I will never be able to afford a house in Arlington

[Anonymous]

The days of being able to afford a SFH in a desired, close-in neighborhood on a single government income in DC and more than one child ended on roughly 2000 or so. My parents did it though, and it was great, and now have a very secure retirement income in a lower cost area thanks in part to housing price appreciation in Arlington. On the other hand the Clarendon of the 70s- 80s didn't have nearly as much to offer as today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I divorced a while back, walked out of marital home with very little. I had sole custody with no child support and same income as you. Lawyer too, with a fairly demanding job. We moved from a nice house in Fairfax to a smaller townhome in Arlington so I would not have much commute. We could only afford south Arlington. So can you. You just don’t want to be with the poorer folks. You have no excuse. 170$ total income without a huge down payment is too poor for north Arlington. Just face it.

This is OP. I don’t currently live in South Arlington, but I have. And I’d be happy to again. Except that the commute on 395 is horrendous if you drive in and takes a long time if you have to walk or drive to bus then bus to Pentagon city then take two metros. So again, it’s the commute. But I’m kind of starting to enjoy people making assumptions that I don’t want others to judge me for living in a condo and that I don’t want to live among the poors. Rather than admitting that COMMUTES ARE REALLY LONG IN THIS AREA, and that’s not ideal. No want WANTS to commute for a hour on a train.

I understand you have limits with the kids, but now you just sound lazy and entitled. An hour commute is not that long.

If you are so obsessed with the commute, then stay where you are. There is nothing wrong with living in a condo.

Sometimes you just can't get certain things in certain neighborhoods. People on the UES wouldn't complain about not being able to afford a SFH in their neighborhood. If they wanted it, they'd move.

An hour commute IS ridiculous to a single mom with kids. It’s shocking that these comments seems to think it’s acceptable that government workers can’t afford to live somewhere with less than an hour commute in Washington DC. So callous.

(I’m not OP)

You seem to ignore completely that OP can afford to live within an hour commute. In fact, OP can afford to live just about anywhere in the entire DC area on her salary in a high quality property. She just can't afford every type of house available in every area, which of course, almost no one can.

Just because OP wants a SFH right next to downtown DC doesn't mean there is a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is divorced PP. I don’t know what you are talking about with an hour long commute. I live near route 50 near ffx line and it takes me 20 min to get to metro center in the morning. 30 minutes to get home. I have also commented from fairlington recently and I don”t know what you were doing, but it doesn’t take an hour.

Yes commutes can be really long, even if you have money. Sorry, no sympathy here. I chose a short commute and small townhome. I would love a bigger place, but isn’t happening. Part of what makes arlington expensive is the proximity to DC.

I will also second what some have said-you chose the easy route by staying in govt. the only govies I know in Arlington have a spouse making at least as much income. Working outside govt can be a trade off, but perhaps you should consider in house or something that has less of a salary cap.

I call “rounding down commute.” Your commute does not take 20 minutes door to door from the Fairfax line to Metro Center.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And I will never be able to afford a Lamborghini and make do with my 12 year old Honda that is running just fine. I will also never be able to afford to go on a safari in Africa, so, we visit the National Zoo and make due with a week at the beach.

You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometime you find
You get what you need

This is OP. I hear this point. I hear that posters are saying I sound entitled. And you’re right. I suppose I
AM feeling entitled. I think a successful lawyer who has been practicing for 20 years should be able to afford a small SFH in the DC with a commute of 45 minutes or less door to door and good schools.

You are a maxed out government lawyer. You are not a successful lawyer.

THIS

People are delusional. Arlington is expensive. People pay a premium to live here. If you want to buy a SFH, take a remote job and move to the Midwest. There are lots of cute cities where you can buy a beautiful house with OP's budget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lol giiiirl I make 350K and can't afford a home in Arlington. I also don't want to be house poor.

Yes you can, you just don’t want to live in what you can afford.

In theory a lender will give me a loan. Doesn't make it a good idea.

[Anonymous]

Here's a question. We all roll our eyes at friends who bemoan wanting to own a town house in Manhattan or Brooklyn right? Because these things are known to be only for rich people.

Certain parts of DC are getting to be the same way, including Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's a question. We all roll our eyes at friends who bemoan wanting to own a town house in Manhattan or Brooklyn right? Because these things are known to be only for rich people.

Certain parts of DC are getting to be the same way, including Arlington.

The sheer entitlement is astounding sometimes. You can't afford it. "Want" and "should" doesn't come into it. "Can't" does. Case closed.

[Anonymous]

PEople in this thread keep going on and on about the lack of "affordable housing" being a problem.

The OP HAS affordable housing. She's not living on the street! It's just not as big as she'd like.

I'd like a mansion in Malibu. Where's my handout?

[Anonymous]

Why should anyone want to live in Arlington? I mean sure you work at Amazon? Buy schools suck and housing expensive. Plus it was relatively inexpensive till around 2015. Literally if you are 45 this is the most expensive time since day you were born to buy in Arlington so why now?

[Anonymous]

Hey, OP. The fellow single mom here with the same stats, even down to the ivy degree. Now I think you just make bad choices. Kids in 800 SF? Silly. You could have had a larger condo in N. Arlington but maybe without the coffee bar in the lobby. Is there and ex and child support involved? That ups your income. If you’re a widow, what happened to the life insurance? If you are an SMBC you shouldn’t have had two without an even larger cash reserve. My 2200-sf townhouse is in N. Arlington, and I did that before I maxed out as a 15.

Get the housing you need, even if you have to rent. Appreciate your hours and leave situation. If you wanted the fancy fancy life you should have prioritized that. If you want to raise kids on your own, you have to plan and prioritize. Did you pay off all your loans before starting with kids? I think you think of possessions as what you deserve, instead of what is important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I divorced a while back, walked out of marital home with very little. I had sole custody with no child support and same income as you. Lawyer too, with a fairly demanding job. We moved from a nice house in Fairfax to a smaller townhome in Arlington so I would not have much commute. We could only afford south Arlington. So can you. You just don’t want to be with the poorer folks. You have no excuse. 170$ total income without a huge down payment is too poor for north Arlington. Just face it.

This is OP. I don’t currently live in South Arlington, but I have. And I’d be happy to again. Except that the commute on 395 is horrendous if you drive in and takes a long time if you have to walk or drive to bus then bus to Pentagon city then take two metros. So again, it’s the commute. But I’m kind of starting to enjoy people making assumptions that I don’t want others to judge me for living in a condo and that I don’t want to live among the poors. Rather than admitting that COMMUTES ARE REALLY LONG IN THIS AREA, and that’s not ideal. No want WANTS to commute for a hour on a train.

You can take the metro bus or ART from many parts of S. Arlington to the orange line, assuming that’s what you take. I kind of feel like you are being obtuse on purpose here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And I will never be able to afford a Lamborghini and make do with my 12 year old Honda that is running just fine. I will also never be able to afford to go on a safari in Africa, so, we visit the National Zoo and make due with a week at the beach.

You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometime you find
You get what you need

This is OP. I hear this point. I hear that posters are saying I sound entitled. And you’re right. I suppose I
AM feeling entitled. I think a successful lawyer who has been practicing for 20 years should be able to afford a small SFH in the DC with a commute of 45 minutes or less door to door and good schools.

You are a maxed out government lawyer. You are not a successful lawyer.

So, this is not a criticism, but that is exactly what I was thinking, LOL. I am also a government worker so I think I can say that.

This is OP. To the extent that your point is that I can change jobs to make more money, that’s true. I have an Ivy League law school degree and 20 years of prestigious jobs. But I stand by my point that one should be able to choose government service and still be able to afford a SFH with a commute of less than 45 minutes and good schools without family money and without a spouse. I am a government lawyer because I believe in what I do.

Ah no.

You chose the gov’t job and knew the salary limitations going into that. You can’t complain about that later. As are the other choices you made to get to this point.

And housing costs are supply/demand. A whole lot of people want exactly what you want and there are limited options.

Stop whining and take responsibility for your situation. You have options if you want to change it and none of the options are perfect. That’s life.

TL;DR: you can’t have it all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why should anyone want to live in Arlington? I mean sure you work at Amazon? Buy schools suck and housing expensive. Plus it was relatively inexpensive till around 2015. Literally if you are 45 this is the most expensive time since day you were born to buy in Arlington so why now?

This is what I am saying! I’m a single income government worker who cut and run from Arlington last year after making money on my condo. I’m much happier not in Arlington. OP can have what she wants, she is just being stubborn. And she should look for a job outside of the city. I have a 4 br SFH with good schools and a great community and I don’t even make as much as she does. However, I work in Fairfax and not in DC so there’s the difference.

[Anonymous]

This thread has hit the wall. OP has many options but chooses not to take them. There isn't much point in further discussion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And I will never be able to afford a Lamborghini and make do with my 12 year old Honda that is running just fine. I will also never be able to afford to go on a safari in Africa, so, we visit the National Zoo and make due with a week at the beach.

You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometime you find
You get what you need

I went on a safari at 20 years old. Trust me you can go that is not super luxurious only if you make it that way.