Live Here, Live Comfy

Let’s talk about home. What is home? Yeah, that place we go for Christmas, where the memories of Birthday parties, broken arms, and broken hearts bring back thoughts of mom’s homemade soup and childhood dreams-nightmares…whichever suits you…flood back like a wave rushing the beach. But we are all grown-up now. Well, some of us. And it’s time to start thinking about our own home, our children’s memories of “home”. And that brings about some serious questions. Like, what the hell can I afford??

If it feels like you can only afford a box on the corner of 10th, under the bridge with Fred, fear not my friend. You live in Idaho. Anything is possible. Why do you think hundreds..eh em….thousands, of people are moving here?? The answer….Idaho’s affordability. Let’s take a quick glimpse at that.

The average Idahoan annual income as of the 2016 US Census Bureau (https://www.census.gov/econ/) stats is around $49,174. That is an individual, at home buyer age-for this blog, between 24 and 44 years old. With that said, if you are younger, props to you. Older? Well, thank heavens, you made it out of your moms basement.

Now, how much should you be spending to keep a roof over your head? A lender will tell you exactly what you can afford when you are ready, but for all intents and purposes, cost of the roof over your head should be 30% of what you make monthly. So, let’s say you make around the Idaho median-$49,174. That is about $4,097 a month. 30% of that is $1,229 a month to be spending on your home…significantly more than a box, but a lot more comfortable.

If you are renting, or looking to rent, you probably know that you need to come up with some cash to throw down. It isn’t tax return season, and few of you have a couple G’s to throw down on someone else’s retirement fund. AKA: a rental. If you are putting down first months rent, last months rent, a cleaning deposit, a pet deposit, and most likely scraping your funds to cough up rental application fees to even get in…$$$$….you are flushing your money. With no money down, and just a little planning, you can begin that memory making journey on your own. And make a great investment for yourself along the way.