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Anonymous wrote:DH and I earn a little less than 200k together and we are rich. We save about 60k for retirement every year, and can cover all of our expenses, like private school for our kids, and a lot of what we want, even in this area. No, we don't live in a prestigious zip code, and my commute is about 45 minutes, but that's because of choices that we made.

Damn. I'd love to see your budget.

Not seeing how the math works on this. After saving 60k and paying taxes you are spending in the low 100s, and covering more than one private school tuition, and all other expenses, comfortably?

Our housing costs are minimal, the private school is inexpensive, and our retirement contributions are pre-tax because of a 457b contribution. And we are not spenders. We probably spend less than 1k on clothes and eating out over the course of the year, and some years we don't bother with a full vacation other than visiting family. It's just the way we are but it's our choice, we don't think about money.

But you don't live IN DC. You have low housing costs and low private school costs. So your budget is about as relevant to someone who lives in Upper NW DC as someone who lives in Kansas or Idaho. That's the point. $300k in upper NW provides a stable lifestyle with occasional niceities, but when you factor in the high cost of living you are far from rich.

So do tell -- why live in NW then? And I do know someone who lives in Brightwood whose mortgage is about 1400 a month so there are choices even within DC.

Again, I'm curious why. I'm bored fighting with the other idiot that insists on launching ad hominem attacks against me just because he is jealous that my commute isn't 90 minutes and I have a pool. I wasn't trying to be a jerk about it, I am genuinely curious. Throw the commute thing out for a minute. I spend 30 minutes driving each way so I don't really care if I can cut that in half because it wouldn't be worth it to me due to the other downsides I mentioned. Aside from the commute issue why do people want to live in NW. I know it's a nice area since my office is in NW, but I don't have any desire to live there.

People -- lots of them -- live comfortably in DC and arent rich earning $300K.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH and I earn a little less than 200k together and we are rich. We save about 60k for retirement every year, and can cover all of our expenses, like private school for our kids, and a lot of what we want, even in this area. No, we don't live in a prestigious zip code, and my commute is about 45 minutes, but that's because of choices that we made.

Damn. I'd love to see your budget.

Not seeing how the math works on this. After saving 60k and paying taxes you are spending in the low 100s, and covering more than one private school tuition, and all other expenses, comfortably?

Our housing costs are minimal, the private school is inexpensive, and our retirement contributions are pre-tax because of a 457b contribution. And we are not spenders. We probably spend less than 1k on clothes and eating out over the course of the year, and some years we don't bother with a full vacation other than visiting family. It's just the way we are but it's our choice, we don't think about money.

But you don't live IN DC. You have low housing costs and low private school costs. So your budget is about as relevant to someone who lives in Upper NW DC as someone who lives in Kansas or Idaho. That's the point. $300k in upper NW provides a stable lifestyle with occasional niceities, but when you factor in the high cost of living you are far from rich.

So do tell -- why live in NW then? And I do know someone who lives in Brightwood whose mortgage is about 1400 a month so there are choices even within DC.

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Anonymous wrote:Not getting why housing in NW is so "high demand". Why would you want to live in a tiny old rowhouse with no yard for your kids to play in where it isn't safe for them to ride their bikes, etc. and the schools are absolute shit? I don't see the draw at all. So you can walk to cafes and Starbucks? So you shave 20 or 30 minutes off your commute? I must be totally missing something here.

Notice your three reasons right there - your kids, your kids, your kids. Funny, some people's reasons for buying property doesn't revolve around what their kids do or don't do. Some people want investments. Others can afford to send their kids all private or off to boarding schools. Others just don't have kids at all.

As for the commute...door-to-door its 15 minutes on foot. Compared to my colleagues who spend an 60-90 minutes by car and train not to mention the expense - its heaven.

So yeah, you're missing something - a life.

Meh, it takes me 30 minutes door to door from the suburbs and I have an acre yard, a pool and 6k sqft. Enjoy your shitty little "investment" and shuttling your kids around to private schools. lol.. nice "life" you have there.

6,000 square feet is what Mclean? Assburn? Please you wish you could do door-to-door in 30 minutes. Traffic is never that easy.

Anonymous wrote:$2 million HHI PP here again. I dont understand how a smart, ambitious 40's plus couple working full time both highly educated earns only $300,000 or $500,000. Basically every couple we know with 2 fulltime workers makes seven figures or minimum very high six figures. $300k-$500k is good at late 20's early 30's. The numbers you read in these statistics include single family households and people with no education. Of course that brings the average way down. But most people in NW DC are two parent, 2 income
Households and making 7 figures HHI by early 40's, regardless of what this article says.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Not getting why housing in NW is so "high demand". Why would you want to live in a tiny old rowhouse with no yard for your kids to play in where it isn't safe for them to ride their bikes, etc. and the schools are absolute shit? I don't see the draw at all. So you can walk to cafes and Starbucks? So you shave 20 or 30 minutes off your commute? I must be totally missing something here.

Notice your three reasons right there - your kids, your kids, your kids. Funny, some people's reasons for buying property doesn't revolve around what their kids do or don't do. Some people want investments. Others can afford to send their kids all private or off to boarding schools. Others just don't have kids at all.

As for the commute...door-to-door its 15 minutes on foot. Compared to my colleagues who spend an 60-90 minutes by car and train not to mention the expense - its heaven.

So yeah, you're missing something - a life.

Meh, it takes me 30 minutes door to door from the suburbs and I have an acre yard, a pool and 6k sqft. Enjoy your shitty little "investment" and shuttling your kids around to private schools. lol.. nice "life" you have there.

Anonymous wrote:$2 million HHI PP here again. I dont understand how a smart, ambitious 40's plus couple working full time both highly educated earns only $300,000 or $500,000. Basically every couple we know with 2 fulltime workers makes seven figures or minimum very high six figures. $300k-$500k is good at late 20's early 30's. The numbers you read in these statistics include single family households and people with no education. Of course that brings the average way down. But most people in NW DC are two parent, 2 income
Households and making 7 figures HHI by early 40's, regardless of what this article says.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not getting why housing in NW is so "high demand". Why would you want to live in a tiny old rowhouse with no yard for your kids to play in where it isn't safe for them to ride their bikes, etc. and the schools are absolute shit? I don't see the draw at all. So you can walk to cafes and Starbucks? So you shave 20 or 30 minutes off your commute? I must be totally missing something here.

Notice your three reasons right there - your kids, your kids, your kids. Funny, some people's reasons for buying property doesn't revolve around what their kids do or don't do. Some people want investments. Others can afford to send their kids all private or off to boarding schools. Others just don't have kids at all.

As for the commute...door-to-door its 15 minutes on foot. Compared to my colleagues who spend an 60-90 minutes by car and train not to mention the expense - its heaven.

So yeah, you're missing something - a life.

Anonymous wrote:$2 million HHI PP here again. I dont understand how a smart, ambitious 40's plus couple working full time both highly educated earns only $300,000 or $500,000. Basically every couple we know with 2 fulltime workers makes seven figures or minimum very high six figures. $300k-$500k is good at late 20's early 30's. The numbers you read in these statistics include single family households and people with no education. Of course that brings the average way down. But most people in NW DC are two parent, 2 income
Households and making 7 figures HHI by early 40's, regardless of what this article says.

Anonymous wrote:$2 million HHI PP here again. I dont understand how a smart, ambitious 40's plus couple working full time both highly educated earns only $300,000 or $500,000. Basically every couple we know with 2 fulltime workers makes seven figures or minimum very high six figures. $300k-$500k is good at late 20's early 30's. The numbers you read in these statistics include single family households and people with no education. Of course that brings the average way down. But most people in NW DC are two parent, 2 income
Households and making 7 figures HHI by early 40's, regardless of what this article says.

Anonymous wrote:Not getting why housing in NW is so "high demand". Why would you want to live in a tiny old rowhouse with no yard for your kids to play in where it isn't safe for them to ride their bikes, etc. and the schools are absolute shit? I don't see the draw at all. So you can walk to cafes and Starbucks? So you shave 20 or 30 minutes off your commute? I must be totally missing something here.

Anonymous wrote:Not getting why housing in NW is so "high demand". Why would you want to live in a tiny old rowhouse with no yard for your kids to play in where it isn't safe for them to ride their bikes, etc. and the schools are absolute shit? I don't see the draw at all. So you can walk to cafes and Starbucks? So you shave 20 or 30 minutes off your commute? I must be totally missing something here.

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Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $2 million. We are mid 40's. Both work full time. I think of us as middle class- couple kids in private, live in NW. We both have graduate degrees, but everyone in DC has graduate degrees and is highly intelligent and ambitious. I just figured everyone had seven figure HHI. How can a 40's plus couple, both working full time, both smart and ambitious with graduate degrees have a $300k HHI or a $500k HHI? I bet the stats people are quoting here are from single earner households and many dont have college degrees.

LOL. I have a Bachelors and am a VP. I make about $200k a year, single earner.

Director-level, and $115k. One level down, senior manager, I was at $96k. These are typical - and good - salaries.

...and by the way, that $115k makes me affluent. Live in the NoVa suburbs near a metro, in an upscale townhouse. You people who are complaining that $300k isn't rich could move a few stops into the suburbs, and live extremely well.

Did you read the title of the post? We are talking about "in" DC. Not Reston. Not Falls Church. Not Chantilly.

Talk about the entitled elites living in a bubble! You still don't get it.

The fact that you are even ABLE to live in NW, in a nice house, sending your kids to private school, qualifies as rich. The middle class can't afford that, and either lives in the suburbs or in a cheaper part of the city.

Absolutely this.

But you don't get it. On $300k in NW DC you don't get a nice house or private schools. You get a small 1940s era colonial that constantly needs work and your two kids go to public.