What % of your monthly gross income is your mortgage payment?

[phantom]

I decided to try the CNN calculator for myself, and that is indeed nuts. I like that the fine print points out that you might need to use a lower number if you need to save for retirement. I guess I'll wait till retirement is fully funded and then I'll keep working another 30 years while I buy a million dollar house.

[disneysteve]

I like that the fine print points out that you might need to use a lower number if you need to save for retirement.

Um, doesn't EVERYONE need to save for retirement? Okay, maybe there are some folks with colossal pensions who don't need to concern themselves with that but short of that, what a ridiculous fine print caveat.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Oh, for heaven's sake. I, too, ran the calculator. It says if I have every cent of my zillow house value as a down payment, I could afford a house 6.4 times my income. Hilarious and outrageous. What is this, a 100 year mortgage?

[Nutria]

Not sure what TLA

TLA is the TLA for Three Letter Acronym!

means but he was referring to the CNN online calculator mentioned earlier.

Ah. I missed that earlier this morning.

[cashisking500]

Ours is right around 14% of our gross. This includes PITI.

[disneysteve]

TLA is the TLA for Three Letter Acronym!

I grew up in Philadelphia where TLA was the Theater for the Living Arts, a very well-known establishment most famous for being the main place to see The Rocky Horror Picture show every weekend.

Ah. I missed that earlier this morning.

Check it out. It's entertaining.

[cypher1]

I feel like the odd man out, but ours is 18%. That includes all escrow fees (taxes, insurance, etc....)

I got ya beat, rounding up to 22%. Hoping to drop PMI later next year.

[corn18]

This calculator is much better:

https://www.nerdwallet.com/mortgages/how-much-house-can-i-afford/calculate-affordability

It takes into account savings and other expenses. It said I could afford the house I have and not much more.

[phantom]

I find the NerdWallet calculator even more confusing than the CNN calculator and entirely too conservative. The max house payment it claims I can afford is only 3% of my income. I wonder if it assumes that I'm spending or saving more than I say I am. Perhaps I wasn't supposed to include retirement savings in the savings number?

[SavingBucks]

No mortgage. Taxes and insurance are about 1% of gross. The calculator is totally absurd --- I do not need a house that costs that much!

[scfr]

I find the NerdWallet calculator even more confusing than the CNN calculator and entirely too conservative. The max house payment it claims I can afford is only 3% of my income. I wonder if it assumes that I'm spending or saving more than I say I am. Perhaps I wasn't supposed to include retirement savings in the savings number?

The Nerd Wallet one did not make sense to me either. ALL of our income is currently either expenses or savings --- what else would there be? So the calculator either told us that we should not buy a house at this time, or told us that we could afford whatever number I punched in as the down payment.

[scfr]

Um, doesn't EVERYONE need to save for retirement? Okay, maybe there are some folks with colossal pensions who don't need to concern themselves with that but short of that, what a ridiculous fine print caveat.

Lenders don't care if you save for retirement or not, only if you can make the monthly payment. I feel that calculator is kind of like using figures provided by the diamond cartel to help you decide how much you should spend on an engagement ring.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

What a difference in the Nerdwallet calculator! Whereas the CNN recommends I can afford 6.4 times my annual income, Nerdwallet says, "Given your financial situation, we recommend not purchasing a home at this time."

This makes me suspect the Nerdwallet calcuator will not recommend something significantly below the median price house for an area.

Last I looked it up, my low-end home was in the bottom 12% of homes in my zip code, yet the zipcode itself is more affordable than the average in the metro area.

[dawnwes]

Even at 18%, though, you are still far below the "recommended" 28% limit.

And I do have to add that it is a 15 year mortgage. When we bought the house we weren't in that mode and got a 30 year mortgage at about 25%. Our salary has gone up and we have gone to a 15 year.

[dawnwes]

Oh man, I just found out I've had this all wrong. I just went to CNN money, and used their "How much can I afford" calculator. http://money.cnn.com/calculator/real...e/home-afford/

Apparently, I can buy 4x the house I have now! What kind of magic math is this? Must be calcunomitry, as I missed that class in school. Man, I'm living way below the standard. House hunting here I come!!

I can afford a house at least 3 times what I paid for this house!

Man, I have really been depriving myself by living in this shack.