How are you able to afford the DC area - from an out-of-towner?
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Anonymous
| Bought a long time ago when our house was "only" $400K. |
Anonymous
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Post 10/11/2012 21:07 Subject: How are you able to afford the DC area - from an out-of-towner? Anonymous wrote:20:50 you are an ass. OP- you are right. My husband and I both work- live in DC, crappy school area but lucked out on charters for both kids, make about 150k EACH, and do not have a great big back yard or lots of sq ft in our 800k home. We have a very easy commute to our jobs, like what we do, and have lots of family in the area. But I always said, if we could make anything close to our income now (and by close, I mean 60%) of it - or if my husband could make his income somewhere else (he is in tech, and gets 30% of his income for clearances, we should go. Here is the thing, other places would not have the same culture and city life we love, but we would have larger yards,less stress, and most importantly less assholes like 20:50. Oh please. Not 20:50 but OP comes on here and snarks about DC. What do you expect is going to happen? Didnt think it was snarky, just asking a question and doing his research |
Anonymous
| Our HHI is a lot more (more than double) than $140,000. If we had our same HHI in the midwest, we'd be living large. As it is, we're quite comfortable, but don't have much money left over after mortgage, bills, retirement and school tuition for our kids. That being said, most people manage to live here for less than $140,000, but they either live in the far out suburbs or a condo. |
Anonymous
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People either do one of the following things.
1) Combined income of 200K+, which is easy to do here. 2) Sacrifice and live in a far out suburb where you can buy a nice house in the 300K range. 3) Live closer in, but in a townhouse or condo. |
Anonymous
| We live in a closer suburb (would like to be closer!) in a house built in 1971 that has almost 2500 square feet and it cost $515,000. I did not think much of it until my brother (who lives in a MUCH cheaper place) pointed out that was more than half a million dollars. Ugh. My husband makes around $120,000 and I mostly stay at home. We would have a different lifestyle somewhere else, however, we have some family here and are mostly happy with how things are going. Although, watching House Hunters can be a bit depressing! |
Anonymous
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People make sacrifices in the D.C. housing market, on top of having astronomical prices, OP. As PP mentioned, you can have this amenity or that, but you will sacrifice (i.e.: close in old ratty house vs. further out commute that gets old quick but much nicer house).
The city has sub par schools. The suburbs are composed of giant counties, where the region/county-wide money is pooled (taxes) and dispersed in a questionable manner, unlike most metropolitan areas. Though locals love to tout its merits, the merits are based on the counties being far too large to manage properly. People like it here because presumably it has job opportunities, but this is not a slam dunk that some think it is. Sometimes it seems like the people who live here are so miserable their life is an ongoing snark contest, I find it sad for them. Consequently, it is difficult to meet people to spend time with that are socially astute (gracious). Again, there are sacrifices. If you like where you are, I would stay. I would not move "just for the heck of it". That would be a really bad move. |
Anonymous
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We make just over $250K, have modest debt (student loans only) and worked our bums off saving to afford a $750K SF house. This means no vacation, no extravagant eating, no new car even though we could technically afford it. We saved nearly $120K in four years by saving, saving, and saving (maxed out our retirement too) and by living outside the beltway while renting to keep costs down. For three of the four years we had an infant too, so daycare costs, etc.
When we closed on our house, my husband was wearing frayed five year old khakis - his only pair. It can be done. |
Anonymous
| We moved here last year from NYC and love it. Our HHI is about 300K give or take. We find the cost of living here much better than NYC. We will spend the same as we did for our apartment to own a house here in a nice neighborhood in DC. |
Anonymous
Hey OP again. Wasn't trying to snark anyone but we have already lived in other areas (Dallas and Atlanta) and like the idea of seeing different parts of the country. We are also big on museums and would enjoy living on the East Coast if the right chance came up. But are the job opportunities mostly in the legal or government field? I am in corporate accounting (CPA) and my spouse teaches elementary school. |
Anonymous
| You don't mention what your spouse makes? Most families here have two incomes and, almost more importantly, two careers to support. If not, I see no reason why someone at your career level would move here. |
Anonymous
Really? I thought DC passed NYC in housing costs. |
Anonymous
Spouse makes about $45,000 but incredible benefits (dirt cheap healthcare) are also part of the package. |
Anonymous
I think housing in NYC proper is worse than in DC. We moved here from an NYC suburb and realized that houses cost a little more here, but that's offset by much lower property taxes (even in DC and MD). |
Anonymous
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You live in a smaller, older house in Silver Spring. We have a 1000 sq ft house with same size basement built in 1954, no additions. You just live smaller. Or you buy a townhouse and don't have a yard or you live much further out and have a much bigger house and a longer commute.
You can't have your 330,000 house with all the bells and whistles where you want to live and the same size as your midwest house. |
Anonymous
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No way. NYC is WAY more than DC. Which is why there is a recent influx.
OP, PP here. Not trying to say you are snarky, but the locals are. They try to pummel people down to their level but the smart ones don't let them. |