Housing is the new source of inequality

[Anonymous]

Is OP the 20something woman who lives in a luxury apartment in Arlingtknnwho works at a nonprofit that was the subject and major complainer in the WaPo article on YIMBY last month? GMAB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you think people felt who were starting their life during the financial meltdown in 2008-2010? At some point, the majority of law firm associates were fired (unlike during the pandemic when partners learned that they wouldn’t be able to replace them and companies got massive subsidies)?? I had a baby and was pregnant when both DH and I lost our jobs. It took us years to get back into the workforce. No one was hiring in our fields until 2012 and 2013 and by then they didn’t want stale workers anymore. I bought my first house when I was 35. Kids were in elementary school and the neighborhood wasn’t great. It massively appreciated during the pandemic but I am now in my mid 40s and my career was basically ruined because of how it started out. And I am certainly not the only one, it happened to thousands of lawyers and Wall Street workers. No one cared. No one gave subsidies like Trump and Biden did.

Subsidies wouldn't have stopped the layoffs in law firms in 2008/9. There was a huge glut of useless big firm lawyers working on securitized b.s. and related financial world legal work. Those jobs went away because those big firms were just handmaidens for parasitic financial shenanigans. Plenty of people chose better paths (maybe not as lucrative right off the bat) or pivoted when it all went away. The fact that you weren't able to participate in that nonsense doesn't make you a victim. No one is entitled to a multimillion dollar house in Arlington just because they graduated from law school and were willing to work for whatever parasitic industry was paying the most.

I dislike lawyers and our financial system as well but you just come across as a special type of miserable human being — ragging on PP for being entitled and working for a “parasitic” type of law when he / she didn’t say anything indicating that this was the case. She could be a non-profit lawyer representing widows and orphans for all you know. My guess is you aren’t happy with your job / house, so you come
On here with crazy levels of negativity. Hope I’m wrong.

She was a law firm associate, no doubt in Big Law, and if her field was not hiring until 2012/13, it was exactly the kind of field I'm talking about. The people who actually helped "widows and orphans" didn't lose their jobs during that crash. I just don't have a lot of sympathy for people who complaint about the "subsidies" during COVID as if they were entitled to a lucrative, but actually parasitic, law job right out of law school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is OP the 20something woman who lives in a luxury apartment in Arlingtknnwho works at a nonprofit that was the subject and major complainer in the WaPo article on YIMBY last month? GMAB.

Her dad is a developer of multifamily housing in Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you're older and bought a SFH decades ago, you're in good shape. If you're younger and bought a home that you could reasonably afford before interest rates started to climb, you're also in good shape. If these homeowners ever want to move, fewer of them will sell given how low mortgage rates are for them. They will just rent out their homes to us. For us renters, we're really struggling. If interest rates do keep rising, unemployment rates continue to rise, and effectively we're in a recession next year, then I suspect that housing will become the key source of the haves/haves nots. It's always been like this, I know, but it's going to become so, so much more pronounced. If you own a home these days, you are in a whole different social class than renters - especially in high COL areas like DC. End rant.

So what do you want? A free home? No doc mortgages? The government has tried these approaches and they always fail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/668-Kenneth-St-NE-20017/home/113744044

$444,573

four levels, three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, den, living room, dining room, kitchen, family room, with second and fourth floor roof top deck. Walking distance to Catholic University, Trinity University, and the Brookland Metro Station. This property (inclusionary Zoning /Affordable Dwelling Unit) can only be transferred to a household with an annual income up to eighty percent (80%) of area median income (AMI or median family income, MFI) as calculated through the formula provided in the Covenant. Those maximum income amounts are provided below. Also, the purchaser may not spend more than 41% of their gross income on housing costs. Household Size (number of people) Maximum Income (80% of MFI) for 4 people $113,840; 5 people $125,224; 6 people $136,608. Home Purchase Assistance Program (HPAP), Employer Assisted Housing Program (EAHP), and Negotiated Employee Affordable Home Purchase Program (NEAHP) are welcomed and encouraged to purchase.

Honestly I don't get this. With 20% down, aka the max annual income of a household eligible to buy this, the monthly payment is $3k/month. That's not affordable! We make around 150k With one in day care, and that's well above the max housing budget we've ever had. God forbid it needs repairs.

Here's another. You just have to go through all the government red tape to qualify.

https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/1001-Bryant-St-NE-20018/unit-8/home/183005066

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you think people felt who were starting their life during the financial meltdown in 2008-2010? At some point, the majority of law firm associates were fired (unlike during the pandemic when partners learned that they wouldn’t be able to replace them and companies got massive subsidies)?? I had a baby and was pregnant when both DH and I lost our jobs. It took us years to get back into the workforce. No one was hiring in our fields until 2012 and 2013 and by then they didn’t want stale workers anymore. I bought my first house when I was 35. Kids were in elementary school and the neighborhood wasn’t great. It massively appreciated during the pandemic but I am now in my mid 40s and my career was basically ruined because of how it started out. And I am certainly not the only one, it happened to thousands of lawyers and Wall Street workers. No one cared. No one gave subsidies like Trump and Biden did.

Subsidies wouldn't have stopped the layoffs in law firms in 2008/9. There was a huge glut of useless big firm lawyers working on securitized b.s. and related financial world legal work. Those jobs went away because those big firms were just handmaidens for parasitic financial shenanigans. Plenty of people chose better paths (maybe not as lucrative right off the bat) or pivoted when it all went away. The fact that you weren't able to participate in that nonsense doesn't make you a victim. No one is entitled to a multimillion dollar house in Arlington just because they graduated from law school and were willing to work for whatever parasitic industry was paying the most.

I dislike lawyers and our financial system as well but you just come across as a special type of miserable human being — ragging on PP for being entitled and working for a “parasitic” type of law when he / she didn’t say anything indicating that this was the case. She could be a non-profit lawyer representing widows and orphans for all you know. My guess is you aren’t happy with your job / house, so you come
On here with crazy levels of negativity. Hope I’m wrong.

She was a law firm associate, no doubt in Big Law, and if her field was not hiring until 2012/13, it was exactly the kind of field I'm talking about. The people who actually helped "widows and orphans" didn't lose their jobs during that crash. I just don't have a lot of sympathy for people who complaint about the "subsidies" during COVID as if they were entitled to a lucrative, but actually parasitic, law job right out of law school.

You have no idea. All transactional practice areas were affected, also regulatory to some extent. Transactional includes much more than securitization. Also, calling a respectable attorney “pimped out” shows what a pathetic, disgusting human being you are. No lawyer I know even comes close to being such a contemptible human being. Also, aren’t you the one who said he’s working on Wall St, financial institutions? Wouldn’t you count yourself as a parasite by your own definition? I am honestly shocked at the way you communicate your frustrations, but I suppose your never know who’s on this board, some people have mental illness/challenges and it comes through in how they talk to others here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ll never forget my realtor in 2005. She had this incredible home on the hill. She said she bought it 15 years prior and no one supported her decision or ever would even come to her house. SO many DC neighborhoods that are now desired by UMC whites (Petworth, H Street, Logan, U St, Shaw, Trinidad) were blighted as recently as 2002. In 2002 my job was to help bust drug houses in Trinidad.

Eventually, for better or for worse depending on your stance on gentrification, UMC people have bought up these neighborhoods, but to gain wealth in real estate you have to stretch from your comfort zone. I never forgot that agent. I bought in Logan and H street and eventually leveraged my way into my Arlington home…20 years from whence I started on my 38k salary.

With recession looming, you should be looking anywhere that gets you to Amazon HQ on metro and buy in the dip.

I remember when MPD set up roadblocks around Trinidad, and checked IDs of people trying to enter the area. You weren't able to drive in unless you lived there. Point being, times sure do change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t see how this has to do with “inequality”. You are talking about affordability. But this is hardly a new phenomenon.

This. We don’t do socialism here.

Ever heard of the police department, the fire department, public hospitals, public high school, public universities, the US military? Do you drive on streets that you personally dug out and created? Do you use medicine that you developed in your own lab? You do socialism. Put down your copy of The Fountainhead and put away your sophomoric fantasy that you are somehow self reliant. Humans are a cooperative species. It is our most successful adaptive advantage and the it is the instinct that permitted us to take over the world. We do socialism everywhere. The differences about which goods and services are communally developed, supported, or shared and which are not are differences in degree, not in kind. And people like you think you are not socialist because you oppose supporting resources that you think are unlikely to benefit you personally. That’s not a principled stand, that’s a toddler’s worldview.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t see how this has to do with “inequality”. You are talking about affordability. But this is hardly a new phenomenon.

This. We don’t do socialism here.

What does this have to do with socialism? Socialism has nothing to do with “equality” certainly.

Besides, mortgage guarantees are essentially socialism. Government controlling means of production and all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/668-Kenneth-St-NE-20017/home/113744044

$444,573

four levels, three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, den, living room, dining room, kitchen, family room, with second and fourth floor roof top deck. Walking distance to Catholic University, Trinity University, and the Brookland Metro Station. This property (inclusionary Zoning /Affordable Dwelling Unit) can only be transferred to a household with an annual income up to eighty percent (80%) of area median income (AMI or median family income, MFI) as calculated through the formula provided in the Covenant. Those maximum income amounts are provided below. Also, the purchaser may not spend more than 41% of their gross income on housing costs. Household Size (number of people) Maximum Income (80% of MFI) for 4 people $113,840; 5 people $125,224; 6 people $136,608. Home Purchase Assistance Program (HPAP), Employer Assisted Housing Program (EAHP), and Negotiated Employee Affordable Home Purchase Program (NEAHP) are welcomed and encouraged to purchase.

Honestly I don't get this. With 20% down, aka the max annual income of a household eligible to buy this, the monthly payment is $3k/month. That's not affordable! We make around 150k With one in day care, and that's well above the max housing budget we've ever had. God forbid it needs repairs.

Here's another. You just have to go through all the government red tape to qualify.

https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/1001-Bryant-St-NE-20018/unit-8/home/183005066

Op has too much income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t see how this has to do with “inequality”. You are talking about affordability. But this is hardly a new phenomenon.

This. We don’t do socialism here.

Ever heard of the police department, the fire department, public hospitals, public high school, public universities, the US military? Do you drive on streets that you personally dug out and created? Do you use medicine that you developed in your own lab? You do socialism. Put down your copy of The Fountainhead and put away your sophomoric fantasy that you are somehow self reliant. Humans are a cooperative species. It is our most successful adaptive advantage and the it is the instinct that permitted us to take over the world. We do socialism everywhere. The differences about which goods and services are communally developed, supported, or shared and which are not are differences in degree, not in kind. And people like you think you are not socialist because you oppose supporting resources that you think are unlikely to benefit you personally. That’s not a principled stand, that’s a toddler’s worldview.

Amen

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you think people felt who were starting their life during the financial meltdown in 2008-2010? At some point, the majority of law firm associates were fired (unlike during the pandemic when partners learned that they wouldn’t be able to replace them and companies got massive subsidies)?? I had a baby and was pregnant when both DH and I lost our jobs. It took us years to get back into the workforce. No one was hiring in our fields until 2012 and 2013 and by then they didn’t want stale workers anymore. I bought my first house when I was 35. Kids were in elementary school and the neighborhood wasn’t great. It massively appreciated during the pandemic but I am now in my mid 40s and my career was basically ruined because of how it started out. And I am certainly not the only one, it happened to thousands of lawyers and Wall Street workers. No one cared. No one gave subsidies like Trump and Biden did.

Subsidies wouldn't have stopped the layoffs in law firms in 2008/9. There was a huge glut of useless big firm lawyers working on securitized b.s. and related financial world legal work. Those jobs went away because those big firms were just handmaidens for parasitic financial shenanigans. Plenty of people chose better paths (maybe not as lucrative right off the bat) or pivoted when it all went away. The fact that you weren't able to participate in that nonsense doesn't make you a victim. No one is entitled to a multimillion dollar house in Arlington just because they graduated from law school and were willing to work for whatever parasitic industry was paying the most.

I dislike lawyers and our financial system as well but you just come across as a special type of miserable human being — ragging on PP for being entitled and working for a “parasitic” type of law when he / she didn’t say anything indicating that this was the case. She could be a non-profit lawyer representing widows and orphans for all you know. My guess is you aren’t happy with your job / house, so you come
On here with crazy levels of negativity. Hope I’m wrong.

She was a law firm associate, no doubt in Big Law, and if her field was not hiring until 2012/13, it was exactly the kind of field I'm talking about. The people who actually helped "widows and orphans" didn't lose their jobs during that crash. I just don't have a lot of sympathy for people who complaint about the "subsidies" during COVID as if they were entitled to a lucrative, but actually parasitic, law job right out of law school.

You have no idea. All transactional practice areas were affected, also regulatory to some extent. Transactional includes much more than securitization. Also, calling a respectable attorney “pimped out” shows what a pathetic, disgusting human being you are. No lawyer I know even comes close to being such a contemptible human being. Also, aren’t you the one who said he’s working on Wall St, financial institutions? Wouldn’t you count yourself as a parasite by your own definition? I am honestly shocked at the way you communicate your frustrations, but I suppose your never know who’s on this board, some people have mental illness/challenges and it comes through in how they talk to others here.

I am not the Wall St person and didn't use the word pimped out. The whole world of transactional and regulatory Big Law falls into the parasite category. And the whole idea that someone is entitled to make massive amounts of money by helping that system is laughable. And there were plenty of subsidies given out by Obama, but the law firms still fired tons of associates because they could and wanted to keep the money for the honchos. But live by the sword, die by the sword.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you think people felt who were starting their life during the financial meltdown in 2008-2010? At some point, the majority of law firm associates were fired (unlike during the pandemic when partners learned that they wouldn’t be able to replace them and companies got massive subsidies)?? I had a baby and was pregnant when both DH and I lost our jobs. It took us years to get back into the workforce. No one was hiring in our fields until 2012 and 2013 and by then they didn’t want stale workers anymore. I bought my first house when I was 35. Kids were in elementary school and the neighborhood wasn’t great. It massively appreciated during the pandemic but I am now in my mid 40s and my career was basically ruined because of how it started out. And I am certainly not the only one, it happened to thousands of lawyers and Wall Street workers. No one cared. No one gave subsidies like Trump and Biden did.

Subsidies wouldn't have stopped the layoffs in law firms in 2008/9. There was a huge glut of useless big firm lawyers working on securitized b.s. and related financial world legal work. Those jobs went away because those big firms were just handmaidens for parasitic financial shenanigans. Plenty of people chose better paths (maybe not as lucrative right off the bat) or pivoted when it all went away. The fact that you weren't able to participate in that nonsense doesn't make you a victim. No one is entitled to a multimillion dollar house in Arlington just because they graduated from law school and were willing to work for whatever parasitic industry was paying the most.

I dislike lawyers and our financial system as well but you just come across as a special type of miserable human being — ragging on PP for being entitled and working for a “parasitic” type of law when he / she didn’t say anything indicating that this was the case. She could be a non-profit lawyer representing widows and orphans for all you know. My guess is you aren’t happy with your job / house, so you come
On here with crazy levels of negativity. Hope I’m wrong.

She was a law firm associate, no doubt in Big Law, and if her field was not hiring until 2012/13, it was exactly the kind of field I'm talking about. The people who actually helped "widows and orphans" didn't lose their jobs during that crash. I just don't have a lot of sympathy for people who complaint about the "subsidies" during COVID as if they were entitled to a lucrative, but actually parasitic, law job right out of law school.

You have no idea. All transactional practice areas were affected, also regulatory to some extent. Transactional includes much more than securitization. Also, calling a respectable attorney “pimped out” shows what a pathetic, disgusting human being you are. No lawyer I know even comes close to being such a contemptible human being. Also, aren’t you the one who said he’s working on Wall St, financial institutions? Wouldn’t you count yourself as a parasite by your own definition? I am honestly shocked at the way you communicate your frustrations, but I suppose your never know who’s on this board, some people have mental illness/challenges and it comes through in how they talk to others here.

I am not the Wall St person and didn't use the word pimped out. The whole world of transactional and regulatory Big Law falls into the parasite category. And the whole idea that someone is entitled to make massive amounts of money by helping that system is laughable. And there were plenty of subsidies given out by Obama, but the law firms still fired tons of associates because they could and wanted to keep the money for the honchos. But live by the sword, die by the sword.

People who draft and negotiate loan agreements so that companies can raise $$ and operate and employ you are not parasites. What a weird worldview. I repeat - you have no clue what you’re talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These threads should make you read several papers from economists who study the housing market before allowing you to comment. Every single time I see one of these threads I know exactly what I’ll read when I click it, and yet I still click because apparently I hate myself. It does make me appreciate the bubble I apparently live and work in where everyone has some basic level of data literacy and analytical capacity. I have no idea what any of you numbskulls do for a living or really how you tie your shoes in the morning with the critical thinking skills you’re displaying here.

Thank you for your balanced insight. You sound like a very calm person who must have a lot of friends and an amazing career.