I used to think a million dollar house would be a mansion

[Anonymous]

"great commute and excellent school district "

This is your problem. You didn't pay all that money for the house. You paid all that money for the commute and school district. 1.3 million doesn't get you much in the best school districts in Bethesda or McLean.

[Anonymous]

A good friend deciding between a job in the DC suburbs and one in Ohio took the one in Ohio for precisely this reason -- he said something almost exactly like "If I'm going to spend a million dollars on a house, it should be practically a mansion." (He spent half of that, on a huuuuuge custom built house in Ohio.)

When we were house hunting a couple years ago (after the market crash!), my low point was driving all the way across town to see a new house on the market for $990K. It was very small (I think they used a funky lens to make it look big in the pictures!), had appliances that were at least 30 years old in the kitchen, had really disgustingly dirty bathrooms, and had a significant mold smell in the "finished" basement. I was absolutely astounded when it sold for close to asking price a couple months later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Let me guess OP, you live in Arlington or Mclean?

Oh definitely. Maybe Bethesda. I live around people like this, and the wives sit at home thinking their husbands are fat execs when mommy and daddy gave one or both of them 500K to put towards their first home as a wedding present. Makes me want to vomit.

I was the PP who mentioned Arlington/Mclean.

Neighbor across the street bought a new build and the wife stays at home.
I still remember her mentioning the family home in Maine.

I LOL and said most be nice to have somewhere to runoff to leave the madness.

So common around here and I feel like they truly believe that's how everyone lives. It is AMAZING and then they will look at you straight in the eye, in front of their 1.5MM home, and tell you he is a consultant at Deloitte, etc. Or worse, works for the government.... ugh.

Sorry - I don't understand the issue with this. You think they could only afford that house with family money?

Sounds like they dislike people who work for consulting firms or the federal government. Not sure where they would prefer for one to work and what would be an acceptable career.

I think that point is that those careers can't afford that house. Not without help.

Poppycock. DH and I are in mid-30's and we've ridden the property ladder since we got out of college. We're good savers. We had no help for 3/4 of our degrees and now we have no debt. We were able to put down $450k on a house in N. Arlington. Not quite a $1.5M house, but not too far away. Oh, and we're Feds. Judge away.

Poppycock? Ok...
It's great that you saved and worked hard. So did we, and we have a great house close in. I'm not so full of it to not acknowledge how lucky we were. I have friends who are just as hard working that got burned in the crash. They aren't lazy or stupid, they were just unlucky. I wouldn't begrudge them family help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A good friend deciding between a job in the DC suburbs and one in Ohio took the one in Ohio for precisely this reason -- he said something almost exactly like "If I'm going to spend a million dollars on a house, it should be practically a mansion." (He spent half of that, on a huuuuuge custom built house in Ohio.)

When we were house hunting a couple years ago (after the market crash!), my low point was driving all the way across town to see a new house on the market for $990K. It was very small (I think they used a funky lens to make it look big in the pictures!), had appliances that were at least 30 years old in the kitchen, had really disgustingly dirty bathrooms, and had a significant mold smell in the "finished" basement. I was absolutely astounded when it sold for close to asking price a couple months later.

Understood, but then you are living in Ohio.

This area is overpriced. I was born and raise in this area.
Still remember Clarendon was were you could score some smack and the old SEARs.

When I was a kid I thought $100K was alot because I saw my Dad's paycheck.
Now I make more than that and still live beneath my means.

This area is Candyland, the housing and schools are not reality.

[Anonymous]

12:53 - I would probably never buy a million dollar house in Ohio because you'd be buying one of the most expensive houses in the area and it could be tough to sell later on. At least when you buy a million-dollar house here, there is a larger pool of buyers for it later on.

I have friends all over the country. Many of them have amazing houses they bought much more cheaply than here. But some of them had their houses on the market for YEARS when they went to sell, and some saw huge drops in value and still aren't above water. And some found that even buying an expensive house for the area didn't translate to good schools.

Yeah, this area is expensive, but you usually get your money back later on without a long time on the market.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let me guess OP, you live in Arlington or Mclean?

Oh definitely. Maybe Bethesda. I live around people like this, and the wives sit at home thinking their husbands are fat execs when mommy and daddy gave one or both of them 500K to put towards their first home as a wedding present. Makes me want to vomit.

I was the PP who mentioned Arlington/Mclean.

Neighbor across the street bought a new build and the wife stays at home.
I still remember her mentioning the family home in Maine.

I LOL and said most be nice to have somewhere to runoff to leave the madness.

So common around here and I feel like they truly believe that's how everyone lives. It is AMAZING and then they will look at you straight in the eye, in front of their 1.5MM home, and tell you he is a consultant at Deloitte, etc. Or worse, works for the government.... ugh.

Sorry - I don't understand the issue with this. You think they could only afford that house with family money?

Sounds like they dislike people who work for consulting firms or the federal government. Not sure where they would prefer for one to work and what would be an acceptable career.

I think that point is that those careers can't afford that house. Not without help.

Poppycock. DH and I are in mid-30's and we've ridden the property ladder since we got out of college. We're good savers. We had no help for 3/4 of our degrees and now we have no debt. We were able to put down $450k on a house in N. Arlington. Not quite a $1.5M house, but not too far away. Oh, and we're Feds. Judge away.

Can I judge you for saying "Poppycock"? I thought that only 80+ British ladies said that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let me guess OP, you live in Arlington or Mclean?

Oh definitely. Maybe Bethesda. I live around people like this, and the wives sit at home thinking their husbands are fat execs when mommy and daddy gave one or both of them 500K to put towards their first home as a wedding present. Makes me want to vomit.

I was the PP who mentioned Arlington/Mclean.

Neighbor across the street bought a new build and the wife stays at home.
I still remember her mentioning the family home in Maine.

I LOL and said most be nice to have somewhere to runoff to leave the madness.

So common around here and I feel like they truly believe that's how everyone lives. It is AMAZING and then they will look at you straight in the eye, in front of their 1.5MM home, and tell you he is a consultant at Deloitte, etc. Or worse, works for the government.... ugh.

Sorry - I don't understand the issue with this. You think they could only afford that house with family money?

Sounds like they dislike people who work for consulting firms or the federal government. Not sure where they would prefer for one to work and what would be an acceptable career.

I think that point is that those careers can't afford that house. Not without help.

Poppycock. DH and I are in mid-30's and we've ridden the property ladder since we got out of college. We're good savers. We had no help for 3/4 of our degrees and now we have no debt. We were able to put down $450k on a house in N. Arlington. Not quite a $1.5M house, but not too far away. Oh, and we're Feds. Judge away.

Can I judge you for saying "Poppycock"? I thought that only 80+ British ladies said that.

And "mid 30's", define that how you wish (35? 38? Etc) is a far cry from late 20's from a financial stability standpoint. And Feds with nearly a 1M mortgage makes me LOL. Hope you don't have kids....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let me guess OP, you live in Arlington or Mclean?

Oh definitely. Maybe Bethesda. I live around people like this, and the wives sit at home thinking their husbands are fat execs when mommy and daddy gave one or both of them 500K to put towards their first home as a wedding present. Makes me want to vomit.

I was the PP who mentioned Arlington/Mclean.

Neighbor across the street bought a new build and the wife stays at home.
I still remember her mentioning the family home in Maine.

I LOL and said most be nice to have somewhere to runoff to leave the madness.

So common around here and I feel like they truly believe that's how everyone lives. It is AMAZING and then they will look at you straight in the eye, in front of their 1.5MM home, and tell you he is a consultant at Deloitte, etc. Or worse, works for the government.... ugh.

Sorry - I don't understand the issue with this. You think they could only afford that house with family money?

Sounds like they dislike people who work for consulting firms or the federal government. Not sure where they would prefer for one to work and what would be an acceptable career.

I think that point is that those careers can't afford that house. Not without help.

Poppycock. DH and I are in mid-30's and we've ridden the property ladder since we got out of college. We're good savers. We had no help for 3/4 of our degrees and now we have no debt. We were able to put down $450k on a house in N. Arlington. Not quite a $1.5M house, but not too far away. Oh, and we're Feds. Judge away.

Can I judge you for saying "Poppycock"? I thought that only 80+ British ladies said that.

And "mid 30's", define that how you wish (35? 38? Etc) is a far cry from late 20's from a financial stability standpoint. And Feds with nearly a 1M mortgage makes me LOL. Hope you don't have kids....

PP said that people who are feds can't afford nice houses without help. We bought a $1.15M house with $450k down. We do just fine, and we have a kid. I guess that's hilarious to some.

[Anonymous]

Initial post was about a 29 year old buying a million dollar home. While it can happen, a fed or consultant from one of the firms at that age ain't that person without mommy and daddy shelling out cash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AKA Million Dollar Shitshack.

Only in your world. A million dollars most anywhere else in the country buys a mansion but you all neeeeeeed culture and corruption so you bow down or bend over to achieve the nightmare I mean dream.

+1 But my flyover family think I'm such a big city superstar!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Initial post was about a 29 year old buying a million dollar home. While it can happen, a fed or consultant from one of the firms at that age ain't that person without mommy and daddy shelling out cash.

OP here. Lots of bitter assumptions. I started college at 16, graduated at 20 and started working. I've worked in management consulting for almost 10 years, people. My spouse is an attorney, sheesh...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Initial post was about a 29 year old buying a million dollar home. While it can happen, a fed or consultant from one of the firms at that age ain't that person without mommy and daddy shelling out cash.

Plenty of 20-something tech kids and finance kids pulling in six figures a year. Or just a few years of Big Law at $170k a year. Very doable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Initial post was about a 29 year old buying a million dollar home. While it can happen, a fed or consultant from one of the firms at that age ain't that person without mommy and daddy shelling out cash.

OP here. Lots of bitter assumptions. I started college at 16, graduated at 20 and started working. I've worked in management consulting for almost 10 years, people. My spouse is an attorney, sheesh...

Yeah. I mean wouldn't you just assume OP was in undergrad at 16

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Initial post was about a 29 year old buying a million dollar home. While it can happen, a fed or consultant from one of the firms at that age ain't that person without mommy and daddy shelling out cash.

Plenty of 20-something tech kids and finance kids pulling in six figures a year. Or just a few years of Big Law at $170k a year. Very doable.

170k/year doesn't get you a 1MM house, nor would it yield you enough savings after 6 years of graduating for a 450k down payment as someone noted above. Can it happen with some tech kids who hit a homerun? Sure, but that's not common and especially around here. Los Gatos? Sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Initial post was about a 29 year old buying a million dollar home. While it can happen, a fed or consultant from one of the firms at that age ain't that person without mommy and daddy shelling out cash.

Plenty of 20-something tech kids and finance kids pulling in six figures a year. Or just a few years of Big Law at $170k a year. Very doable.

170k/year doesn't get you a 1MM house, nor would it yield you enough savings after 6 years of graduating for a 450k down payment as someone noted above. Can it happen with some tech kids who hit a homerun? Sure, but that's not common and especially around here. Los Gatos? Sure.

There are plenty of double big law associate couples buying million dollar plus houses just a few years in.