Your opinion for $500k House with $150k Income (neighborhoods, buy)

[Hangster]

Originally Posted by Haschen

We are relocating to Houston from Australia, and looking into buying a house/townhouse for about 550k. We will be on more then 200k income, but we still have our home in australia and will have to pay other mortgage as well. I thought that we will be more than ok, but now after reading the comments, im a bit concerned. I guess partially because i dont understand american tax system, but we bought our first home for 450k with 10% downpYment, when we were on 120k a year and it was very easy purchase. Plus taxes in australia goes up to 47%, so we earned much less after tax.
Never heard about home price to be 2 times max of your income.
After looking at har.com cant find any decent house for less then 500k anyway((

Don't worry Haschen, everyone's personal situation and preference is different. I myself would not want to purchase much more than my income, but others may be very comfortable with it as you can see in this thread. Personal factors come into play. For example, someone making $150k would be comfortable with $500K home, given they will be stretching it a bit in my opinion. While some other's who make over $500K, would never consider any home more than that since you get a very nice home for $500K and it meets their needs. Also, people like myself like to take the family on several nice vacations a year, so the priority is more on traveling etc...

Don't get worked up by what you read on internet forums...

[Hangster]

Originally Posted by Lowexpectations

Or you realized you were way off lol

Let's just say that I am and end it at that

[Lowexpectations]

Originally Posted by Haschen

We are relocating to Houston from Australia, and looking into buying a house/townhouse for about 550k. We will be on more then 200k income, but we still have our home in australia and will have to pay other mortgage as well. I thought that we will be more than ok, but now after reading the comments, im a bit concerned. I guess partially because i dont understand american tax system, but we bought our first home for 450k with 10% downpYment, when we were on 120k a year and it was very easy purchase. Plus taxes in australia goes up to 47%, so we earned much less after tax.
Never heard about home price to be 2 times max of your income.
After looking at har.com cant find any decent house for less then 500k anyway((

You can't find a decent house under 500k in houston? Even in the heights, rice military I have zero problems finding really nice townhouses under 500k. Not sure exactly what you are looking for though

[Hangster]

I thought the same, but didn't know what his expectations for "decent" are..

[TravelFeedsTheSoul]

We bought in Rivertstone with more income and a slightly less than $500K house; and no kids, yet. I agree with one of the other posts here, buy the house only if you love it enough to be willing to sell the current home and dump the additional funds as a larger down payment (> 20%). This will help you sleep better at night.

[ToraG]

Originally Posted by Hacker1234

Does this include the 100k down payment or no?

They way I look at it is, if you make over 100k a year getting a mortgage at 3x your income is fine.

So 150k X 3 = 450k add in 100k down payment you got a 550k house. Im cool with this.

Under 100k a year income, I would try to keep it around 2x your income.

So 80k X 2 = 160 add in 40k down payment you got a 200k house.

In what state do you make $150k/yr and actually take home $150k/yr?

[Hacker1234]

There is no state like that, because the Feds always take their cut.

[TravelFeedsTheSoul]

OP - Remember that you asked for everyone's OPINION. Thus, many posters here are giving you just that, their opinion. You need to remember that each person is different and thus, priorities are different. Some people value a nicer home over annual vacations. Some people value a nicer car, or tech gadgets over vacations or homes. Others may spend a ton on fishing or golfing equipment and very little on other things. Just remember your priorities and what you are willing to spend more/less on (including savings being one of those considerations).

[Lowexpectations]

Originally Posted by ToraG

In what state do you make $150k/yr and actually take home $150k/yr?

I don't see anywhere in that post where he suggest gross and net were the same

[DrD76]

Originally Posted by TravelFeedsTheSoul

OP - Remember that you asked for everyone's OPINION. Thus, many posters here are giving you just that, their opinion. You need to remember that each person is different and thus, priorities are different. Some people value a nicer home over annual vacations. Some people value a nicer car, or tech gadgets over vacations or homes. Others may spend a ton on fishing or golfing equipment and very little on other things. Just remember your priorities and what you are willing to spend more/less on (including savings being one of those considerations).

Completely agree!