What % of take-home for rent?

[Desnik]

We use to pay $2000 a month in rent for a 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment. And that was just rent, no utilities, etc.
I would think half your salary for rent is alot. It doesn't leave much left for everything else.
We now have a house DH is the only one working and we have 2 kids. We spend about 25% of take home on mortgage/taxes.

 

[CamColt]

We are in a similar situation as Desnik said above...1 income, 2 kids, 2 adults, and our yearly mortgage payments come out to about 25% of DH's yearly salary(but that includes his bonuses too).

 

[BedKnobbery2]

Originally posted by Desnik

I would think half your salary for rent is alot. It doesn't leave much left for everything else.

You sure are right about that!

 

[caitycaity]

in the bay area, i would definately go the roomate route. if i was living alone, i would be spending about 50% of my take home on our rent (dc suburbs). fortunately, dh and i are DINKs.

 

[mamajoan]

Hey there Min!

Single folks in the Bay Area pay tons of money to live in the city.. like most urban areas... and us married with children kind of folks migrate to the 'burbs. Which here means you have to drive 70 miles to get any real decrease in housing costs.

So my ? is ..... How far is he willing to commute? Is the long commute worth the decrease in rent cost for him?
I know there are tons of roomate situations available in the bay area cities. He just has to be really picky on his choice of roomates.

Hollister is a 90 minute drive (without traffic delay) to South SF.... rent for a 2Bed/2bath apt/twnhs is $800-1100 a month. Gilroy is a bit more.. starting at $1000 and rising quickly. South San Jose which is halfway to SF from here small 2BR apt starts at $1450... Whew!

I really do NOT know how young people cope in the valley. Best of luck to your son as he ventures out into the world!

 

[caitycaity]

a link to help with your son's apartment search:

http://www.craigslist.org/

many of my friends have used craig's list in dc with great success.

 

[disneychrista]

Personally I use the 30% rule to know "how much" I can afford.

I think he needs to sit down and create a budget for himself. Figure out how much (estiminated) his expenses like utilites, groceries, gas, car insurance etc will be and then see what is left.

 

[Minnesota!]

I just calculated it, and we spend 22% of our gross income on mortgage. Hope to lower that soon...