I'm trying to calculate my exact after-tax income if I buy a house, to determine if I'll be house poor. To do so, I need to fully calculate my mortgage payment and tax/insurance, income tax, and the relevant tax deductions (SALT and Mortgage Interest). For the following slightly fictionalized numbers, could a kind soul help confirm whether I'm running the numbers correctly?

    Income: 161000 per year, federal marginal tax rate is 24%

    Property: 880000

    Loan amount: 665000, 30 years

    Interest rate: 5% (yes that's actually the rate I can get, I feel pretty lucky)

    Mortgage monthly payment: $3571

    Property Tax: 920/month

    Insurance: 180/month

    Total monthly payment: $4664

    At my income, state tax for the year is roughly $10600.

    So for SALT deduction I can deduct 10600+920*12 = 21640 (under SALT cap of $40000 now).

    In my first year, the interest part of my mortgage payment is roughly $33000.

    So for federal tax, compared to a single person standard deduction of $15800, I save (21640+33000-15800)*0.24 = 9321 for the first year?

    For my state tax in California, I have a marginal tax rate of 9.3%, so compared to a standard deduction of 5540, I save (33000-5540)*0.093 = $2553? Since only mortgage interest gets deducted?

    So my effective monthly payment, for the first year of home ownership is $4664-(9321+2553)/12 = $3674? That is, using my current salary and relative to my current (before house-buying) post-tax income.

    Is all this (roughly) correct?

    Help me verify my calculations?
    byu/mahlerization inRealEstate



    Posted by mahlerization

    1 Comment

    1. OperationAfter9695 on

      Your math looks solid overall but there’s one thing – California also allows SALT deductions on state returns, so you should be able to deduct the full 21640 (property tax + state income tax) on your CA return too, not just the mortgage interest

      So it’d be (21640+33000-5540)*0.093 = about $4566 in CA tax savings instead of $2553, bringing your effective monthly down to around $3507

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