Why do people buy houses on the basis of 2 salaries instead of 1?

[Anonymous]

Why do people buy houses on the basis of 2 salaries instead of 1?

Wouldn't it better to buy on the basis of the spouse who has the lower salary? Wouldn't that be a better strategy to manage financial shocks if one spouse loses their job.

[Anonymous]

Because we want more of everything. We love big cars, big houses, big holidays, big portions, big gifts, big plates, big cups, big bottles, I mean everything about us Americans has to be huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge

[Anonymous]

Bought on the basis of one. Made it much easier to divorce.

No idea why people buy based on two. It was never a consideration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because we want more of everything. We love big cars, big houses, big holidays, big portions, big gifts, big plates, big cups, big bottles, I mean everything about us Americans has to be huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge

Not everyone does this OP. You need to stop generalizing. We bought on the basis of one salary (the higher one). Our realtor was surprised when he saw our financials because we could have been approved to buy a much more $$ house. But we’ve always been happy to have a house we can comfortably keep on one salary, particularly now in this time of high uncertainty around employment in the DMV.

[Anonymous]

Check your privilege.

Most couples don't have the typical DCUM HHI. They afford townhouses in the exurbs on TWO salaries so they can raise their children. Most Americans can never aspire to DCUM salaries.

Shame on you. I despise posters like you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Check your privilege.

Most couples don't have the typical DCUM HHI. They afford townhouses in the exurbs on TWO salaries so they can raise their children. Most Americans can never aspire to DCUM salaries.

Shame on you. I despise posters like you.

Relax hombre. They didn't voice their opinion..they simply asked why people buy on the basis of 2 incomes..And they are not wrong. A lot of us can't see ourselves living in normal "basic" homes.

[Anonymous]

We bought based on one salary because we only had one salary. Of course that meant that we had to buy in an inexpensive part of DMV, with bad schools.

One advantage was that the house was big enough to raise kids, yet not that huge that we had to move to a smaller house after retirement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Check your privilege.

Most couples don't have the typical DCUM HHI. They afford townhouses in the exurbs on TWO salaries so they can raise their children. Most Americans can never aspire to DCUM salaries.

Shame on you. I despise posters like you.

Relax hombre. They didn't voice their opinion..they simply asked why people buy on the basis of 2 incomes..And they are not wrong. A lot of us can't see ourselves living in normal "basic" homes.

It would be nice if you lost all that extra money and couldn't only afford such a home. And then if you could read your sentence again.

[Anonymous]

We bought based on more than one salary, but substantially less than two. We knew that for most of our time in this house we would both be working. And we wanted to buy a house that had a bedroom for each kid, which wouldn’t be true of just one salary

[Anonymous]

Also, why do people even *have* two salaries in the first place? Don't they know it's less stressful for everyone in the household if only one parent works? Someone should tell people this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Check your privilege.

Most couples don't have the typical DCUM HHI. They afford townhouses in the exurbs on TWO salaries so they can raise their children. Most Americans can never aspire to DCUM salaries.

Shame on you. I despise posters like you.

Relax hombre. They didn't voice their opinion..they simply asked why people buy on the basis of 2 incomes..And they are not wrong. A lot of us can't see ourselves living in normal "basic" homes.

Not everyone is like you. Many people live in a ‘basic’ normal house and are lovin’ it— only one AC unit, only one floor, less lights, less to clean, less to maintain, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do people buy houses on the basis of 2 salaries instead of 1?

Wouldn't it better to buy on the basis of the spouse who has the lower salary? Wouldn't that be a better strategy to manage financial shocks if one spouse loses their job.

We did. but because I already owned a home. I had no reason help him with his purchase, because he qualified all by himself.
Do you know what helps after job loss? Getting a low paying job, any job.
I have made minimum wage my whole life. I have never been out of work. I will never know why people sit around instead of getting a job that makes them $2000-$3000 to help them pay the mortgage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, why do people even *have* two salaries in the first place? Don't they know it's less stressful for everyone in the household if only one parent works? Someone should tell people this.

Zero is better than one. Why don’t people just use their trust fund?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, why do people even *have* two salaries in the first place? Don't they know it's less stressful for everyone in the household if only one parent works? Someone should tell people this.

Zero is better than one. Why don’t people just use their trust fund?

I don't get it. Why can't people just be rich? It's very simple- just have a lot of money, that you can use to buy things like houses.

[Anonymous]

We bought on one, knowing I wanted to be a SAHM. And yes, the first one was a townhouse. When we moved to a SFH later, we still under bought for DH’s higher salary. It’s brought us a lot of peace of mind over the years but it wouldn’t impress anyone here.