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

[jwg.livejournal.com]

The part of your mortgage payment that goes for amortization isn't really an expense but an investment (yes it affects cash flow). You have tax deductions resulting from the interest and property taxes so you can deduct the value of that from your cash flow (except if you already compensated for that in your withholding calculation). These factors make comparing your percentage to what it would be if you were renting somewhat different.