At odds with spouse ove how much house we can afford

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, this is gorgeous: http://www.redfin.com/MD/Chevy-Chase/31-Quincy-St-20815/home/10641237

"But it doesn't have an open floor plan and the bathrooms are ho hum. I mean, what is UP with those boring vanities? However, it is a rich white school district though, so. . . ."

I know, it's tragically plain... How would OP ever deal with the embarrassment of all that pristine marble and original hardwood?

It really is an awesome street, though. I would love to live in a house like that.

[Anonymous]

I think everyone is being very harsh. Who cares if she wants to send her kids to a good public school? Why would you ever want to send your kids to a bad one? I think most people are just jealous of her situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think everyone is being very harsh. Who cares if she wants to send her kids to a good public school? Why would you ever want to send your kids to a bad one? I think most people are just jealous of her situation.

I can see why it would sound that way, but some of us were responding to her statements of "We want to leave D.C. for a better school system," and then "we are major advocates for public education." The tone suggested some hypocrisy in saying they are advocates for public education but only for those districts that are so wealthy as to be de facto private schools. It also suggested superiority toward parents who choose private school.

Am I jealous? I'm not sure, but I know that we as a family intend to direct any and all extra income we have toward helping insure an appropriate education for our children. If public works well, we will do that, and if private works better for them, we will do that. (Now in public elementary.) I would not be one to say that we are "advocates" of either.

The one chip I have on my shoulder right now is that a number of wealthy parents in the western part of MoCo appear to be trying to rearrange the curriculum to try to fit their small number of apparently superstar students at the expense of the majority of the county's students. These are the public school "advocates" who bother me.

[Anonymous]

This is the thread that never ends! Is the OP a real person? Please, please don't hate me because I pretend to be rich!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, this is gorgeous: http://www.redfin.com/MD/Chevy-Chase/31-Quincy-St-20815/home/10641237

agree, beautiful house. first dcum posting about a house that I'd actually consider buying.

[Anonymous]

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I viewed some of the houses linked. I live in a suburban area of Minnesota. I live in a brand new home (built 2005) that is actually more spacious than most listed, certainly newer, over 3000 sq ft with 5 bedroom, 3 bath ... and paid $389,000 for it. It is incomprehensible to me, the cost of real estate in DC area. I hadn't realized when I read the OP that $1.7 million in DC would be equivalent to around $400,000 where I'm from. Salaries have got to be much higher there. We'd never be able to afford a million dollar home, and from the looks of homes in that price range, they'd be a huge step down for us, too.

Enjoy Applebee's!

And Red Lobster. How is your house in Minnesota relevant. Your $389K in a 'burb of Minnesota, Cleveland and the rest of flyover country will buy a 1bdrm condo in DC, nothing fancy. A 850k original detail, 4 bdrm, 3.5 bath Logan rowhouse will buy a 1 bedrm, 1 bath coop in Manhattan. Since real estate is all about location, location, and location - your comparison is ridiculous.

Applebees and Red Lobster, representing. Also, land of lutefisk. I followed a link to the DC board and enjoyed the ... heated exchanges, so I'm here to stay. Wasn't really trying to make a comparison ... I was just astonished at the differential between what $1 million buys in DC vs. The Land O' Lakes (and mosquitos). I seriously cannot wrap my brain around what kind of serious $$$ we'd have to make just to afford what appears to me to be very nice, but middle to upper-middle class homes (and this scale means something to me only .. again, not making value comparisons, just trying to wrap my brain around the differences). I was actually just wondering if salaries are higher in DC, in accordance with the huge differential with the price of real estate.

I did enjoy the snark, bitches

You're welcome. I was the one who chewed you out and it's hard to believe that you had NO IDEA that the COL was so much, much higher in major urban areas like DC, NY, and SF. Enjoy living in your bubble of total ignorance, and thanks for making everyone in the Midwest look like an uninformed hick.

Thanks for making everyone in urban sprawl look like snarky, pretentious jack-anuses.

Urban sprawl? That's an oxymoron, buddy. I live in a 90 year old house in the middle of a densely packed city. Sprawl is what happens in a 50 mile ring around major cities when people want to buy 3000 sf McMansions. That's fine if that's what you want, but that is reality.

3000 sqrft is not a mcmanion and is an average size for a family of 4

[Anonymous]

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OP here, I appreciate the suggestion, but we are trying to leave the District for a better school system.

It would seem to me that with a HHI of $1 million you would be able to pay for the private school of your choice and get to live in D.C. too?

We most definitely could pay for private, but we are both (luckily in agreement on this issue) major public school advocates. Private not an option philosophically.

This is very interesting to me. So you are major public school advocates, but only if those public schools are good. Around here (and probably everywhere), quality of school is directly related to average income. It no longer sounds egalitarian and democratic to support public schools if you only support schools full of wealthy children. I would like to hear more about your philosophy of education and whether it also applies to middle class and working class children.

Wondering about this too. Care to respond, OP?

I'm not trying to sound egalitarian or democratic. Just telling you where we stand. We are both products of fantastic diverse local public high schools and want the same for our kids. Therefore we want to move to a location where this is feasible. Our house is fine (in an area with strong DC public schools), HOWEVER, we are absent a functional yard. If we had that we wouldn't be looking to move. No clue why people think a dilemma about budget with my spuose comes across as snobbish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, this is gorgeous: http://www.redfin.com/MD/Chevy-Chase/31-Quincy-St-20815/home/10641237

agree, beautiful house. first dcum posting about a house that I'd actually consider buying.

Love the street, I'm more a contemporay (non-colonial) mindset. If it had a kick-ass yard I'd love it, but again- way up there in terms of what my husband would feel "comfortable" spending.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you appear to have very high expectations.

Several people have suggested figuring out a budget - have you done that yet? That is how you will really know what you can afford. No matter how many people tell you what you can afford, no one really knows but you. So just do the budget.

No sarcasm here- what exactly do you consider a budget? I can tell you now we have on an average month more than $20K coming in than what we spend. What do you suggest? Mortgage is $5500, Childcare is $3500, preschool is $15K per year, random bills are less than $5K, what do you want to know?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:OP, just bc you can comfortably afford 1.7m doesn't mean you should spend that much. ESPECIALLY in this economy. What happens if you or your husband loses employment? Become underemployed? What if you have unexpected medical expenses?

You can very easily find a great home for 1m and put away all of the extra that you would have spent on housing into savings.

Husband will not lose employment guaranteed. He may choose to work at lower paying in the future, but I still opine we could afford the mortgage on 1.5M with different salaries. Unexpected medical not covered by insurance- we would liquidate our other assets.

What industry/field has guaranteed employment and pays this well?

Legal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe this thread is 13 pages! Seriously OP get out of my price range and buy a 2 million + home. We're looking at 1-1.2 million on a hhI of 300 with 200 or so down. This thread just feels ridiculous to me. Also, don't know of any jobs that are safe at 1 million - unless perhaps a doctor in a specialty field.

Legal- specifically a place that has never laid off anyone. Ever. So, how did you come to feel you could afford this with your income- i.e. what numbers did you run to get you and spouse comfortable with this dispersion of funds?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Here's another, not far from Bethesda Metro:

http://www.redfin.com/MD/Bethesda/5602-Mclean-Dr-20814/home/10673273

\

Appreciate the suggestion, but we need minimum 4 BR preferably 5 BR due to family size and likelihood of parents moving in.

so just stfu and move to minnesota and you can have your frickin' 8 BR palace for probably less than 1.2 million... really sick of hearing you whine.... and yes it's a combination of the fact that you make a ridiculous amount of money (you could probably live like some of us here) and pay off that 1.7 mil house in 4 years and you're snobbery about the kind of house you want....

What is snobbish about desiring a yard and bedrooms to accomodate elderly parents, and good schools? Our jobs and families are here so moving out of the area is not an option. Am familiar with the midwest though, and if variable were different, we would have no problem living there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I absolutely think you can afford a $1.7m house. To suggest otherwise seems crazy to me. However, it seems as though your husband just isn't comfortable with that. I would suggest splitting the difference and spending $1.3-$1.4m. The difference between a $1m house and a $1.4m is huge. Can you show him exactly what that means in terms of mortgage payments each month? Assuming you bring home about $50k/month, the marginal difference won't impact you very much.

Thank you. I totally agree. Yes- we are talking mortgage of $6000 or $4800. In the grand scheme either is VERY doable. Argh! This is why it's making me so crazy.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Not my taste at all, but this is probably what the OP is looking for: http://www.redfin.com/VA/ARLINGTON/4211-15TH-ST-N-22207/home/18963050

Personally, I hate all new construction but OP wants a lot at for the price and in the suburbs... That typically means new construction.

If I had that kind of cash to spend on a house, I certainly would not buy this and especially when it practically sits on 66...

I was being snarky because OP seems to find something wrong with everything. I thought *maybe* this would be the one house that she likes.

My spouse would probably like this- but I have NO clue regarding the local schools there. That would probably make or break actually considering this house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the thread that never ends! Is the OP a real person? Please, please don't hate me because I pretend to be rich!

Totally real. Why on earth would I fake it? Never would have posted if we didn't have an impasse regarding price. To hear DH tell it we are NOT rich and never will be. What is "rich" anyway?