My aunt started working as a maid at the Watergate after graduating HS & bought a home in Arlington

[Anonymous]

My immigrant grandparents stared life in a different big U.S. city as a live-in maid and sanitation worker. Then bought a 2 flat and rented the second unit, later a small SFH where they cared for a dying relative and he kids all shared one bedroom. Their children lived at home and -wait for it - gave their full paychecks to my grandmother- from ages 16 on until age 30 in my mother's case at which point she married and moved out. That is how they afforded a house with low wages, the oldest way in the world, multiple jobs and multiple generations.

[Anonymous]

I feel like everyone has missed the entire point of OP, which I took to mean as the massive income and wealth gap in this country.

[Anonymous]

Donald Trump’s mother was a maid before she got married to Fred. Maids can keep your house clean and be filthy rich

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like everyone has missed the entire point of OP, which I took to mean as the massive income and wealth gap in this country.

Funny, I feel like that is exactly what many of us have been discussing. There were clear wealth and income gaps decades ago and they clearly have gotten much, much worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like everyone has missed the entire point of OP, which I took to mean as the massive income and wealth gap in this country.

Funny, I feel like that is exactly what many of us have been discussing. There were clear wealth and income gaps decades ago and they clearly have gotten much, much worse.

The middle class is shrinking because the upper class has grown:

According to the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2018, over 30 percent of U.S. households earned over $100,000 (i.e., the upper class). Fewer than 30 percent of households earned between $50,000 and $100,000 (i.e., the middle class). The share of U.S. households making at least $100,000 has more than tripled since 1967, when just 9 percent of all U.S. households earned that much (all figures are adjusted for inflation).

In 2018, the share of households earning less than $50,000 (i.e., the lower class) dropped below 40 percent for the first time since the U.S. Census data on this metric started to be collected in 1967. Back then, 54 percent of households earned less than $50,000.

https://www.cato.org/blog/middle-class-shrinking-households-become-richer

If you don't like that the data is summarized by Cato (although it's from the U.S. Census Bureau), here's a similar article from Brookings:

https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/the-myth-of-the-disappearing-middle-class/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She started working at the Watergate at age 18.

She rented for a few years in her 20s, saved her money and then purchased her own home in her 30s.

All of this on a maid's salary.

Sounds too good to be true, I know.

But this was during the 1960s and 1970s.

Was she just at the right place at the right time?

will days like that ever come back?

No, those days are never coming back. Did your aunt have children? What are they up to professionally? Just curious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The key is how much you save vs how much you earn. Many people with low salaries or wages are actually very good at budgeting their money and saving.

Many high earners are actually in debt with high mortgages, car loans, and private school tuition, in an attempt to maintain the lifestyle they think they deserve.

If you are thrifty and don’t turn your nose up at a small fixer-upper, it can be done.

I don't think this is true, unless you are living with your parents. If the average cost of a house in your area starts high enough, then the annual increase in value may be more than its possible to save in a year on a much lower income. For example, I moved to Alexandria in 2016, and the very cheapest TH in my neighborhood went from the high 400s to 600k. People with lower incomes cannot keep up with that rate of increase through cash savings, unless by "lower" you mean "significantly higher than the US average, but less than I make." Also, no such thing as small fixer uppers in areas where developers buy cash and raze.

We had to move an hour out without traffic to afford a small fixer upper. And now our job prospects are more limited, because I'm not going to take a new job requiring 5 days a week in DC.

Untrue. I know many people who live in “tear downs” but sold to young couples willing to do work on the house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hispanic are buying houses in DMV their their landscaping or maid income. Many of them own houses in Rockville, SS, Gaithurberg. 20-30 years from now,, the value of their houses will double$ or triple.

Yes and there is also about 30 people each living in one house with a ton of cars on the street. The reason why I left.

People! And cars on a street! Imagine!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t remember if it was this or another thread where I saw a poster saying people shouldn’t be upset about not being to afford (Bethesda, Arlington, etc.) around here the same way people in CA shouldn’t be upset at not being able to afford Beverly Hills.

And I’ve been thinking on that, at first going along with the logic. But I don’t think it’s quite applicable.

There are places like Beverly Hills and Manhattan that have been expensive since our entire lifetimes (for many of us). Whereas if you’re in the bracket of someone trying to by a first or move up home from your starter home, it feels like the goalposts were moved very quickly). You start saving to buy in X area and then realize your savings can’t match the pace of home appreciation. I guess watching something become further out of grasp is harder than just moving somewhere and knowing you can’t afford it b/c it just always has been unaffordable.

I’m sure 22 year olds moving here for the first time think of these close-in suburbs as being unattainable. But for many of us, especially if you graduated into the recession, it feels like first you get dumped into a crappy economy where there aren’t many jobs for recent grads, and then once you get your footing to start saving, the neighborhoods you like get insanely expensive before you can save.

Now, I’m not saying there’s anything to do about that. It’s life and not everyone gets what they want. It’s probably good advice to start looking at getting into the next affordable area before it becomes out of reach. But I think this explains why not being able to afford a small, older home in Arlington feels more disappointing than being told you can’t afford Malibu or whatever.

FWIW I did eke into a close-in neighborhood with some family help. But I understand why my priced out friends feel bummed.

I think this is it, PP. Thanks. As a priced out millennial, I'd rather get a job in a cheaper area to afford a decent home and commute, but I also work in a sector where DC has the best and most jobs, so it's not that easy. I have tried! I'm still here!

I think the PPs saying "but lots of people never tried to afford the most fashionable area" are also not admitting that literal location and distance make this different than DuPont Circle or Arlington being less "fashionable" 40 years ago. The difference between Arlington in 1980 and Manassas in 2020 is that the Arlington resident didn't have a 2 hour commute to the office in DC. That's a huge part of standard of living that is inherent to a place and doesn't change based on fashion, schools (the true elephant in the room in this discussion), or housing cost. Thank God for telework and may it stick around.

Hhhmmm. You get part of it but you don't get all of it. There are some huge societal differences between Arlington and Manassas in 1980 and 2020. In 1980 not all (maybe most?) families had dual-income providers, and it was not unusual for most households to still only have one car OR to only a few years prior have purchased a second car. Additionally no one is suggesting Manassas as the alternative, unless you're approaching this from a white bias. My suggestions to you would be to look in Anacostia, Brookland, Fort Washington, Bowie, Annandale, Springfield, etc. I think the reason you're not considering those places is because large parts of them are blue collar and, gasp, POC and ethnic enclaves. Those would be today's equivalent of the maid at the Watergate scenario from OP.

[Anonymous]

If I were priced out of Arlington/McLean/Vienna, I’d probably look in Fairfax City or Annandale just outside the beltway. Maybe certain parts of Alexandria in Fairfax County. And don’t just buy for the house. Get a good plot of land. Too many people don’t think about the land, which is what is really valuable. Get a nice flat lot that isn’t downhill and doesn’t have any weird issues or development constraints. Try to stay close to commuter roads and ideally at least some popular bus lines. Within 1-2 miles of metro if possible.

I don’t know the MD equivalent. But this would be my advice to today’s home buyer hoping to ride the next wave of appreciation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She started working at the Watergate at age 18.

She rented for a few years in her 20s, saved her money and then purchased her own home in her 30s.

All of this on a maid's salary.

Sounds too good to be true, I know.

But this was during the 1960s and 1970s.

Was she just at the right place at the right time?

will days like that ever come back?

No, those days are never coming back. Did your aunt have children? What are they up to professionally? Just curious.

No children of her own. But plenty of nieces and nephews.