Who can afford 800K-1M homes? Genuine Curiosity!

[Anonymous]

People who save a ton of money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I'm at home with a baby now, and since I will probably be home more if we have a #2 or working part-time, we want to be more conservative about home price. What I can't figure out is who is buying the 900K places in Capital Hill?

Who can afford $1 million? The short answer is, two-earner couples where one parent does not quit working to stay with the baby. Harsh truth.

-- a SAHM, kicking around in a veritable ghost town up here in NW DC, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m, Mon - Fri

my husband and I both work, make a combines gross income of $185K and can not afford an $800-1mil home
have 1 child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We started with two incomes, a little down payment and a little condo. Recently sold (with some nice appreciation) and moved into something in the 600k range. Once we get it fixed up, the house should easily be work $100k more, plus there's appreciation and the gradual paydown of our mortgage. Should we ever move again, I can see us getting something in the range you're curious about.

No one deserves their "forever" house right off the bat. Most of us (well, those who live in the real world unsupported by trust funds or six-figure bonuses) have paid our dues with smaller, crappier, compromise-filled housing and now we have the building blocks in place to enjoy more options.

I this is all great if you bought back in late 90's early 2000's. Truth is in the current market it is going to be a a VERY long time before people will make this kind of return on a property. Or even enough of a return to allow them to trade up.

[Anonymous]

I know a ton of youngish (35-45) families buying $1m homes in NW.

[Anonymous]

Lawyers. I am SAHM, my DH makes 285k. Years of saving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know a ton of youngish (35-45) families buying $1m homes in NW.

I wouldn't consider that youngish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a ton of youngish (35-45) families buying $1m homes in NW.

I wouldn't consider that youngish.

A 35yr old buying a million dollar home is very youngish.

[Anonymous]

1) Big Law
2) Inheritance/family help
3) Bought before and sold at profit before market crash
4) Two high-GS earners, public school
5) High-earners, kids out of daycare/nanny care

[Anonymous]

Most of my 30-something friends do not live in $1M+ homes. Most have graduate degrees and are financially conservative, living in homes that range from $600K-$800K; but I have little doubt that in 10 years, they could move to more expensive homes.

I've noticed at our children's private school that the families that live in $1M+ homes often have older parents in their mid-40s and older. I try not to feel inadequate and remind myself that in 10 years, we may have moved on from our small home to a larger one. But, there's still a part of me that really likes our cozy, small-environmental-footprint home.

Also, there are many families that buy these homes, but have mortgaged themselves to the hilt. We were technically allowed to borrow $250K MORE than what we spent, but because we are financially conservative, bought far less house than we could have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a ton of youngish (35-45) families buying $1m homes in NW.

I wouldn't consider that youngish.

A 35yr old buying a million dollar home is very youngish.

How do you figure? That's plenty of time to save.

[Anonymous]

I work in finance and make $200,000. Almost everyone in finance, banking and real estate makes $100,000 or more. And some make a LOT more.

My cousin works for a health care company and also makes $200,000. Her husband in IT makes $100,000. They are looking for a $900,000 house right now in a different but similaly expensive market to DC.

[Anonymous]

Single mom with a decent income (not lawyer income, but about $120K). Bought a TH in a great location in 2000, sold for 3x what I paid for it in 2010 - Bought a $850K house after that.

[Anonymous]

We bought ours in 1998 for just under $500k. Now worth $1.3m (and yes, houses in our neighborhood sell quickly at those prices). We took some cash out on our mortgage a few years ago to finance a renovation and even with that our mortgage is under $400k. That doesn't quite answer your question but does explain how a lot of people are living in expensive houses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a ton of youngish (35-45) families buying $1m homes in NW.

I wouldn't consider that youngish.

A 35yr old buying a million dollar home is very youngish.

How do you figure? That's plenty of time to save.

Oh brother. If you are 35 and you can afford to purchase a 1mil home you are in the top .1% of earners for your age bracket. Just stfu.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of my 30-something friends do not live in $1M+ homes. Most have graduate degrees and are financially conservative, living in homes that range from $600K-$800K; but I have little doubt that in 10 years, they could move to more expensive homes.

I've noticed at our children's private school that the families that live in $1M+ homes often have older parents in their mid-40s and older. I try not to feel inadequate and remind myself that in 10 years, we may have moved on from our small home to a larger one. But, there's still a part of me that really likes our cozy, small-environmental-footprint home.

Also, there are many families that buy these homes, but have mortgaged themselves to the hilt. We were technically allowed to borrow $250K MORE than what we spent, but because we are financially conservative, bought far less house than we could have.

If you look at what's happened to conforming loans, you may not be able to swing that step-up to the fab house that people were able to do in the last decade. Damned economy.