I know many people who have bought $1.5+ houses in their early 30's. One lived at her parents house for her first two years at BigLaw and saved all the money for a downpayment. Another committed to many years as a two-BigLaw family. Another had family money. Another inherited the house. Although all of these are good friends whom I respect a lot, I don't envy them. It takes a lot of work to keep up with such a large house, even if you are outsourcing; outsourcing requires a lot of management. And, unless the family-money source is continual, it is very costly to maintain such houses, and thus it often creates a golden handcuffs situation.

At 33/34 we bought rowhouse in NW. No help no prior home savings.

Bought 2nd h0me--4 level 1930s SFH in urban area 2 blocks from Metro 4 years later.

Rent out first home. No help from parents, no windfall..just hardworking and very frugal.

We are 40.

Anonymous wrote:31/33. 900k 3000 sq ft. TH N Arlington walkable to metro...not TF-babies etc., DP w/ own resources and mortgage on our own earned dime...and we know plenty of other early to mid 30 somethings in high paying DC jobs with THs/SFHs in the $800-$1M price range. They are two-income professional families of lawyers, World Bank/IMF, doctors etc.

I don't know why there is such surprise about young people able to afford such homes in a place with so many high-end professional jobs with relatively higher job security than other US markets....and no it's nothing to do with having bought in 2000 etc.

I disagree. DH and I are both 34 and we have the typical DC "high end professional jobs" (biglaw and lobbyist) with an HHI in the mid-$300K range. It still would have been difficult for us to have bought our current house ($950K) without having made a killing on the rowhouse we bought in '02 and sold in '05, and we never could have bought that first house without a loan from family. Even with a relatively high HHI it's not so easy to save up a $200K downpayment if you're also being responsible with other savings. The downside of our well-paid jobs is that our time is worth more than our money, so if we ever want to see our kids we have to shell out to live close in, in a home that requires little attention, and outsource everything we can. If taking a cab home instead of the metro means I'll be home for dinner, it's a no-brainer. And of course we have student loans, which is pretty common for well-paid professionals without family money.

I'm NOT crying poverty at all--we're very lucky and very comfortable. I'm just saying that I don't think it's quite that easy to buy a million-dollar house in your early 30s or younger based on income alone. Most of our friends have similar jobs and I don't think any of them live in a house over $1 million except the one with a trust fund. Sure, some 30-somethings make $800K a year, but I'd say that's extremely rare.

Anonymous wrote:We live in Kentlands in 2007 at 30/32. We love the schools, the neighborhood, the walking distance to the retail area/restaurants & movies, the parks, the trails around the lake, the community activities, and the closeness to 270 but the feeling of being secluded. We love Quince Orchard High School.

I'm a SAHM but serve on several Boards, DH is in technology. Prior to having children DH & I lived in Dupont walking distance between Dupont & Adams Morgan in a condo that we now rent out. I plan to move back there one day when our children are all grown and married, off living their lives.

I'm not trying to be snarky, because I go to Kentlands frequently and think it's a very nice place, but how can you possibly feel secluded when all the houses are right on top of each other?

We live in Kentlands in 2007 at 30/32. We love the schools, the neighborhood, the walking distance to the retail area/restaurants & movies, the parks, the trails around the lake, the community activities, and the closeness to 270 but the feeling of being secluded. We love Quince Orchard High School.

I'm a SAHM but serve on several Boards, DH is in technology. Prior to having children DH & I lived in Dupont walking distance between Dupont & Adams Morgan in a condo that we now rent out. I plan to move back there one day when our children are all grown and married, off living their lives.

39-year-old single mom. Bought a townhouse in Fairfax by myself at 27 and just traded up to a SFH in Arlington this year. (Equity from the TH helped.) Went from about 1,200 SF to 1,500 SF so nobody will confuse it with a mini-mansion.

I have friends who have $850K houses (or more) but they're generally couples with 2 $150K plus incomes and some equity from a previous house or two.

Anonymous wrote:No, it isn't a surprise. But you also have to know that there are lots of 2-income families that do not make the kind of incomes that would support a mortgage that large. Good on you for going into such a high-paying field, I guess. We're back here in the "still qualify for Roth IRAs" underling crowd, even with 2 income earners in our house.

PP here...of course I understand that there are plenty of successful professional two-income families with lower incomes in our age group on the basis of profession etc....my point simply was that there are also plenty of high-earning early-to-mid 30 somethings around here, so it's not only TFs and buying a decade ago which explain how people under 35 people can buy homes in the $800k-$1M range.

No, it isn't a surprise. But you also have to know that there are lots of 2-income families that do not make the kind of incomes that would support a mortgage that large. Good on you for going into such a high-paying field, I guess. We're back here in the "still qualify for Roth IRAs" underling crowd, even with 2 income earners in our house.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in our mid 30's with two school-aged children. We live in a 4 bdrm. colonial in Arlington. We are getting ready to do a pretty substantial addition.

Prior to that, DH bought a townhouse in Arlington at age 27 which we sold in 2005 (to have the money to buy our current house).

We are not lawyers and have never received any type of financial assistance (after graduating from undergrad) from our parents. So, you don't have to be "Biglaw" or have a trust fund to make it in this town. DH has a really good job, we send our children to a great public school, and we live within our means.

While that is true, you aren't really "making" it. Your kids go to public and you live in Arlington. Just saying. So you should stop making subtle digs at "biglaw" and the income it provides.

Really? We're not? Thanks so much for the wake up call. Arlington really is such a dump and our public schools here are pretty crappy, too. Our children are doomed and will never get into an Ivy. One of us should really go to law school so that we can all be "saved."

Why the dig at Arlington and it's public school system?

If you have to ask...

31/33. 900k 3000 sq ft. TH N Arlington walkable to metro...not TF-babies etc., DP w/ own resources and mortgage on our own earned dime...and we know plenty of other early to mid 30 somethings in high paying DC jobs with THs/SFHs in the $800-$1M price range. They are two-income professional families of lawyers, World Bank/IMF, doctors etc.

I don't know why there is such surprise about young people able to afford such homes in a place with so many high-end professional jobs with relatively higher job security than other US markets....and no it's nothing to do with having bought in 2000 etc.

38/41 with 2 kids in daycare. 2500 sq ft 4 br/3.5 ba townhome in FairnOaks area for 440k. Love the location and have little to no yard work. The only thing I would want is a garage.

I bought my townhouse at age 27 as a single woman. Married, then we together bought our SFH when I was 33.

Anonymous wrote:We are in our mid 30's with two school-aged children. We live in a 4 bdrm. colonial in Arlington. We are getting ready to do a pretty substantial addition.

Prior to that, DH bought a townhouse in Arlington at age 27 which we sold in 2005 (to have the money to buy our current house).
We are not lawyers and have never received any type of financial assistance (after graduating from undergrad) from our parents. So, you don't have to be "Biglaw" or have a trust fund to make it in this town. DH has a really good job, we send our children to a great public school, and we live within our means.

ok, so you were lucky enough to ride the real estate roller coaster and come out ahead. which is how most of the mid-30s+ couples I know were able to afford a SFH closer in.

I kick myself every day that I didn't take my aunt up on her offer to loan me money to help me buy the 1 BR condo she eventutally invested in and let me rent from her. At 23 and making $28K/year, $10K seemed like a LOT of money to pay back. She sold that thing in 2003 (3 years later) for $120K more than she paid for it. That would have been an REALLY nice down payment on at least a decent sized TH, and maybe even an older SFH in South Arlington. Instead, we scraped together our very little life savings and wedding money and put down 5% on a tiny TH in the burbs. Thank goodness we were able to sell that for a profit still and purchase a SFH (nowhere closer in, but it's not the exurbs either), but if we'd had 2 properties sold in 2003-2005 time frame, we'd have been rolling in real estate profits to buy a much nicer house closer in.

As it is, we have run out of renovation money because we bought a house in need of some renovations in order to get slightly more space (and I'm talking 2200, NOT 3K or more). At least this one WASN'T a short sale or foreclosure, but it needed a good deal of updating. Such is life when you can't afford more than $450K in this area. But I refuse to move to Loudoun - the thought of that commute makes me want to cry. It would only make sense if my husband was making alone what we make combined currently.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in our mid 30's with two school-aged children. We live in a 4 bdrm. colonial in Arlington. We are getting ready to do a pretty substantial addition.

Prior to that, DH bought a townhouse in Arlington at age 27 which we sold in 2005 (to have the money to buy our current house).

We are not lawyers and have never received any type of financial assistance (after graduating from undergrad) from our parents. So, you don't have to be "Biglaw" or have a trust fund to make it in this town. DH has a really good job, we send our children to a great public school, and we live within our means.

While that is true, you aren't really "making" it. Your kids go to public and you live in Arlington. Just saying. So you should stop making subtle digs at "biglaw" and the income it provides.

Really? We're not? Thanks so much for the wake up call. Arlington really is such a dump and our public schools here are pretty crappy, too. Our children are doomed and will never get into an Ivy. One of us should really go to law school so that we can all be "saved."





Why the dig at Arlington and it's public school system?

Both 47, bought our first house a year ago. 5-6 bedroom inside beltway in McLean for 999k. Owned nothing before that. Both career govt workers.