We make 325k and would have 20 percent to put down if we sold but I would not feel comfortable in a million dollar home.

Anonymous wrote:We live in a neighborhood of $1,000,000 homes. Everyone I know (probably 50 families) makes <400k (vast majority are two fed families).

But did they all pay $1M for them or did they pay a lot less and they have appreciated?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here and I'm surprised. Our HHi is $220k and although we could put 20% down on $1M the payment would be very very tight. But I am also aware that we are conservative spenders.

It's not that, it's what other assets you have that generally make the difference. A lot of people have other investments they can tap into, or family help.

Well we do have significant investments but I wouldn't "tap" them to buy a home I otherwise couldn't afford. I do think these friends make more than $250 based upon their jobs but I was still shocked by the closing price on their house. I'm naive clearly.

Anonymous wrote:OP here and I'm surprised. Our HHi is $220k and although we could put 20% down on $1M the payment would be very very tight. But I am also aware that we are conservative spenders.

It's not that, it's what other assets you have that generally make the difference. A lot of people have other investments they can tap into, or family help.

We live in a neighborhood of $1,000,000 homes. Everyone I know (probably 50 families) makes <400k (vast majority are two fed families).

OP here and I'm surprised. Our HHi is $220k and although we could put 20% down on $1M the payment would be very very tight. But I am also aware that we are conservative spenders.

$120K?
That's our household income, and we could buy a 1M house if we needed one. We're happy in our 700+ house for the moment, however.

My point is that people have different financial situations so please don't assume.

Anonymous wrote:With interest rates where they are, salary could be 250-300k. Easily if they have 200k down.

Holy crap that's insane

Our HHI is 280 and we *could* buy a 1M house with at least 20% down after selling our townhouse for less than 600k. The payments would be slightly more than 30% of our take-home, so not the wisest choice. But possible and not crazy irresponsible.

Our first house cost around that. We made around $450k.

250-300

It's hard to say because a ton of people are house poor. These people never have any assets, but it's their choice. I would think that you would need at least 200k HHI to pay the bills?

It really depends on how much they had down. Did they buy their condo for $375,000 in 2003 and make over $200K + take back their equity? Maybe they make $225K combined and feel secure in their jobs.

Did they buy the condo two years ago for $550K? Then they probably make a lot more than that (or at least they should if they are smart).

With interest rates where they are, salary could be 250-300k. Easily if they have 200k down.

Friend and her husband just closed on a just over $1M home. Both work FT, kids are in early ES at a public school. No family money on either side. Sold their $600k condo to buy this. Lifestyle (prior to this, it just happened) did not seem cash-strapped.

What do you think their HHI is? I'm guessing $400?

WDYT? This is just for fun/hypothesizing. Yes I know no one really knows. But if they are not crazy frugal or crazy spendy, what would a typical HHI be in this case?