What percent of take home should you pay for rent?

[Paul79UF]

Originally Posted by russlancea

I think the general rule is to spend no more than 30% of your income (take home earnings, I think) on your rent or mortgage. I think the majority spends more than 30%.

I used to work as a rentals real estate agent in South Florida after college and that was the general rule.

About 1/3 of your income max towards rent. To be really safe, 1/4 is better. But if you have savings you can tap in an emergency, 1/3 is fine.

[Fran66]

Originally Posted by Paul79UF

I used to work as a rentals real estate agent in South Florida after college and that was the general rule.

About 1/3 of your income max towards rent. To be really safe, 1/4 is better. But if you have savings you can tap in an emergency, 1/3 is fine.

I agree. It USED to be that 25% of total net income was max (to own a home). I've always used 25% max for owning or renting. Yes, now 1/3 max is considered 'safe' -- but I have never found it safe. Of course, yes, it depends on how much we make and how much we want to spend on our dwelling place. If we're much more a homebody, I would think that a nice place would be more important than if we basically just used our home to just sleep in. Or if we like to entertain -- that would make where/how we live more important.