I posted that. My goal is to live in a way which provides me with freedom to make other choices when it's time. If that means taking a lesser-paying job, etc. I don't want to be shackled to my home.

Anonymous wrote:people will overspend. we were told with a 250k hhi we should buy a $750k home. sorry, no.

That would be perfectly reasonable?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:people will overspend. we were told with a 250k hhi we should buy a $750k home. sorry, no.

k live in shack congrats

Rat Lady, is that you?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:250k hhi with a mortage of 650k or so should be perfectly manageable unless you have twin 2013 Lexuses or $150k of student loan debt.

it's when you start going to mortgages that are more than 4x income that you start getting iffy.

This sounds nuts to me, though I am starting to think we're the exceptions in this area rather than the rule. We have a HHI over $250K and our house is worth more like $500K and we have two older used cars. No student loan debt and mortgage is nearly paid off. Living below our means has kept us secure and happy, with big retirement and college funds.

Great, but when did you buy your $500K house? Timing matters. If you were lucky enough to buy before 2003, you are no model of virtue' you just benefited from timing. Many would be thrilled to be in a $500K home now but they are not plentiful!

Nope, we bought at the top of the market in 2005! We live in Silver Spring.

Where are you getting your "worth $500k" figure? Are you sure it's not actually worth more? I know our tax assessment is low given what tear downs & gut jobs on our block are going for.

FTR, we were lucky and now we own a WAY more expensive house than we could ever afford to buy. I toy with the idea of buying something cheaper in a less-desirable area, but even the prices in those neighborhoods are getting high now.

I am comparing it to the house next door that is similar and just sold. People who say you can't get anything good for 500K or less must not be looking in Silver Spring. I just want to let people know there are plenty of great and less expensive neighborhoods out there. Here's an example I just found of a great, close-in Silver Spring house for $475: http://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/10042-Pratt-Pl-20910/home/11121741 There are lots of houses out there like that.

I am aware that someone is bound to chime in in just a second with a complaint that the schools in Silver Spring are subpar. I don't even know what subpar means in a school district as good as Montgomery County, but I would just say that we have had a very good experience with our schools, and it's hard for me to take criticism seriously when it comes from people without direct experience in those schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lets not encourage use of the term DMV.

we're about 15 years late for that

Only some segments of the area population use it. Others never will.

Newcomers vs natives or long timers.

Black and Hispanic vs white

< 25 yo vs anyone else

Highly educated professionals with a JD or more vs others


Exactly none of my neighbors -- where homes cost 2x $750,000 -- would ever come up to me and say "hey Jane, where I the DMV would you recommend I shop for a good selection of faucets?"

Who cares about what your bougie neighbors would say? Really now.

Figures...Silver Spring. Housing is cheaper because schools are not uniformly strong and there is still a fair amount of crime there compared to other parts of MoCo.

Signed,

Someone who bought in 2005, has a house worth $500,000 and now watches many neighbors leave for better schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lets not encourage use of the term DMV.

we're about 15 years late for that

Only some segments of the area population use it. Others never will.

Newcomers vs natives or long timers.

Black and Hispanic vs white

< 25 yo vs anyone else

Highly educated professionals with a JD or more vs others


Exactly none of my neighbors -- where homes cost 2x $750,000 -- would ever come up to me and say "hey Jane, where I the DMV would you recommend I shop for a good selection of faucets?"

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:250k hhi with a mortage of 650k or so should be perfectly manageable unless you have twin 2013 Lexuses or $150k of student loan debt.

it's when you start going to mortgages that are more than 4x income that you start getting iffy.

This sounds nuts to me, though I am starting to think we're the exceptions in this area rather than the rule. We have a HHI over $250K and our house is worth more like $500K and we have two older used cars. No student loan debt and mortgage is nearly paid off. Living below our means has kept us secure and happy, with big retirement and college funds.

But if you die before retirement, you only lived in austerity, ya know? I do believe it's possible to live too much in the future that you don't enjoy the present.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:250k hhi with a mortage of 650k or so should be perfectly manageable unless you have twin 2013 Lexuses or $150k of student loan debt.

it's when you start going to mortgages that are more than 4x income that you start getting iffy.

This sounds nuts to me, though I am starting to think we're the exceptions in this area rather than the rule. We have a HHI over $250K and our house is worth more like $500K and we have two older used cars. No student loan debt and mortgage is nearly paid off. Living below our means has kept us secure and happy, with big retirement and college funds.

Great, but when did you buy your $500K house? Timing matters. If you were lucky enough to buy before 2003, you are no model of virtue' you just benefited from timing. Many would be thrilled to be in a $500K home now but they are not plentiful!

Nope, we bought at the top of the market in 2005! We live in Silver Spring.

Where are you getting your "worth $500k" figure? Are you sure it's not actually worth more? I know our tax assessment is low given what tear downs & gut jobs on our block are going for.

FTR, we were lucky and now we own a WAY more expensive house than we could ever afford to buy. I toy with the idea of buying something cheaper in a less-desirable area, but even the prices in those neighborhoods are getting high now.

Anonymous wrote:i wouldn't pay 750k for any of the houses featured.

Maybe that's why you're still renting? (Not that there's anything wrong with that).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lets not encourage use of the term DMV.

we're about 15 years late for that

The DMV is a place where grumpy, unhelpful civil servants torture their captive audience. It is not a region of the country.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:250k hhi with a mortage of 650k or so should be perfectly manageable unless you have twin 2013 Lexuses or $150k of student loan debt.

it's when you start going to mortgages that are more than 4x income that you start getting iffy.

This sounds nuts to me, though I am starting to think we're the exceptions in this area rather than the rule. We have a HHI over $250K and our house is worth more like $500K and we have two older used cars. No student loan debt and mortgage is nearly paid off. Living below our means has kept us secure and happy, with big retirement and college funds.

Great, but when did you buy your $500K house? Timing matters. If you were lucky enough to buy before 2003, you are no model of virtue' you just benefited from timing. Many would be thrilled to be in a $500K home now but they are not plentiful!

Nope, we bought at the top of the market in 2005! We live in Silver Spring.

Anonymous wrote:Lets not encourage use of the term DMV.

we're about 15 years late for that

Anonymous wrote:Lets not encourage use of the term DMV.

Lol. +1.

Lets not encourage use of the term DMV.