What can I buy? i only make 50k/year

1) a Hyundai
2) a Vespa
3) a Schwinn
4) a great dinner at Per Se
5) this: http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/637184-36-convent-avenue-west-harlem-new-york

Goldie. There is a way of making your point without being mean-spirited

You can buy a new outfit at Zara.

and you live in NYC? may want to stick to groceries.

If you made that a month it'd be okay.

you make enough for a nice house in lucillebluths hood.

Don't listen to these mean, unhelpful comments. Look at revenue restricted coops. For $200k, you can get a 2BR provided your revenues do not exceed a certain threshold. You can do a search in streeteasy (look in the advanced search options).
Good luck!

I meant "income-restricted" coops.

hi jim!!! did you miss me?

when did the split happen between me/lucille and me/jim?

You probably can find a 1bd deep in Brooklyn, Queens or the Bronx and qualify for a 3.5% down FHA home loan...

well, *i* know i'm not you. i took physics in high school, so i know this for a fact.

I took physics in high school.

Here is what you can get for $1700/month (mortgage + cc for a 1BR in LES), assuming a 10% down-payment - and don't forget to negotiate the price down:

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/560895-condop-157-broome-street-lower-east-side-new-york

Good luck!

ZaraB
Broom st is happening.
A box to call your own in a hip hood
See you at the house warming

just save and rent. even if you buy a coop, your closing costs will be $4K. you're left with $8K down payment.

The general rule of thumb is you can afford a purchase price of 3x your gross. Without any debt whatsoever you could possibly stretch that to 3.5x your gross. That puts you at a property priced at $150K - $175K.

Unfortunately, even at 10% down (which is unwise and in many cases these days impossible), you'd need not only a minimum of $15,000 to put down, but at least another $5K for closing costs -- and any co-op board would want to see a bare minimum of $5K post-closing liquidity left in the bank (not in your 401(k)).

You need to save at least another $12,000 before you could even think of buying anything. And preferably wait until you start making more money.

Rego Park, Kew Garden & Forest Hills.

Thanks for the comments. I might wait and save more

in forest hills he can buy a renovated closet or a run down studio for that money... not an apartment

If OP is serious about buying, she should review her savings rate. How many years did it take her to save that 12K based on the 50K income?

$12,000 is barely enough to move into a rental these days: $2,000/month rent, first + last months' rent, security deposit ($6,000 total) plus commission if any (upwards of $3500) plus moving costs (at least another grand).

Take a time capsule back to the mid 1990s. Everything was priced like income restricted today. Back then you could afford to carry a studio or small one bedroom, but you would be short the deposit money. Agree that pursuing income restricted with an FHA loan today is the way to go. I recently saw a nicely renovated studio in the East Village listed. Check the listings at Core. I think Maggie Kent has it.

you can't really buy anything on your own. do you have a biological or sugar daddy who could give a chunk of change for a downpayment? and then be a guaranteur or whatever that's called when you buy? then you could buy something if your total monthly expences were really really low. but that's a lot of trouble to go through unless your wife will pretty much stay this way until you die. i don't know, like if you're single forever, don't plan to get married, have 1 kid, no plans to ever have another, something like that. if you forsee change or even would like change in your future though, don't buy anything. but if this is pretty much it, maybe it could be not horrible if you buy a pos with A LOT of help from an actually successful person (and that's not mocking, it's about my market salary at this point, too), and update it slowly and painfully until it becomes somewhat livable if you squint. i guess if this is an option and you do this, you should really focus on the neighborhood. because, you know, your apartment will be awful and you'll be spending a lot of time outside. good luck!

^oohh! you LIFE will stay this way until you die. but wife works too, doesn't it.

"Take a time capsule back to the mid 1990s."

Those were the days!!!!!!!

Studio in Kew Garden and Rego Park starts off around 120-150K.
It's in his range.

Some samples.

http://newyork.craigslist.org/que/reo/2631751064.html
http://newyork.craigslist.org/que/reb/2640391823.html

Do you qualify for Mitchell-Lama? Get yourself on a waiting list.

Look at 80/20 rental buildings. You qualify for lots of great low/moderate income housing in luxury buildings.

Maybe a parking spot or a storage bin.

A corner unit at zuccotti park.

Here's a nice one for you, ZaraB:

It's a big, 850-sf one-bedroom on a good street in an okay neighborhood in Bklyn:

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/624286-coop-811-cortelyou-road-kensington-brooklyn

It's a short sale, the ask is only $139k. This last sold for $225k in 2006. So the current asking price probably reflects a 2000-ish price.

I would go look at it myself, but it's a no-dog building. Cats are ok, though. Good luck.

"The general rule of thumb is you can afford a purchase price of 3x your gross."

That's very Old School. The general rule of thumb is 28% - 33% of gross income in PITI: Principal, Interest, Taxes, Insurance. Substitute maintenance and HOA fees where applicable.

At 4% interest, that comes out to a lot more than 3x your gross. For instance, if you make $50k, that is about $1300 a month, which could buy you a $250k mortgage + maintenance, which is FIVE TIMES your annual income.

Just saying....

You do the math, How much of your pre-tax income can you commit to housing related expenses? 25,33,50?
And with a coop/condo you have real a mortgage,estate taxes, common charges, utilities? And don't forget money for fixing up the apartment.

I'd wait and save more before buying - when do you choose to start looking, I recommend Jackson Heights, Queens. Great neighborhood, restaurants, good subways, close to LGA and JFK, nice mix of people. Lots of studios in the $100-125K range, and a few one bedrooms in the $150K range.

there are some small studios in manhattan for under $200k..

why ask a bunch of strangers., especially snarky asshole-y streeteasy ones? a financial advisor, mortgage broker or cpa would be best.

Your claim isn't that you aren't "snarky"? Come on.

wben i made 50k per year i lived in queens, but i wouldnt have asked advice on this board if i had other aspirations.

""The general rule of thumb is you can afford a purchase price of 3x your gross."

That's very Old School. The general rule of thumb is 28% - 33% of gross income in PITI: Principal, Interest, Taxes, Insurance. Substitute maintenance and HOA fees where applicable.

At 4% interest, that comes out to a lot more than 3x your gross. For instance, if you make $50k, that is about $1300 a month, which could buy you a $250k mortgage + maintenance, which is FIVE TIMES your annual income.

Just saying...."

*****

Uh huh. Might I remind you it was this "new school" of thought that got us all into this mortgage mess in the first place?

Just saying ...

"Might I remind you it was this "new school" of thought that got us all into this mortgage mess in the first place?"

Not really. The "Old School" of thought was when interest rates were twice or more what they are today. To say that has no effect is really silly.

Just saying....

"At 4% interest, that comes out to a lot more than 3x your gross. For instance, if you make $50k, that is about $1300 a month, which could buy you a $250k mortgage + maintenance, which is FIVE TIMES your annual income."

Not really. It's more like $1200/month for that $250K mortgage, plus (at rock-bottom minimum) $400/month for maintenance. Toss in at least another $100/month for insurance and you're at $1700/month, which is well beyond what someone making $50K can afford (40x $1700 = $68,000, which would be a more appropriate income for this debt load).

Rule out 157 Broome st. That building is cash-only deals.