How much income do I need to cover mtg payment?

Doable if the provided $190k is your after tax wages.

That's what, a $1,300,000 two-bedroom? Add in $24,000 or so for maintenance or CCs/taxes.

A lot of people here will say 1/3 of gross, or $260,000, but outside of Manhattan and/or pre-bubble 1/4 of gross would be more like it.

dwell, honestly, it depends on what your other expenses are. Maintenance, taxes are the start here. Do you have kids who may be going to private school? Do you have/need a car? All this stuff adds up - not asking you to post it all here, but I do think you should factor all these things in here, determine how much you're comfortable saving each month (and I'd want at least 12 months of living expenses in cash/liquid), and then do your math. I'm sure there are quick and dirty formulas, but not sure how useful they are to you at this point.

Seems like a stretch, though not a crazy one. We can take it off-line if you want to discuss in more detail.

Dwell - is your question pertaining to comfort level or what income you would need to qualify for a mortgage? If it is pertaining to a mortgage then it really depends on other monthly liabilities that appear on your credit report and taxes/maintenance (as bjw mentioned). We base qualification on a debt to income ratio amongst other things. 190k sounds doable but again it depends on what your other carrying expenses are. You can contact me if you want to get inti details. Sunny.hong@bankofamerica.com

I would say $300k pre-tax assuming you have 1500 a month in maintenance + taxes as well. This would put your housing expenses at $6000 per month after adjusting for tax benefit, insurance and upkeep of the apartment. Unless you have a lot of money saved up after downpayment (at least 24 months of your average expenses), I would not be living beyond my means. Remember higher paying jobs are riskier unless you are in a very stable profession like medicine.

I thank everyone who responded.

Reality is that $5,295 is the monthly payment on a 30 year commercial mtg of $1mil @ 4.8%. It's for a brownstone I own. My CPA is MIA & my math stinks.

I'm trying to figure out what I can comfortably afford, after tax, w/o totally wiping out my cash flow. I suppose I should figure out my personal budget & then work back from there.

I'm going to review everyone's responses & try to widdle something up.

Thank you all again!!

Oops, I meant whittle

can't spell
can't do math
but I have lovely eyebrows