What % are you?
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Anonymous
New? A lot of homes in the DC area are old. If you're looking for housing developments by Ryan homes - those are in the suburbs. I found plenty of renovated single family homes in the 240-550K range right in the middle of the DC. Many built in the 1920s, which seems to be typical for DC homes. Let me check the suburbs, since that seems to be what you want. |
Anonymous
| Well of course. Why would you want to live in a house that someone else lived in? That's gross. |
Anonymous
Anonymous
ITA, no "used" homes for me. So déclassé... |
Anonymous
And for that matter, it is totally possible to make more than $43k without going to college. |
Anonymous
Sure, okay, fine. But where are the new, unattached, SFHs for under $550k in historic neighborhoods with sidewalks shaded by old-growth *elm* trees? Cause I'm not seeing 'em! |
Anonymous
You need to be more resourceful. I mean, we couldn't survive on our income if we weren't able to pay off a neighborhood to rip down 4 houses to make room for ours. Built in 2011 and ew-free! Oh - and people are required to wear cloth booties when they walk in the house. Even our dog. He slips and slides a little but he'll be fine. |
Anonymous
Actually, after playing around with it a bit, I have found the exact number that separates the 99% from the 99.5%: $815,859 One dollar more puts you into the 99.5% category. So while I'm 98%, 99.5% isn't so out of reach. By the way, one way to look at this is by thinking literally about it. Out of 100 people, a 96%er is making more than 95 of the 100. Picture 100 people, say at a baseball game. You make $290K as a 96% person. Are you really surprised that of the 100 people around you at a baseball game, only three of them make more than you? |
Anonymous
| 73%. Single mom here |
Anonymous
| By the way, you can even include the players in my baseball analogy. A stadium like Nationals Park holds about 42,000 fans, and each team has 25 men on its roster, so the baseball players (who on average make enough to be 99.5%) are only a little more than 0.1% of the people at any given game. 0.5% of 42,000 is 210, which means there's likely another 160 people at the game who are making more than $815,859 or more. |
Anonymous
PP here and I didn't "come back" with that info...it was part of the stats I quoted in the original post. And fwiw, I don't even like new homes. I prefer (and live in) an older home. BUT...since folks are throwing around the stats, I think people need to compare apples to apples. It isn't about entitlement...its about the fact that in the places where most people in the US live, the median or average earner can afford an average new home. The stats specifically said new (not existing) single family home. So its not right that you look only at the parts of the stats that suit your argument. |
Anonymous
Should add that new homes tend to be less expensive to maintain, heat and cool than older homes as they are much more energy efficient. Unless, of course, you have more space to heat and cool. So as those of us living in older homes know, if you must live in an older home, you must assume the associated extra costs of that. |
Anonymous
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So an average family with a household income of $43K can buy a new home that is more than 6X their annual salary?
Someone is incredibly bad at math... |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
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We are 76%. I am pretty disgusted by all the people moaning about how hard it is to live in DC in the 90%+. If you feel that way, I would suggest that you are living above your means and there are plenty of ways to adjust that. Buy a less expensive house in a less desirable neighborhood. Send your child to public school. Buy used cars. And most importantly, stop trying to keep up with your neighbors. Change your social circle.
Don't complain about making that amount of money. I don't complain about our HHI. I feel fortunate to live in city with jobs, free museums, and some of the best public schools in the country. And we make a lot less than you but a lot more than most people in the country, even considering the cost of living here. Between my husband and I we have 5 degrees (2 undergrads, 2 masters, and a doctorate). We just made the decision to go into a field we love (the arts) knowing it wouldn't be financially rewarding, but would be emotionally rewarding. Grow up. And volunteer (don't just donate money) - maybe you will get a little perspective. |