How much do you pay...

[wolf_Q]

...per month for your house/apartment/condo/etc. ? And do you own or rent it?

Just out of curiousity, you don't have to reply! :)

I'm just looking around at places to live and realizing how poor I am. I want to buy a house so I can have more pets (very few places to rent are pet friendly here) but eeesh it's so expensive!

[jenluckenbach]

I am the perfect example of how people who believe they could never afford to BUY a home really can if they try.

Charlie and I really do NOT make much money. When we rented, it was VERY cheap in comparison to most other appartments in our area. We figured that we would NEVER be able to afford to buy.

But we did! We only pay $498 a month mortgage and this includes the taxes and insurance. And if you have seen our home on the house tour you know that is it not small. It is a 5 bedroom row home, but because it is in the city it did not carry a very high price tag. Sure, there are parts of the city that you would not want to live, but our neighborhood is quite nice and it suits our needs.

Good luck on your search.

[neko1]

Be glad you DON'T live in Jersey!!!!!!!!!


Our house is TINY! 2 small bedrooms, and 1 bathroom that only one person can go in at a time (it's too small to have 2 people even standing in there), kitchen, no dining room. And for all of this loveliness we pay $1,200 a month including taxes:( We live in the sticks compared to the rest of northern NJ, our taxes are sky high, and we have nothing to show for it.

Brian and I don't make much either, we've been struggling to keep our heads above water for years, and it doesn't help living in a house that is literally falling over. :(

[Pam]

Well the end of my mortgage is in sight! Next year! YAY! We will however have to continue to pay $5,000/year for taxes (and they go up each year!) :rolleyes: I have been told by so many people to move to Delaware because taxes there are a fraction of what we pay now. That is the plan now when hubby retires in five years - Delaware or Maryland here we come! :) :) I would hate to be starting out nowadays with buying a house. The average house is ridiculously expensive now! :eek:

I am sure neko1 will agree that NJ is not a good choice to live in economically. Car insurance rates are the highest in the country in NJ. Yep, time for me to move! ;)

[Cookiebaker]

The housing market up here is so cheap! (but shhhh don't tell anyone!) When we rented, we had a medium size apartment (2 bedroom, living, kitch, bathroom) for $500 a month. Then, in 1999, we were looking for ahouse to buy, and there were tons of houses for less than $100,000 (usually 60-70000) Now we are thinking about maybe upgrading or doing an extensive re-do on our kitchen. (And in NH, we don't even pay income or sales tax)

[lizzielou742]

I rent a 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment for $850 a month plus all utilities. It sucks. :(

[pitc9]

We have a 2/3 bedroom ranch with a full basement. 1 1/2 bath.
3/4 of an acre, two car attached garage. It's small... only 1250 square feet. Our mortgage is $865/month. Taxes and insurance a month are another $200/month. So all together it's $1065/month.

We plan on moving further into the country next year. Bigger house and more land.

[Logan]

Housing is much more reasonably priced in my part of the world, I think, although renting is still expensive. When I first moved here in 1996, I rented a 3 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath home for $750/mth. It was in a nice neighborhood and a one story, brick ranch.

What I discovered, when I was ready to buy, is that there are mortgages out there for just about anyone. I didn't have a lot of money to put down, but got FHA financing, and bought my first home, 1700 sq ft, for $109,000. I think my payment, with taxes and insurance was in the $900 range. Luckily, in the almost 5 years that I had that house, its value increased (due to lots of improvements) and I sold it in 2002 for $145,000. That gave us enough to put down on the home we now live in and our payment is only $100 more per month and we have a house that is twice as big. :)

Amy, there are mortgage programs out there that offer 100% financing, actually. You should talk with a mortgage person, even if it is just to help guide you into what you need to do to get ready. Good luck!

Logan

[BitsyNaceyDog]

Justin and I are very blessed. When we got married my grandma bought us our home. We didn't have to pay anything. We found a 1997 double wide for $75,000 and she bought it for us. We pay the taxes, insurance, up-keep, and all our other bills, but she paid for the house itself. Thank you Grandma, I love you!!

[Samantha Puppy]

We just bought our house in April - a townhouse end-unit for $215,000. Our monthly mortgage payment is $1550, give or take a few dollars... not to mention stocking the house with things you need, plus all the other stuff you need - lawnmower, money available to fix house problems (leaks, etc.). Homeownership is EXPENSIVE.

[PJ's Mom]

We are renting a 4 bedroom, 3 1/2 bath house for $1,595 per month.

[sirrahbed]

Here in Ohio, we live near a military base and so homes are quite high compared to other parts of Ohio. A 3 or 4 bedroom brick home runs from 90K to the high 300K range. They rent from $700 to around $1500 for the smaller homes.

One thing we learned that I want to share - when buying your home - make sure to get an open ended load and if possible - make extra payments on the *principal* - not extra house payments. Otherwise the extra money goes to *interest*. Overall, this can save you many, many thousands of dollars. This was the best tip I ever heard when purchasing our home.

[Tonya]

Our new house is 2300 sq feet and we paid $410k for it a month ago. The model is already selling for $475k, so the prices have already went up! Our payment is only $1900 a month after taxes and insurance because we got a good interest rate, but I'd imagine this house would be around $2500 to rent.

[Tonya]

Originally posted by sirrahbed
Here in Ohio, we live near a military base and so homes are quite high compared to other parts of Ohio. A 3 or 4 bedroom brick home runs from 90K to the high 300K range. They rent from $700 to around $1500 for the smaller homes.

One thing we learned that I want to share - when buying your home - make sure to get an open ended load and if possible - make extra payments on the *principal* - not extra house payments. Otherwise the extra money goes to *interest*. Overall, this can save you many, many thousands of dollars. This was the best tip I ever heard when purchasing our home.

Yeah, we just signed up for the bi-monthly plan where we pay $950 every two weeks. It's supposed to take like 10 or 15 years off of our loan.

[Christiansmommy]

I am not sure if getting a fixer upper is an option for you. It made my husband and I thousands of dollars in the long run. The previous house we lived in, was not really liveable when we bought it, but you could maybe find one that is liveble, but could use some fixing up, as you get the time and money. We had severe termite damage, and basically gutted the house and re- did it ourselves. And in the 6 years we lived there, when we went to sell, we profitted $100,000 on it...that is a huge!! We did all of the fixing up ourselves, so that saved a ton of money too.

Anyway, that is an option. Although, you wouldn't want to bite off more than you could chew, so to speak, and get a house that needs too much fixing up, that it will become a money pit...

[shais_mom]

I own
I pay approximately $200 a month. I get it taken out of each paycheck so it's $100 every 2 weeks, it works for me b/c it isn't taking it out in one lump sum.

[wolf_Q]

Originally posted by shais_mom
I own
I pay approximately $200 a month. I get it taken out of each paycheck so it's $100 every 2 weeks, it works for me b/c it isn't taking it out in one lump sum.

You are soooooooooooooooo lucky!

I know it's not THAT expensive here in relation to other states (such as CA) but it's still expensive for someone like me with not a very large income. Small, dumpy, old houses are priced at 100,000-110,000. Ocassionally you can find them for 75,000-90,000 but usually they are in very bad shape or in a scary neighborhood. I called on a small house that looked like it hadn't been lived in in 10 years, the entire sewer system needed to be replaced and they still wanted 109,000 for it. I don't need a fancy house, but I need something that I can *live* in with only a few repairs and have at least a medium sized yard for the dogs...and I don't want to live in a really bad neighborhood either.

I honestly cannot pay more than $700 a month, and that is pushing it...$500 would be nice, but I don't think it's possible to only pay that with the mortgage rates. I'm not sure if I could get a loan, I have good credit but that's only based on the credit card I've had for about a year, I don't know if thats enough. I'm looking into it.

It's not fair my parents only paid 65,000 for this house when it was built wahhhhhhhh I wish they would move and sell it to me for that much! :(

[emily_the_spoiled]

If you really want to purchase a place, have you thought about getting a room mate? That way you would be getting some money towards the mortgage.

I just bought a townhouse in the DC area (which is kind of like buying in CA). So everything here is inflated, but that goes with the territory. Home ownership is expensive, I have re-painted the entire interior of the place, put new tile in two of the bathrooms, started working on the yard, and I am going to replace a number of the windows next month. It is alot of work and expensive, but you would have someplace for the dogs...

[ILoveMyAbbyGirl]

We pay (as in my Mom... not I!!) $800 a month for an apartment with two bedrooms, three bathrooms. Yuck. And I hate it here... what's new?

[Miss Meow]

We bought last year. The previous owner of the pink kitchen nearly doubled her money after four years and didn't spend a cent on renovations or anything while she had it. Prices in Australia have gone crazy, even out in the sticks.

We didn't want to carry a huge mortgage so we live out of the city in an older house, but in a really nice street. We live pretty simply so we can pump extra dollars into the mortgage while interest rates are low.

Amy, maybe you can start saving what a mortgage, repairs, bills etc would cost you so you can get into the habit. That'll give you a good feel for what it would be like and you'll be saving for your deposit at the same time :). I think it's worth it in the long run just to have an asset that yours. And you're young still, so it'll give you a great start for your future security. :)

[carole]

We own a small two storyed home on a small section, we pay 345 dollars a month, but that has just increased because we borrowed some more money, and consolidated all the loans into one, so really it would be about 245 per month with rates around 87 dollars a month and insurance maybe 35 dollars a month, so its pretty good really, average rental for a house here is 260 a week, so I feel blessed, but I still complain, my home is very modest, but its cute and at least its mine., here is a pic for those who have not seen it.,its called Stoneyhill Cottage.,we were in the middle of painting the roof,when the pic was taken, it was dark brown, and the fence is now green as well, in the summertime I have hanging baskets all around, with all different coloured flowers, looks quite pretty..:)

[catnapper]

Interesting thread! In my area, it depends on the zip code. I live in a large 5 bedroom house, good amount of land for the area (two or three times what all the neighbors have along side us on the block) and we only pay $900 a month including taxes and insurance. Now if we picked our house up and moved litterally two blocks over, it would be worth easily 4 times what we could get... see? zip code. :rolleyes: Its the same school district (a very good one) and the enighborhood is just as safe as the one two blockes over, but over there you are magically in "Wealthy Town"! ooohh... aaahhhh. Then in that lovely neighborhood, you'll have houses that are $400,000 sitting next door to a million dollar home, and everything in between. Whereas over here in my town, you'll have 60,000-100,000 homes.

Same exact homes built by the same builder, at the same time period. But since one carries the coveted zip code, those homes go for much more money. Personally, I love my house, "wrong" zip code or not.

[Cinder & Smoke]

Originally posted by wolf_Q

... Small, dumpy, old houses are priced at 100,000-110,000.
Ocassionally you can find them for $75,000-90,000 but
usually they are in very bad shape or in a scary neighborhood.

Amy ~

Try looking a littlr farther "OUT of town"...
Like more in the "country" -
might have a septic system rather than a sewer;
and a well rather than city water;
and no sidewalks...
But Country Livin IS (sometimes) a bit cheaper!

Other thoughts:

Check on a "Mobile Home" and/or a "Modular Home" -
they are a LOT less expensive than
a "site-built" home; and if you get one that's been built
within the last 5-7 years - they ARE built better than they used
to be - and are a LOT more FIRE-safe nowdays.

You have to be careful -
MANY Communities have zoning regulations that prohibit the
"Mobile" or "Modular" homes on standard building lots;
but it's worth checking into.

Another way to get into a house is to locate an elderly person
or couple with a BIG house they have trouble maintaining...
Offer to "Live In" for paying low rent;
or maybe help with housekeeping in exchange for rent.

Good Luck!! ;)

/s/ Phred

[carole]

Gosh Kim that is interesting , in NZ that does not happen too often, because of building covenants, for example the new subdivision opposite me, I would have been able to buy a section there, but not able to afford to build the size house and the materials, only in the older areas will you find maybe a cheaper house and more expensive one side by side, although building convenants can be a pain, I really like the idea of them, as you just won't find million dollars homes and cheaper ones together here.

[Uabassoon]

I rent a small apartment, I pay $300 a month for it. When I moved in they only asked for a $99 deposit for the kitties and I don't have to pay any pet rent. When renting with pets I've noticed that you have better luck when you are going through a property management company instead of a large apartment complex. I know two people here in Tucson that rent at a duplex and the landlords allow them to have dogs. They also have small yards for their dogs to run around in and rent is pretty resonable for a two bedroom.

I agree that it's a good idea if you decide to buy you should get a roommate. Alexa owns her own place and she has a roommate to help her pay off the mortgage.

[wolf_Q]

Originally posted by Cinder & Smoke
Amy ~

Try looking a littlr farther "OUT of town"...
Like more in the "country" -
might have a septic system rather than a sewer;
and a well rather than city water;
and no sidewalks...
But Country Livin IS (sometimes) a bit cheaper!

Other thoughts:

Check on a "Mobile Home" and/or a "Modular Home" -
they are a LOT less expensive than
a "site-built" home; and if you get one that's been built
within the last 5-7 years - they ARE built better than they used
to be - and are a LOT more FIRE-safe nowdays.

You have to be careful -
MANY Communities have zoning regulations that prohibit the
"Mobile" or "Modular" homes on standard building lots;
but it's worth checking into.

Another way to get into a house is to locate an elderly person
or couple with a BIG house they have trouble maintaining...
Offer to "Live In" for paying low rent;
or maybe help with housekeeping in exchange for rent.

Good Luck!! ;)

/s/ Phred

Yeah I have looked into those options. There's a few places on the edge of the county I would consider, but I'm not quite sure. I don't want to have to drive forever to work, and I'm a little paranoid living alone clear out in the "boonies" as I call them lol. Where I live right now is in the city, but it's a smaller city not a big city. There's places just blocks away with huge pastures that have horses and stuff like that.

Most modular homes here are in parks which have pet regulations of their own and basically *no* yard at all. If I could find a lot that's not in a mobile home park that I could put one on, or one that's already in a situation like that (I have seen a few) then it could work. Most of them that are in with regular homes are about the same prices as regular homes though.

[teenster3]

Wow...this is a neat thread.
I think our mortgage is at $1,100 a month not including taxes.
We have lived here 2 years now & basically live paycheck to paycheck. It is difficult owning your own home wondering if you will make it month to month. I can't say I know what it's like to rent an apartment. Matthew & I rented a house before moving into the home we currently own & that was only $400 a month....big leap for us!
I think unfortunately, it's expensive to live period these days!!!

[kingrattus]

$600.00/month

I rent 2 bedrooms in Rob's parents house. All our food is free & so i everything else, except gas.

Now the kicker...

I MUST live in my room & Rob MUST live in his room.

There is never any food in the house & 80% of the time there is no dinner even made if there is food.

I'm in the basement (which is fine, its cooler down here & less smoke).. The basement is used as a doggy bathroom when Rob's parents r too lazy to put THEIR dogs outside (long story, but Sadie attacks me so I wont touch her & Cadeau wont pee for me....). So it smells down here ALL the time.

The mother is a bypolar psycho case. She screams about spoons ALL the time, like tonight YAY!!


Good news...

We'll be moving out before next August & We'll be getting a Garden House (its a town house with a washer drier in it), it'll cost between $1000.000 -$1500.00. they come in 2 & 3 bedrooms, a nice livingroom, nice kitchen, nice diningroom & a ffull sized basement (not all r finished, but we don't care, we'll finish it)...

[anna_66]

We own our home and the mortage payments are $417/mo. with a 3 yr variable. It has went as high as $490/mo. but never over.
Our taxes and insurance are seperate. The insurance is around $500/yr and taxes were $1023 for this year.

I hope you can find a nice place Amy. Good Luck.

[Logan]

Originally posted by carole
We own a small two storyed home on a small section, we pay 345 dollars a month, but that has just increased because we borrowed some more money, and consolidated all the loans into one, so really it would be about 245 per month with rates around 87 dollars a month and insurance maybe 35 dollars a month, so its pretty good really, average rental for a house here is 260 a week, so I feel blessed, but I still complain, my home is very modest, but its cute and at least its mine., here is a pic for those who have not seen it.,its called Stoneyhill Cottage.,we were in the middle of painting the roof,when the pic was taken, it was dark brown, and the fence is now green as well, in the summertime I have hanging baskets all around, with all different coloured flowers, looks quite pretty..:)

Your home is adorable, Carole!!! :)

[carole]

Thank You Logan, its not much, but its mine, there is so much I would love to do to it, if only I had the money, oh well, at least it is a roof over our heads.:)

[Kater]

During the week I live in an off-campus dormitory. I have my own room (about 200 sq. ft.) and share bathroom, kitchen and laundry facilities with the other residents. I pay $450 per month which includes water, gas and electricity. Telephone service, TV cable service, internet access or parking cost extra. We pay a small weekly bathroom cleaning service fee. Pets of any kind are not allowed. :( It is very basic, my friends in Wisconsin have seen pictures of it and joke that it reminds them of a cell block. :o I'm lucky to have even found housing near campus though, (1 block at that!) because this semester there has been a major housing shortage.

Independence is nice and everything but let's just say I really look forward to going home on the weekends. :) Air conditioning, wireless internet access, a COMFY bed....ahhh :D

I hope you can find a place to suit your needs, Amy! I have faith that in time you will. :) GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR SEARCH!