Percent of income spent on housing (summer, good)

[HereinVA]

About 28% of Dh's pay, after taxes. We are a one income family. This is for a mortgage, not rent.

[hilsmom]

Originally Posted by AmyinNOVA

I'm at 34% of my net income. I'm actually trying to look into moving to another state because of the housing costs here. I was raised in Fairfax and just have always been here because it was home but I really just can't afford it anymore.

We started looking at houses to try and buy something instead of renting and it was really depressing. To get anything in the immediate area of Fairfax, I went up to 400,000 and I was still looking at condos and small townhouses. I think there were some smaller single family homes for around 400k-425k. This just makes me really sad... I really like it here, but I think it might be time to hit the road. :P

I hear you. We were really close to moving to TX last year to be closer to my husband's family, but the employment picture there wasn't what we had hoped, at least not in my husband's field. His field and interests pretty much keep us here forever, which I think was a hard realization for him. It wasn't worth moving somewhere with less job prospects for him when we are pretty sure he can always find something here.

What part of Fairfax are you looking? We bought in Western Fairfax/ Chantilly. The homes won't be huge and they will be older, but I think you can find something in your budget. My neighborhood has homes in the price range you are considering, and I've seen them in other parts of Fairfax as well - it just depends where you want to be.

But I do agree - the costs of upgrades and upkeep for the older home are a bit pricey. We have more we'd like to do in upgrades, but we've basically hit our big-project limit.

[AmyinNOVA]

We're more on the Fair Oaks side. I am sort of limited in that jobs for me are all in Alexandria, Springfield, DC ... I dispise commuting and right now I work in Springfield so its really nice to just shoot up the parkway and not have any traffic. So, I'm trying to stay on this side.

I'm currently interviewing for a job in Nashville that pays 35k in relocation costs... so, cross your fingers.

I am also looking at Texas and/or Alabama. What field is your hubby in? I work in IT and while the number of jobs aren't crazy like here, I did find quite a lot that would fit me. I really hate contracting (which I'm doing now) and most of the jobs here are contractor stuff.

The pay scales aren't all that different either... for the one I'm interviewing in Nashville for, I would only have to take an 18k cut in pay and the housing costs are 70% less than here.

[hilsmom]

Originally Posted by AmyinNOVA

We're more on the Fair Oaks side. I am sort of limited in that jobs for me are all in Alexandria, Springfield, DC ... I dispise commuting and right now I work in Springfield so its really nice to just shoot up the parkway and not have any traffic. So, I'm trying to stay on this side.

I'm currently interviewing for a job in Nashville that pays 35k in relocation costs... so, cross your fingers.

I am also looking at Texas and/or Alabama. What field is your hubby in? I work in IT and while the number of jobs aren't crazy like here, I did find quite a lot that would fit me. I really hate contracting (which I'm doing now) and most of the jobs here are contractor stuff.

The pay scales aren't all that different either... for the one I'm interviewing in Nashville for, I would only have to take an 18k cut in pay and the housing costs are 70% less than here.

we're pretty close to you, actually! we live in greenbriar, so other side of the parkway. I commute down to lorton a couple days a week, so I needed to stay near 7100.

Yeah, my husband is basically a defense/security contractor and wants to stay there. He's ex-military with clearances and an electrical engineering degree. Those jobs are mostly...here.

If you're in IT, I say look elsewhere. Although, I wouldn't leave being close to family out of the decision mix entirely. We live nowhere near family and it stinks once you have kids. We wish they were closer, for so many reasons.

Good luck, whatever you decide!

[PSUinNoVa]

Personal financial situations vary far too much for any of these "percentage of income" rules of thumb to make sense. If Bill Gates spends more than 28% of his income on housing, does he really have a housing affordability problem? On the other end of the spectrum, there are many very low income households that would face food insecurity if they spent anywhere near 28% of their income on housing.

The question you should be asking yourself is this: after my payment on housing and commuting costs, will I have enough money to service my debts, save for retirement, buy food, and otherwise live comfortably? If the answer is no, you are spending too much on housing.

I am fortunate enough to have no car payment, no debt, and virtually nonexistent commuting costs. I spend just above 30 percent of my income on housing, and I live very comfortably. In all honesty, I would probably have to spend well over 50 percent of my income on housing right now before I would start to feel financially pinched.

Originally Posted by LocalGuy61

The general rule of thumb is that housing costs (rent or mortgage PITI + HOA/condo fees) should come to no more than 28% of your gross annual income.

[michgc]

Also, net income is a bad measure unless "net" is defined. If it's just gross income - taxes, then we can compare apples to apples. But for us, net income is gross income - taxes - 401(k) contribution - health insurance premiums - FLEX spending account. For someone else, they may be saving for retirement outside a 401(k) and pay health insurance out-of-pocket. Therefore, when I say our housing percentage is 35% of net income it sounds very high, while someone else says theirs is 25%, but they still need to pay health ins. premiums and save for retirement outside that. So, it's really an apples-to-oranges comparison without knowing what everyone is including in their "net."

[Newk]

Originally Posted by AmyinNOVA

We're more on the Fair Oaks side. I am sort of limited in that jobs for me are all in Alexandria, Springfield, DC ... I dispise commuting and right now I work in Springfield so its really nice to just shoot up the parkway and not have any traffic. So, I'm trying to stay on this side.

I'm currently interviewing for a job in Nashville that pays 35k in relocation costs... so, cross your fingers.

I am also looking at Texas and/or Alabama. What field is your hubby in? I work in IT and while the number of jobs aren't crazy like here, I did find quite a lot that would fit me. I really hate contracting (which I'm doing now) and most of the jobs here are contractor stuff.

The pay scales aren't all that different either... for the one I'm interviewing in Nashville for, I would only have to take an 18k cut in pay and the housing costs are 70% less than here.

Like you I lived in Northern Virginia/Springfield for most of my life. 26 years in fact (besides 4 in Harrisonburg for college). I left in September 2008. After graduating from JMU I moved back in with my parents for 3 years. What a great way to save money that was. I moved to San Antonio in 2008, and what a vastly different world it is down compared to Springfield. After almost 3.5 years of living here, I really do miss my family. So that would be the only thing I would be concerned with. Move somewhere that you get home in a day's drive. If we want to go home, we have to fly. We are just too far away. I like Alabama, my Grandfather lives in Millbrook and it is a nice area. But there is probably not much to do there.

[hilsmom]

Originally Posted by Newk

Like you I lived in Northern Virginia/Springfield for most of my life. I left in September 2008. After graduating from JMU I moved back in with my parents for 3 years. What a great way to save money that was. I moved to San Antonio in 2008, and what a vastly different world it is down compared to Springfield. After almost 3.5 years of living here, I really do miss my family. So that would be the only thing I would be concerned. Move somewhere that you get home in a day's drive. If we want to go home, we have to fly. We are just too far away. I like Alabama, my Grandfather lives in Millbrook and it is a nice area. But there is probably not much to do there.

Absolutely. I wanted to move to TX only because my in-laws are already there (in SA) AND my parents were willing to come with us. Staying here in NoVA meant we are still not close enough to either set of grandparents (mine are 8 hours away by car, so NOT a day trip). Putting a family on a plane is at least $1K every time since we don't have frequent flier miles, so we just can't plunk that money down frequently. If I could figure out how to get within 4 or 5 hour drives, that would be more ideal.

Although, factor in cost of gas...ugh. You just can't win.

[AmyinNOVA]

I don't really have much family so I'm concerned with that really. And my In-Laws already live in another country...

My bestest friend and her family live in Alabama ...so we have thought about going down there. I am still hoping this Nashville job pans out but we'll see if they want to bring me in for a face to face interview.

We're technically locked into our current lease until December of this year and it would cost over 10k to break it early... fricken apartment complexes! But this Nashville company offers 35k in relocation costs. So, cross your fingers.

[ReblTeen84]

Out mortgage, including escrow, is 12% of our take home pay a month. House was bought before the real estate market exploded though.

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