SERIOUSLY - how are people affording these $1Mil+ homes with $8,000+ monthly mortgages!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We bought a house in 1998 for 350K right before housing prices went up. We lived below our means for awhile. We stayed in the house until 2020 and had enough equity/savings to make large down payment on $2 million house. Our house is now worth around $3 million. Also, our HHI is higher than 300K.

You also bought a house while the rest of us were in middle school. So maybe bow out of this?

Maybe stop being a whiny little baby?

I own a home. But I’m also not a sociopath.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If it makes you feel any better, I'll never make anywhere close enough to even afford a condo. Even when my mom dies and leaves everything to me, I still won't have enough.

I don’t think that would make anyone feel better…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I must be doing something wrong. My household income is $300K and with two small kids, I want to live in a good public school zone. It feels impossible! My mortgage budget is $4k…which is maybe a $600K home. My research says if I want a good school with that budget, I’m buying an outdated 1500sq ft home with 7.5 foot ceilings. I need to leave Montgomery county!

Have you looked at Germantown or Gaithersburg?

We got lucky. We had a lot of equity ($1m) from selling a house we owned for only a few years due to the run-up in house prices during Covid. We only make $400k hhi but were able to buy a close-in $2m home as a result.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$4000 budget is too small for $300k hi. It's not that you can't afford it. You just don't want to pay for it.

OP mentioned having 2 small kids. Assuming that $300k income
Comes from two salaries (no stay at home parent), then they also need to pay for two kids daycare in addition to two kids college savings. Plus it’s always possible that one of them could lose their job for awhile. If those assumptions are true, $4k PITI seems prudent.

I will note that we have a higher income than OP but a $4 PITI because we bought less than what we could afford (though still very nice) with the benefit of low interest rates, 5 years ago. I’m a fed, and very likely to lose my job, and I can still sleep at night - very, very glad that we didn’t stretch.

OP can buy a nice townhouse with her $4000 PITI. She can probably even buy a small decent SFH in a decent area with that. It won't be a million dollar 5000sq ft home, but my first home was 1500 sq ft and DH and I managed just fine with two elementary-aged children there. Our mortgage 10 years ago was $2600 and the house cost $550K. The same house is worth about $700K right now and even with current interest rates, OP could probably afford it. It was in a decent part of Fairfax County with good but not great schools (but zoned to a good high school). We only moved because we wanted a bigger yard and that particular area was too dense to have any large lots in our price range.

I want to add that we made a total of $165K with 2 kids in daycare and a $400/month student loan payment with that $2500 mortgage so I definitely think OP is wise wanting to do $4K payment but she can easily find a decent house for that much. It won't be the McMansion that she wants, but she doesn't need a McMansion. She'll be just fine in a 2000 sq ft 3BR/2BA outdated home that she can fix up over time.

You realize that you are arguing that OP should pay 150K more for your former 1500 sqft house PLUS a higher interest rate even though the yard and schools weren’t good enough for you, and if she has even the slightest hesitation that means she is a whiny princess who wants a 5000 square foot mcmansion?

I can’t with you people. Seriously, do you even hear yourself? You’re ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Want what I had...Hmm. Bought a house in a NJ town that was the butt of mainstream music (Bruce Springsteen wrote an entire album dedicated to escaping places like this) when I was 24. It was so small the developer had to build it up sideways so the front door opened up directly to the back of someone else's house. Continued to upgrade as my job allowed. Economic activity in NYC fueled a bit of property value/economic boom to the entire area, to the point most people couldn't afford it any longer. Exactly the same thing happened to this area. Would I, starting at 24 over again, be able to afford a 'nice' starter home in a desirable area? No. But I didn't live in a great area back then either. I just had a decade or two of forced savings on top of the typical millenial first time buyer.

This is exactly what I was talking about. You played on easy mode and you think everyone else is doing the same 40+ years later.

Let's play a game. Tell me your job title and employer when you bought that house. Let's see what that salary is today and what you could afford.

I have no idea what point you are trying to make here. I lived in shitholes and built equity instead of living in luxury and a fun lifestyle. I didn't move to a desirable, high priced area and expect too end housing which many people here want it all immediately. There was nothing easy about it

You have no idea what point PP was making because you’re painfully stupid. A 30-something couple wanting a modest 3 bedroom house within an hour of their jobs and in an adequate school district =/= living a luxurious, fun lifestyle. There are significantly more people competing for the exact same resources than when you were young.

Here is a simple point: you built equity in houses you considered shitholes back in the day. Those same houses are what the youngins CANNOT AFFORD today, and guess what? They’re even SHITTIER than when you lived there.

It's certainly affordable to live in a shit hole. People don't want to live in them. They expect to rent in nice areas and do trendy things during their 20s and early 30s, only to find they can't afford housing at a similar standard. I was eating hamburger helper and freezer beef while this generation has been brunching and eating at foodie restaurants. I'm not the one who is stupid by far.

[Anonymous]

We make over $300k and bought in PG at a 3% interest rate. Housing takes up about 10% of our take home. Commute is great. Schools stink. We use the savings for great private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Want what I had...Hmm. Bought a house in a NJ town that was the butt of mainstream music (Bruce Springsteen wrote an entire album dedicated to escaping places like this) when I was 24. It was so small the developer had to build it up sideways so the front door opened up directly to the back of someone else's house. Continued to upgrade as my job allowed. Economic activity in NYC fueled a bit of property value/economic boom to the entire area, to the point most people couldn't afford it any longer. Exactly the same thing happened to this area. Would I, starting at 24 over again, be able to afford a 'nice' starter home in a desirable area? No. But I didn't live in a great area back then either. I just had a decade or two of forced savings on top of the typical millenial first time buyer.

This is exactly what I was talking about. You played on easy mode and you think everyone else is doing the same 40+ years later.

Let's play a game. Tell me your job title and employer when you bought that house. Let's see what that salary is today and what you could afford.

I have no idea what point you are trying to make here. I lived in shitholes and built equity instead of living in luxury and a fun lifestyle. I didn't move to a desirable, high priced area and expect too end housing which many people here want it all immediately. There was nothing easy about it

You have no idea what point PP was making because you’re painfully stupid. A 30-something couple wanting a modest 3 bedroom house within an hour of their jobs and in an adequate school district =/= living a luxurious, fun lifestyle. There are significantly more people competing for the exact same resources than when you were young.

Here is a simple point: you built equity in houses you considered shitholes back in the day. Those same houses are what the youngins CANNOT AFFORD today, and guess what? They’re even SHITTIER than when you lived there.

It's certainly affordable to live in a shit hole. People don't want to live in them. They expect to rent in nice areas and do trendy things during their 20s and early 30s, only to find they can't afford housing at a similar standard. I was eating hamburger helper and freezer beef while this generation has been brunching and eating at foodie restaurants. I'm not the one who is stupid by far.

Dummy, anyone paying $4000 per month should reasonably expect that they won’t be forced eat hamburger helper while sharing their one room with the cockroaches. “Not eating cat food is putting on airs to you?”

You’ll do well in the new US of Russia with your natural born serf attitude, though. You’re truly pathetic (and I repeat, very stupid).

[Anonymous]

The market sets the prices. If you don't prepare to meet the market where it is, you can reasonably expect to be disappointed. Many people in this generation live a life of luxury, free spending, and expect to have it all. That is not a reasonable expectation. I can tell you are upset by the increasing insults you are hurling. No one owes anyone else a house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The market sets the prices. If you don't prepare to meet the market where it is, you can reasonably expect to be disappointed. Many people in this generation live a life of luxury, free spending, and expect to have it all. That is not a reasonable expectation. I can tell you are upset by the increasing insults you are hurling. No one owes anyone else a house.

I’m upset that you and your entire generation have royally f$&ked up our entire country due to your stupidity and short-sightedness, and you don’t even have the good grace to STFU and stop telling the youngsters that it’s the avocado toast and not the mouth breathing Fox News cult members and the blue blood union busting union beneficiaries (ahem, you) who are ruining their futures.

No one owes you respect. And you clearly aren’t worthy of any.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The market sets the prices. If you don't prepare to meet the market where it is, you can reasonably expect to be disappointed. Many people in this generation live a life of luxury, free spending, and expect to have it all. That is not a reasonable expectation. I can tell you are upset by the increasing insults you are hurling. No one owes anyone else a house.

Not the poster you’re responding to but would be very curious to know where your first house was, how much it cost, when you bought it, and what you were making at the time you bought it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The market sets the prices. If you don't prepare to meet the market where it is, you can reasonably expect to be disappointed. Many people in this generation live a life of luxury, free spending, and expect to have it all. That is not a reasonable expectation. I can tell you are upset by the increasing insults you are hurling. No one owes anyone else a house.

I’m upset that you and your entire generation have royally f$&ked up our entire country due to your stupidity and short-sightedness, and you don’t even have the good grace to STFU and stop telling the youngsters that it’s the avocado toast and not the mouth breathing Fox News cult members and the blue blood union busting union beneficiaries (ahem, you) who are ruining their futures.

No one owes you respect. And you clearly aren’t worthy of any.

Look, I am 40, I have 3 kids and have a HHI of 400-450k. We own 3 houses in NW DC all over 1 mil in value. We also send kids to private school (about 80-90k/year).

We also never eat out, and watch what we spend. Our only car is very old, all the properties we bought were fixer uppers, etc. we rent two out of 3 and the rent pays for the mortgage and any repairs needed.

We had about 300k from my others to buy the first house, but we bought the second and third on our own by saving (living below our means).

We are not boomers (also not born in the US), but I see how much families with lower HhI than ours spend… that is why they can’t afford to buy a house. Stop shopping at While Foods, getting Ubers, eating out multiple times a week, getting nails done, etc. and you will see how much you will save.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Want what I had...Hmm. Bought a house in a NJ town that was the butt of mainstream music (Bruce Springsteen wrote an entire album dedicated to escaping places like this) when I was 24. It was so small the developer had to build it up sideways so the front door opened up directly to the back of someone else's house. Continued to upgrade as my job allowed. Economic activity in NYC fueled a bit of property value/economic boom to the entire area, to the point most people couldn't afford it any longer. Exactly the same thing happened to this area. Would I, starting at 24 over again, be able to afford a 'nice' starter home in a desirable area? No. But I didn't live in a great area back then either. I just had a decade or two of forced savings on top of the typical millenial first time buyer.

This is exactly what I was talking about. You played on easy mode and you think everyone else is doing the same 40+ years later.

Let's play a game. Tell me your job title and employer when you bought that house. Let's see what that salary is today and what you could afford.

I have no idea what point you are trying to make here. I lived in shitholes and built equity instead of living in luxury and a fun lifestyle. I didn't move to a desirable, high priced area and expect too end housing which many people here want it all immediately. There was nothing easy about it

You have no idea what point PP was making because you’re painfully stupid. A 30-something couple wanting a modest 3 bedroom house within an hour of their jobs and in an adequate school district =/= living a luxurious, fun lifestyle. There are significantly more people competing for the exact same resources than when you were young.

Here is a simple point: you built equity in houses you considered shitholes back in the day. Those same houses are what the youngins CANNOT AFFORD today, and guess what? They’re even SHITTIER than when you lived there.

This is a great location in a really fun, family friendly neighborhood where a bunch of my son's friends live. There are literally two busses that pick up for the local elementary school from this neighborhood. I know it's under contract, but OP could easily afford this and if she's not to much of a snob, probably make some great friends: https://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/7848-Snead-Ln-22043/home/9543478

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The market sets the prices. If you don't prepare to meet the market where it is, you can reasonably expect to be disappointed. Many people in this generation live a life of luxury, free spending, and expect to have it all. That is not a reasonable expectation. I can tell you are upset by the increasing insults you are hurling. No one owes anyone else a house.

I’m upset that you and your entire generation have royally f$&ked up our entire country due to your stupidity and short-sightedness, and you don’t even have the good grace to STFU and stop telling the youngsters that it’s the avocado toast and not the mouth breathing Fox News cult members and the blue blood union busting union beneficiaries (ahem, you) who are ruining their futures.

No one owes you respect. And you clearly aren’t worthy of any.

It's absurd to say that it's just one generation that caused MAGA, because it's absolutely not. The freaking PRESS SECRETARY is 26 years old. Didn't you read that Washington Post article about Make America Hot Again? Those people are in their 20s and 30s - they are YOUR age, not Gen X and not Boomers. I'm so sorry that you've made poor choices (including wanting to live in one of the most expensive regions of the country), but there's no reason to blame this on an entire generation of people. We're not blaming Make America Hot Again on you, are we?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$4000 budget is too small for $300k hi. It's not that you can't afford it. You just don't want to pay for it.

OP mentioned having 2 small kids. Assuming that $300k income
Comes from two salaries (no stay at home parent), then they also need to pay for two kids daycare in addition to two kids college savings. Plus it’s always possible that one of them could lose their job for awhile. If those assumptions are true, $4k PITI seems prudent.

I will note that we have a higher income than OP but a $4 PITI because we bought less than what we could afford (though still very nice) with the benefit of low interest rates, 5 years ago. I’m a fed, and very likely to lose my job, and I can still sleep at night - very, very glad that we didn’t stretch.

OP can buy a nice townhouse with her $4000 PITI. She can probably even buy a small decent SFH in a decent area with that. It won't be a million dollar 5000sq ft home, but my first home was 1500 sq ft and DH and I managed just fine with two elementary-aged children there. Our mortgage 10 years ago was $2600 and the house cost $550K. The same house is worth about $700K right now and even with current interest rates, OP could probably afford it. It was in a decent part of Fairfax County with good but not great schools (but zoned to a good high school). We only moved because we wanted a bigger yard and that particular area was too dense to have any large lots in our price range.

I want to add that we made a total of $165K with 2 kids in daycare and a $400/month student loan payment with that $2500 mortgage so I definitely think OP is wise wanting to do $4K payment but she can easily find a decent house for that much. It won't be the McMansion that she wants, but she doesn't need a McMansion. She'll be just fine in a 2000 sq ft 3BR/2BA outdated home that she can fix up over time.

You realize that you are arguing that OP should pay 150K more for your former 1500 sqft house PLUS a higher interest rate even though the yard and schools weren’t good enough for you, and if she has even the slightest hesitation that means she is a whiny princess who wants a 5000 square foot mcmansion?

I can’t with you people. Seriously, do you even hear yourself? You’re ridiculous.

Nope, sorry, I think the ones who are unwilling to compromise and want the biggest and best RIGHT NOW are the ridiculous ones. Prices go up, salaries increase, people still compromise. We bought the big house with the big yard when our kids were a lot older than OP's kids. We bought that house when we're in a similar stage in life to OP. We couldn't afford the million dollar home in our 30s either. It's not like ANYONE I know bought a million dollar home 10-15 years ago. I'll break it down for you since you don't get it.

DH and I were in our mid-30s when we bought that house, with a one year old. We bought a more expensive house when our kids were 9 and 11 at a 6.5% interest rate by the way. OP said she is in her mid-30s with young children, so a similar life stage to where DH and I were when we bought that house. Are you tracking this? The same life stage. Ok, let's move on.

DH and I had an HHI of $165 and an interest rate of 4.5%, our mortgage was $2500/month. OP said her HHI is $300K and current interest rates around 7% - she could buy this house with a $4200ish PITI. Both of those are just above double what DH and I earned and spent on housing, so fairly equivalent to where we were at that point in our lives. Are you tracking this? Fairly equivalent housing expenses. OK, let's move on.

We had two kids in daycare while we were living there (total was around $2500). Assuming daycare rates have gone up, OP is probably paying $3000 for 2 kids. Still pretty reasonable given her income that is double what ours were at that time and that everyone's expenses have gone up, not just one generation's. I probably pay more for aftercare than people did for elementary-aged kids 10 years ago, too.

Our current home - the one we bought after saving for an additional 10 years and building some equity in our small house was in fact a million dollars, and our mortgage is $4800K (our HHI is STILL less than OP's, by the way, we make $265K in our mid to late 40s. We bought at a 6.5% interest rate, so please don't complain about how you're the only people in the whole world facing high interest rates.

I just can't with you people thinking you're the only ones who have ever faced challenges. You're not. We've all been there. We all had to make hard choices and compromise on things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$4000 budget is too small for $300k hi. It's not that you can't afford it. You just don't want to pay for it.

OP mentioned having 2 small kids. Assuming that $300k income
Comes from two salaries (no stay at home parent), then they also need to pay for two kids daycare in addition to two kids college savings. Plus it’s always possible that one of them could lose their job for awhile. If those assumptions are true, $4k PITI seems prudent.

I will note that we have a higher income than OP but a $4 PITI because we bought less than what we could afford (though still very nice) with the benefit of low interest rates, 5 years ago. I’m a fed, and very likely to lose my job, and I can still sleep at night - very, very glad that we didn’t stretch.

OP can buy a nice townhouse with her $4000 PITI. She can probably even buy a small decent SFH in a decent area with that. It won't be a million dollar 5000sq ft home, but my first home was 1500 sq ft and DH and I managed just fine with two elementary-aged children there. Our mortgage 10 years ago was $2600 and the house cost $550K. The same house is worth about $700K right now and even with current interest rates, OP could probably afford it. It was in a decent part of Fairfax County with good but not great schools (but zoned to a good high school). We only moved because we wanted a bigger yard and that particular area was too dense to have any large lots in our price range.

I want to add that we made a total of $165K with 2 kids in daycare and a $400/month student loan payment with that $2500 mortgage so I definitely think OP is wise wanting to do $4K payment but she can easily find a decent house for that much. It won't be the McMansion that she wants, but she doesn't need a McMansion. She'll be just fine in a 2000 sq ft 3BR/2BA outdated home that she can fix up over time.

You realize that you are arguing that OP should pay 150K more for your former 1500 sqft house PLUS a higher interest rate even though the yard and schools weren’t good enough for you, and if she has even the slightest hesitation that means she is a whiny princess who wants a 5000 square foot mcmansion?

I can’t with you people. Seriously, do you even hear yourself? You’re ridiculous.

Nope, sorry, I think the ones who are unwilling to compromise and want the biggest and best RIGHT NOW are the ridiculous ones. Prices go up, salaries increase, people still compromise. We bought the big house with the big yard when our kids were a lot older than OP's kids. We bought that house when we're in a similar stage in life to OP. We couldn't afford the million dollar home in our 30s either. It's not like ANYONE I know bought a million dollar home 10-15 years ago. I'll break it down for you since you don't get it.

DH and I were in our mid-30s when we bought that house, with a one year old. We bought a more expensive house when our kids were 9 and 11 at a 6.5% interest rate by the way. OP said she is in her mid-30s with young children, so a similar life stage to where DH and I were when we bought that house. Are you tracking this? The same life stage. Ok, let's move on.

DH and I had an HHI of $165 and an interest rate of 4.5%, our mortgage was $2500/month. OP said her HHI is $300K and current interest rates around 7% - she could buy this house with a $4200ish PITI. Both of those are just above double what DH and I earned and spent on housing, so fairly equivalent to where we were at that point in our lives. Are you tracking this? Fairly equivalent housing expenses. OK, let's move on.

We had two kids in daycare while we were living there (total was around $2500). Assuming daycare rates have gone up, OP is probably paying $3000 for 2 kids. Still pretty reasonable given her income that is double what ours were at that time and that everyone's expenses have gone up, not just one generation's. I probably pay more for aftercare than people did for elementary-aged kids 10 years ago, too.

Our current home - the one we bought after saving for an additional 10 years and building some equity in our small house was in fact a million dollars, and our mortgage is $4800K (our HHI is STILL less than OP's, by the way, we make $265K in our mid to late 40s. We bought at a 6.5% interest rate, so please don't complain about how you're the only people in the whole world facing high interest rates.

I just can't with you people thinking you're the only ones who have ever faced challenges. You're not. We've all been there. We all had to make hard choices and compromise on things.

By the way, I NEVER said the schools weren't good enough for me. We would have loved to have stayed in the same school, but there weren't houses that we wanted and could afford there. Our new schools are pretty similar.