Housing costs

[MillauFr]

We pay $3,100 per month in Seattle. About 19% of our gross income per month.

 

[Alexle2007]

It's about 20% of our income in a higher COL area. We have a 15 year mortgage at 2.625% and don't pay extra. When I looked at the amortization schedule and added extra principal to it, we would have to put like $1000 a month extra for it make a difference. The majority of our payment goes towards principal.

Oops! I used net income. What a difference gross income would make.

 

[DisneyWorldbuff]

We live in the Denver area which has a higher COL. Our mortgage is 35% of income.

We are in Boulder county. It's crazy how much things have changed here in the last fifteen years!

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Did you guys look into refinancing to get rid of the PMI? Our PMI was $300 until last year when we were able to refi and get rid of it. The housing market here in Denver has increased so much that all that built in equity really helped there.

We did and it just never made sense being that our interest rate is 3.25. Right when the interest rates were going back down mid-late last year, DH got laid off - right in the middle of refinancing So at this point I don't believe we'll get close to that 3.25 (last summer our would be rate was 3.4). It will be such a relief when it comes off. We'll have our cars paid off then as well! Lots of Disney money! Or I guess we'll be responsible adults/parents and contribute more to retirement and college

 

[foodiddiedoo]

NJ here we pay 3200 all in a month for insurance and taxes with mortgage, is almost 32% of our take home pay.

 

[TwoMisfits]

22% of gross pay (35% of net pay - gotta love taxes) for a family-size townhouse...and this includes the mortgage, HOA fee, insurance, and more taxes (aka the full home bill)...

 

[bladiator]

Tell me about it We have about 40% equity in our home but it's never made sense to refinance because our interest rate is SO low (3.25).

I had read that you could get it removed merely by having some appraise your house again and prove that you own over 20% equity in the house. The mortgage company is not required to remove PMI at that time, but most do. Is that an option?

 

[mjkacmom]

With taxes, about 35%. Our monthly property taxes are equal to our mortgage payments.

 

[WVMomof3]

Very interesting to see all the different answers. We live in the highest COL area in our state, housing prices here are much higher than people think moving into the area. We still live in our first home purchased almost 20 years ago. Our mortgage is about 10% of our gross. Would love to have upgraded just a little, our house is very small for a family of 5, but could never afford it. I guess it makes a big difference on what your income is to compare percents. 10% of $200,000 is a lot different than 10% of 70,000.

 

[tvguy]

Tell me about it We have about 40% equity in our home but it's never made sense to refinance because our interest rate is SO low (3.25).

PMI is not required once you have 20% equity, drop it.

 

[Colleen27]

We pay about 5% of DH's income for housing, no mortgage, just taxes & insurance. We'll be a two-income family again starting next week, so it'll be about half that going forward.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

I had read that you could get it removed merely by having some appraise your house again and prove that you own over 20% equity in the house. The mortgage company is not required to remove PMI at that time, but most do. Is that an option?

PMI is not required once you have 20% equity, drop it.

The only way to remove it on an FHA loan is to refinance. An appraisal is not enough, unfortunately. Had that been the case, we could have removed it after a year or so. We tried but to no avail.

 

[Disflyer226]

Our mortgage on our primary residence is 8% of our gross monthly income. We will be mortgage-free in about 4 years.

 

[supersnoop]

I had read that you could get it removed merely by having some appraise your house again and prove that you own over 20% equity in the house. The mortgage company is not required to remove PMI at that time, but most do. Is that an option?

Rules changed a few years ago. It’s something like 22% AND two years of payments.

 

[tvguy]

The only way to remove it on an FHA loan is to refinance. An appraisal is not enough, unfortunately. Had that been the case, we could have removed it after a year or so. We tried but to no avail.

Ah, not familiar with FHA. Been 34 years since I bought a house, and the houses we looked at then all had the note that the seller would not accept any offers with FHA financing.

 

[dosekies]

In the suburbs of Chicago, we pay about $1450 a month for a one bedroom apartment and all utilities, which is about 35% of our monthly income. We have a bigger dog which made it harder and a little more expensive to find a place.

 

[kymom99]

The only way to remove it on an FHA loan is to refinance. An appraisal is not enough, unfortunately. Had that been the case, we could have removed it after a year or so. We tried but to no avail.

You are right. Same happened to me and I couldn't refi for a long time due to a lein on my husbands name.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Rules changed a few years ago. It’s something like 22% AND two years of payments.

Ah, not familiar with FHA. Been 34 years since I bought a house, and the houses we looked at then all had the note that the seller would not accept any offers with FHA financing.

At the time we purchased, it didn't matter how long you had the loan, the rules were at 20% you can write in/petition to have it removed or at 22% it will automatically be removed.

The rule now (it changed shortly after we purchased) the PMI is for the life of the loan. The only way to get rid of it is to refinance out of an FHA loan.

 

[bladiator]

The only way to remove it on an FHA loan is to refinance. An appraisal is not enough, unfortunately. Had that been the case, we could have removed it after a year or so. We tried but to no avail.

Ahhhh, junk. Yeah, forgot about FHA not allowing it. That's their trade-off, so to speak.

 

[#1hoosierfan]

Low COL area, and we pay a little less than 10% of gross income.