300K and our house was 815K

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To take out a $800k mortgage I'd want to make $300k HHI on very stable jobs. We currently have a $340k HHI but I don't feel particularly confident that the higher-paying job is stable, so I'm glad we bought less house.

I'd buy a $1M house on much less if I had a giant downpayment though, if that matters.

How giant?

I feel the same way and put 40% down, so just over 400K.

PP here with around a 400K income and house at 1.2. So 3 x HHI. But we live in a state with no state income tax and sometimes our income is well above 400K. I think 3x HHI is totally doable, but I would not go to 4-5x HHI. That just seems reckless.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$500k. 15 year mortgage. Wouldn't do it on any less unless you want to be house poor. Million dollar homes aren't for $250k middle class earners. No more than 2x HHI and 15 years. If you can't afford that then you are looking at too much house and may need to check out Haymarket.

Are you trying to bait and trigger the snowflakes earning 100k around here? $250k "middle class!!" The horror.

Not my direct intention, but the middle class and poors around here need a little tough love to understand that nobody is impressed with their meager salaries and they aren't entitled to live in an 8000 sqft mansion with 2 German cars just because they "make six figures". Maybe they could do that on 250k in flyover country, but around here if you live like that on 250k you are going to be living paycheck to paycheck (or worse) so better get used to the taste of Friskies now because that's what you will be eating when the music stops and you end up unemployed/underemployed in your 50s and are forced into an earlier retirement.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$500k. 15 year mortgage. Wouldn't do it on any less unless you want to be house poor. Million dollar homes aren't for $250k middle class earners. No more than 2x HHI and 15 years. If you can't afford that then you are looking at too much house and may need to check out Haymarket.

I thought the rule of thumb was for 4-5x HHI. Obviously, that doesn't mean someone should buy a 2.5 million house if they make $500K, but I can see someone who makes 200-300K stretching to buy a 1 to 1.5 million house, especially around here. The Post did that article about who was buying up all these 1 million plus houses inside the Beltway.

I think 4-5x HHI is ridiculous, hence my post. You proved it yourself by pointing out how someone with a 500k HHI "obviously" shouldn't buy a 2.5MM house. Once you throw in child care (if applicable), retirement savings (we save a third of what we make), college savings, etc. I just don't see how someone can extend to 4-5x HHI. You simply don't have to stretch that far to find nice housing in a good school district around here. That being said, a lot of people do, but that is purely for vanity reasons. They want to appear fancy and keep up with their friends and have that sprawling Great Falls/McLean mansion, but it really is a stupid idea and they end up paying for it in the long run.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To take out a $800k mortgage I'd want to make $300k HHI on very stable jobs. We currently have a $340k HHI but I don't feel particularly confident that the higher-paying job is stable, so I'm glad we bought less house.

I'd buy a $1M house on much less if I had a giant downpayment though, if that matters.

How giant?

35-40% for my personal comfort level. I'm more concerned about monthly obligations, and if I could get the mortgage down to $3500 or so (disagree with PP that it would have to be a 15 year) I'd bite the bullet. This is assuming that the $1M gets me something demonstrably better than a $700k house would -- namely great public schools and/or a terrific commute.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$500k. 15 year mortgage. Wouldn't do it on any less unless you want to be house poor. Million dollar homes aren't for $250k middle class earners. No more than 2x HHI and 15 years. If you can't afford that then you are looking at too much house and may need to check out Haymarket.

Are you trying to bait and trigger the snowflakes earning 100k around here? $250k "middle class!!" The horror.

In the District proper, 250K HHI is not going to put you anywhere near the top earners. It's not middle class, but it won't be particularly comfortable either. Probably holds true for the immediate wealthy suburbs, but I am not as familiar with that. We earn 450K and I feel like everyone I know does as well (mostly two lawyer households).

...you must have missed my sarcasm. The point is that while I agree with you, there are lots of lower earners around here with a chip on their shoulder who will take issue with your characterization of $250k being middle class. Just check out some of the other threads.

By the way, I agree that 250k around here buys you a middle class lifestyle. Joys of DC COL.

Anonymous wrote:To take out a $800k mortgage I'd want to make $300k HHI on very stable jobs. We currently have a $340k HHI but I don't feel particularly confident that the higher-paying job is stable, so I'm glad we bought less house.

I'd buy a $1M house on much less if I had a giant downpayment though, if that matters.

How giant?

To take out a $800k mortgage I'd want to make $300k HHI on very stable jobs. We currently have a $340k HHI but I don't feel particularly confident that the higher-paying job is stable, so I'm glad we bought less house.

I'd buy a $1M house on much less if I had a giant downpayment though, if that matters.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$500k. 15 year mortgage. Wouldn't do it on any less unless you want to be house poor. Million dollar homes aren't for $250k middle class earners. No more than 2x HHI and 15 years. If you can't afford that then you are looking at too much house and may need to check out Haymarket.

Are you trying to bait and trigger the snowflakes earning 100k around here? $250k "middle class!!" The horror.

In the District proper, 250K HHI is not going to put you anywhere near the top earners. It's not middle class, but it won't be particularly comfortable either. Probably holds true for the immediate wealthy suburbs, but I am not as familiar with that. We earn 450K and I feel like everyone I know does as well (mostly two lawyer households).

Anonymous wrote:$500k. 15 year mortgage. Wouldn't do it on any less unless you want to be house poor. Million dollar homes aren't for $250k middle class earners. No more than 2x HHI and 15 years. If you can't afford that then you are looking at too much house and may need to check out Haymarket.

Are you trying to bait and trigger the snowflakes earning 100k around here? $250k "middle class!!" The horror.

$400k. Would be comfortable as low as $320k

Anonymous wrote:$500k. 15 year mortgage. Wouldn't do it on any less unless you want to be house poor. Million dollar homes aren't for $250k middle class earners. No more than 2x HHI and 15 years. If you can't afford that then you are looking at too much house and may need to check out Haymarket.

I thought the rule of thumb was for 4-5x HHI. Obviously, that doesn't mean someone should buy a 2.5 million house if they make $500K, but I can see someone who makes 200-300K stretching to buy a 1 to 1.5 million house, especially around here. The Post did that article about who was buying up all these 1 million plus houses inside the Beltway.

$500k. 15 year mortgage. Wouldn't do it on any less unless you want to be house poor. Million dollar homes aren't for $250k middle class earners. No more than 2x HHI and 15 years. If you can't afford that then you are looking at too much house and may need to check out Haymarket.

We bought for 1.1 with 20% down and make about 500k now, but we don't expect to make this much forever.