Supposedly your mortgage payment is only supposed to be 30% of your income. Surely that doesn't happen here in CA, right?

about 20% for me.

Shit. Really? Mine is more like 60%.

27% for me...but I live in Oakland so its wayyyyyy cheaper then the rent nonsense of san francisco

I see no point in spending more on a place if I'm not going to own it any time soon. I think it's better to save as much as possible.

I don't like commuting to SJ, but I have a job I love. I love it up here to live though.

Mine's like 25%, but it still feels like we never have any money.

and that just gets me a tiny one bedroom in the inner sunset

mine used to be 40%....but now sinse I got a roommate it should go to 20%...more shopping...

I'd have to pimp out my pooch to own a house at this point

23% - renting - SF

I rent and live alone, it's about 20%.

30% for me.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

41.656776643721813434607168288­63.... %

I live in the northern part of mission where rent is high - so about 30% for me for a flat.  My flat is w/in walking distance for places to eat and bars to hang out.  To me it is worth it since I don't have to drive to go anywhere.

oh yeah, make me feel better folks and tell me you were basing your calcs on gross income and not take-home

:( gross income - ops sorry.  I didn't clarify.

50%, if I include utilities.

30% of gross income is the standard by which government agencies define how much a standard household should spend on housing.  From there they extrapolate what the poverty line is, how to much to charge folks in subsidized housing situations, etc etc...

I hate to think about this, but 50% of my "income" (aka students loans and $ from my job as a nanny) goes toward my rent: a decent studio in a relatively shady area of the mission. Living alone became really important to me about a year ago and I love the mission...so it's somehow worth it to me!

Oh.  Mine is 20% of my net income.   Gotta love studio apartments.

oddly enough it's about 15% of my income. Probably because I have the cheapest rent in SF for a 5 bedroom. My building owner is pissed about this...oh well.

23% - renting - SF - living alone - net
16% - renting - SF - living alone - gross

I'm very proud of these numbers.  I try to keep all of my expenses as low as possible and use.  That 30% figure seems a bit high though...to be the standard.

The federal standard is 30% of your *gross* income.  Its widely acknowledged that its higher in CA- its pretty common for folks to spend 50% or more.  I'm at 17% and I work in the non-profit sector.  I have a bunch of white emo kids with tattoos to protect me from the gunfire.  I think the feds classify you as a tool if you pay anywhere close to 50% unless you got three kids with no dad and a broken back, or you actually own a piece of the golden state.

i live in the far far east bay. i own a house. principal, interest, property taxes, 28% of gross. BUT i'd like to note that i feel broke all of the time. no, not because of car payments (one car payment a month on a honda civic). very sad.

60%

Most lenders require that your housing expense not total more than 40% (or there abouts) of your total income.  A HUGE percentage of home owners in california wouldnt' be able to qualify for their mortgages if they had to rely and document their actual income.  It sucks, but it's true.  Banks do "stated income" loans for this very reason.  My own loan was a stated income loan for this very reason.

Net or Gross?

Big difference as to how many hookers I can accomidate every week

According to my Tax Attorney, of course.

gross

I think about 12% gross, renting in Fremont.  You know...I think we need a better place.

Wow... either y'all are doing very well managing your expenses or rent control is maybe working too well for renters?

I'm looking for work right now, but assuming I was working in my usual capacity and we had two incomes, we'd be looking at about 40% of our dual income to pay our mortgage.  

Our rent, before we decided to buy, was about 19% of our dual income.

30% Net
50% Gross = gross
Me living alone in a 1brdm in the city

Oh, my numbers were based on net.

I'm paid commission but in an average month my rent is probably just over 20% of gross

Nancy - Gross Income = Income before taxes.  Net Income = Imcome after taxes.  So your numbers are backwards.

Mine -

15% of Gross Income
25% of Net Income

I don't want to think about what percentage it is of net...that's a scary number.

Living in the city maybe expensive but it's hekka tight.

Only about 10%.... cheap rent!

A little under 10%.

My rent in Redwood City is 19% of my net (after 401k deductions and such). That's a 2BR duplex with yard & garage, rent split 50/50 with my BF... If I paid all the rent myself, it'd be 39%.

oh, it's supposed to be calc'd from gross? Then it's 11%.

I want to get fired

I have no ability to drive everywhere since the rat bastards broke my car.

i am a kept person so zero

11% gross - SF rent.  (Good deal on the apt, no complaints about the income either;)

100% of gross, i think i am doing something wrong

Okay on gross income then mine is more like 28% for renting a 1br for myself in the city.  

I think that ol' 30% is still too much to be spending on just housing though. Govt has used that for decades and decades, and I have to think changing kinds of costs of living has made other household expenses (like um, healthcare, transportation) more of a drain.  But then maybe if they redefined those things, more people would have to be considered "poor". HA!

25%

this is a very useful thread. bravo!

75% of my income goes to repaying student loans and rent

Why is everyone's so low? Mines like 60%

Standard underwriting guidelines call for 50% of the gross income, this can be as low as 45% or as high as 60%.  

Here is the equation:
Debt to Income (DTI) = the sum of  property taxes, interest, principal (if applicable), insurance and all the minimum payments that show up on a credit report divided by the total gross monthly income of all borrowers.

30% of my income goes to my monthly mortgage

I rent...with the income of my Bf and I, we pay 18%

i think right now my rent is about 110% of my income.

I just moved to Utah (it ain't the bad!) and now my ratio is 16% of my net income. I'm happy :)

34.4%... cheap rent and I don't make a lot of money.

yes, if i make 560k/year, i wouldn't rent, i'd buy your mom.

About 20 percent of gross, but my 1 br house's rent includes all bills (water, electric and gas)

When you calculate your net income, where do you get your tax numbers from?

bump

definitely less than 30%