What Mortgage to Salary Ratio to still live comfortably?

madmish00

Our first mortgage was 3.2x our combined income and our new mortgage when we move will be 2.1x

TrickyDicky

We got a mortgage at first that was at about 3.1x. We were very comfortable and could still persue our expensive hobby.
We soon had a payrise that took us to about 2.2x, which meant we could do up the kitchen and bathroom with cash.
We have no other loans other than the mortgage. I think its the extra's that really screw people, rather than the mortgage. with a 4x mortgage, only about 30-40% of your income should be on the mortgage, so thats 60% left over for living and fun, but as others have said 60% of 100k is a lot more than 60% of 20k.

bobthedambuilder

Looking at all the above convinces me that using a mortgage to salary ratio is a pointless exercise. You have to decide on any upgrade based on what you can afford to pay in the worst circumstances you care to envisage.

Based on previous history at least, over the long term your salary is likely to go up, so the mortgage repayments will become progressively less onerous. But we're in a historically low period for interest rates as well, so the repayments are likely to increase as well ....:o