So the ideal home to salary ratio is 2:1.... but what is realistic? (Houston: apartment, to rent)

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by pinipig523

Looks like the majority are in the 1:3 to 1:2 ratio... interesting. And all along I thought people were mostly in the 1:4 to 1:3 range.

Maybe us Dallasites are smarter than the average American and that's why we avoided the brunt of the foreclosure crisis here? Or maybe homes are more affordable here compared to other metro areas, therefore enabling more people to stay in the conservative 1:2 to 1:3 range?

[skids929]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Maybe us Dallasites are smarter than the average American and that's why we avoided the brunt of the foreclosure crisis here? Or maybe homes are more affordable here compared to other metro areas, therefore enabling more people to stay in the conservative 1:2 to 1:3 range?

Pretty sure it's the latter ..It's no coincidence the places where values went the nuttiest are the places where those ratios are higher and foreclosures were more prevalent-to put it mildly.

[Twincam666]

I always buy a home that is equal to or less than 1 years salary.

Just something my dad told me years ago and I've followed his advice

[Dr. Jake Oil]

Originally Posted by Twincam666

I always buy a home that is equal to or less than 1 years salary.

Just something my dad told me years ago and I've followed his advice

If you make over $150k a year or so that is a workable idea, for most people, it would mean trailer-park at best.

[skids929]

Originally Posted by Twincam666

I always buy a home that is equal to or less than 1 years salary.

Just something my dad told me years ago and I've followed his advice

Good discipline I guess, you'd be hard pressed doing this in Boston, New York, San Fran etc..Anyway, someone taking down $350k a year can afford alot more than a $350k home..Assuming they wanted that. Just sayin, it's a sound mentality in some ways, but in others this logic is flawed when you consider todays home values.

[Twincam666]

Originally Posted by skids929

Good discipline I guess, you'd be hard pressed doing this in Boston, New York, San Fran etc..Anyway, someone taking down $350k a year can afford alot more than a $350k home..Assuming they wanted that. Just sayin, it's a sound mentality in some ways, but in others this logic is flawed when you consider todays home values.

I know it does not apply to everyone.
But we were living in NY when I was told this by him. But that was probably 1980?

It worked well for me over the years.

[GreyDay]

Originally Posted by Twincam666

I always buy a home that is equal to or less than 1 years salary.

Just something my dad told me years ago and I've followed his advice

Nice to say, hard to execute.

Good idea, but to parrot Snake, you could wind up in something with wheels.

Also, if your annual salary puts you in a crummy school district any saving would be offset by a need to spend money on prep school.

So if you needed to bump from 150 to 300k to get into a great school district, you'd still be out of less cash vs paying 10-20k for school per kid and your mortgage.

[1957TabbyCat]

Originally Posted by Twincam666

I always buy a home that is equal to or less than 1 years salary.

Just something my dad told me years ago and I've followed his advice

I am glad to see more people think like this.

As far as some thinking this is not workable, most people really are fools. that is why they are most people.

Education is of course important, but schools do tend to be indoctination centers. I remember reading the list of courses for the college prep public High Schools a little less then 100 years ago. I have seen the Jersey City High School course list of the time in the WSJ and Barrons.

Looked like a good liberal arts university education today in terms of courses except likely some very UN PC content. One of the goals was to train people to thrive in a world where Uncle Sam was not Uncle Sugar.

Part of it is doing serious research and driving a hard bargain.

And in some cases compromise may be in order, though living in a trailer park could be downright tedious. But think about it Thomas Jefferson and John Randolph of Roanoke - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia lived around poor people with little in the way of education beyond at best basic trades. They likely did not care so long as no one was stealing anything etc. Alot of people in Europe who defined culture lived the same way.

Many biz people do live in a less costly house they they can afford to ride out recessions and hard times with ease and good humor.

[GreyDay]

Originally Posted by 1957TabbyCat

I am glad to see more people think like this.


Many biz people do live in less costly house they they can afford to ride out recessions and hard times with ease and good humor.

Takes money to do that.

Easy to live in a million dollar place easily when you make 2 million dollars a year.

But I get the sentiment, it just doesn't become realistic until you're making well into 6 figures...

[pinipig523]

5 people make about what their house cost... As far as I know, homes rarely cost under 200k. We got some ballers here.