How are you able to afford the DC area - from an out-of-towner?

[Anonymous]

We're doing OK. We make about 150K, own a house, drive two very old cars, and live very simply. We're saving at least 25 percent of household income. One kid, no cable TV...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're doing OK. We make about 150K, own a house, drive two very old cars, and live very simply. We're saving at least 25 percent of household income. One kid, no cable TV...

Where do you live and when did you buy?

[Anonymous]

From the midwest also. You totally need to change your "commute" point of reference. I still have family in Michigan, where a cousin would constantly complain about her husband's AWFUL commute. And it was awful - by their standards. He had to drive *just over an hour* each way. In his own car, during "rush hour."

I did the same commute while in law school. Bear in mind, in Michigan, even during "rush hour", you can go from one city and its suburbs, through country, to another city and its suburbs. His car would keep moving the whole time - and he probably drove 75 miles for his commute each way.

Here, my 20 mile commute (Loudoun to Arlington) takes me that same amount of time. But people in the part of Michigan I grew up in would never consider living 20 miles from work on purpose. Until they can find another option, maybe, but not for the long term. Here, that's considered a reasonable distance to get housing that is affordable. In contrast, the idea of being in my own car (alone) that moves the whole time I'm driving (vs. stop for 10 minutes for no apparent reason with 1000 of my new closest friends) sounds like heaven. And I do take metro - though the train/train/bus combination I need takes longer and costs more than carpooling, so the solo drive sounds great.

So, OP - if you're looking at housing that's 0-10 miles from your proposed office location, that's your problem. Expand that search to 20-30 - or even 30-40 - miles and you'll probably find something more affordable. Just remember to add at least an hour on either end of your work day for commuting, because that's "normal" here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:20:50 you are an ass. OP- you are right. My husband and I both work- live in DC, crappy school area but lucked out on charters for both kids, make about 150k EACH, and do not have a great big back yard or lots of sq ft in our 800k home. We have a very easy commute to our jobs, like what we do, and have lots of family in the area. But I always said, if we could make anything close to our income now (and by close, I mean 60%) of it - or if my husband could make his income somewhere else (he is in tech, and gets 30% of his income for clearances, we should go. Here is the thing, other places would not have the same culture and city life we love, but we would have larger yards,less stress, and most importantly less assholes like 20:50.

Oh please. Not 20:50 but OP comes on here and snarks about DC. What do you expect is going to happen?

OP wasn't snarking, just asking. What do you see as snark? Asking if people are lawyers and lobbyists? That's just a question. Do you think it's an insult? There are indeed a lot of them here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's the point of your post? Apparently, millions of us are finding a way to make it work. When you come to visit, remember to stand on the left when you go on the metro.

The right. For the love of God, stand to the right, walk on the left.

+1
I was waiting for someone to correct that.

Heh. I was thinking the grumpy PP did that on purpose, so the OP would get bumped into or something. I hope it was just a mistake!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're doing OK. We make about 150K, own a house, drive two very old cars, and live very simply. We're saving at least 25 percent of household income. One kid, no cable TV...

Where do you live and when did you buy?

We're in Kensington and we bought at the peak of the market.

[Anonymous]

We moved here from California. Simliar COL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're doing OK. We make about 150K, own a house, drive two very old cars, and live very simply. We're saving at least 25 percent of household income. One kid, no cable TV...

Where do you live and when did you buy?

We're in Kensington and we bought at the peak of the market.

This says it all - three times national median income and living like typical working class families throughout most of the country. I've been here since '94 and witnessed the massive bubble/price runup that essentially destroyed standards of living here. It will correct itself over time, but as other posters have said, don't move to the area just for the heck of it - big mistake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's the point of your post? Apparently, millions of us are finding a way to make it work. When you come to visit, remember to stand on the left when you go on the metro.

This is incorrect. You stand on the RIGHT, walk on the left. How long have you lived here for? An hour?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's the point of your post? Apparently, millions of us are finding a way to make it work. When you come to visit, remember to stand on the left when you go on the metro.

This is incorrect. You stand on the RIGHT, walk on the left. How long have you lived here for? An hour?

BWAHAHAHAHA!! Too funny.

[Anonymous]

We earn 250k, live in a 1200sq town house, one car, no cable, limit vacations to day trips, and only have one kid. That's how we do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We earn 250k, live in a 1200sq town house, one car, no cable, limit vacations to day trips, and only have one kid. That's how we do it.

Goodness. We early about 1/2 of what you do but otherwise, everything else is similar: 1400sq TH, two paid-for cars, no cable, one paid-for vacation for a week at the EAstern Shore, one child, pay for daycare thru the nose, DC will go to parochial school next year). You must have extra $$ floating around. Or maybe you have a lot of debt you are paying off (student loans, other)?

[Anonymous]

We live in an old small townhouse in a developing part of the city. We put our kid in the lottery for PS3 in DCPS and the charters to find a good program that we didn't have to pay $2000/mo for. We only have one car. We don't vacation often.

There are places to live and nice houses that don't cost $700K. Not McMansion sized like all over the Midwest, but you spend less time in your house anyway because you are out doing things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We earn 250k, live in a 1200sq town house, one car, no cable, limit vacations to day trips, and only have one kid. That's how we do it.

Goodness. We early about 1/2 of what you do but otherwise, everything else is similar: 1400sq TH, two paid-for cars, no cable, one paid-for vacation for a week at the EAstern Shore, one child, pay for daycare thru the nose, DC will go to parochial school next year). You must have extra $$ floating around. Or maybe you have a lot of debt you are paying off (student loans, other)?

*earn* not early. gulp.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We earn 250k, live in a 1200sq town house, one car, no cable, limit vacations to day trips, and only have one kid. That's how we do it.

Goodness. We early about 1/2 of what you do but otherwise, everything else is similar: 1400sq TH, two paid-for cars, no cable, one paid-for vacation for a week at the EAstern Shore, one child, pay for daycare thru the nose, DC will go to parochial school next year). You must have extra $$ floating around. Or maybe you have a lot of debt you are paying off (student loans, other)?

*earn* not early. gulp.

We rent in a close-in suburb so housing costs are much higher than we'd like (we moved here during the bubble and it never made sense to us to buy at those prices). All of my salary goes towards childcare and student loans. We save for retirement, college, and emergencies. Most of my friends in our income bracket live similar lifestyles to ours.