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The mortgage portion doesn't change, it's the taxes and insurance that changes. But on a fixed rate mortgage, the mortgage portion stays the same.
The entire payment is called the mortgage payment. Would you like to speak to my lender and have them correct their bills? I did state that the escrow portion is what changes due to to taxes and insurance. Did you miss that?
The people who go on and on about Starbucks crack me up. Starbucks doesn't even exist where I live! I don't know anyone who buys coffee every day.
When I worked in the city, some people did go to Starbucks every day. I don't like it. They are famous for coffee with a burnt taste (it's literally burnt on purpose--they roast their beans at a higher temperature than normal for less time than the standard temp and time most coffee roasters use) but it's offset by the sugary creams and flavorings and whatnot they offer.
I used to buy mine in the morning for a dollar from the guys in the driveaway carts who sold coffee and donuts/bagels/muffins. Good stuff.
But the most curious of all to me was an older woman who bought Starbucks DECAF several times a day. There was one in the building, and she would run down to get it.
You're paying all that money for a fancy-brand-name coffee, and you don't even get caffeine?
My first house (decades ago) was a 92K purchase, $908 a month on a FHA 3% down including taxes/insurance/PMI AND it was an 8% mortgage (competitive back then).
Property taxes in many states are extremely high. I live in one of those states. They go up every year. And not by 5 bucks. Insurance also goes up. Some areas have higher rates for insurance as well. It all adds up.
And as a NJ resident myself, but much closer to the city than the ocnjgirl (she's way down in South Jersey, closer to Philadelphia, and I'm still 45 miles from lower Manhattan), I'm thinking, WOW, only $7000 taxes on a SFH. That's pretty good! It's rare in my neck of the woods that anyone has taxes of less than $10K.
My own taxes are only $4K, but that's on a condo of <1K s.f. (Paid $180K in 2010.)
When I was making $44K in 1999 and was divorced and supporting myself and my daughter, there was no way I would have been able to buy a house. Ten years later, I'd made several promotions, and my salary was over $100K. Obviously, I was not able to save money while raising a child and paying rent in a location commutable to the city, but by then my daughter was finishing high school so I no longer needed to live in the same town as my mother so that she had somewhere to go after school and I would be able to pay a mortgage/taxes/insurance on a condo in a town a little further from the city and it would be less than the rent I was paying for a beat up house in a good town with good schools.
Didn't have a down payment, but I borrowed what I needed from my retirement system for a 3.5% FHA down payment and bought a small condo in a townhouse complex with a payment I'd be able to afford when I retired in a few years.
I think the OP's premise is probably based on assumptions that don't fit everyone's situation. We haven't all led Leave-it-to-Beaver lives that fit neatly into a box.
It really seems like people have no clue what the rest of the nation is like. They live in their little bubble. They have no idea how much it costs to raise kids, live in various areas, how expensive a divorce is, how much utilities vary, etc.
It's quite an assumption to assume a couple is making $80K a year. It's an assumption that everyone is part of a couple. Clearly the op didn't really look into mean and median salaries for both sexes and couples. Median and mean salaries in Georgia are going to be drastically different than New York. People don't realize how drastically different each state is. Even inside each state the costs are vastly different.
It really seems like people have no clue what the rest of the nation is like. They live in their little bubble. They have no idea how much it costs to raise kids, live in various areas, how expensive a divorce is, how much utilities vary, etc.
It's quite an assumption to assume a couple is making $80K a year. It's an assumption that everyone is part of a couple. Clearly the op didn't really look into mean and median salaries for both sexes and couples. Median and mean salaries in Georgia are going to be drastically different than New York. People don't realize how drastically different each state is. Even inside each state the costs are vastly different.
It's like that on here and real life both. Look at the number of posts talking about how teachers make $100K/year after five years and retire at 100% pensions to which they didn't contribute. In reality none of that is really true anywhere and the places it may be close to happening are only a couple or three locations.
When we bought our house I especially was criticized for paying so much ($68K) for a house that cost $22K in Jefferson County, PA where the unemployment rate was touching 20%. That, by the way, is one of the places I was thinking of when I posted earlier in this thread that there are places where journeyman craftsmen are lucky if they make $20/hour.
I think that what is being lost is that the median IQ is 100. Half the country is below that. Forest Gump can’t go to Harvard Medical School. Forest Gump bags groceries for near-minimum wage. People on internet message boards tend to have higher intellect than that and project their circumstances on others who don’t have their capabilities. If you’re 90 IQ, you’re going to make a lot of bad decisions. You’re unlikely to have a high paying job. You probably had lousy role models growing up. It’s understandable that you’re unlikely to be economically successful.
My first house (decades ago) was a 92K purchase, $908 a month on a FHA 3% down including taxes/insurance/PMI AND it was an 8% mortgage (competitive back then).
Taxes. I pay more in property taxes every month than I do my mortgage.
It's like that on here and real life both. Look at the number of posts talking about how teachers make $100K/year after five years and retire at 100% pensions to which they didn't contribute. In reality none of that is really true anywhere and the places it may be close to happening are only a couple or three locations.
When we bought our house I especially was criticized for paying so much ($68K) for a house that cost $22K in Jefferson County, PA where the unemployment rate was touching 20%. That, by the way, is one of the places I was thinking of when I posted earlier in this thread that there are places where journeyman craftsmen are lucky if they make $20/hour.
This. Where I live, teachers qualify for affordable housing programs.
The entire payment is called the mortgage payment. Would you like to speak to my lender and have them correct their bills? I did state that the escrow portion is what changes due to to taxes and insurance. Did you miss that?
PART of the payment is the mortgage. The other part is called escrow. Just because you call it all mortgage doesn't make it so. Look at your statements, and they will be divided. And if it's not, then yes, you should call your lender and have them correct their bills.
I think that what is being lost is that the median IQ is 100. Half the country is below that. Forest Gump can’t go to Harvard Medical School. Forest Gump bags groceries for near-minimum wage. People on internet message boards tend to have higher intellect than that and project their circumstances on others who don’t have their capabilities. If you’re 90 IQ, you’re going to make a lot of bad decisions. You’re unlikely to have a high paying job. You probably had lousy role models growing up. It’s understandable that you’re unlikely to be economically successful.
I consider the idea that people on internet message boards have higher than average intellect to be an untested theory.
I do believe that this particular internet community skews older and wealthier than the average population due to the fact that it's primarily a real estate-focused forum.
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