Affordable Homes

Published by julia | Filed under Buyer / Seller Tips, Market Trends, Miscellaneous, Real Estate

Affordable housing works out from a simple equation. Affordable housing should not exceed around thirty percent of a family’s monthly income to pay rent and utilities. For owning a home, the costs for utilities, taxes, mortgage, and insurance should not exceed 38 percent of the gross monthly income. These percentages can define affordable housing for any person at any income level.

An issue that potential renters and homeowners face is the affordability of housing in the area that they would like to live. The affordability of a specific area is based on the available housing in the area as well as the incomes of the population in that area.

There are affordable housing programs available to the general public, although most of them are targeted for low to very low income families and individuals. To qualify as low income, the individual or family must earn less than eighty percent of the area’s median income. To qualify as very low income, the family or individual must make fifty percent of less of the area’s median income.

Many factors work into finding affordable housing. The areas in which affordable housing exists can change with a matter of a few variables. Some of these issues that can change an affordable housing area are hard costs for land and construction, a close proximity to recreation and entertainment, and a natural environment. All of these qualities of an area will make the town or city more inviting, but it will decrease the instances of affordable housing in the area. Other factors that do not have to do with aesthetics are mortgage interest rates and development fees.

Affordable housing is an important concept because everyone deserves a chance to have affordable housing. It is easier to be able to live within your means and still be able to rent or own a home that suits the family or individual’s needs.

Julia Vakulenko is a licensed broker associate with Tampa4U.com Realty. She has one of the hardest working Tampa Real Estate team in Florida specializing in Westchase Real Estate and also in2Va Team for Northern Virginia Real Estate.