Are millennials under 25 in the DC area priced out of getting married, having kids, owning a home?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What 24 yr old wants to be married with kids anyway?! Your 20's is for building your career.

I got married at 23, had my first child at 24. We bought a home too (new construction started before we married, closed and moved in a few weeks after we married.) This was in suburban San Diego, similar housing market to DC

So did my mother (birth control was more complicated back then). But she doesn't put her experience out there as one to be emulated. She ended up divorced with two young children, never had a real career, and never got to live as a single young adult.

I think your advice was reasonable, OP, if a little pessimistic. It is hard to live in DC if you don't have some parental support -- group houses are rare, entry level jobs don't pay much, and it costs money to live the high life. We got by eating free tacos at happy hour. Now a drink is $12 and the tapas ain't free.

Are group houses rare because of the way DC has gentrified and the housing market has soared?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What 24 yr old wants to be married with kids anyway?! Your 20's is for building your career.

I got married at 24 and had my first kid at 26, third at 30. Our HHI is around 650k. We both have master's degrees and have been married for over ten years. It's stupid to pretend that only uneducated, ignorant, poor people get married in their twenties.

+1

very similar situation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What 24 yr old wants to be married with kids anyway?! Your 20's is for building your career.

I got married at 24 and had my first kid at 26, third at 30. Our HHI is around 650k. We both have master's degrees and have been married for over ten years. It's stupid to pretend that only uneducated, ignorant, poor people get married in their twenties.

+1

very similar situation

How do you all make $650k with Master's degrees? Please share.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope, I think you're right. And DC has some of the highest rents in the country- much higher than, say, Los Angeles, which is a much more world-class city.

If you are going to pay that much in rent, I wouldnt pick someplace as boring and soulless as DC. There are better options.

I currently live in DC, but I was born and raised in LA. I love LA, but if you think it's more of a world class city than DC...you must be joking. You must think the movie industry makes a city "world class." More like klassy--Lol!

Huh. You really think a city which is roughly 8 times as large as DC is really less "world class"? Whatever you want to tell yourself.

So you think that population size means "more" world class? Using that logic, Dhaka, Bangladesh is more of a world city than Paris. Um...no.

Comparing DC to Paris... just laughable...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, pretty much.

I graduated in 2010. Moved to DC at 21 and got 3 successive unpaid/stipend internships. Found a job for $30,000 a year. I was miserable at the place but I had no idea how poor I was. I was lucky that I found a place in Columbia Heights with a room for $500/mo and then I found a new job at $35K and decided I wanted to live in my own place in Silver Spring. Even then it was insanely tight.

After 3 years and the age of 24 I left DC and moved abroad to get work experience. I'm moving back in 2017 as a 29-year-old homeowner in Logan Circle. However that's only becaue I worked my ass off for four years to make my way into a six-figure income. I don't think that can be done from within DC unless you start off strong, say in banking. Or if you want to wait 15 years until you finally make it up the ladder.

In either case, not common.

15 years from now can you imagine how insane the cost of living will have become?

It will be unlivable.

Then the prices will decrease.

Like New York, San Francisco and Boston have? Get real.

These cities are unlivable.

Plenty of people live there though and love it. You just have to be wealthy. Unlivable is a really non-specific term. Just say unaffordable so we know what you're talking about. Because those 'unlivable' cities are seeing unprecedented growth and prosperity. Not saying its right, just the way it is. Same with DC though out of the four listed I think its technically the cheapest but I'm not sure about it versus Boston.

Actually, there have been lots of talk of major change in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. NYT just had a big piece on it. It seems many people indeed find the housing crunch to be "unlivable"- as in, you cannot live there- because there are simply homes available at any kind of accessible price range.

Yet the cities continue to grow. YOU may not be able to afford to love there but there are things in life that each of us will find ourselves unable to do. Life's tough. They are paying a premium to love in world class cities and they are okay with it. If they aren't, presumably they move. Am I being too pragmatic for though and this notion that "major change" is going to come because some millenials are being told "not for you" when they look at price tag, I can tell you you are wrong.

Sure, life's tough. But when the vast majority of the population gets priced out of an area, that's when you see the electorate respond. Sorry Marie Antoinette, but that's why lawmakers are convening to fix things. Get your head out of the sand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long story short.
I recently had to discourage an extended family member (recent grad) from relocating to the DC area.
I told her it made better sense financially to stay in her home state (midwest) where the cost of living is lower. Much lower.

She asked for my advice and I gave it to her.
Should I have been more optimistic?

I was told the same thing in 1986.

You cannot compare the cost of living in 1986 and 2016. Huge difference.

+1. Incomparable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What 24 yr old wants to be married with kids anyway?! Your 20's is for building your career.

I got married at 24 and had my first kid at 26, third at 30. Our HHI is around 650k. We both have master's degrees and have been married for over ten years. It's stupid to pretend that only uneducated, ignorant, poor people get married in their twenties.

+1

very similar situation

How do you all make $650k with Master's degrees? Please share.

dh works in finance and I work for a nonprofit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm 30, but I did it all at 25. Great job in DC at 22, married at 25, first house at 23 (condo), second house at 27, first baby at 30. It's not out of reach and DH and I have never made more than 200k and made a lot less at 25.

Cost of living is a lot more expensive now than when you were 25.

5 years ago?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What 24 yr old wants to be married with kids anyway?! Your 20's is for building your career.

I got married at 24 and had my first kid at 26, third at 30. Our HHI is around 650k. We both have master's degrees and have been married for over ten years. It's stupid to pretend that only uneducated, ignorant, poor people get married in their twenties.

+1

very similar situation

How do you all make $650k with Master's degrees? Please share.

dh works in finance and I work for a nonprofit.

I'm the +1 poster... Marketing consulting and finance careers for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm 30, but I did it all at 25. Great job in DC at 22, married at 25, first house at 23 (condo), second house at 27, first baby at 30. It's not out of reach and DH and I have never made more than 200k and made a lot less at 25.

Cost of living is a lot more expensive now than when you were 25.

5 years ago?

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What 24 yr old wants to be married with kids anyway?! Your 20's is for building your career.

Even if you are 24 years old and don't want to be married, you might want to be married in the future. Just keep in mind that if you're in your late 20s in DC and a female, it's very difficult to find a husband or even a stable boyfriend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long story short.
I recently had to discourage an extended family member (recent grad) from relocating to the DC area.
I told her it made better sense financially to stay in her home state (midwest) where the cost of living is lower. Much lower.

She asked for my advice and I gave it to her.
Should I have been more optimistic?

I was told the same thing in 1986.

It's bad advice because there truly are more and better career opportunities in a city like DC. When you first graduate college DC will be a much harder place to live and the salary differential won't be enough to make up for the higher cost of living. However over time you'll make a lot more money than you would in a small town or flyover city and you'll be able to save a lot more for retirement. People also move up the ranks here faster.

Ummm how? Most people don't see the jumps in salary that make the cost of living in DC irrelevant. People here with $300K HHI can barely afford daycare + mortgage that is affordable to the rest of the country at $150K HHI.

My husband and I make around $200K. I bought my condo 8 years ago as a single girl, and we still live there. I think that we could make a lot less somewhere else (like Minnesota) and have a much nicer life..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What 24 yr old wants to be married with kids anyway?! Your 20's is for building your career.

Even if you are 24 years old and don't want to be married, you might want to be married in the future. Just keep in mind that if you're in your late 20s in DC and a female, it's very difficult to find a husband or even a stable boyfriend.

And all the men are nerdy losers. Even if they are otherwise eligible/stable.

Such a lose-lose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What 24 yr old wants to be married with kids anyway?! Your 20's is for building your career.

I got married at 23, had my first child at 24. We bought a home too (new construction started before we married, closed and moved in a few weeks after we married.) This was in suburban San Diego, similar housing market to DC

So did my mother (birth control was more complicated back then). But she doesn't put her experience out there as one to be emulated. She ended up divorced with two young children, never had a real career, and never got to live as a single young adult.

I think your advice was reasonable, OP, if a little pessimistic. It is hard to live in DC if you don't have some parental support -- group houses are rare, entry level jobs don't pay much, and it costs money to live the high life. We got by eating free tacos at happy hour. Now a drink is $12 and the tapas ain't free.

Are group houses rare because of the way DC has gentrified and the housing market has soared?

Group houses aren't rare. Not yet. They're advertised all over Craigslist. Check out Columbia Heights, Adams Morgan, and Mt. Pleasant. Even Shaw/Georgia Ave. Whether you want to live in one is something else entirely but you can still get it. I think per room you're looking at $700-$1,000 per month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What 24 yr old wants to be married with kids anyway?! Your 20's is for building your career.

I got married at 24 and had my first kid at 26, third at 30. Our HHI is around 650k. We both have master's degrees and have been married for over ten years. It's stupid to pretend that only uneducated, ignorant, poor people get married in their twenties.

+1

very similar situation

Not everyone wants to waste away the best unencumbered years of their lives with toddlers. I'm glad it worked out for you though.