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!) 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!

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...