Where can you afford a home on your income?

[Bootstrap]

I found this article interesting. You can pick an income level, and it shows you counties where you could afford to buy a home.

https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/m ... rcna155286

[barnhart]

According to this, I can afford to live in 1,024 counties in the US. It's actually more than I thought it might be.

[ken_sylvania]

Do the counties show right for you guys? When I hover the mouse over a county it gives the name displayed isn't correct?

[Josh]

I couldn’t get the slider to go far enough to the left, but apparently I can’t afford to live anywhere in my state.

[Ken]

I found this article interesting. You can pick an income level, and it shows you counties where you could afford to buy a home.

https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/m ... rcna155286

Strictly speaking, what it actually shows you is where you can buy the MEDIAN priced home with x-income without exceeding 30% of your income in housing. Not where you can afford ANY home.

It’s kind of like the old Lake Wobegone thing where everyone is above average. In real life, half the homes in any town or city are priced below the median home price. That’s by definition because that is what median means. So half of all Americans actually buy homes priced below the median wherever they live.

The other somewhat deceptive thing is that wages vary by region as well. So you can’t take an income for say rural Kentucky and say. “Well, I couldn’t ever afford a home in Denver. You have to look at what your profession would pay in Denver and then see what you can afford.

Finally, the more money you make, the more you can comfortably exceed that 30% threshold. Because the remaining 70% keeps getting larger. If you make $50,000/year then the 30% rule leaves you $35,000 to live on after housing costs are paid for. But if you make $150,000 then the 30% rule leaves you with $105,000 to live on after housing is taken care of. Someone making $150,000 can spend 50% of their income on housing and still have $75,000 left over to live on which seems pretty doable.

[Josh]

Ken,

Did you embrace repealing income and social security taxes?

By my calculations, someone in California or New York who earns $150,000 in wages and spends half of that on housing will have $25,000 to live on, which doesn’t seem very doable.

[Neto]

Do the counties show right for you guys? When I hover the mouse over a county it gives the name displayed isn't correct?

I don't see any count names displaying at all.

[ken_sylvania]

Do the counties show right for you guys? When I hover the mouse over a county it gives the name displayed isn't correct?

I don't see any count names displaying at all.

If you move the slider toward the right does it show "xxx out of xxxx counties" under the slider? It only shows counties for me if I move the slider and then hover the mouse over the map.

[Ken]

Ken,

Did you embrace repealing income and social security taxes?

By my calculations, someone in California or New York who earns $150,000 in wages and spends half of that on housing will have $25,000 to live on, which doesn’t seem very doable.

So about $2,100 a month to cover food, transportation and clothing? Although taxes would be less for a family.

If you need a car, get an inexpensive used one. Or lease an economy car. There are car leases available in the $200/month range. https://www.carfax.com/blog/cheap-car-leasing-deals. Cook your own meals instead of eating out. There are vast numbers of Americans who live perfectly fulfilling lives on $2,100 per month after housing costs are taken care of.

It is a matter of priorities and making sacrifices. If you want to prioritize owning over renting on a household income of $150,000 I expect you can make it work with an initial housing budget of 50% of gross income. With a fixed rate mortgage that will slowly drop as your earnings increase.

[Neto]

Do the counties show right for you guys? When I hover the mouse over a county it gives the name displayed isn't correct?

I don't see any count names displaying at all.

If you move the slider toward the right does it show "xxx out of xxxx counties" under the slider? It only shows counties for me if I move the slider and then hover the mouse over the map.

Yes, I see it now. I was expecting a pop-up on the map itself, so was looking there, and didn't notice the county name under the slider. (I had also scrolled up, to be able to see Oklahoma. Tulsa County, where I grew up, and where property taxes are a forth or less of what they are here in East Holmes County Ohio, is listed with a much higher required income level. It would be interesting to see how they came up with their figures.)