We're early 30's with an HHI of $160k, and to us $400k felt affordable when we were looking last year. We wound up stretching to $440k when we bought because an opportunity popped up in an neighborhood that we really liked but had written off as being out of reach. Its "affordable" now- meaning that we can still go out for dinner, drinks etc... and take a couple of modest vacations a year, and will feel truly comfortable once the damn student loans are paid off, and our renovation finished.

Consider two incomes and how much people can save.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the DC area a HHI should be the goal 200k. That's 100k for 2 people or 200k for one if you prefer that model. For most college gradudates that is very easy to hit by 30-35ish

So affordable housing to me is around there

That puts the mortage payment at around 4000 a month which is selling price of around 900k

If you aren't at 200k HHI or don't see how you could get there. I would consider moving plenty of other areas of the country where you can be very comfortable on say 100k HHI. The DC area isn't one of them.

I am very comfortable on $130k. You people are insane

assuming you are single so yeah 130k is perfectly fine for a single person benchmark would be around 100k less if you have roommates which would be highly recommended

Oh good grief. We are a family of 4 that gets by quite comfortably on just a bit more than that. Get your head out of your ass.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the DC area a HHI should be the goal 200k. That's 100k for 2 people or 200k for one if you prefer that model. For most college gradudates that is very easy to hit by 30-35ish

So affordable housing to me is around there

That puts the mortage payment at around 4000 a month which is selling price of around 900k

If you aren't at 200k HHI or don't see how you could get there. I would consider moving plenty of other areas of the country where you can be very comfortable on say 100k HHI. The DC area isn't one of them.

I am very comfortable on $130k. You people are insane

assuming you are single so yeah 130k is perfectly fine for a single person benchmark would be around 100k less if you have roommates which would be highly recommended

Anonymous wrote:In the DC area a HHI should be the goal 200k. That's 100k for 2 people or 200k for one if you prefer that model. For most college gradudates that is very easy to hit by 30-35ish

So affordable housing to me is around there

That puts the mortage payment at around 4000 a month which is selling price of around 900k

If you aren't at 200k HHI or don't see how you could get there. I would consider moving plenty of other areas of the country where you can be very comfortable on say 100k HHI. The DC area isn't one of them.

I am very comfortable on $130k. You people are insane

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the DC area a HHI should be the goal 200k. That's 100k for 2 people or 200k for one if you prefer that model. For most college gradudates that is very easy to hit by 30-35ish

So affordable housing to me is around there

That puts the mortage payment at around 4000 a month which is selling price of around 900k

If you aren't at 200k HHI or don't see how you could get there. I would consider moving plenty of other areas of the country where you can be very comfortable on say 100k HHI. The DC area isn't one of them.

I must be doing something wrong.

You think thats "very easy" for "most" college graduates? With a Master's degree, I was making around $50K at age 30, around $65K by age 35 (when I had added a second Master's ), and now at 40, I make around $75K.

I will likely never make over $100K, let alone $200K.

I am single, so I rely on my income alone. I do own my home, but it is very old, very small, and in need of a lot of work.

NP. Yikes, what kind of work do you do? Twelve years ago I made $65k doing communications and I just have a bachelors.
Why even get a Masters if you’re in a field where you can’t break 100k?

I am a teacher. A Master's is pretty much the minimum at this point.

We bought a $365K house a few years ago and that was affordable for us. The limit of our budget was $450K but that would have been a big stretch. We bought in PG.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Childcare is a luxury. Years ago I worked MasterCard in operations which is 24/7. The clerks married with kids worked separate shifts so no childcare. Often I see teachers, nurses and cops doing different shoots or one spouse stays home or works part time. I even see moms stay home and watch 2-3 other kids. Often the grandparents do it

Some people, somewhere, have options. That's awesome. And completely irrelevant to the dual-income families in this area.

Govt open 24/7. My firm even white collar folks can work either 7-3 or 10-7 with one day work from home . That would be only 15-16 hours a week child care

Anonymous wrote:In the DC area a HHI should be the goal 200k. That's 100k for 2 people or 200k for one if you prefer that model. For most college gradudates that is very easy to hit by 30-35ish

So affordable housing to me is around there

That puts the mortage payment at around 4000 a month which is selling price of around 900k

If you aren't at 200k HHI or don't see how you could get there. I would consider moving plenty of other areas of the country where you can be very comfortable on say 100k HHI. The DC area isn't one of them.

Wow. We're at $300HHI, no debt, kids in public schools and $650K is our Max. $4000/month is a huge payment.

Couple quick points interesting discussion

Again in DC a 200k HHI for two college graduates or one person if you do the have one focus solely on career is what it takes to be sustainable in the DC area

Again there are tons of places in the country for people that aren't going to reach those thresholdes no shame in that except probably the DC area doesn't make economic sense for you to live here

I agree child care costs are expensive here but remember they are temporary (along with student loans) and your income is going to keep going up over time while the mortgage stays much more flat. Point being for many people it is tight in the beginning but it gets easier over time

And finally to the $15 per hour poster. 1 that's a minimum wage people should be aspiring to move up in their career and 2 see point 1 the DC area has a very high cost of living. People don't have the right to live anywhere in the country especially if they are content with a minimum wage and no thought of moving up and improving themselves. But even if people still want to make those choices there are tons of places across the country where decent housing is still under 100-150k and it can work just not in HCOL of living areas like Seattle, SF, LA, Denver, Boston, NYC and DC

Anonymous wrote:Childcare is a luxury. Years ago I worked MasterCard in operations which is 24/7. The clerks married with kids worked separate shifts so no childcare. Often I see teachers, nurses and cops doing different shoots or one spouse stays home or works part time. I even see moms stay home and watch 2-3 other kids. Often the grandparents do it

Some people, somewhere, have options. That's awesome. And completely irrelevant to the dual-income families in this area.

Childcare is a luxury. Years ago I worked MasterCard in operations which is 24/7. The clerks married with kids worked separate shifts so no childcare. Often I see teachers, nurses and cops doing different shoots or one spouse stays home or works part time. I even see moms stay home and watch 2-3 other kids. Often the grandparents do it

Affordable is making the note/rent easily, paying utilities and your other bills without stress, not cutting back on food, having leftover money to split between checking, savings ie emergency fund and some money to go out and do things once in a while or to buy shoes and clothes. Factor in more for spouse and kids.

What most people do though is allow others to tell them what they can afford instead of working the numbers themselves. No one factors in what ifs. Like property taxes going up, upkeep, insurance going up, sickness, job loss, death. It happens. Most people are so set on I need to buy a house they don't think through what it involves then you end up arguing about money because there is none. Not worth it.

If you think it through and factor in all the what ifs and you can afford it then do it. Just know the bank is counting on you to struggle and they'll be there to take that house and resell, resell, resell...

My oldest didn't factor in a job loss. His wife HAD to have a home. Brand new. They lost the house recently. Some learn the hard way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the DC area a HHI should be the goal 200k. That's 100k for 2 people or 200k for one if you prefer that model. For most college gradudates that is very easy to hit by 30-35ish

So affordable housing to me is around there

That puts the mortage payment at around 4000 a month which is selling price of around 900k

If you aren't at 200k HHI or don't see how you could get there. I would consider moving plenty of other areas of the country where you can be very comfortable on say 100k HHI. The DC area isn't one of them.

I must be doing something wrong.

You think thats "very easy" for "most" college graduates? With a Master's degree, I was making around $50K at age 30, around $65K by age 35 (when I had added a second Master's ), and now at 40, I make around $75K.

I will likely never make over $100K, let alone $200K.

I am single, so I rely on my income alone. I do own my home, but it is very old, very small, and in need of a lot of work.

NP. Yikes, what kind of work do you do? Twelve years ago I made $65k doing communications and I just have a bachelors.
Why even get a Masters if you’re in a field where you can’t break 100k?

A GS-11 fed makes $68k. For non-lawyer professional series, GS-11 is "entry level" with a master's and experience or PhD without. In my agency non-management staff top out around GS-11 or 12, and it's pretty rare to be in management by 35. Just a data point, as there are several thousand of us and not everyone in DC is a lawyer.

NP here. I can kinda see where "very easy" PP is coming from. I was a GS-14 at 30 and my DH was a 12. So, that's almost at the 200k HHI. BUT, we had two kids in daycare when I was in my 30s and that's like a whole additional mortgage payment. So, 200k HHI with a high mortgage is unreasonable in this area if also paying for daycare.

Affordable housing is something a single person making $75,000 or less can afford, whether it be rent or mortgage.

Given that we are trying to get to a $15 hourly rate for people, times that by 40 hours a week and you get $600. Thats $2,400 a month to live on before taxes are taken out.
Even if there are 2 people making that much thats still only $4,800. So they should be able to find decent housing that they can afford and still have money to feed and clothe themselves and possible children.

I do not have a degree but only make $50,000. I will probably never make much more. Between my spouse and I we make $130,00 and consider ourselves fortunate.