Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She started working at the Watergate at age 18.

She rented for a few years in her 20s, saved her money and then purchased her own home in her 30s.

All of this on a maid's salary.

Sounds too good to be true, I know.

But this was during the 1960s and 1970s.

Was she just at the right place at the right time?

will days like that ever come back?

My parents moved down from Connecticut in the 60s for my dad's new government job. Many people were coming for govt in the post-Kennedy years.

His Office was downtown and then Crystal City.

Arlington was not desirable back then---especially the most valuable real estate in Arlington now (Rosslyn/Clarendon was sketchier back then). Rossly had prostitutes.

The big thing in that time period was urban flight. After the fires in DC (read the history) the dream was to move to the suburbs. All of the real estate was new in NoVA---Fairfax Co, etc.

Our subdivision was brand new in 1974. Very large subdivision, large homes and yards and every home was a family with young kids.

It was a great place to grow up. However, my parents' home is worth about $700k today. I live in a home in Clarendon worth $1.7million (not a new build, no massive additions or renovations) which was priced less than my parents new build back in 1974.

Suburbs were the thing in the 70s/80s. None of the 'walkable' stuff that many of us highly value now.

I’m going to guess Arlington still has prostitutes. Now they are just less public in their marketing.

Let me rephrase that "street walkers". Like used to frequent where the Verizon Center now is. In high school in the 80s, the boys used to drive down there to gawk at them walking their strip.

Anonymous wrote:

OP, yes, these days will return. But it takes political action to push upzoning in Arlington and surrounding areas. Lobby to allow much more dense urban infill. 2-4 units per lot instead of 1 SFH now. The tide is changing rapidly but it will be another few years before we're fully there. You won't have a 5k sq ft SFH on a 7k sq ft lot but fewer people want that much space these days anyway, with smaller families.

No, I dont think those days wont return where someone making minimum wage can afford a house in a relatively high COL area. Appreciation will continue to rise, but the availability of that kind of house to someone making minimum wage is not possible. Most wages have remained flat even as COL (for healthcare, college, etc) has skyrocketed. Regressive tax policies have not helped. If the minimum wage had increased along with the COL and productivity, it should be closer to 2-25/hr, not 7.25. The path to wealth through home ownership remains valid, but most ppl who can afford homes at a young age that will appreciate have already come from money and are making money. Lots of threads on this. Generational wealth is the largest indicator of future wealth.

Note that I referenced 2-4 unit THs and condos and not SFHs which will not be affordable. There is massive demand for small and tiny apts/condos/ADU options. But the inventory is not there yet because of NIMBY zoning restrictions. That is what political pressure will solve for in the next few years. It's already well under way in Arlington.

Anonymous wrote:My parents bought a house in Brentwood (Los Angeles) in 1969 for 55k on one professor's salary and raised us there. The mortgage was so low it allowed my parents to give us all the basics and a lot of the extras and save for both kids for college. Its now worth 3 millon. My spouse and I make far more than my father did when they bought that house (even adjusted for inflation), but the COL and real estate is such that we cannot afford the kind of lifestyle my parents provided on one middle class salary, unless perhaps we moved to a very LCOL area.

Here's another interesting piece of information. If my sibling and I inherit the house, we continue to pay the same taxes that my parents pay--something like 3900/year (!! I currently pay 14k/year for a 875k/house where I live). If the house is sold a new owner would pay 27k a year. This is why in california people dont sell houses they give them to their kids and that tax money doesn't pay for schools, etc.

Prop 13 was severely limited this last election cycle, fortunately. Only kids who inherit and live in the house as their primary home can now continue to claim the same tax basis. It's a much fairer system.

My friend has a house cleaning business in the Miami area. She earns over 6K per month. She started the business in 2006. It was a bigger operation at one point, but all the hired staff was flaky, so she had to scale down.
Her clientele is rich people for whom she even buys household supplies and food prior to them coming to their properties. So, if you work hard, you can earn a ton of money. She is now 65, not a bad income for part-time work for a 65-year-old, no?

OP, yes, these days will return. But it takes political action to push upzoning in Arlington and surrounding areas. Lobby to allow much more dense urban infill. 2-4 units per lot instead of 1 SFH now. The tide is changing rapidly but it will be another few years before we're fully there. You won't have a 5k sq ft SFH on a 7k sq ft lot but fewer people want that much space these days anyway, with smaller families.

No, I dont think those days wont return where someone making minimum wage can afford a house in a relatively high COL area. Appreciation will continue to rise, but the availability of that kind of house to someone making minimum wage is not possible. Most wages have remained flat even as COL (for healthcare, college, etc) has skyrocketed. Regressive tax policies have not helped. If the minimum wage had increased along with the COL and productivity, it should be closer to 2-25/hr, not 7.25. The path to wealth through home ownership remains valid, but most ppl who can afford homes at a young age that will appreciate have already come from money and are making money. Lots of threads on this. Generational wealth is the largest indicator of future wealth.

My parents bought a house in Brentwood (Los Angeles) in 1969 for 55k on one professor's salary and raised us there. The mortgage was so low it allowed my parents to give us all the basics and a lot of the extras and save for both kids for college. Its now worth 3 millon. My spouse and I make far more than my father did when they bought that house (even adjusted for inflation), but the COL and real estate is such that we cannot afford the kind of lifestyle my parents provided on one middle class salary, unless perhaps we moved to a very LCOL area.

Here's another interesting piece of information. If my sibling and I inherit the house, we continue to pay the same taxes that my parents pay--something like 3900/year (!! I currently pay 14k/year for a 875k/house where I live). If the house is sold a new owner would pay 27k a year. This is why in california people dont sell houses they give them to their kids and that tax money doesn't pay for schools, etc.

Anonymous wrote:Hispanic are buying houses in DMV their their landscaping or maid income. Many of them own houses in Rockville, SS, Gaithurberg. 20-30 years from now,, the value of their houses will double$ or triple.

Yes and there is also about 30 people each living in one house with a ton of cars on the street. The reason why I left.

Anonymous wrote:Did your aunt demand an HGTV-ready kitchen? A bedroom for each child, plus a guest room, plus an office? A two-car garage? A master bathroom with dual sinks? Ten-foot ceilings, built-ins, and a screened-in porch with television hookup and wet bar?

Or did she buy a 2-3BR/1-2BA with street parking and no air conditioning, in a new tract development that used to be someone’s farm?

You can still get a bare-bones place built on newly developed farmland. But it will be a TH in Warrenton. Because that’s the way population and urban expansion work.

Please. You’re delusional.

There are plenty of double income professionals who can barely afford a modest 3bedroom house with a bathroom and kitchen that need updating.

A maid would be lucky to not be homeless in this area. That’s how far we’ve fallen as a nation.

My landscaper has a multi acre Potomac house. In section of multi million dollar homes.

He is like mid 60s Told me back in 1980s he bought in way way outer Potomac in area at time Cess pools and wells and electric heat a house with a lot of acreage hidden from street.

His goal was to move his family and everyone in house and have a place to park all his commercial equipment for free. His wife cried for months and pitch black at night out there 40 years ago.

He still lived there has like 15 vehicles and does all the Potomac houses

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She started working at the Watergate at age 18.

She rented for a few years in her 20s, saved her money and then purchased her own home in her 30s.

All of this on a maid's salary.

Sounds too good to be true, I know.

But this was during the 1960s and 1970s.

Was she just at the right place at the right time?

will days like that ever come back?

My parents moved down from Connecticut in the 60s for my dad's new government job. Many people were coming for govt in the post-Kennedy years.

His Office was downtown and then Crystal City.

Arlington was not desirable back then---especially the most valuable real estate in Arlington now (Rosslyn/Clarendon was sketchier back then). Rossly had prostitutes.

The big thing in that time period was urban flight. After the fires in DC (read the history) the dream was to move to the suburbs. All of the real estate was new in NoVA---Fairfax Co, etc.

Our subdivision was brand new in 1974. Very large subdivision, large homes and yards and every home was a family with young kids.

It was a great place to grow up. However, my parents' home is worth about $700k today. I live in a home in Clarendon worth $1.7million (not a new build, no massive additions or renovations) which was priced less than my parents new build back in 1974.

Suburbs were the thing in the 70s/80s. None of the 'walkable' stuff that many of us highly value now.

I’m going to guess Arlington still has prostitutes. Now they are just less public in their marketing.

Anonymous wrote:She started working at the Watergate at age 18.

She rented for a few years in her 20s, saved her money and then purchased her own home in her 30s.

All of this on a maid's salary.

Sounds too good to be true, I know.

But this was during the 1960s and 1970s.

Was she just at the right place at the right time?

will days like that ever come back?

My parents moved down from Connecticut in the 60s for my dad's new government job. Many people were coming for govt in the post-Kennedy years.

His Office was downtown and then Crystal City.

Arlington was not desirable back then---especially the most valuable real estate in Arlington now (Rosslyn/Clarendon was sketchier back then). Rossly had prostitutes.

The big thing in that time period was urban flight. After the fires in DC (read the history) the dream was to move to the suburbs. All of the real estate was new in NoVA---Fairfax Co, etc.

Our subdivision was brand new in 1974. Very large subdivision, large homes and yards and every home was a family with young kids.

It was a great place to grow up. However, my parents' home is worth about $700k today. I live in a home in Clarendon worth $1.7million (not a new build, no massive additions or renovations) which was priced less than my parents new build back in 1974.

Suburbs were the thing in the 70s/80s. None of the 'walkable' stuff that many of us highly value now.

Anonymous wrote:She started working at the Watergate at age 18.

She rented for a few years in her 20s, saved her money and then purchased her own home in her 30s.

All of this on a maid's salary.

Sounds too good to be true, I know.

But this was during the 1960s and 1970s.

Was she just at the right place at the right time?

will days like that ever come back?

Right place, right race. Look up halls hill.

Anonymous wrote:Did your aunt demand an HGTV-ready kitchen? A bedroom for each child, plus a guest room, plus an office? A two-car garage? A master bathroom with dual sinks? Ten-foot ceilings, built-ins, and a screened-in porch with television hookup and wet bar?

Or did she buy a 2-3BR/1-2BA with street parking and no air conditioning, in a new tract development that used to be someone’s farm?

You can still get a bare-bones place built on newly developed farmland. But it will be a TH in Warrenton. Because that’s the way population and urban expansion work.

A 2-3BR in Arlington is still 800k minimum. I promise you there are no maids doing that. And of course you can do that in Warrenton but good luck commuting to the Watergate from Warrenton. And add to that I’m sure arlington was more expensive than Warrenton in the 60s.

Anonymous wrote:People forget that, back in those days, people had MUCH more modest homes. Heated by a wood-burning stove, one bathroom. Many people lived in mobile homes or other cheaper prefab construction. You can still afford a modest home on a maid's salary in the DC metro.

So true.

Anonymous wrote:She started working at the Watergate at age 18.

She rented for a few years in her 20s, saved her money and then purchased her own home in her 30s.

All of this on a maid's salary.

Sounds too good to be true, I know.

But this was during the 1960s and 1970s.

Was she just at the right place at the right time?

will days like that ever come back?

Decent and growing chance that in coming months or years we will be living in a police state that concurrently suffers from terrorist violence from neo-confederate insurgents. This will cause a general decline in economic prosperity, depopulation, and thereby make real estate much cheaper. This will be necessary as many of us will be earning substantially less. Most upper income jobs nowadays rely on complex economic relationships that will be easily disrupted by the political chaos and violence we will continue to see. So yes, who knows, it is quite possible that in 10 years a gainfully employed maid will be able to buy some super specialized law firm partner's McManse in Arlington.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Days like that will not come back. America's population increased about 50% since 1970. In the meantime, we don't have any additional land, especially in the DC area.

Agree with this.

The US population has increased dramatically. Land is in short supply.

Also, add in that the US has seen an increase in real estate investment from people overseas. People in other countries are buying up properties here in the US, which jacks up the prices for everyone (larger market).

‘Running out of land’ is a cliche that appears during bubbles.

OP, yes, these days will return. But it takes political action to push upzoning in Arlington and surrounding areas. Lobby to allow much more dense urban infill. 2-4 units per lot instead of 1 SFH now. The tide is changing rapidly but it will be another few years before we're fully there. You won't have a 5k sq ft SFH on a 7k sq ft lot but fewer people want that much space these days anyway, with smaller families.