How many kids are too many?

[quakerboy]

78. Even if you are not

What I see right now is that outside of the high price markets (NY, SF, etc) you can actually buy a house with a lower monthly payment than rent for an equivalent space. Which means if you can afford rent, you can afford a home.

That is assuming you can afford rent in the first place, and get credit to buy a home. Which is not universally true.

But, in direct contradiction to your premise, I am not lucky enough to have a job right now, and owning is helping me. A year ago I went from a 1 bedroom apartment (Lowest price single bedroom apt in a 10 mile radius when I rented it, and never raised because the owner liked us) to buying a 3 bedroom place. My total monthly costs went down, even after all utilities and services and insurance. Plus I have 2 extra bedrooms which I am considering renting out, which would be a huge help to the budget while I look for work. I had been thinking about that anyway, to help pay it off quicker, but never got around to it, because I had a job, and there was no need.

I look at nearby places that sold later for even less. If we had held off until this year, we could theoretically be making money on our residence. The most recent one to sell on my block, with the same floor plan, would actually be a net + to own, including all utilities, and internet, if you rented out 2 rooms at current market rates. You could live there and make money doing it.

In fact, Ive been trying to figure out how to do exactly that, sans the extra money. The direct neighbors place was for sale, and If I could have rented out all three bedrooms of my current home, it would have paid the mortgage and utilities for both places. It sold before I could figure out how to get the process started, though.