Anonymous wrote:If you people believe that Arlington is more desirable McLean then you must have lost your friggin' minds. What planet do you people live on?

Ooohhh I get it. You don't like McLean because it's too "Republican" for you.

I try not to get dragged into these ridiculous arguments, but is it so inconceivable that others could have different preferences than you? For me, at least, I'd prefer not to sit in traffic twice a day, every day, and I like being able to walk to things. (I actually live IN the city, which I'm sure in your mind makes me an alien of some sort.) Suburbia holds no appeal whatsoever for me. So for me, and thousands like me, McLean is not the most desirable place to live. Why is that so difficult to understand?

We are 41 and 42, both Federal employees, with a 3BR cape cod in Falls Church. Bought in 3 years ago after 10+ years of renting.

Anonymous wrote:
To speak to the money in mclean, I know a couple that is saturated with debt. Mom & dad are both lawyers, but mom refuses to work. Dad became a partner at a law firm so he had to buy in, they used all of their savings for this. Kids go to a super private DC school, they have a nanny. Funny thing is they eat rice & beans from costco & are on the verge of having their power cut off because they do not have a dime to their name until the husband makes some sort of equity cut after the 1st of next year. Living there is such a shame. The people are so fake. You can kid yourself about the DC "hierarchy", but all you are doing is enforcing the ridiculous stereotypes of your kind.

That's as bad as my idiot BIL's girlfriend who had 2 kids and can't afford the daycare for them, had to move in with the in-laws, then goes on and on on Facebook about how important it is to be a SAHM (when she wasn't with #1). You're mooching off people because you got knocked up when you shouldn't have (likely drunk off their asses or worse) - let's not pretend it was a choice. Plus, if I were in the sad state of being on welfare and living with my in-laws, I'd go out and FIND ways to make money to get us out of that situation. Of course my in-laws don't help matters - they pay for the older kid to go to preschool out of their pockets. Um, no, they can't afford it themselves AND she's home with the kids? Plenty of kids don't go to preschool.

These people need to cut their nanny and private schools OR mom needs to go out and work again. But it sounds like it is all to keep up appearances, right? Ridiculous.

I find the folks I know from Arlington are far more down to earth, more intelligent, have more common sense, less stuffy, less materialistic, less pretentious, & just a far more kind group of people.

The people I know that reside in mclean are very pretentious, uppity, all about the Joneses, showy, and just rude (back stabbing, talk about you behind your back). They are educated but not in an "intelligence" kind of way, more in a "George W" kind of way, they are legacies, not hard workers.

To speak to the money in mclean, I know a couple that is saturated with debt. Mom & dad are both lawyers, but mom refuses to work. Dad became a partner at a law firm so he had to buy in, they used all of their savings for this. Kids go to a super private DC school, they have a nanny. Funny thing is they eat rice & beans from costco & are on the verge of having their power cut off because they do not have a dime to their name until the husband makes some sort of equity cut after the 1st of next year. Living there is such a shame. The people are so fake. You can kid yourself about the DC "hierarchy", but all you are doing is enforcing the ridiculous stereotypes of your kind.

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Anonymous wrote:I'm 26 and I live in a $1.6mm 3-story, 3500 sq. ft. townhouse. I only needed to mortgage a little over 200k, so I pay $1100/month on a 15-year fixed. Back story--I inherited the townhouse and I didn't actually need the mortgage but we wanted to modestly update the kitchen and rewire the house. The property taxes are $16k/year. Considering our income, I don't feel like we are stretching it.

The home has also been in my family for years so it's nice to carry on the history.

LOL!

I don't know why you think it's so funny. It wasn't a joke.

Really, you don't get how nice it must be to be in your position????? Of course you're not "stretching it," you've basically inherited 1.5M.

I get it. I just don't think it's "LOL!" worthy. By "stretching it," I was referring to being able to afford the property taxes, maintenance, all the expenses of a big house. It's not as if we can't afford to live in the house and it would have broken my heart if we weren't in a position to live there. I wouldn't be able to bear selling the house. And, yes, it's definitely nice to live in the house that I grew up in.

Clueless, totally clueless.

It's not all about money. You can say I'm clueless but for me it's about the memories. I know I'm fortunate. Thanks, though!

Don't worry about the PP. No idea why she's being so bitchy, but it's only one person who keeps arguing with you.

I too inherited a house. I'm selling it, though, despite it being in an amazing area, because I need to start my own memories (totally personal choice). I'll essentially inherit a house, though, because I plan to use the $$ to buy a house that I couldn't afford on income alone. That said, my parents died young and tragically. I don't really get the whole 'resentful of family money' thing. Would I rather have my parents? Sure. But they were frugal and saved to, in large part, make my life and my family's easier. I recognize that in some ways I'm fortunate and in some I'm not, just like most people.

generally when people speak of "family money", they don't mean an inheritance (i.e. the parents are alive and well). Most of the "family money" young home buyers in NW DC have the money and the living parents.

So who buys the houses? The parents, and it's in their name?

no, it's usually in the form of a trust fund. or the parents give money for the down payment. A married couple can give up to $26,00/year per person, tax free. We have a family of five, so theoretically, my parents could give us 130k/year tax free.

We should also post how mortgaged we are!

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Anonymous wrote:I'm 26 and I live in a $1.6mm 3-story, 3500 sq. ft. townhouse. I only needed to mortgage a little over 200k, so I pay $1100/month on a 15-year fixed. Back story--I inherited the townhouse and I didn't actually need the mortgage but we wanted to modestly update the kitchen and rewire the house. The property taxes are $16k/year. Considering our income, I don't feel like we are stretching it.

The home has also been in my family for years so it's nice to carry on the history.

LOL!

I don't know why you think it's so funny. It wasn't a joke.

Really, you don't get how nice it must be to be in your position????? Of course you're not "stretching it," you've basically inherited 1.5M.

I get it. I just don't think it's "LOL!" worthy. By "stretching it," I was referring to being able to afford the property taxes, maintenance, all the expenses of a big house. It's not as if we can't afford to live in the house and it would have broken my heart if we weren't in a position to live there. I wouldn't be able to bear selling the house. And, yes, it's definitely nice to live in the house that I grew up in.

Clueless, totally clueless.

It's not all about money. You can say I'm clueless but for me it's about the memories. I know I'm fortunate. Thanks, though!

Don't worry about the PP. No idea why she's being so bitchy, but it's only one person who keeps arguing with you.

I too inherited a house. I'm selling it, though, despite it being in an amazing area, because I need to start my own memories (totally personal choice). I'll essentially inherit a house, though, because I plan to use the $$ to buy a house that I couldn't afford on income alone. That said, my parents died young and tragically. I don't really get the whole 'resentful of family money' thing. Would I rather have my parents? Sure. But they were frugal and saved to, in large part, make my life and my family's easier. I recognize that in some ways I'm fortunate and in some I'm not, just like most people.

generally when people speak of "family money", they don't mean an inheritance (i.e. the parents are alive and well). Most of the "family money" young home buyers in NW DC have the money and the living parents.

So who buys the houses? The parents, and it's in their name?

haha. this thread is clearly DCUM at its worst. move along now ...

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Anonymous wrote:I'm 26 and I live in a $1.6mm 3-story, 3500 sq. ft. townhouse. I only needed to mortgage a little over 200k, so I pay $1100/month on a 15-year fixed. Back story--I inherited the townhouse and I didn't actually need the mortgage but we wanted to modestly update the kitchen and rewire the house. The property taxes are $16k/year. Considering our income, I don't feel like we are stretching it.

The home has also been in my family for years so it's nice to carry on the history.

LOL!

I don't know why you think it's so funny. It wasn't a joke.

Really, you don't get how nice it must be to be in your position????? Of course you're not "stretching it," you've basically inherited 1.5M.

I get it. I just don't think it's "LOL!" worthy. By "stretching it," I was referring to being able to afford the property taxes, maintenance, all the expenses of a big house. It's not as if we can't afford to live in the house and it would have broken my heart if we weren't in a position to live there. I wouldn't be able to bear selling the house. And, yes, it's definitely nice to live in the house that I grew up in.

Clueless, totally clueless.

It's not all about money. You can say I'm clueless but for me it's about the memories. I know I'm fortunate. Thanks, though!

Don't worry about the PP. No idea why she's being so bitchy, but it's only one person who keeps arguing with you.

I too inherited a house. I'm selling it, though, despite it being in an amazing area, because I need to start my own memories (totally personal choice). I'll essentially inherit a house, though, because I plan to use the $$ to buy a house that I couldn't afford on income alone. That said, my parents died young and tragically. I don't really get the whole 'resentful of family money' thing. Would I rather have my parents? Sure. But they were frugal and saved to, in large part, make my life and my family's easier. I recognize that in some ways I'm fortunate and in some I'm not, just like most people.

generally when people speak of "family money", they don't mean an inheritance (i.e. the parents are alive and well). Most of the "family money" young home buyers in NW DC have the money and the living parents.

Anonymous wrote:

Just curious. WHY is Arlington supposedly superior? I am not from here, so I am genuinely curious.

Not superior, but unique. Proximity to DC, walkability and good public schools. It is city-living with some of the benefits of the suburbs. There are some other neighborhoods in this region that also meet this criteria. I also think the small county-size gives a personal feeling with regard to services. The county is a well-functioning machine and very responsive.

Anonymous wrote:

Just curious. WHY is Arlington supposedly superior? I am not from here, so I am genuinely curious.

It is not. Nobody from Arlington, from what I can tell, has stated that it is. Most of the posts about Arlington were in defense of people trashing it (and the trashing was from some poster from McLean and the Cleveland park lady). There are ton of great neighborhoods in this region. Not everyone will like all of them and will gravitate to areas they like the best, e..g, somebody that loves a huge lot and great public schools may go out to Great Falls, somebody that is city may be Dupont only...these two types may never wish to live where the other does but I think we can all agree they are both great areas to be!

Just curious. WHY is Arlington supposedly superior? I am not from here, so I am genuinely curious.

Anonymous wrote:Let's not feed the troll who supposedly lives in McLean. Clearly she doesn't, and clearly she knows nothing about the DC area and what real estate is considered desirable. I do live in McLean, but only because we got outbid 3 times in Arlington. We're hoping to look again in Arlington in a few years.

Agreed. Also in McLean for the same reason.

Anonymous wrote:No stats. But most go to private colleges/universities. Don't know many 18 yr olds who can pay 50k+ yr (no financial aid).

LOANS - $200K to be exact. Co-signed by parents and kids - shackles on both parties.

If your parents paid 50K CASH per year, you are very wealthy, sorry to be the one to deliver the news to you. Middle class = taking out massive loans (no financial aid).

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm 26 and I live in a $1.6mm 3-story, 3500 sq. ft. townhouse. I only needed to mortgage a little over 200k, so I pay $1100/month on a 15-year fixed. Back story--I inherited the townhouse and I didn't actually need the mortgage but we wanted to modestly update the kitchen and rewire the house. The property taxes are $16k/year. Considering our income, I don't feel like we are stretching it.

The home has also been in my family for years so it's nice to carry on the history.

LOL!

I don't know why you think it's so funny. It wasn't a joke.

Really, you don't get how nice it must be to be in your position????? Of course you're not "stretching it," you've basically inherited 1.5M.

I get it. I just don't think it's "LOL!" worthy. By "stretching it," I was referring to being able to afford the property taxes, maintenance, all the expenses of a big house. It's not as if we can't afford to live in the house and it would have broken my heart if we weren't in a position to live there. I wouldn't be able to bear selling the house. And, yes, it's definitely nice to live in the house that I grew up in.

Clueless, totally clueless.

It's not all about money. You can say I'm clueless but for me it's about the memories. I know I'm fortunate. Thanks, though!

Don't worry about the PP. No idea why she's being so bitchy, but it's only one person who keeps arguing with you.

I too inherited a house. I'm selling it, though, despite it being in an amazing area, because I need to start my own memories (totally personal choice). I'll essentially inherit a house, though, because I plan to use the $$ to buy a house that I couldn't afford on income alone. That said, my parents died young and tragically. I don't really get the whole 'resentful of family money' thing. Would I rather have my parents? Sure. But they were frugal and saved to, in large part, make my life and my family's easier. I recognize that in some ways I'm fortunate and in some I'm not, just like most people.