Sure do! Been living in Alabama for almost 20 years at this point. Grew up in Minnesota. While I appreciate how slammed your profession is right now, you’re not really having an much of an effect on the market just yet. And none at all at the lower end of the market. I have seen a lot of really nice builds at price points I can’t afford though.
The mediam household income in Alabama is $54,943 and the median individual income is $30,458 according to the US Census Bureau. My wife and I combined make roughly $110k with myself making $70k. My wife is a mental health therapist with a master’s degree and I drive a truck. We’re lucky, but a lot of folks ain’t.
Growing up I was told, when your buying a house, your budget should be no more 2 times 1 persons (the husband’s) salary. Back in 2005 Dave Ramsey said no more than 4 times the household income. I did a bit of digging using both guides to see just what folks could afford in our local property market right now at the most common wages in the area, and the pickings are pretty slim until you get to the wages common for skilled trades. Given how frequently my wife, or I have been out of work, I decided use only a single income in my searches.
Sure do! Been living in Alabama for almost 20 years at this point. Grew up in Minnesota. While I appreciate how slammed your profession is right now, you’re not really having an much of an effect on the market just yet. And none at all at the lower end of the market. I have seen a lot of really nice builds at price points I can’t afford though.
The mediam household income in Alabama is $54,943 and the median individual income is $30,458 according to the US Census Bureau. My wife and I combined make roughly $110k with myself making $70k. My wife is a mental health therapist with a master’s degree and I drive a truck. We’re lucky, but a lot of folks ain’t.
Growing up I was told, when your buying a house, your budget should be no more 2 times 1 persons (the husband’s) salary. Back in 2005 Dave Ramsey said no more than 4 times the household income. I did a bit of digging using both guides to see just what folks could afford in our local property market right now at the most common wages in the area, and the pickings are pretty slim until you get to the wages common for skilled trades. Given how frequently my wife, or I have been out of work, I decided use only a single income in my searches.
Here’s a paste dump of what I found:
$7.50/hr @ 40hr/Wk = $15,600/yr
X2 Gross = $31,200 https://www.zillow.com/tuscaloosa-al/?searchQueryState={"pagination"%3A{}%2C"isMapVisible"%3Afalse%2C"mapBounds"%3A{"west"%3A-87.703283%2C"east"%3A-87.366123%2C"south"%3A33.028236%2C"north"%3A33.454732}%2C"usersSearchTerm"%3A"45404"%2C"regionSelection"%3A[{"regionId"%3A14208%2C"regionType"%3A6}]%2C"filterState"%3A{"sort"%3A{"value"%3A"days"}%2C"price"%3A{"min"%3Anull%2C"max"%3A31200}%2C"mp"%3A{"min"%3Anull%2C"max"%3A166}%2C"ah"%3A{"value"%3Atrue}}%2C"isListVisible"%3Atrue}
X4 gross = $62,400 https://www.zillow.com/tuscaloosa-al/?searchQueryState={"pagination"%3A{}%2C"isMapVisible"%3Afalse%2C"mapBounds"%3A{"west"%3A-87.703283%2C"east"%3A-87.366123%2C"south"%3A33.028236%2C"north"%3A33.454732}%2C"usersSearchTerm"%3A"45404"%2C"regionSelection"%3A[{"regionId"%3A14208%2C"regionType"%3A6}]%2C"filterState"%3A{"sort"%3A{"value"%3A"days"}%2C"price"%3A{"min"%3Anull%2C"max"%3A62400}%2C"mp"%3A{"min"%3Anull%2C"max"%3A333}%2C"ah"%3A{"value"%3Atrue}}%2C"isListVisible"%3Atrue}
$16.00/hr @40hr/wk = $33,280/yr
x2 gross = $66,560 https://www.zillow.com/tuscaloosa-al/?searchQueryState={"pagination"%3A{}%2C"isMapVisible"%3Afalse%2C"mapBounds"%3A{"west"%3A-87.703283%2C"east"%3A-87.366123%2C"south"%3A33.028236%2C"north"%3A33.454732}%2C"usersSearchTerm"%3A"45404"%2C"regionSelection"%3A[{"regionId"%3A14208%2C"regionType"%3A6}]%2C"filterState"%3A{"sort"%3A{"value"%3A"days"}%2C"price"%3A{"min"%3Anull%2C"max"%3A66560}%2C"mp"%3A{"min"%3Anull%2C"max"%3A355}%2C"ah"%3A{"value"%3Atrue}}%2C"isListVisible"%3Atrue}
x4 gross = $133,120 https://www.zillow.com/tuscaloosa-al/?searchQueryState={"pagination"%3A{}%2C"isMapVisible"%3Afalse%2C"mapBounds"%3A{"west"%3A-87.703283%2C"east"%3A-87.366123%2C"south"%3A33.028236%2C"north"%3A33.454732}%2C"usersSearchTerm"%3A"45404"%2C"regionSelection"%3A[{"regionId"%3A14208%2C"regionType"%3A6}]%2C"filterState"%3A{"sort"%3A{"value"%3A"days"}%2C"price"%3A{"min"%3Anull%2C"max"%3A133120}%2C"mp"%3A{"min"%3Anull%2C"max"%3A710}%2C"ah"%3A{"value"%3Atrue}}%2C"isListVisible"%3Atrue}
$22.00/hr @ 40hr/Wk = $45,760/yr
x2 gross = $91,520 https://www.zillow.com/tuscaloosa-al/?searchQueryState={"pagination"%3A{}%2C"isMapVisible"%3Afalse%2C"mapBounds"%3A{"west"%3A-87.703283%2C"east"%3A-87.366123%2C"south"%3A33.028236%2C"north"%3A33.454732}%2C"usersSearchTerm"%3A"45404"%2C"regionSelection"%3A[{"regionId"%3A14208%2C"regionType"%3A6}]%2C"filterState"%3A{"sort"%3A{"value"%3A"days"}%2C"price"%3A{"min"%3Anull%2C"max"%3A91520}%2C"mp"%3A{"min"%3Anull%2C"max"%3A488}%2C"ah"%3A{"value"%3Atrue}}%2C"isListVisible"%3Atrue}
x4 gross = $183,040 https://www.zillow.com/tuscaloosa-al/?searchQueryState={"pagination"%3A{}%2C"isMapVisible"%3Afalse%2C"mapBounds"%3A{"west"%3A-87.703283%2C"east"%3A-87.366123%2C"south"%3A33.028236%2C"north"%3A33.454732}%2C"usersSearchTerm"%3A"45404"%2C"regionSelection"%3A[{"regionId"%3A14208%2C"regionType"%3A6}]%2C"filterState"%3A{"sort"%3A{"value"%3A"days"}%2C"price"%3A{"min"%3Anull%2C"max"%3A183040}%2C"mp"%3A{"min"%3Anull%2C"max"%3A975}%2C"ah"%3A{"value"%3Atrue}}%2C"isListVisible"%3Atrue}