 am
Location: Hills of Tennessee

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

Post by Toons »

0% :happy
"One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity" –Bruce Lee
Mill
Posts: 245
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2009 7:04 pm
Location: Arkansas

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

Post by Mill »

10% takes care of rent.
CharlieSue
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu Jan 28, 2010 12:45 pm

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

Post by CharlieSue »

I personally spend 11.5% of my monthly gross on my half of rent. With my husband-to-be, we spend 14% of our combined monthly gross. Of our combined annual gross, in 2012 it was about 10.3%.
User avatar
mikestorm
Posts: 381
Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2010 7:34 am

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

Post by mikestorm »

23.77% Includes principal, interest, insurance and RE taxes. Relatively new home purchase. I live in Mass, and while (over the past five years) housing pricess dipped less around here than the natural average, they did dip. I capitalized on this and bought (at the time) more house than we need.

Now the context: I got married in September 2011 (this is our first house together) and my wife is pregnant with our first. God willing, we plan on having at least one more, with each child making our big house exponentially smaller :happy We plan on raising a family and growing old in this house.
chaz
Posts: 13604
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 1:44 pm

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

Post by chaz »

0%. No rent and no mtg.
Chaz | | “Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons." Woody Allen | | http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
Default User BR
Posts: 7502
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:32 pm

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

Post by Default User BR »

Which gross? AGI? Total wages? Plus earnings? Do home equity loans count as mortgage? Requiring people want to know!


Brian
MnD
Posts: 5194
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 11:41 am

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

Post by MnD »

6.1% for a 2500SF house.
Of that, 13% is interest and 87% is principal repayment.
70/30 AA for life, Global market cap equity. Rebalance if fixed income <25% or >35%. Weighted ER< .10%. 5% of annual portfolio balance SWR, Proportional (to AA) withdrawals.
red5
Posts: 798
Joined: Sun Apr 01, 2012 4:42 pm

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

Post by red5 »

principle and interest - 20.4%
principle, interest, taxes, insurance - 25.4%
User avatar
22twain
Posts: 4030
Joined: Thu May 10, 2012 5:42 pm

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

Post by 22twain »

Now: 0%

When we bought the house, our payments were about 12-13% of our combined gross income. Just before we finished paying it off, about 5%. At that time, and since then, property tax, insurance and utilities have been about 5% also.
Meet my pet, Peeve, who loves to convert non-acronyms into acronyms: FED, ROTH, CASH, IVY, ...
kamo
Posts: 94
Joined: Thu Dec 06, 2007 1:16 am

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

Post by kamo »

7.5%, and decreasing I expect (unless my gross income goes down)
He who knows he has enough is rich. Lao-Tzu
MathWizard
Posts: 6561
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:35 pm

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

Post by MathWizard »

between 8 and 9%
Confused
Posts: 636
Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2012 1:23 pm

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

Post by Confused »

[Blanked for privacy]
Last edited by Confused on Fri Nov 06, 2015 12:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
davebarnes
Posts: 542
Joined: Wed Jan 02, 2008 6:06 pm
Location: Berkeley, Denver, Colorado USA

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

Post by davebarnes »

4.4% for PI
7.4% for PIT
A nerd living in Denver
User avatar
lauren_knows
Posts: 193
Joined: Mon Jan 28, 2013 2:11 pm
Location: NoVA, USA
Contact:

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

Post by lauren_knows »

Mortgage + Property Taxes + insurance = ~14% gross income.
41 - Married - 2 kids - Aiming for FI/ER in early 40s - Creator of cFIREsim
User avatar
OAG
Posts: 1202
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2007 10:54 am
Location: Currently Central Ohio, USA

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

Post by OAG »

Exactly 0%. (tried 0% but minimum characters is 5).
OAG=Old Army Guy. Retired CW4 USA (US Army) in 1979 21 years of service @ 38.
Quickfoot
Posts: 1166
Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2013 12:03 pm

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

Post by Quickfoot »

We currently rent an almost new 3 bedroom house and spend 8% of our gross income in rent. I've previously owned two houses and have spent as much as 15% of my gross income on mortgages.

We will be buying in the next two years and I will not spend more than 12% gross income on the base mortgage payment because I don't want to be house poor.
michaelsieg
Posts: 625
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2013 10:02 am

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

Post by michaelsieg »

Our mortgage payment is 23% of our after tax (net) income, consisting of: Interest( 8%), principal(11%), taxes (4%)
Despite a 3.125% APR I want to pay it off as fast as possible.
User avatar
nirvines88
Posts: 391
Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2011 4:38 pm

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

Post by nirvines88 »

10% (before taxes, FICA, etc.) of income on rent. This does not include utilities nor internet.
"Beware of little expenses, a small leak will sink a great ship" - Poor Richard
Khanmots
Posts: 1241
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2011 2:27 pm

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

Post by Khanmots »

Mortgage + Property Taxes + Insurance = ~10% gross
Extra principle paid = ~8% gross
User avatar
Jake46
Posts: 748
Joined: Tue Feb 20, 2007 9:16 am
Location: Fort Collins, Colorado

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

Post by Jake46 »

0%. Thank you very much
User avatar
AnimalCrackers
Posts: 436
Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2007 1:37 pm
Location: Northern Front Range, Colorado

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

Post by AnimalCrackers »

11.9% Includes principal, interest, insurance and RE taxes.
"Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face." -- philosopher Mike Tyson
bourg
Posts: 63
Joined: Fri Mar 16, 2012 9:26 am
Location: Indianapolis, IN

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

Post by bourg »

4.9% but like others have said the number is pretty meaningless as I could refinance or pay it down depending on where I wanted it to be.
User avatar
empb
Posts: 830
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 1:22 pm
Location: E1W

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

Post by empb »

Salary: £4,000.00
Rent: £1,200.00 (and that's with 2 flatmates!)

So about 30% but realistically, it's about half that after bonus. London is a depressingly expensive place to live.
Last edited by empb on Mon Mar 11, 2013 4:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
midareff
Posts: 7711
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2010 9:43 am
Location: Biscayne Bay, South Florida

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

Post by midareff »

about 10% .. maybe 7% after tax adjustments.
User avatar
Clearly_Irrational
Posts: 3087
Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2011 3:43 pm

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

Post by Clearly_Irrational »

My situation is kind of complicated due to the fact that I have rental properties and live in half of one of them. Using the rental equivalent amount I bill myself and not counting our rental property income or portfolio income, just gross wages for the two of us we're looking at 12%.
awval999
Posts: 1318
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 10:17 pm

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

Post by awval999 »

I think you need to include property taxes in the mortgage calculation because it's implicitly included in a rent payment.

Rent = 10.6% of gross monthly combined income
User avatar
White Coat Investor
Posts: 17413
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2007 8:11 pm
Location: Greatest Snow On Earth

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

Post by White Coat Investor »

10%. It was more before my income came up to this level and will be less as it goes up a little more. I usually recommend no more than 20% including utilities and maintenance, but that's tough on a lower income and in some areas of the country. I also recommend the amount of the mortgage be under 2X your income, and I'm at around 1X now.

I actually do include property taxes and insurance because they're escrowed, but if you want something to be comparable to rent you should include other things too like depreciation, maintenance, buying/selling costs etc. It gets impractical after a while.
1) Invest you must 2) Time is your friend 3) Impulse is your enemy | 4) Basic arithmetic works 5) Stick to simplicity 6) Stay the course
mrspremise
Posts: 150
Joined: Wed May 23, 2012 3:01 pm

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

Post by mrspremise »

8.4% for PIT
6.2% for PI
downshiftme
Posts: 1142
Joined: Sun Mar 11, 2007 6:11 pm

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

Post by downshiftme »

I think you need to include property taxes in the mortgage calculation because it's implicitly included in a rent payment
So should the 0% paid off mortgage crowd revise their estimates to include property taxes and insurance?
User avatar
Tortoise
Posts: 367
Joined: Sat Aug 08, 2009 3:24 am
Location: San Jose

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

Post by Tortoise »

Mortgage Was 14%. It's now 0%. Taxes and insurance are around 3%
"Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest." --Mark Twain
awval999
Posts: 1318
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 10:17 pm

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

Post by awval999 »

downshiftme wrote:
I think you need to include property taxes in the mortgage calculation because it's implicitly included in a rent payment
So should the 0% paid off mortgage crowd revise their estimates to include property taxes and insurance?
I think so. In my opinion of course. I suppose you don't need to include insurance because it "is" optional with no mortgage but I'm quite sure you wouldn't get very far telling the city/county you weren't going to pay the property tax. Pretty sure you'd come to realize you aren't getting away with "0%". I think that story would end with the Sheriff coming with guns a' blazin.
User avatar
czeckers
Posts: 1082
Joined: Thu May 17, 2007 3:49 pm
Location: USA

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

Post by czeckers »

Mortgage 10%, taxes 5%, other housing costs (utilities, insurance) another 5%.
The Espresso portfolio: | | 20% US TSM, 20% Small Value, 10% US REIT, 10% Dev Int'l, 10% EM, 10% Commodities, 20% Inter-term US Treas | | "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
User avatar
G12
Posts: 1598
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2007 2:35 pm

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

Post by G12 »

0%. Roughly 2% on property taxes, HO insurance + large umbrella policy. Property taxes were lowered the last two years after "negotiating" with the county tax assessor board. Probably start increasing in 2014.
German Expat
Moderator
Posts: 961
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 10:49 pm

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

Post by German Expat »

Mortgage, taxes, insurance and hoa is approx. 11% of our gross income. We also do pay extra on the mortgage though and I did not include this amount (would add another 5%).
Munchkin Man
Posts: 930
Joined: Sun Apr 01, 2007 10:55 am

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

Post by Munchkin Man »

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
User avatar
Marmot
Posts: 592
Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2010 1:44 pm
Location: Phoenix, AZ

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

Post by Marmot »

11.5%
Marty....don't go to the year 2020....Dr. Emmett Brown
User avatar
Clark & Addison
Posts: 257
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2013 11:15 am

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

Post by Clark & Addison »

Currently:
10.9% for mortgage
13.5% if insurance and taxes are added

Starting next week:
0% for mortgage :D
2.6% for taxes and insurance.
User avatar
Sunflower
Posts: 422
Joined: Sun Nov 18, 2007 1:23 am
Location: Ess Eff, CA

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

Post by Sunflower »

15% - renting. And that's under rent control and considered good! :shock:
User avatar
bottomfisher
Posts: 399
Joined: Fri Jan 04, 2013 8:03 am

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

Post by bottomfisher »

Gross income varies, mortgage is about 8 to 10% gross (not including wife's income)
User avatar
smiley
Posts: 102
Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2012 7:24 am

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

Post by smiley »

0%

:happy
Post Reply