$1300 a month - is it possible? (Sugar Land, Katy: apartments, rental, HOA)

[CaroleF]

I am wondering whether it would be possible to own a house (assuming either no mortgage or a very small one) and spend no more than $1300 a month including electricity, lawn cutting, insurance, tax etc. Or is this a dream like wanting a house in a safe area inside the loop with good schools etc. for under $100,000--that some people on this forum laugh at. What about a condo with an HOA added in

[ftjoe12]

What? No made service?

[crone]

If you are a first time homebuyer there are programs available through the COH, Harris county or the Feds to help you get into a home. Even after all of recent the turmoil. Find yourself an agent who is willing to become informed in these programs and make your dream a realty. There are a bunch of good agents on City Data. I can personally vouch for Cheryjohns. Am sure the others are almost as good.:-)

[CaroleF]

Originally Posted by crone

If you are a first time homebuyer there are programs available through the COH, Harris county or the Feds to help you get into a home. Even after all of recent the turmoil. Find yourself an agent who is willing to become informed in these programs and make your dream a realty. There are a bunch of good agents on City Data. I can personally vouch for Cheryjohns. Am sure the others are almost as good.:-)

Thanks Crone.

I have a good realtor. What I am trying to work out is monthly costs by asking y'all who don't live in apartments. I have been spoiled for years because of having my electricity included in my rent and not having to deal with a yard etc. My rent is very low, which explains some of the kinds of people who live here I suppose…

[houstonfan]

That's a very ambiguous question. Can you do it? Yes in theory... But what is your tax? How big is your home? WHat condition is it in and how energy efficient is it? How much are HOA's? How much grass do you have? etc, etc. Only way to know is find a house you like, plug in the variables and see.

[CaroleF]

Originally Posted by houstonfan

That's a very ambiguous question. Can you do it? Yes in theory... But what is your tax? How big is your home? WHat condition is it in and how energy efficient is it? How much are HOA's? How much grass do you have? etc, etc. Only way to know is find a house you like, plug in the variables and see.

Hmm! I see what you mean. So maybe the question is do any of you have under $1300 a month going out, including these kind of things?

[cheryjohns]

Originally Posted by CaroleF

Thanks Crone.

I have a good realtor. What I am trying to work out is monthly costs by asking y'all who don't live in apartments. I have been spoiled for years because of having my electricity included in my rent and not having to deal with a yard etc. My rent is very low, which explains some of the kinds of people who live here I suppose…

I agree - you have a good realtor that kept you from over-paying on a hi-rise unit before. You are also correct in figuring out that low rents sometimes result in questionable neighbors.

I know you posted that your apartment was broken into and quite a bit of your expensive things were stolen - and that you felt that others had been in your apartment since, possibly scoping out whether you have replaced those things, so they can hit it again. The advantage to living in your own place is you know exactly who has access.

If you had a full mortgage (and that's only available to vets and some professional groups), your mortgage, taxes and insurance will run about .9% of the home value (more or less, depending on tax rate and insurance rate). Yard crews run about $20 - $30 per time, depending on yard size. Electric varies wildly per individual.

[elnina]

It will be pretty hard to meet all your requirements:
with all that included, you are talking about $80 -90K house ( no mortgage? are you going to pay cash for it?)
Still, utility + insurance + tax + lawn is at least $500-600 , what leaves about $700-800 for the house.
Now, to find a decent condition house, in good and safe neighborhood, not very far from the city, with good schools, low taxes, etc. , well - that will be not easy....

[crbcrbrgv]

You could maybe, MAYBE pull this off in Meadows Place. You would get great schools and a commute that's a lot more tolerable than being in Sugar Land in Katy. Also, it's hard to beat Meadows for safety.

[chris_ut]

You should look at summer expenses since that is the most expensive time for bills. In the summer you need your lawn done every week so lets say you get low end guy $25 then that is already $100/month. Will you have sprinklers for the lawn? If so your talking another $100 for that water plus maybe $50 regular water. Now your at $250. Electric bill could be $180 if your frugal with a small house or much higher. Lets be conservative and go with $180 so now your at $430. Do you have a HoA, these can vary quite a bit but lets be conservative again and say $20/month, now $450. Will you have a landline phone, cable tv and internet? These can run you $180/month easy. Now your at $630. Gas is pretty low in summer so say $25 there. $655. Trash varies around but I think we pay $25/month billed quarterly plus a few dollars more for recycling but that is optional. $680, that leaves you $620 for your insurance and taxes and your potential small mortgage. Those obviously vary quite a bit. Also under this scenario you are not saving any money towards maintenance. The older the house the more money it will require to maintain. I have a 3 year old house as a residence and the only money I spend on maintenance is a yearly contract to maintain the AC and a $20 can of touch-up paint each year. I also own a 35 year old rental property and that thing eats about 1-2k per year in upkeep so budget accordingly based on the age of your potential home.