You Can Avoid Being House Poor .. If You Know This Before You Buy

Table Of Content

• Cut back on your spending
• It impacts repaying your other debts
• “House poor” refers to a situation where a person spends most of their income on their home.
• Avoid being house poor to become financially successful
• How To Avoid Being House Poor And What To Do If You Are
• Stop worrying, NIMBYS — affordable housing shouldn’t squash your property values

While there is no consensus on exactly how much to save in an emergency fund, many advocate for at least 3-6 months' worth of living expenses. Homeowners can become “house poor” after major changes in their lives. Unexpected (and even expected) life changes could make it much harder to keep up with your mortgage payments. Mortgage interest rates, which dipped to historic lows at the beginning of the pandemic, climbed past 7 percent in 2022 — the highest numbers seen since 2002. And although rates slightly cooled in the early months of 2023, new homeowners today are still saddled with significantly higher monthly mortgage payments than neighbors who locked in a lower rate.

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Cut back on your spending

Per capita income doubled from 1966 to 1977, due in part to more women in the workplace. When federal policies struck down gender discrimination in loan and credit decisions, two-income families could qualify for larger mortgage loans, elevating the demand for higher-priced homes. For example, could you bundle your home insurance and car insurance and save some money? Could you lower your thermostat or reduce your cell phone data plan? McCurdy says that she will often gift her clients with a professional home-energy audit, which points out ways they can save electricity (and money).

It impacts repaying your other debts

Because of this, they can be easy to forget until they become due. There can also be special assessments to meet major maintenance costs. Check the homeowners association meeting minutes for at least the past year to see if there are any plans for major maintenance on the horizon.

“House poor” refers to a situation where a person spends most of their income on their home.

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The family put their house on the market and began the search for a new home on the weekends. Throughout it all, the feeling of despair and the ever-present pang of nostalgia were always close by. Unless they did something soon, the young family faced insurmountable debt and even foreclosure. Shaun also took up another job as a DJ for his local radio station to help offset the cost of the mortgage. In the meantime, it's perfectly ok to rent while you work on finding the perfect home that you can truly afford to purchase. It may sound drastic, but if you can make a profit and downsize into a smaller, more affordable home, then it can reduce your debt stress and prevent you from worrying about the possibility of bankruptcy.

Avoid being house poor to become financially successful

You can begin by examining your budget to develop an understanding of how much you earn and owe each month. If you do this, you may have a hard time enjoying life in your home because you can’t save for retirement or family vacations, for example. Your house and the expenses that go with it still represent only one piece of your monthly budget. Becoming house poor can affect your ability to save for retirement, pay off debt or afford other purchases. It can create feelings of stress and anxiety around your finances and make you feel as if you’re only one setback away from financial disaster. These problems can even put a strain on your relationships and your mental well-being.

Being house poor in and of itself doesn’t negatively affect your credit scores. But late or missed mortgage payments can cause your credit scores to drop. It isn't necessarily bad to be house poor; it just means you may not have enough cash flow for other expenses. Paying more than 30% of your income towards housing may not be ideal, but as long as you're able to save and live comfortably, it isn't always the end of the world.

DTI can be a useful metric in determining just how much house you can afford when making an offer. It’s just important that you don’t go to the very top end of your budget. Don’t forget – you’ll have to join a condo association, which is the same thing as an HOA, so you’ll have to factor that cost. But you won’t be responsible for any outdoor maintenance, and you might even be able to cut some of your current expenses, like a gym membership, if that amenity is included in your condo fees. Apply online for expert recommendations with real interest rates and payments.

They could both afford it on his salary as an auditor and his wife’s salary as a teacher. This meant becoming a one-income house, and that meant their debts would take longer to pay off. In fact, you could set up a side hustle where you flip used goods online, and the income could be dedicated both to growing your side business and paying off your mortgage. That way, if one of you loses your job, you won't be strapped for money due to loss of income.

In order to calculate mortgage affordability, some experts recommend spending no more than 28% of your gross monthly income on housing expenses and no more than 36% on total debts. If this is not possible, there are also other options to cover extra expenses such as getting a second job, using savings, or even selling the property. Being “house poor” means that a person has a high percentage of their monthly income tied up in housing costs, leaving little money for other expenses. While 69% of people feel house poor1 only about 27% of people actually are, according to data from the Census Bureau.2.

Among our respondents, 437 were women, 560 were men, four identified as nonbinary and one preferred not to disclose their gender. Our respondents ranged in age from 18 to 80 years old, with an average age of 39. She adores old houses—hers is a 1920 foursquare with decent bones—and is passionate about helping people make smart investments in real estate. Request an instant home value estimate to for a ballpark estimation of how much equity you have before selling a house with a mortgage. With a robust emergency fund — three to six months of expenses is ideal, Pinto says — you’ll be prepared to handle the unexpected home repairs. Tell us a little bit about your plans (where you’re looking to buy and when you want to make a purchase) and we’ll connect you with top-rated buyer’s agents in your area.

Sometimes housing expenses can go beyond what you would think. For instance, if you have a large home with a lot of space, you may soon decide to put a swimming pool in the backyard. Or perhaps you think you need better furniture to go with the nice house. If you are buying a home with your spouse, one of the best things you can do is to budget on one income. For instance, see if you can comfortably afford the payment with one of your incomes rather than both.

Another quick way to make cash and stop overspending on your house is to find a roommate. Not only can you charge rent, but you can also split up the bills such as electricity, cable, and water. Understand that just because you choose to stop buying these things for a while doesn't mean you will never have them again. It just means you're taking a break to save money and get your home costs under control.

It takes several months to see improvement on your credit report, so it’s good to start this process immediately. The good news is, it’s pretty simple; even just buying a few things on a credit card and then paying off your bill immediately will help. Lenders give their very best rates to borrowers with high credit scores. You’ll qualify for higher loan amounts, lower interest rates, and even better rates on your private mortgage insurance with a good or excellent credit score.

The school offered only vague explanations as to why this decision has been made. Then, we ranked each neighborhood in Los Angeles, California for each of these criteria from worst to best. This neighborhood, located just north of the 105 on Compton Boulevard, is basically a one big housing project.

The downtown LA neighborhood is, well, downtown, and while many places here aren’t the worst part of LA, some of the worst parts of LA overlap downtown. Believe it or not, but an average home in Watts actually costs $354,525. In most places in America, $354,525 gets you a really nice home in a pretty decent neighborhood. In Watts, that gets you a single story, 1200 square foot dump with bullet hole patches on it. This is one of many LA areas made famous by mid 90’s hip hop gangster rappers like TuPac, Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre, who featured Watts in songs like California Love. Believe it or not, there’s actually a couple of LA neighborhoods that are actually worse than South Central, Skid Row and Watts.