In general, what percentage of you income should you expect to spend on housing?
I'm in the process of looking for an apartment right now, and although I have a pretty good idea what I'm going end up paying per month, I'm curious what would be the ideal. Some looking makes me think that affordable housing is defined as 1/3 or less. (Which incidentally looks like what I'll be spending.)
True comparisons are difficult, since easy access to a bus line is worth almost $800 a year. As well as about half of the apartments around here (Ithaca, NY) seem to include heat costs in the rent. There are other various things like this as well. Specifically, having roommates would make things much cheaper overall, but frankly I've had enough of that for now.
This seems like the kind of thing that Hatrack would know, so how 'bout it?
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
It depends. The traditional rule is no more than 30% of your income should go to housing, but in some areas (like L.A., San Fransisco/Bay Area, NYC and a few others) there's no way, and you're lucky to spend less than 50% on housing. In more rural areas you might expect to spend less on housing but more on gas and transportation costs. So you kind of have to base that on where you live and what your other resources are.
Posted by martha (Member # 141) on :
To make you feel good about rents in Ithaca: Where I live, one would be lucky to find a one-bedroom apartment for less than $1,000 a month. If you want public transportation, a safe neighborhood, washer/dryer, and a parking space, you're looking at more like $1,200.
Posted by Celaeno (Member # 8562) on :
Ditto, Martha.
I live in the Bay Area.
I'm looking for a studio apartment, and I can't find a decent one for less than $1k a month.
Posted by Jhai (Member # 5633) on :
Celaeno, I don't know where you're looking, but Abhi had a nice stuido near the Sunnyvale Town Center (off of Matilda, about ten minutes away from 101) for $800 a month.
We're probably going to be spending over 1/3 our income in DC, at least for the summer. Minimum for a decent one bedroom is around $1200. If Abhi can get a good job in IT (rather than part-time telecommuting to his old job in California), we should be doing well once my stipend kicks in at the end of Septemeber.
Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jhai: Celaeno, I don't know where you're looking, but Abhi had a nice stuido near the Sunnyvale Town Center (off of Matilda, about ten minutes away from 101) for $800 a month.
We're probably going to be spending over 1/3 our income in DC, at least for the summer. Minimum for a decent one bedroom is around $1200. If Abhi can get a good job in IT (rather than part-time telecommuting to his old job in California), we should be doing well once my stipend kicks in at the end of Septemeber.
If you are living in DC, at least you can save money on transportation costs and take the METRO everywhere.
Posted by Liz B (Member # 8238) on :
We really liked Warren Wood on the north end of Ithaca when we lived there 1997-1999. It was nice & very reasonably priced. Of course, there were 2 of us, so even though we both had very small incomes, we still had 2 incomes. (We ate a lot of Hamburger Helper during those years.) Heat was separate, though, and it was EXPENSIVE in the winter. And there was a bus stop nearby, although I never rode it so I don't know if it was a town bus or if it just went to Cornell. (My husband rode it sometimes.)