New-York tribune., 1922-07-09
Can $500 House be Bought
On Weekly Salary of $48 4?
Young Woman Ab1u, @ to. to Marry, NJ Asks Tribune
Ig,u Readers to Assist Her Out of Dilemma; Wants
O,,n Home, but Fears Income Is insufficient

?. the Real bstaVe
In, a,'T ~. rr,bun. or some one Of its
Nn' .S.,. assist ne out Of guam
s.ny readers rSr n"r. oos',s than three months
t,ly ~. .0' asbstins with my hance the
...S,li,y s.,s TsIp Of buying home as soon '
'd'l'sV'n'' ' .r. married. which will be this
" We ''v ". s,r. saved $1,000 and my
r'n'n, -, is at present about $4s
s'nes' : ,.'. !, approximately s2,5OO year.
80, 80. = !. nind a house tina: can be
! nave = so- $500 on an initial pay.
rurehasee "a "a This would be half Of
rent Of The other $500 in the
,srs ssn.S he sufficient TO purchase
sns =, furniture we would need ,,, ior
w w ..t married. ] am willing to
~ lot Of household taings Tor
isles0 ~ A home, for the stories |
;ns s~n ,..S IN your paper about high
ssve w. ~. convinced me that every
ftn'aIS ro.sibly can should own his
sne va" 7, 4 my plan TO lose no time in
ho'ae. home. paying on II waht /
gsu,ns ,s to Give 70 a landlord for
voalo -,nndstiens that beggar descrip-
ten. nth me that n
,,-s Of our own is what we want anu
80 .very effort should be made 70 ac-
~. one. even though we would nave
~.Se bic personal sacrifices to get
pr, ne saws that his income is not
-. enough 10 buy a $500 home on
.ss,,sll payrent We would be able to
~ He saws that the interest pay
.-srt Of $3.50 is too big a price 10 pay
-, for what he terms pride. lnteIes'
Ia ,ax charges, repairs, fuel hills,
,i,..rje. gas and other service charges
voca deplete his income so mueh that
"a would not be able 70 enjoy the mere
r,e,ssaries Of life, he says.
We have figured and figured with
~, ,ssult that he says his income war
.,tf A house Of not more than S5'OOO
80, and ! maintain that $1,000 house
4 well within our means. 9,
n is possible that / have overlooked
,.~s items In estimating the cost OF
~, house. but ! am sure that have
,.,ipded all the important expenses,
81 nerhaps have been liberal in my
appropriations. A..
VI figure the interest on the mort,
,yss' which would total $1,000, would
kst 6 per cent s420. Ten per cent Of
,ke Indebtedness would have TO be paid
neh year. which would make our bill
for this item 500 the first year and
less each year thereafter. | consider
1900 would meet all taxes, charges,
fuel and etc. Ten dollars a week for
two would be enough / think for the
table and $500 a year would give US
al the clothing we would want. The
total Of these items is $1,000, which
would leave Sl06 for amusements,
recreation and reading. I think my
reckoning Is accurate and clearly shows
that q $500 house is we'll within our
means.
Ny fanee ridicules my figuring. lie
says that figure too closely and that
have overlooked exigencies, whatever
they may be. He says that IL would
be better, OF rather safer, for US to
buy aS5,0O0 house. In my way of rea-
soning, such a house is poor invest
mert, for il is worth not more than
half that figure. The house that !
think we should buy is much more Of
& house. has better prospects of being
disposed of later and really is worth
much more than the difference between
the two prices would indicate.
Though my letter may indicate con.
idence, | am not really sure Of myself
TIC figures tell me one thing and my
tonscience suggests another. / some
times think il is not caution but lack
oi courage TO 60 through with my plan
for people who have saved a little by
,areful living naturally hesitate when
It comes TO spending this money.
cannot explain this feeling. One min
ute we are for going right ahead with
the plan. The next minute we have
changed and question the steps con-
emplated. Since this thing has de-
veloped in a state Of mental torture,
will YOU relieve us by encouraging or
our plan TO buy a house,
wEether $4,000 or $500. on an income
Of i4S q week and a saving fund Of
$1,000?
The "own your home" campaign con-
ducted by The Tribune has given you
q fund Of information on this point.
Some Of your readers who have bought
homes on incomes no greater than ours
perhaps would be good enough to ad-
ule US one way or the other.
July /, 1922. A. L. K.