the cost of living

[topaz]

As I fill out mortgage applications for moving in to Mosaic Commons I can't help but do the math and see that the cost of our mortgage, condo fees, and property taxes adds up to about 40% of my net take-home pay, without even taking heating costs into account. This seems really high to me but maybe I don't have much to compare it to.

[Poll #1363745]

Comments

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

Not taking it into account - I, um, didn't know it existed.

[insert sheepish grin here]

Lots of stuff I am learning about for the first time, having gone about this homeownership thing all bass-ackwards.

[harimad.livejournal.com]

In which case, does MA have a homestead deduction? That's a break you get when the house in question is the primary residence of a state citizen.

Also some states have a limit to how much property taxes can increase each year, find out if MA has one, what it is, and then check each year that they haven't goofed. There are exceptions to the limit, such as when the house changes hands or major improvements.

Finally, when your first Mosaic tax bill arrives, make sure the premeses are correct: square footage, type of home, # bathrooms, whatever it is the state uses to calculate valuation for tax purposes. Given this is Mosaic, perhaps have everyone do it together and make sure similar homes are valued similarly.

[reesei.livejournal.com]

There will be all sorts of fun things to look into then!

Mortgage deduction does all sorts of weird things to the calculations. For example, when determining which loan to apply extra to each month, the effective rate of your mortgage can be reduced by your income bracket - this often means a car loan, for example, is a better loan to pay off first even if the face-value interest rate is higher.

If you will have a dedicated home office, you can look into deductions for that as well. There are some rumors the rules on those will get easier under Obama because of his support for small business - currently home office rules are very strict.