A homeowner in New Jersey claims she is struggling to make ends meet with the house she purchased back last summer for $440k. Back then, she said she was making well over $150k working in sales, but since then, her industry and income have taken a major tumble. “I feel like I made a huge mistake, and I don’t know what to do,” she expressed after turning to Reddit for advice on how to solve her financial predicament.
The homeowner, Reddit user liverly, shared her worries on r/personalfinance, where she wrote that she longs to “go back to renting, but I feel like I’m running out of options and money. Hundreds did their best to encourage and offer suggestions in the comments, with many expressing that her situation has become too dire to fix without sacrifice or giving up.
Plenty of people pointed out how liverly’s sales job, which she claims is “100% commission-based,” is probably not a good fit for someone trying to maintain a $440k home. Numerous people recommended she consider renting out her property to keep things afloat until her job situation changes. “It’s not glamorous, and you’ll need to get a contract to cover you, but it might be a good short-term solution for the next year or three,” explained a commenter.
Commenters Blamed The Homeowner’s Spending and Budgeting Habits
OP mentioned how she is now “down to $20k in cash savings,” which put her spending habits into question. “They should be looking at what they were doing making over 6 figures and only have $20k saved,” remarked one Redditor. “I don’t think the issue is home ownership, I think the issue is poor financial planning and likely bad spending habits,” agreed another.
Another issue she mentioned in both this post and a 2-month-old post on r/offmychest was that she has spent thousands on repairs and maintenance for her home. That said, several commenters said that she was mistaken in relying on paying for repairs when she or her boyfriend could have found a way to fix things themselves. “Home ownership is more about prevention and maintenance, which should delay most expensive repairs,” said one person.
This New Jersey homeowner’s crisis shows how owning and maintaining a property is much different from renting and can be financially devastating if not well prepared for. Even if one’s income seemingly is enough for a home, it’s as one commenter puts it: “People are told that the big money spent is in the house itself. People are misinformed. The mortgage is nothing compared to the cost of upkeep and repairs.”
