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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The median price of a house in the DC metro region is 475,00.  If two members of a household are GS 13s (and chances are one would go higher at least eventually) then they might have a 190,000 income.

That fed famly might pay 2400 PITI for that median home.
[/quote]

The "DC metro area" extends as far as West Virginia, but realistically, the only areas that matter when we're talking about affordability are those that are within a reasonable commuting distance (less than an hour) from downtown DC.

I'm a single government employee looking to purchase a condo. It's very difficult to find a one-bedroom condo in DC that is $2400 all-in. A typical listing is $500k plus monthly condo fees of $500+. Let's not talk about two bedrooms or even one bedroom + den. I'm looking at monthly expenses of $3000+, which is a loooooong stretch on my $100k salary.

Using your $190,000 example and typical affordability guidelines, that dual income GS-13 couple should not spend more than 3-4x their income, or $760k for a home.

The run-down 2br/1ba row houses in NE/SE that sold for $300k ten years ago are now having bidding wars at $760k. Out of reach for a single government employee, and not quite large enough for a family. But there are plenty of flippers and high-earning, non-fed DINKs who continue to push those prices higher and higher.

I also think that people who purchased during 2008-2015 have NO idea how wacky things have become. When I tell my coworkers that I pay $2500 for rent on a one-bedroom apartment, they laugh at me for wasting money and say that their mortgage on their 3br SFH in Falls Church is less than that. Good luck finding anything even remotely close to that in the same neighborhoods in 2019.[/quote]

I am the PP to whom you are referring.  I disagree that you can't get a decent priced home within a one hour commute.

I live in Riggs Park.  You can get a house tomorrow in my neighborhood for between 475,000 and 525,000.  That's an attached home.  If you'd like a single family home, go across the way to Chillum, Maryland.

https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/657-Emerson-St-NE-20017/home/10084409
https://www.redfin.com/neighborhood/16600/DC/Washington-DC/Riggs-Park

Want a one bedroom condo for a reasonable price?

https://www.redfin.com/MD/Hyattsville/1001-Chillum-Rd-20782/unit-107/home/11756848

Small one story single family home?

https://www.redfin.com/MD/Hyattsville/1001-Chillum-Rd-20782/unit-107/home/11756848

All have good public transportation access.  Walking access to grocery stores and parks, and are in safe neighborhoods.

I'm sorry, but I just don't buy that there are no places with reasonable prices and good commuting distances.  It's just not true.

If the only price you can think of living is some place within walking distance to a Whole Foods and where you'll mostly see white people as your neighbors, okay.  But you do not have an inalienable right to live in the place you grew up in.  [/quote]

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