Reply to What is your income to allow one parent to stay at home?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The real answer is that it varies (obviously).  If you require the 8000 sqft Hardieplank McMonstrosity, a few European cars in the driveway and the girls at Madiera then the number is a lot higher than if you buy a sensible home that isn't ridiculously oversized and sensible cars and drive them until they actually need replacement.  Granted, a certain base level income is needed in order for it to work at all, but that number certainly isn't &gt;200k.[/quote]

Its not the mcmansions or fancy cars; a run down house within 45 minutes of the city is going to be at least $800k if you want good schools.  That's about $3500k PITI, and you can't swing that with standard 1/3 housing cost equation (assuming 20% down) for less than $190k or so.  Even GS15 won't make it swing, so you are looking at long commute or crummy schools.  Maybe a townhouse would bump that down a little, maybe. [/quote]

Many save first and have a larger down payment that makes the mortgage feasible. [/quote]

So save up what $400k dollars before having kids?? That seems pretty infeasible for folks with $100k incomes...[/quote]
Right, then you can't live here or one of you can't stay home.  I don't know why this is such a hard topic on forums.  $100k HHI shouldn't take on a mortgage greater than $200k-$250k or so tops.  If you can't find housing that works for you in that price range then move further out or to flyover country.  Shitloads of people in this area are house poor because they don't seem to know when to say when on the housing budget.
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Where the fsck do you find a $320k house with decent schools?? There's saying when and then there is crazy town (though I hear houses there run abut $200k!)

Moving to flyover country won't be a panacea since most $100k careers don't earn that amount (or exist) there. [/quote]

Maybe you don't and you save up until you have a down payment large enough that you don't take a mortgage larger than that?  The other option is being house poor which seems to be embraced by a lot of people on this thread for some odd reason.  I can't see why you'd want to live that way unless you are somehow able to simultaneously be house poor, pay for child care, max out all tax advantaged retirement accounts and throw a big chunk into taxable as well and, if anything is left, start a 529 or two.  I'd rather have a more modest house or a longer commute and still be able to fund all these things than have a shitshack inside the beltway that I needed to take out a mortgage that is 3-5x (or more!) my HHI to buy.  To me THAT'S crazy talk.  Who buys that much house (hint - idiots and future foreclosure candidates)?[/quote]

Longer commute is soul sucking and shortens your life. Bad schools short change your kids future. The modest of your house really just affects price on the margin, greatest contribution to cost is location. [/quote]

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