Most married couples should qualify for large mortgages? (2014, foreclose, most expensive)
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I would say that many, if not most, of those young adults are what they refer to as "trust fund babies." In my area this is extremely common and everyone is away of it. It's a lot of smoke and mirrors. A combination of "help" from parents in some way, shape, or form, and/or over-extending themselves. Even 40+ age group are having mother or father pick up the tab. The unfair truth is that they will get everything they want with no consequence once the parents pass on. This is life...
Or they are just better with money. Its not like trust fund babies are everywhere you know.
That’s maybe a little high to realistically and comfortably pay for here in the Midwest, but I wouldn’t say you’re that far off. I think where you’re wrong might be assuming most couples don’t qualify for that mortgage with a salary that high - when it looks to me like the couples who don’t qualify are actually not making as much as people assume. The median household income for my area (a few hours away from Indiana but very similar demographics) is $48,000. Most couples I know with two wage earners are making closer to $70k, it tends to be the wealthier single income households with professional careers that are in the $100k and up range (full disclosure, that’s our situation). That’s not true nationally but it’s what I see in my slice of life, which are 30-45 year old adults with a few kids in middle class neighborhoods
There is also a lot of consumer debt and student loan debt factoring in to this too, which isn’t always visible from the outside. You can’t really assume you know someone else’s situation, finances vary wildly even among coworkers, depending on the choices their make in spending, health situations, number of kids, dietary choices, educational background, you name it.
That’s maybe a little high to realistically and comfortably pay for here in the Midwest, but I wouldn’t say you’re that far off. I think where you’re wrong might be assuming most couples don’t qualify for that mortgage with a salary that high - when it looks to me like the couples who don’t qualify are actually not making as much as people assume. The median household income for my area (a few hours away from Indiana but very similar demographics) is $48,000. Most couples I know with two wage earners are making closer to $70k, it tends to be the wealthier single income households with professional careers that are in the $100k and up range (full disclosure, that’s our situation). That’s not true nationally but it’s what I see in my slice of life, which are 30-45 year old adults with a few kids in middle class neighborhoods
There is also a lot of consumer debt and student loan debt factoring in to this too, which isn’t always visible from the outside. You can’t really assume you know someone else’s situation, finances vary wildly even among coworkers, depending on the choices their make in spending, health situations, number of kids, dietary choices, educational background, you name it.
That’s an excellent point about student loan debt, I forgot about that additional burden people today have. So for instants at my workplace, one of the PTs is married to one of the OT’s, they started dating when they were both in college. So for instants at my workplace, one of the PTs is married to one of the OT’s, they started dating when they were both in college. So just looking at them from the outside, you think oh they’re doing awesome they probably make 130-150,000 between them. So just looking at them from the outside, you think I was there doing awesome they probably make $160,000 between them. But together, they’re almost half a million in student debt. That’s a huge burden to climb out from under.
That’s maybe a little high to realistically and comfortably pay for here in the Midwest, but I wouldn’t say you’re that far off. I think where you’re wrong might be assuming most couples don’t qualify for that mortgage with a salary that high - when it looks to me like the couples who don’t qualify are actually not making as much as people assume. The median household income for my area (a few hours away from Indiana but very similar demographics) is $48,000. Most couples I know with two wage earners are making closer to $70k, it tends to be the wealthier single income households with professional careers that are in the $100k and up range (full disclosure, that’s our situation). That’s not true nationally but it’s what I see in my slice of life, which are 30-45 year old adults with a few kids in middle class neighborhoods
There is also a lot of consumer debt and student loan debt factoring in to this too, which isn’t always visible from the outside. You can’t really assume you know someone else’s situation, finances vary wildly even among coworkers, depending on the choices their make in spending, health situations, number of kids, dietary choices, educational background, you name it.
^^This^^
When I was married and living in an affluent exurb with my former husband, on paper we made far less than our neighbors, but in actual day-to-day living we were doing okay because the only debt that we had was our mortgage loan. No car loans, no student loans, no credit card debt, overall good health, and affordable employer-provided health plans (mine were paid in full by employer at the time) made us relative outliers even in our neck of the woods.
I live in Indiana where homes are relatively cheap. I've ran the numbers for a couple who makes 100k a year total, which should be easy in Indiana and has $1000 in monthly debt. So maybe 2 car payments and credit cards. Then I put in a 10k downpayment. Well the mortgage came out to 300k, which is a nice home! That would buy a nice home in Indiana! Help me understand what I'm missing.
You're missing taxes, 401(k) contributions, healthcare premiums, and post-tax paid benefits like life insurance, disability, and AD&D.
Then, you're missing that many young couples eat out several times per week. Then you're missing that even with all of the above, your budget is never the same one month to the next. Lots of irregular expenses creep up "as needed' for break-fix car repairs, clothes, AMAZON...
I also think 5-6x income is bonkers. That would put us in a 1MIL house just on base salary alone in an area that doesn't warrant that spend at all. Our home is worth about 350k and we have a small mortgage on it that feels like about the right amount to spend. We have no debt otherwise, no childcare expenses. I guess we like to invest, save, travel and eat well = live. We drive very nice cars, but no one *needs* heated massaging seats and those cars would be gone in a heartbeat for a quick cash infusion if something happened to the job. We have other friends that make similar to what we do and they bought the cheapest house in the county and are looking at ways to cut costs further. They need to live a little lol
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