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

[Anonymous]

Again....if I met two neighbors who were 30 and just bought a 1.5M home and they told me they were attorneys at Venable, I might buy that. But a stay at home mom and a guy that is a consultant at a Deloitte/PWC/fed employee etc....nope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Again....if I met two neighbors who were 30 and just bought a 1.5M home and they told me they were attorneys at Venable, I might buy that. But a stay at home mom and a guy that is a consultant at a Deloitte/PWC/fed employee etc....nope.

How do you know what she did before she was a SAHM? Maybe she banked her pay since Day 1. That's what we did and bought an expensive home when we were both 28.

[Anonymous]

The jealous people here are so out of line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The jealous people here are so out of line.

The humblebrag that started this was out of line. No one is stupid enough to think you can get large house in the city for a million dollars. No one except the OP. Troll post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The jealous people here are so out of line.

+1 Also, it makes me sad that people think the only way someone can have a nice house is to get some kind of handout from a family member because it makes it seem like people can't just work hard, save money and make wise investments. My DH and I came from lower middle class backgrounds, did exactly this with exactly $0 handed to us and we were able to buy a pricey house in our late 20s. I want younger people to know this is possible. You don't have to win the parent lottery (or actual lottery) for this to be possible!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Again....if I met two neighbors who were 30 and just bought a 1.5M home and they told me they were attorneys at Venable, I might buy that. But a stay at home mom and a guy that is a consultant at a Deloitte/PWC/fed employee etc....nope.

It's possible if they saved religiously for a few years before the wife became a sahm.

My husband is private sector and I'm a gov employee. We make around 380k now and made around 320k when we saved for a house. It took us a little over a year to save around 125k for our downpayment. We had some other money in savings we used. We could have easily saved another 125-150k if we had continued to save for another year and purchased a more expensive home. It's definitely doable, especially without student loans or a wedding to pay for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The jealous people here are so out of line.

+1 Also, it makes me sad that people think the only way someone can have a nice house is to get some kind of handout from a family member because it makes it seem like people can't just work hard, save money and make wise investments. My DH and I came from lower middle class backgrounds, did exactly this with exactly $0 handed to us and we were able to buy a pricey house in our late 20s. I want younger people to know this is possible. You don't have to win the parent lottery (or actual lottery) for this to be possible!

+1. It can be done. But it takes dedication and a plan. When we saved for a house we were psychotic about saving for over a year. We didn't have any transportation expenses or really many bills at all. We put around 70 percent of our income towards savings. Rented a cheap apartment. Few trips or clothing purchases. Cheap cable plan and same for cellphone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The jealous people here are so out of line.

+1 Also, it makes me sad that people think the only way someone can have a nice house is to get some kind of handout from a family member because it makes it seem like people can't just work hard, save money and make wise investments. My DH and I came from lower middle class backgrounds, did exactly this with exactly $0 handed to us and we were able to buy a pricey house in our late 20s. I want younger people to know this is possible. You don't have to win the parent lottery (or actual lottery) for this to be possible!

+1. It can be done. But it takes dedication and a plan. When we saved for a house we were psychotic about saving for over a year. We didn't have any transportation expenses or really many bills at all. We put around 70 percent of our income towards savings. Rented a cheap apartment. Few trips or clothing purchases. Cheap cable plan and same for cellphone.

You have to do what it takes if you don't start off life on third base. This, by the way, is also the way to become financially independent at a young age. Put in the time and planning early and execute. It can and is being done by young people all across the country. I hope more people open their eyes to this instead of being enslaved to a desk for 40+ years because they never made a plan and got caught up in the trap of materialism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to think that my humblebrags would be humbler. Am I off base?

L

[Anonymous]

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.

Oh shut up. Boomers want to gleefully sell their 1960's rambler for 850k and then complain about the very people who needed help to purchase it.

I could care less about the boomers and their land values. That isn't what we are jabbing here at, not sure why you bring that into the conversation.

We haven't had any boomer bashing lately, let the games begin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The jealous people here are so out of line.

+1 Also, it makes me sad that people think the only way someone can have a nice house is to get some kind of handout from a family member because it makes it seem like people can't just work hard, save money and make wise investments. My DH and I came from lower middle class backgrounds, did exactly this with exactly $0 handed to us and we were able to buy a pricey house in our late 20s. I want younger people to know this is possible. You don't have to win the parent lottery (or actual lottery) for this to be possible!

+1. It can be done. But it takes dedication and a plan. When we saved for a house we were psychotic about saving for over a year. We didn't have any transportation expenses or really many bills at all. We put around 70 percent of our income towards savings. Rented a cheap apartment. Few trips or clothing purchases. Cheap cable plan and same for cellphone.

You have to do what it takes if you don't start off life on third base. This, by the way, is also the way to become financially independent at a young age. Put in the time and planning early and execute. It can and is being done by young people all across the country. I hope more people open their eyes to this instead of being enslaved to a desk for 40+ years because they never made a plan and got caught up in the trap of materialism.

When we were saving for a house I realized this. We could have easily kept saving at this rate and decided to retire early. Way early. We still save a lot but we want to continue working and have great retirement plans. we have tried to continue to avoid the trappings that many of our friends have fallen into - the night nurse, car loans, house cleaner, expensive home, etc.

[Anonymous]

I live in S. Arlington (which I actually like better than N. Arlington having lived in both). Say what you will about the schools, but I'm zoned to a "9" elementary on Great Schools, and hear only great things about the middle and high school. The commute to the city is a dream.

I don't think the houses around a million here are shitshacks by any means...not even most of the ones I've seen listed in N. Arlington! But, I was born and raised here and I've just gotten used to the cost of things, I guess. You learn to adjust your expectations. My parents are the real lucky ones; their house has literally quadrupled in value since they bought it 30 years ago and it's not a fancy house. But I find there are still plenty of options if you save carefully and have realistic expectations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in S. Arlington (which I actually like better than N. Arlington having lived in both). Say what you will about the schools, but I'm zoned to a "9" elementary on Great Schools, and hear only great things about the middle and high school. The commute to the city is a dream.

I don't think the houses around a million here are shitshacks by any means...not even most of the ones I've seen listed in N. Arlington! But, I was born and raised here and I've just gotten used to the cost of things, I guess. You learn to adjust your expectations. My parents are the real lucky ones; their house has literally quadrupled in value since they bought it 30 years ago and it's not a fancy house. But I find there are still plenty of options if you save carefully and have realistic expectations.

Plenty of options. Many of the people who complain moved here from LCOL parts of the country and its a shock for them. We moved here from a more expensive city and found it to be a great deal, especially given the salaries in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Again....if I met two neighbors who were 30 and just bought a 1.5M home and they told me they were attorneys at Venable, I might buy that. But a stay at home mom and a guy that is a consultant at a Deloitte/PWC/fed employee etc....nope.

It's possible if they saved religiously for a few years before the wife became a sahm.

My husband is private sector and I'm a gov employee. We make around 380k now and made around 320k when we saved for a house. It took us a little over a year to save around 125k for our downpayment. We had some other money in savings we used. We could have easily saved another 125-150k if we had continued to save for another year and purchased a more expensive home. It's definitely doable, especially without student loans or a wedding to pay for.

125k down doesn't get you a 1.5MM home. Thats where this whole argument started, follow along. That and being a 29 year old. I'm not saying it isn't possible to be legit but with the local masses I have met, most are helped and it's obvious. No jealousy, just find it pathetic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in S. Arlington (which I actually like better than N. Arlington having lived in both). Say what you will about the schools, but I'm zoned to a "9" elementary on Great Schools, and hear only great things about the middle and high school. The commute to the city is a dream.

I don't think the houses around a million here are shitshacks by any means...not even most of the ones I've seen listed in N. Arlington! But, I was born and raised here and I've just gotten used to the cost of things, I guess. You learn to adjust your expectations. My parents are the real lucky ones; their house has literally quadrupled in value since they bought it 30 years ago and it's not a fancy house. But I find there are still plenty of options if you save carefully and have realistic expectations.

If you hear only great things about the middle and high schools in South Arlington, you must need a hearing aid.