5 ms·

Especially when rent for young people is around one third to one half of their income (I would know, it's about 1/3 of mine). Would take me about 6-8 years to s

by fratlas 10y ago

Especially when rent for young people is around one third to one half of their income (I would know, it's about 1/3 of mine). Would take me about 6-8 years to save for a deposit on an older apartment.

sanswork 10y ago
If your rent is 30-50% of your income you are living in too expensive of an area for your means or need more housemates.
- shakna 10y ago
  I've found that 30-50% of income being used for rent is fairly normal, regardless of where you might be living.
- Gargoyle 10y ago
  It's also the market rate in the affected cities. You begin to see the nature of the problem.
  - sanswork 10y ago
    I've lived in 2 of the affected cities. When I was making less I had housemates to bring the rental costs down(Sydney) or lived outside the city and commuted(Toronto). Both would work for either city and allow you to not have to spend 30-50% of your income on rent.
    - Gargoyle 10y ago
      The existence of ways to work around a problem doesn't mean there isn't an actual problem.
      - sanswork 10y ago
        I don't consider high demand locations having high cost a problem personally. But if you want to live in a high demand area and you don't make enough money there are ways to do it without spending excessively on rent.
    - barrkel 10y ago
      Don't underestimate the costs of living outside a city and commuting. Not just the opportunity cost of lack of socializing, but commuting measurably decreases people's happiness, quite apart from how much time it takes. It's also not morally wrong to pay more for accommodation that suits your lifestyle better.
      - sanswork 10y ago
        I've not said it is morally wrong. Though I think it is wrong to complain about the costs of high demand areas if you're not willing to take actions to decrease those costs.
- barrkel 10y ago
  30 to 50% of a high take-home actually leaves you with quite a lot of disposable income. 30 to 50% of a low take-home is probably unsustainable. Not all costs are directly proportional to housing costs in a housing bubble. Particularly for younger people, it makes a lot of sense to suffer the higher proportion on rent. Quality of life is much higher living centrally, and income will probably grow, while rents are usually a bit sticky.
  - sanswork 10y ago
    I gave an option for lowering cost and living centrally too. Housemates.
- fratlas 10y ago
  I live with two other housemates, in one of the cheaper, older apartments in the area. I chose it because it's only one bus away from my work/uni, where a cheaper location (much further away) was only $30 a week cheaper, and saving 2 hours a day of commuting is worth $6 a day to me. I see other commenters saying 30-50% isn't that bad, but that's not taking Sydney's high cost of living into account.
  - sanswork 10y ago
    What area are you in now and what area were you looking at because your experience really doesn't match up with mine of living in Sydney.
    - fratlas 10y ago
      The east (think Kensingington/Kingsford), was in the south last year.
      - sanswork 10y ago
        What about somewhere like Ultimo/Glebe surely they would have housing >$30/week cheaper than your area? And be ~20 minutes commute time. When I lived in Ultimo my rent at both places was less than half what it was for my places in Bondi or Clovelly.
      - fratlas 10y ago
        What price range? Mine's around 250, but I haven't checked the innerwest. I mostly like the east because it's close(ish) to the beach and a lot of my uni friends stayed in the east. I could never justify Bondi or even clov, too much money, and the culture is too far up it's own a@@. Coogee is liveable though.
        sanswork 10y ago
        I was paying ~$100/week for a 3 share in something called Dalgety Square in Ultimo which was a really nice building. That was close to a decade ago now though but I'd be surprised if it had more than doubled but even if it had it was one of the nicer options in the area so I'm sure there is a lot for less. Understandable on wanting to stay east. Once I moved east I didn't want to go back but there are definitely options available if you do. Though I did end up moving to Yamba this year for more space for my money.
- radicaledward 10y ago
  If your rent is more than 30% of your income and you are between the ages of 25 and 34, you are normal (46% of the renting population). Even at above 50% your rent to income ratio is still fairly common (23%). Having a rent to income ratio above 30% is also correlated with having an income that is very low [1]. If you are at 30%, you are also meeting one of the most common recommendations in personal finance (regardless of whether that recommendation is _good_ or not). It seems obvious to me that recommendations of either moving or finding additional housemates both can have significant short and long term negative impacts on financial stability, emotional, and physical health (I didn't bother looking for a source for this because this is hacker news not a dissertation). 1. https://www.earnest.com/blog/rent-and-the-30-percent-rule/ https://www.earnest.com/blog/rent-and-the-30-percent-rule/ which cites http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/jchs.harvard.edu/files/jchs-sonhr-2015-full.pdf http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/jchs.harvard.edu/files/jch...
  - sanswork 10y ago
    I didn't say it was uncommon I said it was too much. I would think the feeling that you're never getting ahead will have a more negative mental health cost than a housemate ever will.

by fratlas 10y ago

sanswork 10y ago

If your rent is 30-50% of your income you are living in too expensive of an area for your means or need more housemates.

shakna 10y ago
I've found that 30-50% of income being used for rent is fairly normal, regardless of where you might be living.
Gargoyle 10y ago
It's also the market rate in the affected cities. You begin to see the nature of the problem.
- sanswork 10y ago
  I've lived in 2 of the affected cities. When I was making less I had housemates to bring the rental costs down(Sydney) or lived outside the city and commuted(Toronto). Both would work for either city and allow you to not have to spend 30-50% of your income on rent.
  - Gargoyle 10y ago
    The existence of ways to work around a problem doesn't mean there isn't an actual problem.
    - sanswork 10y ago
      I don't consider high demand locations having high cost a problem personally. But if you want to live in a high demand area and you don't make enough money there are ways to do it without spending excessively on rent.
  - barrkel 10y ago
    Don't underestimate the costs of living outside a city and commuting. Not just the opportunity cost of lack of socializing, but commuting measurably decreases people's happiness, quite apart from how much time it takes. It's also not morally wrong to pay more for accommodation that suits your lifestyle better.
    - sanswork 10y ago
      I've not said it is morally wrong. Though I think it is wrong to complain about the costs of high demand areas if you're not willing to take actions to decrease those costs.
barrkel 10y ago
30 to 50% of a high take-home actually leaves you with quite a lot of disposable income. 30 to 50% of a low take-home is probably unsustainable. Not all costs are directly proportional to housing costs in a housing bubble. Particularly for younger people, it makes a lot of sense to suffer the higher proportion on rent. Quality of life is much higher living centrally, and income will probably grow, while rents are usually a bit sticky.
- sanswork 10y ago
  I gave an option for lowering cost and living centrally too. Housemates.
fratlas 10y ago
I live with two other housemates, in one of the cheaper, older apartments in the area. I chose it because it's only one bus away from my work/uni, where a cheaper location (much further away) was only $30 a week cheaper, and saving 2 hours a day of commuting is worth $6 a day to me. I see other commenters saying 30-50% isn't that bad, but that's not taking Sydney's high cost of living into account.
- sanswork 10y ago
  What area are you in now and what area were you looking at because your experience really doesn't match up with mine of living in Sydney.
  - fratlas 10y ago
    The east (think Kensingington/Kingsford), was in the south last year.
    - sanswork 10y ago
      What about somewhere like Ultimo/Glebe surely they would have housing >$30/week cheaper than your area? And be ~20 minutes commute time. When I lived in Ultimo my rent at both places was less than half what it was for my places in Bondi or Clovelly.
    - fratlas 10y ago
      What price range? Mine's around 250, but I haven't checked the innerwest. I mostly like the east because it's close(ish) to the beach and a lot of my uni friends stayed in the east. I could never justify Bondi or even clov, too much money, and the culture is too far up it's own a@@. Coogee is liveable though.
      - sanswork 10y ago
        I was paying ~$100/week for a 3 share in something called Dalgety Square in Ultimo which was a really nice building. That was close to a decade ago now though but I'd be surprised if it had more than doubled but even if it had it was one of the nicer options in the area so I'm sure there is a lot for less. Understandable on wanting to stay east. Once I moved east I didn't want to go back but there are definitely options available if you do. Though I did end up moving to Yamba this year for more space for my money.
radicaledward 10y ago
If your rent is more than 30% of your income and you are between the ages of 25 and 34, you are normal (46% of the renting population). Even at above 50% your rent to income ratio is still fairly common (23%). Having a rent to income ratio above 30% is also correlated with having an income that is very low [1]. If you are at 30%, you are also meeting one of the most common recommendations in personal finance (regardless of whether that recommendation is _good_ or not). It seems obvious to me that recommendations of either moving or finding additional housemates both can have significant short and long term negative impacts on financial stability, emotional, and physical health (I didn't bother looking for a source for this because this is hacker news not a dissertation). 1. https://www.earnest.com/blog/rent-and-the-30-percent-rule/ https://www.earnest.com/blog/rent-and-the-30-percent-rule/ which cites http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/jchs.harvard.edu/files/jchs-sonhr-2015-full.pdf http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/jchs.harvard.edu/files/jch...
- sanswork 10y ago
  I didn't say it was uncommon I said it was too much. I would think the feeling that you're never getting ahead will have a more negative mental health cost than a housemate ever will.