Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire How expensive of house, and do you regret it?

Just curious how you guys are invested in your houses. After the post last week about if your house was paid for it made me think.

Our home was purchased for less than 1 year annual salary. We should be paid off completely this year after living here for 3 years. Wife wants to move to the country. Houses are more expensive but I would like to have a little more room to roam for the kids. Looking at 5-10 acres mostly.

My question is guys that are mortgaged on houses how much over or under your yearly income is it. And if you are 2x-3x yearly income do you feel like it keeps you from enjoying other activities?

Not trying to pry, just don’t want to be balls deep in a house and give up some of the other outdoor activities we enjoy.

David

Heard today that rates edged up to just under 3% which is still historically low.

Not much help but you should be able to stretch things a bit with rates this low especially if you believe inflation is about to rev up any.

House has got to fit the budget. I have always bought much less of a home than what the banks were willing to give me. Didn't want to be "House" poor.

i was told 3-4 times your salary. but i grew up with depression era parents who scarred me with horror stories so i always bought way less than i could afford. i spent more money on property than house.

Same here. I moved eight times in 39 year career. Always was conservative on house cost. Paid the last one off half way through a 15 year mortgage. Now retired and have lot more expensive house. Was able to pay cash cause I was not stretched over the years and saved a lot.

My house right now is worth about 3x my annual income. When I bought it five years ago it was worth about 1.5x my annual income.

2x my annual income. I’m in my mid 40’s and getting divorced I wanted something close to my 4 year old daughter to lesson the impact on her. I found a home 5 blocks away on the other side of the same subdivision in a town of only a few thousand people so somewhat limited housing options. For me it was about location over anything else it’s an average middle America home in a good neighborhood but to me it’s just a place to store my guns and toys until my daughter is grown and I can retire up North.

It was on the upper end of what I wanted to spend at my age and place in life. I considered mortgage options and decided to go with 30 years due to the very low rates and that it allows me to continue investing 22% of my gross income. I liked the idea of a shorter mortgage and having it paid off by retirement age but felt that given the interest rates now and the market over the past several years that I was better off with a long mortgage and investing as much as possible right now. IDK if that was the right decision or not but that was my reasoning when I did it.

My quality of life is good. I’ve had most of the hunting and fishing toys I want for years. I blow money going out for meals more than I should. Gun collecting is my biggest weakness finance wise but I view that to some degree as a partial investment.

I paid 15% of my annual salary but then again I'm cool with a cabin. Leaves more money for toys👍

Paid about 80 percent of annual income for my house in the country. Around here lately, any decent house with even two or three acres of ground is going for an absurd price. Its a seller's market now. I don't regret buying well below my income level but do admire people who are less conservative than I am. They have nicer homes than me.

I've regretted buying every house I've owned other than the land with the cabin I currently have. First place was in the early 1990s in Oakland, paid $110k while making $30k a year. I've made a few bucks on each place I've bought (and they all seem to have cost 3-4x my annual income), but the headaches of maintenance, repairs, never-ending costs and bad neighbors outweighed any profit. The bit of land with a single room log cabin has given me more satisfaction than all of the houses combined, and out of pocket was less than $100k all in.

About 30% of my take home salary. Not a large lot or home but one that’s comfortable with the wife and 4 pups. City water and sewage but country living. I’m satisfied since I have the cabin to escape to where I can have the well and septic headaches.

If not for location proximity to my daughter I’d be in the same situation.
Something clean and with running water/flush toilet is good enough for me.

Paid 72,000 for 2200 sq ft in 97 & paid it off two weeks ago.

Never thought of price if it suited me, only thought of getting busy and paying them off, absolutely no regrets.

At current mortgage rates, you've got to have a mortgage or two or three. u

I paid $95,000 for my 1bedroom1bathroom1cargarage condo in 2018.
Last year I bought 25 acres, that ran $107,500.

Eventually I will get around to building on the land and the condo will be a rental property.

Hard to put a price on serenity and satisfaction.

First house $65,000 (did all the work ourselves) was making $32,000/year combined.
Renovated and added on to it, paid cash. Built shop, paid cash.
Best plan for my situation was to borrow minimal, live beneath our means, save and pay cash as we went to get it where we wanted.
Cabin, paid cash as we went. Rentals, put down what was required, renovate as time snd $$ allowed, build equity over time.
Real estate, for me, is preferred. It’s what I know and feel comfortable with.

Interesting.. Guess I am in just over 25% of gross. It's a bit much, but, location is everything, 309 yards from the folks, front door to front door. First house. Zero regrets.

I ho I ho I ho off to work I go.

Talk to lender. It is not only what your annual salary is but how much of that is committed to other payments.

When I was in the business if i remember correctly it was 40 of your annual income.

Our area had lots of service men & women returning from overseas assignments and the first thing many did was buy a new car/truck. Sorry no loan while committed to this.