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Thread summary:

Seeking advice on purchasing townhome in Virginia, husband only makes 40k per year, wanting information on affordable Virginia housing areas

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Old 03-11-2007, 08:36 AM
 
25 posts, read 83,653 times
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hello,
my name is megan and i am new to this thread,in fact,i have never writin a thread before,so here goes.i live here in arlington,va(renting right now).i am married and have 1 kid.my husbands salary right now is only $40,000.00 annually a yr.i do not work.he thinks we can buy a townhome or a house,i tell him he is crazy,i don't think we have enough money(for monthly exspenses).
my husband is looking for better paying job(50k or above),but my husband is from india,and you can imagine we have had our share of what you call"discrimanation".my husband has not found anything and been turn down for major career positions too many times in the past 3 yrs,its funny,my husband has 2 degrees from india and a masters from america,and still not able to find a job.anyway,what is more affordable to purchase?townhome or house?and,of course,location?springfield?reston?woodbridge?loca tion needs to be metro accessible b/c my husband takes metro to d.c.(his work).what is the better affordable area for us?please help me b/c i am at a lose.i tell him maybe we should cut our looses and go back to n.c.,(that is where i am originally from).but he hates it there,but i hate areas up here.too much stress,and way too exspensive. also,if anybody hears or knows of any job positions 50k or above,my husband is an excellent worker(project manager type work,office)with international exp,and very well ed,genisis.please post and info.and contact #.


thanks for listening,
megan
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Old 03-11-2007, 08:53 AM
 
Location: Williamsburg
1,194 posts, read 3,958,133 times
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Megan,
You may want to consider looking for employment for your husband in other areas of the state where living expenses, housing are much cheaper. Check Careerbuilder.com or Monster.com. Look at areas like Roanoke or Richmond where housing will be a lot more affordable.
Sorry I can't help any more.
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Old 03-11-2007, 05:47 PM
 
Location: Dunedin, FL
181 posts, read 491,607 times
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I make a little more than $50k a year, and I'm single with no children. I know I couldn't afford a home on my salary. However, I got lucky and found a condo that was repossessed by the bank and was affordable. This was before the real estate boom of the last five years. If I were in the market today, I don't know that I could afford anything in this area on my salary.

It's hard to say whether a townhouse or a detached home is more expensive. Townhomes have association fees that go up frequently (hopefully only in line with increases in utility costs). But you have a certain amount of exterior maintenance taken care of. House and townhouse prices are much too variable to answer that question.

Also, consider that any home you could qualify for with a $40k/yr salary that supports three people would be a home which would likely need substantial fixing up or repairs. Could you afford the maintenance?

I think you'd be much better off talking to a realtor who is familiar with house prices in all the areas you mentioned.
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Old 03-11-2007, 06:16 PM
 
25 posts, read 83,653 times
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thanks for the advice.
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Old 03-12-2007, 10:14 AM
 
Location: TX
3,041 posts, read 11,838,591 times
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we bought our first home for $140k back then my hubsbands salary was around 45K we lived paycheck to paycheck for quite a few years a cut out loads of activities. Plus we lived in SW PA where the cost of living is wayyy cheaper than here. Now we live in Leesburg...hubby makes close to 100k and since we bought a nice house in a good neighboorhood... (we have 3 kids) we are back to living paycheck to paycheck.

DO your budget your self... don't over buy. the realator will tell you yes... you can afford a $300K house. but simply on $40k you can't. Out in Ashburn (high indian pop.) you could possibly find a 2 bed condo or maybe a TH for 200k. But then he would have to commute to work. $gas. etc...

I agree that he should stat looking ofr a better job in a better area. maybe out of NOVA entirely. Look into the Ashburn area it's growing and there are many jobs opening up.
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Old 03-12-2007, 10:50 AM
 
Location: Gainesville, VA
566 posts, read 2,975,090 times
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At 40K/yr, you are probably in the 170-190 price range. What I would do is take a look at your current rent...let's say your rent is $1200. Divide 1200 by 7 and then multiply that by 1000. So 1200/7=171.43 171.43 x 1000=171,430.00. So, if you can afford your current rent ($1200) you could afford a house for $171,430. This isn't exact, but gives a realistic idea of the price range you are in. Good luck in your search.

Last edited by DavidS827; 03-12-2007 at 10:50 AM.. Reason: sp
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Old 03-12-2007, 11:32 AM
 
Location: Fredericksburg, VA
743 posts, read 3,886,934 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidS827 View Post
At 40K/yr, you are probably in the 170-190 price range. What I would do is take a look at your current rent...let's say your rent is $1200. Divide 1200 by 7 and then multiply that by 1000. So 1200/7=171.43 171.43 x 1000=171,430.00. So, if you can afford your current rent ($1200) you could afford a house for $171,430. This isn't exact, but gives a realistic idea of the price range you are in. Good luck in your search.
Assuming you mortgage the whole thing... if you have any down payment, you could add that amount to the total you get from above.

Otherwise I prettymuch agree with that math. If you're looking to own instead of rent, you might look at condo's.... other than that, I think you'll have to move to find a house you can afford. It's not fair, but unfortunately that's what has to happen. Housing prices have grown so much in Fredericksburg (where I've lived all my life) I had to get a home in Caroline to afford a house...
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Old 03-12-2007, 05:53 PM
 
Location: Virginia Beach moving possible to Michigan
77 posts, read 412,972 times
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Wow. I feel for ya Megan. I make more then 40K and realistically I still don't think I could afford a 1,200 payment on my own. Please anyone correct if I am wrong, but on a 40K salary, assuming you get paid twice a month, 1,200 is most likely half of your take home pay per month. So 50% is already gone, now you have, utilities, cable, phone/internet, car payment, food, insurance, credit cards, loans you may have (or not). To me .....that is tight. I rent and will be moving up to Michigan sometime in the next year (fiance lives there) and there I will buy because I can afford a decent house up there. It' s gone bonkers in Virginia, everybodys talking about it. So either move completely out of the area and look elsewhere, it may take some dilegence and time. And above all......please don't get sucked into a interest only loan, if you can't afford the traditional mortgage loan, don't buy. Remember when you rent, you call the landlord to fix the plumbing at no cost to you, when you own it's all you. Goodluck with everything.
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Old 03-12-2007, 08:44 PM
 
21 posts, read 77,304 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidS827 View Post
At 40K/yr, you are probably in the 170-190 price range. What I would do is take a look at your current rent...let's say your rent is $1200. Divide 1200 by 7 and then multiply that by 1000. So 1200/7=171.43 171.43 x 1000=171,430.00. So, if you can afford your current rent ($1200) you could afford a house for $171,430. This isn't exact, but gives a realistic idea of the price range you are in. Good luck in your search.
I don't know how you can afford a house in the 170-190k range with just 40k. I am probably not doing the math right. I used to make 70k and have a mortgage of 170k (house was ~190k back then) and we pretty much live paycheck to paycheck.

Your husband should be able to find a much better pay job here with his education. Keep looking.
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Old 03-12-2007, 09:09 PM
 
19,198 posts, read 31,366,503 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidS827 View Post
This isn't exact, but gives a realistic idea of the price range you are in.
Well, it doesn't take any account at all of interest rates. That $1200 a month in rent would all by itself carry a $200K mortgage at 6%, but only $163K at 8%. That's a pretty big difference not to take account of. Neither does it seem on the surface to account for important tax effects, potentially one of the big benefits of home ownership. But with a $10,300 standard deduction, and personal exemptions of $9,900, the net tax effects of home ownership for a family of three with gross income of $40K could turn out to be negative, as the savings on state and federal income taxes might not be enough to cover the additional costs of real estate taxes (even though they are deductible), the homeowners insurance (not deductible) that is optional for renters but typically mandatory for owner/borrowers, and any out-of-pocket increase in utility costs. Bottom line is that quickie formulas may be nice to have, but there really isn't anything that should be relied upon other than an actual analysis of the individual's real world situation.
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