How do you afford a $350K plus home? (Plano, Allen: appointed, best neighborhoods)

[MountainPharmD]

Seriously!!! Some of the best neighborhoods in Frisco, Allen and Plano have homes that start at $320k and go up. I really want to stop and ask people what they do and how they are able to handle a $2800 a month house payment.

My wife and I make combined $180K a year and I cannot imagine having a house payment that high. The problem I am having is locating a nice neighborhood with homes in the $250k range that doesn't look or feel trashy when you drive through it.

Anyone with any good suggestions on $250k homes in the Allen, Plano, Frisco area?

[CTR36]

I know exactly how you feel!! We live in an area where most of our church friends live in $350K+++ homes and only the husband works!! I can't imagine how much the husband must make in order to afford the house, new car and wife and 4 kids! I could understand it from a doctor or lawyer or someone with a very SOLID business, but these people are pretty young, early 30s. I wonder where I went wrong ((scratches head))
My husband and myself combined make well over $120K and WE don't have a house valued at that much!! I am just as curious as yourself.

[tstone]

Easy, unsecured credit is the answer, in lieu of income. It's frightening how much the credit card cos will lend you if you can balance that game out.

[dgz]

Originally Posted by MountainPharmD

Seriously!!! Some of the best neighborhoods in Frisco, Allen and Plano have homes that start at $320k and go up. I really want to stop and ask people what they do and how they are able to handle a $2800 a month house payment.

My wife and I make combined $180K a year and I cannot imagine having a house payment that high. The problem I am having is locating a nice neighborhood with homes in the $250k range that doesn't look or feel trashy when you drive through it.

Anyone with any good suggestions on $250k homes in the Allen, Plano, Frisco area?

I can think of a whole bunch of neighborhoods in Plano that are between $175k and $250k and they seem to look ok. What is the 'trashy' factor that you are observing? (That is, what things do you consider trashy?) I would say that having looked at a few homes recently in the $175k-$225k range, I was disappointed that the owners never seemed to bother to remodel them. But I'm not sure I'd call them 'trashy.'

[scyogi]

This is all IMO..............When purchasing a home in that price range NORMALLY it is not your first home. Often this is the 2nd or 3rd home for people (even people in there early 30's) so they have the 20% down (or more). Plus people are moving from where home prices are much higher (i.e. Cali and Colorado).

[cdelena]

If you make 180K a year and cannot afford a $2800 monthly maybe you need to look hard at your budget.

[KantLockeMeIn]

Ideally you wouldn't want to live in a home that exceeds 3x your annual income, which is average for Plano. Look at our friends in California that are paying 6-9x their annual income on housing. Those are the people who we really need to ask how they can afford anything!

If your annual income is $180,000, after taxes (assuming no deductions, even for mortgage interest) you should have a monthly income of $11,166. Assume costs of $350 / month electricity, $100 / month Cable TV, $50 / month Phone, $50 / month Internet, $120 / month Car Insurance, $100 / month Homeowners Insurance, $625 / month Property Tax, $2344 mortgage (15 year, 20% down on 350k home). That leaves over 7k a month for food, clothing, maintenance, and savings.

If you can find a home for < 350k that you like, go for it... the less money you will have to dump into a house and property taxes, and the more money you will be able to put in savings.

[galore]

If you don't find a non-trashy home <$250k in DFW, you aren't trying.

[bricor]

I think the key is not having unsecured debt and stick with the 3x rule.
Granted, there are probably lots of people living check to check, with lots of credit card debt but most doing it successfully probably don't have the unsecured debt and manage their money well.

[MaryS80]

There are more than a few people who are living beyond their means. If you are comfortable with something less expensive, by all means do what makes you comfortable. If you are finding that homes in that range feel trashy find one with a HOA. I for one think they are a good thing, they keep people from junking up the neighborhood with things like high grass, and broke down cars.

People living beyond their means is why you see so many high end homes, it's also why you see trashy people otherwise good areas.

Take a look around, there's a whole huge metroplex, everyone and their brother is moving to the plano/frisco area.