| Posted By |
Message |
NinaLemon
It's a boy!!!
Member since 10/07 6453 total posts
Name:
Jeannine
|
Cost of Living Poll
I live Upstate in Saratoga County, I love this board with all the remodeling ideas and decorating hints, but I am always suprised by the cost of homes on LI. I have been wondering, do downstate incomes really offset the housing costs? Many people up here commute to NYC (2 hour train ride) so I am thinking the salaries must not meet the housing costs.
I'm setting this up as a poll so it can be anon. but I wonder what is the ratio between your household gross income and the purchase price of your home. Our gross income is about 57% of the value of our home (I think we are pretty average up here) and I wonder if that is similar or very different from downstate.
|
Posted 1/31/08 8:35 AM  |
| |
|
MegZee
My bunny
Member since 5/06 8777 total posts
Name:
Meaghan
|
Re: Cost of Living Poll
are you dividing your annual income by the purchase price or the other way around???
|
| Posted 1/31/08 8:44 AM |
| |
|
NinaLemon
It's a boy!!!
Member since 10/07 6453 total posts
Name:
Jeannine
|
Re: Cost of Living Poll
annual income by the purchase price
ie: if your combined gross income is 10,000 and the house cost 20,000 the ratio is 50% (10k/20k x100)
|
| Posted 1/31/08 8:47 AM |
| |
|
NinaLemon
It's a boy!!!
Member since 10/07 6453 total posts
Name:
Jeannine
|
Re: Cost of Living Poll
this is interesting - it seems the ratio of house to income is pretty different.
I don't know how you guys do it, it seems unfair and like something will have to give? Is there a reason for the difference?
I see a lot of people looking for a starter home under 400k, we would never been able to afford that! -
this is 335K in my area , still a lot more than we spent.
But on the other hand you are much closer to NYC, it's a 2.5 hour drive for me.
|
| Posted 1/31/08 9:47 AM |
| |
|
Blu-ize
Plan B is Now Plan A
Member since 7/05 32475 total posts
Name:
Susan
|
Re: Cost of Living Poll
Location is everything.
|
| Posted 1/31/08 9:53 AM |
| |
|
nov04libride
big brother <3
Member since 5/05 14672 total posts
Name:
Me
|
Re: Cost of Living Poll
Posted by NinaLemon
this is interesting - it seems the ratio of house to income is pretty different.
I don't know how you guys do it, it seems unfair and like something will have to give? Is there a reason for the difference?
I see a lot of people looking for a starter home under 400k, we would never been able to afford that! -
this is 335K in my area , still a lot more than we spent.
But on the other hand you are much closer to NYC, it's a 2.5 hour drive for me.
The reason is just that Long Island is that popular...And the demand is still there, though house prices have decreased. We are looking at houses where our gross income is about 30% of the cost of the home. There are homes here in desirable areas that would be 50% of our gross income, but we are looking to spend a little more and get more room or a more updated house. We'll have no problem affording the monthly costs. I work for the state, and while I am given a slight differential for working on Long Island (I think $3000), my base salary would go much further in Buffalo or Albany. I worked in Saratoga Springs for a few years and liked it (minus the snow--MUCH more than LI!) but I was just looking at 3 bedroom houses in the Saratoga Springs school district and most were over $300,000. And to me the benefits of LI outweigh the added cost of living. However, even on LI, there are plenty of houses below $300,000...They are just in less desirable areas. Search for homes in Mastic or Shirley on mlsli.com...There are a ton under $300,000. It's just that people on here are very specific about the towns and school districts in which they want to buy. But the affordable houses do exist on LI. And to be honest, you couldn't pay me enough to move back upstate lol.
Look at this home
Or this brand new home
Message edited 1/31/2008 10:08:55 AM.
|
| Posted 1/31/08 9:56 AM |
| |
|
NinaLemon
It's a boy!!!
Member since 10/07 6453 total posts
Name:
Jeannine
|
Re: Cost of Living Poll
That is insteresting, I don't really know anything about the regions of LI, just what I have read on these boards.
I wasn't in anyway putting down LI, just noticing the difference. I understand that location is key, but that is very relative. Just as you couldn't be paid enough to move back Upstate, I think you would be very hard pressed to find people up here willing to move downstate. It is not that one place is better than another, it's just people become very attached to their regions.
The economy in my area is very strong, unemployment is around 2.5%. The town I am from has a 93% high school graduation rate, with nearly 50% of the population having a BA/BS or higher. Just as the areas of LI I have been exposed to via this website may not be the norm; I wouldn't consider Saratoga the best example of norm up here. The most desireable school districts (for families commuting to Albany) would be Shenendehowa, North Colonie, East Greenbush, Delmar with less desireable school districts being Schenectady, Troy.
|
| Posted 1/31/08 10:42 AM |
| |
|
MrsFlatbread
Skinny jeans are in my future
Member since 6/06 10258 total posts
Name:
Baby Momma
|
Re: Cost of Living Poll
But like the above poster said...location...location...location great houses...but there is a reason why they are half of what a house in most other areas of long island cost.
|
| Posted 1/31/08 10:44 AM |
| |
|
MegZee
My bunny
Member since 5/06 8777 total posts
Name:
Meaghan
|
Re: Cost of Living Poll
Posted by Blu-ize
Location is everything.
YEP!!!
|
| Posted 1/31/08 10:45 AM |
| |
|
nov04libride
big brother <3
Member since 5/05 14672 total posts
Name:
Me
|
Re: Cost of Living Poll
Posted by MrsFlatbread
But like the above poster said...location...location...location great houses...but there is a reason why they are half of what a house in most other areas of long island cost.
Oh totally. And there's a reason why homes upstate are cheaper. I can see why people reading these boards would have a skewed view of the average price of a LI house though.
|
| Posted 1/31/08 11:15 AM |
| |
|
nov04libride
big brother <3
Member since 5/05 14672 total posts
Name:
Me
|
Re: Cost of Living Poll
Posted by NinaLemon
I wasn't in anyway putting down LI, just noticing the difference. I understand that location is key, but that is very relative. Just as you couldn't be paid enough to move back Upstate, I think you would be very hard pressed to find people up here willing to move downstate.
I don't know about that...I'm from the Capital area, and my father's the only one still living there...The rest of us were quite happy moving away.  But I did really like Saratoga in the summer. I worked there for 6 years and lived in Dutchess most of my life.
I do see your point--everyone I knew from there who never lived anywhere else did usually end up staying, just like many people on LI do. I've lived a bunch of places so I think I have a pretty large frame of reference to compare, but many people feel comfortable settling wherever they grew up. And some choose to move up there from LI...It's all just about what qualities you look for in the area you want to live. It wasn't the right place for me, but I don't knock it for others.
Message edited 1/31/2008 11:21:56 AM.
|
| Posted 1/31/08 11:17 AM |
| |
|
lucyloo
nope
Member since 1/06 9758 total posts
Name:
|
Re: Cost of Living Poll
I suck at math. The cost of our house is more than double our annual income.
When my parents bought a house in 79, the house cost was equal to their annual income.
|
| Posted 1/31/08 12:06 PM |
| |
|
shiv
Twinsanity!!
Member since 5/07 4747 total posts
Name:
Shiv
|
Re: Cost of Living Poll
this isn't really a good ratio to look at, you should be calculating debt to income, as some people may have put more or less down and the total purchase price is not going to be comparable.
mortgage + tax + HO insur. monthly payments
/
monthly gross income
= debt to income ratio
|
| Posted 1/31/08 2:16 PM |
| |
|
ILJ619
LIF Adult
Member since 6/06 1985 total posts
Name:
Irene
|
Re: Cost of Living Poll
I just want to say you made me bust out my calculator!   Mine is less than 30%. I agree there are so many other factors to consider like any debt, commuting costs, shopping habits etc. I also think that for cost of living people should use their net not gross income as a better indicator of what they can truly afford.
|
| Posted 1/31/08 11:17 PM |
| |
|
NinaLemon
It's a boy!!!
Member since 10/07 6453 total posts
Name:
Jeannine
|
Re: Cost of Living Poll
Posted by ilt1221
I just want to say you made me bust out my calculator! Mine is less than 30%. I agree there are so many other factors to consider like any debt, commuting costs, shopping habits etc. I also think that for cost of living people should use their net not gross income as a better indicator of what they can truly afford.
I agree this wouldn't be a good way to determine debt ratio, and there are many other factors that can go into purchasing a house - how much you saved to put down, can make a huge difference - my father lived at home until he married at 24 and was able to put down 1/2 the purchase price of their first home in 1964  I wish! but because of that the cost of their first home was about 4 times his salary.
I was more curious if salaries were in line with the higher prices and the ratio between the two was similar. It would proably make more sense to research cenus data and find out the avg. household income and the avg. home price, but that would have been a bit more work and wouldn't start a conversation
|
| Posted 2/1/08 6:48 AM |
| |
|
sunnyplus3
:)
Member since 11/05 8749 total posts
Name:
|
Re: Cost of Living Poll
you can use truila, or zillow they have basic census type info on incomes, education levels & home values.
we bought our house in 2004 for $260,000. it is 19 years old, 5 bedrooms & 3 full baths with a full basement & average size yard, waterview, in a private lake community.
our percentage is favorable, but i have a long commute so there are other factors.
|
| Posted 2/3/08 10:16 AM |
| |
|
