Your Monthly Expenses of owning/renting a home or apt.

[CHAOS]

I know alot of you live on your own, i also know that there are quite a few of us who do not, and want to.... what im asking is, what are your normal monthly expenses like? lets discuss some key points for people to remember such as the "oh ****, i got fired" fund and things of that nature... personally im looking into renting/buying a house with a roommate until my gf gets out of college... so post up your thoughts and lets get some good discussion here.

[ToTheIX's]

as much as you "bitch" about not having money......id call that/discussion.......i know that sounds like im bein a dick, but you not what i mean

[Honduh]

I'm looking to do the same so this thread should be really good for some of us trying to get away from home.

[ToTheIX's]

but to answer your original ?.....i pay about 2200 a month or so myself

[CHAOS]

Originally Posted by ToTheIX's

as much as you "bitch" about not having money......id call that/discussion.......i know that sounds like im bein a dick, but you not what i mean

oh i completely understand dustin, im not quite ready, but im trying to get there, and i think that i need to have a good understanding of what its going to take before i even try finding somewhere...

[CHAOS]

Originally Posted by ToTheIX's

but to answer your original ?.....i pay about 2200 a month or so myself

can you explain that a bit more, like is that split up between you and your girl and roommate(s)? or is that just you? what is included in that total?

[grimm]

Well I'll start it off. I rent a condo in yardley with a buddy. Rent is $1350 a month, that includes cable, and condo association fees. Utilities run us about $200 a month, gas, electric, water... Then there is trash and sewage.

The rent is high and about what a mortagage would be on a small house in a neighboring town (mo'ville) but with a house you also have the wonderful property tax, home owners insurance, and well you need a stash set aside for when something breaks, cause there is no landlord that will magically fix it for free.

I've been renting at various places for well over 5 years now, but I'm hoping that some time next year My GF and I will buy a condo, or a small house.

My GF on the other hand rents a tiny little apt in yardley, it's a privately owned building, and she pays $500 in rent, and it includes water and cable. She has electric heat, and in the winter her electric bill was over $100, which is crazy for the size of her place. So thats one thing to definitely stay away from. Electric heat is the least efficent and most costly. But anyway, my GF's landlord is also horrible. It takes her forever for her to get anything fixed when it needs it and the landlord always gives her a hard time about it... It's kind of a shady situation.

Hope that helps...

[BradC]

Hmmm...about $1400 including groceries, cable, etc for a 1br apt

[ToTheIX's]

Originally Posted by CHAOS

can you explain that a bit more, like is that split up between you and your girl and roommate(s)? or is that just you? what is included in that total?

thats just me and my crap figure 620 for the car, 140 for insurance, 800 for half the rent, 150 for cable/internet, 80 for my cell, 250 or a little more for the 4wheeler, the rest is just random crap, credit cards etc......and thats not even counting the 22k or so the wedding is gonna cost

[tjf]

http://www.dinkytown.net/mortgage.html (just some mortgage caculators if you want to use them)

Let me start off by saying this isnt exactly easy, becasue mortgages are pretty expensive now a days. My biggest issue is that my GF refuses to live in Philly anymore, and the property taxes in NJ are friggin rediculous, some of the houses we looked at were about $8k a year so dont forget about the property taxes. Also watch association fees in townhomes too, i didnt know they had them until i started house shopping.

The way i figured it id have a $2,000 a month mortgage and then about $1500 more in bills a month when i actually move. Not to mention you need all kinds of appilances and furniture that gets expensive too.

[gpzjack]

Im selling my house right now..its been pretty good to me. I bought it years ago...my mortgage with taxes is only $760 a month. The house im looking at is over $1600 a month. Starting out just trying to get out there your best bet is probably to find a decent roomate.

[redline]

2 Bedroom Apt - $1000
Comcast - $144.00
PSEG - $100-200
Having money left over for Beer - Priceless!

[willthethrill]

Don't even waste your time renting, you are just throwing your money away. At the least buy a small condo.

[Broken5hift]

i suggest you rent before you buy.

i pay $1400 a month for my place (it includes water)
-electric (AC/tons of crap plugged in) $100 monthly
-comcast $145 monthly
-Gas $80 monthly
-Food shopping is like $100-200 a month (****s mad expensive)
-car payment
-home owners insurance
-car insurance


you gotta factor them all in. you should be looking to pay at least $400 over your rent monthly

[Broken5hift]

Originally Posted by willthethrill

Don't even waste your time renting, you are just throwing your money away. At the least buy a small condo.

no offense but thats retarded. had i bought a condo first id of been ****ed.

you have to know what expenses are before you put yourself in a mortgage, let alone anything that needs to be repaired is on you and if you have asshole neighbors your ****ed.

if you cant afford a townhome dont waste your money on a condo

[CHAOS]

this is good stuff so far guys, im sure there are alot of people who this will help

[TripleBlack9SE]

Real quick without giving this too much thought:

- mortgage = 1700 or so...
- cable/internet = 100
- water/electric = 120~
- HOA fee = 60
- cleaning lady = 65
- food/misc. = 150~
- taxes = too much to talk about
- insurance =
- Other stuff im forgetting = 100-200

i know this isnt rocket science here but it just gives you an idea of how things add up quickly.

[JET02WRX]

Athough a broad question given the property cost and/or rental rates around the tristate area, heres mine. Our monthly expenses for living where we do now, are about 4000/ month.
While I agree property taxes can make or break your budget, I wouldn't worry too much about the cost of home owners insurance. Its WAY cheaper than car insurance. My home owners insurance for our house is 740/ year... Where as the car insurance is 1300 a year. If 60 bucks could make or break your budget... my advice is stay put where ever you are. Its not fun to live on the brink. I've done it and it sucks.

The benefits of owning a home imho by far outweigh the negatives... a garage being number one if you are a car guy!

Definately pay yourself first. Meaning, put money into at least a simple savings account every month. Rule of thumb is you should have about 3 months of living expenses saved, in the event of injury, job loss, etc..etc...

[JET02WRX]

Originally Posted by Broken5hift

no offense but thats retarded. had i bought a condo first id of been ****ed.

you have to know what expenses are before you put yourself in a mortgage, let alone anything that needs to be repaired is on you and if you have asshole neighbors your ****ed.

if you cant afford a townhome dont waste your money on a condo

I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that bro... Most property regardless of condo/townhome/single home, will gain value unless its just totally in a crack neighborhood... obviously single homes gain the most, but I've had friends that have owned condos and made profit when selling them to upgrade to a bigger living space. And single homes? Forget about it. The first house I owned, had it for 3 years... when we sold it we made 65,000 in profit. You can't beat an investment like that!

[willthethrill]

Originally Posted by Broken5hift

no offense but thats retarded. had i bought a condo first id of been ****ed.

you have to know what expenses are before you put yourself in a mortgage, let alone anything that needs to be repaired is on you and if you have asshole neighbors your ****ed.

if you cant afford a townhome dont waste your money on a condo

how much money did you make when you sold your apartment ..ooh never mind