I think OP is a little bit high but not much. We are two Feds with $380 HHI (financial agencies), 400k down, bought for $1.3 so a $5300 PITI. It is totally fine. Kids are older so only child care costs in the summer. Max out retirement, save plenty for college. Paying for good schools and a 15 minute commute. Could pay less to live in Lorton and commute two hours per day, but don't want to do that. With OP's stats I would spend 1.1-1.2. We were looking in 900-1.1 range and everything had at least one major drawback, whether it was dated house, busy road, less space, no yard, weaker schools, longer commute, etc. Going up to the 1.1-1.3 range was a big jump in quality of options.

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Anonymous wrote:We are also two GS-15s with two kids and we spent $500k. I would be very uncomfortable spending $1.4m.

Where the heck do you live? Manassas??

Lorton. We bought almost 6 years ago and have done some updating since then. I'll caveat, that if we were to sell today, our house would sell for in the mid $700s.

Okay, listen if homes go for $700k in BFE Lorton (which is a lovely neighborhood but REALLY FAR AWAY), what options do dual-GS15 have with a closer commute and good schools? I think they are spending st least a $1M, one way or the other (spend less close in but needs tons of work right away)

Close in Silver Spring. Close in Tacoma Park.

For example, https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/520-Ashford-Rd_Silver-Spring_MD_20910_M54127-61743?view=qv

Again that is $800 entry price and all these old homes have $$$$ repairs and maintenance even when freshly painted.

Plus, GS 4 for Northwood would be good schools??

I don't know what you mean by "entry price" in looking at a house that has modern bathrooms, a very functional kitchen, a roomy foyer and living spaces, a nice yard, and is walkable to downtown Silver Spring and Metro. I don't see any $$$ repairs based on the photos, either. Can you clarify what you mean by that?

I don't use Great Schools as a proxy for school quality, so "GS 4" means nothing to me. I do, however, know a lot of highly successful Northwood HS graduates and professional parents who are happy sending their kids there.

Out of curiousity, what DO you use as a proxy for school quality? Right now your answer is a couple of anecdotes...

NP, but I look at how kids do that are in MY SES group. In many of these schools, it is the FARMS families bringing the rankings down, but if you drill into the stats, the kids who are not farms are doing great. If those kids are doing well, not sure why mine wouldn't either? I think it is safe to assume that if someone has a 330K income and are buying a home with a GS rating of 4, but the kids who are high SES are doing just as well as other high SES kids in a GS ranking school of 8, will thrive despite the drag on the stats.

I'd only be worried if my kid was recieving FARMS and wonder if my kid would also not be able to hit the basic academic bar.

I am UMC but attended a low ranked high FARMS school as a kid.

Trust me your kid will be impacted. From the benign, where class time is wasted EVERY day with repeated discipline and remedial lessons, to bullying, to the worst where your kids get sucked into a group not destined for college (like a contender for class Valedictorian who got side tracked into a slacker drug group from an art class, and never even went to college).

Peer effects are real; and I want the majority of my DS classmates to be aiming for college. Many FARMS families are in fact academic minded, and hope for college, and that’s why we now attend a school with superb test scores and a 40% FARMS rate — they do exist, but generally housing won’t be cheap there.

100% agree with this pp. It will impact your child negatively there is no question. The only people who don't believe this are people who prioritize feeling like they are "helping their community" more than they prioritize their actual children's educations and futures.

I live in McLean now, but grew up in Alexandria. I went to Tuckee/Hammond/TC Williams Hammond was ROUGH and I turned out more than fine. Went to UVA, went onto get my MBA and I'm in IT sales, am a woman, and make more money than I care to admit.

We grew up with very little money, but our parents ran a tight ship and had high expectations. That goes much further than a GS rating of 10. I now have a 9th grader at Langly and a 7th grader at Kilmer and I'm not so impressed with the BS these high SES kids pull. Many of the parents are drunks, pill poppers or just don't seem to give many fu%is about what their kids are up to.

Sorry, women in IT sales make it on good looks, not quality of education. You are also a single anecdote, and your success likely stems more from attractiveness than educational quality. Please prove me wrong, and state that you studied Econ at UVA and have a Wharton MBA — but you are still a single data’s point.

Your second paragraph is so crass and judgmental, I don’t know what to say.

LOL, I could prove you wrong by posting a picture. You don't need my transcripts.

Not sure why you would think I'd even have a business degree, I'm in TECHNOLOGY sales. UVA (double major EE & CS)then UC Berkeley M. Eng). I was then recruited to work in Palo Alto designing and engineering. I saw that the real money wasn't in building, but in selling what was developed. Moved with my current SV company to do federal sales 7 years ago and to be closer to family and for much lower COL and taxes.

Being an engineer, the misogyny never surprises me and you sure did deliver. Bravo! Cause ya know, a woman is never successful by her own merit, her value is always in her looks.

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Well I'm the poster who lives in Lorton, and I chose it because:
A.) Better schools
B.) Bigger yard
C.) Less overall local congestion because it's a newer area and roads are better planned.
D.) I hate metro and Lorton allows DH and I to commute via VRE or Express Bus, slugging, etc.
E.) Jobs in DC are both close to 14th Street bridge, so close to VA side of the the city.

Different strokes I guess, but I don't know why you'd pick hitchhiking over being on the Metro. That's a pretty damning indictment of the Metro lol.

Nobody has died carpooling in these slug lines. On Metro, one cannot say the same. I'm surprised you don't understand why someone would take a cheaper, safer, quicker route to work each day, LOL!

People have died hitchhiking. Just because someone found a more user-friendly term for hitchhiking doesn't mean it's not the same thing.

I wasn't even talking about the safety issue, I just think that it's bizarre that people justify it as something normal - and don't take it as a clue that maybe they're living too far away from their work - if standing at the side of a road until some random person picks them up and having to deal with an unwritten "slug code" of not talking until you're talked to while you're riding in said stranger's car is part of their everyday life. If you can't at least understand why someone would think that I don't know what to tell you...

The law disagrees with you. Hitchhiking in Virginia is illegal, carpooling via slugging isn't. Do you also consider taking an uber hitch hiking?

Everything bubble is popping. Hang on!

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-12-15/central-banks-have-few-options-to-deal-with-another-crisis

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Sorry, women in IT sales make it on good looks, not quality of education. You are also a single anecdote, and your success likely stems more from attractiveness than educational quality. Please prove me wrong, and state that you studied Econ at UVA and have a Wharton MBA — but you are still a single data’s point.

Your second paragraph is so crass and judgmental, I don’t know what to say.

But your first paragraph is so crass and judgmental, so...

Sure, commenting on the likely credential needed for a career field I work in is exactly like calling parents pill poppers and drunks.

Do you have a technical degree and prestigious background, and ready to prove me wrong? Go and post something as a demo of your prowess, Beautiful Mind style.

New on this forum, What does SES mean ? Keep seeing that on thread here...

Anonymous wrote:
Sorry, women in IT sales make it on good looks, not quality of education. You are also a single anecdote, and your success likely stems more from attractiveness than educational quality. Please prove me wrong, and state that you studied Econ at UVA and have a Wharton MBA — but you are still a single data’s point.

Your second paragraph is so crass and judgmental, I don’t know what to say.

But your first paragraph is so crass and judgmental, so...

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Anonymous wrote:We are also two GS-15s with two kids and we spent $500k. I would be very uncomfortable spending $1.4m.

Where the heck do you live? Manassas??

Lorton. We bought almost 6 years ago and have done some updating since then. I'll caveat, that if we were to sell today, our house would sell for in the mid $700s.

Okay, listen if homes go for $700k in BFE Lorton (which is a lovely neighborhood but REALLY FAR AWAY), what options do dual-GS15 have with a closer commute and good schools? I think they are spending st least a $1M, one way or the other (spend less close in but needs tons of work right away)

Close in Silver Spring. Close in Tacoma Park.

For example, https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/520-Ashford-Rd_Silver-Spring_MD_20910_M54127-61743?view=qv

Again that is $800 entry price and all these old homes have $$$$ repairs and maintenance even when freshly painted.

Plus, GS 4 for Northwood would be good schools??

I don't know what you mean by "entry price" in looking at a house that has modern bathrooms, a very functional kitchen, a roomy foyer and living spaces, a nice yard, and is walkable to downtown Silver Spring and Metro. I don't see any $$$ repairs based on the photos, either. Can you clarify what you mean by that?

I don't use Great Schools as a proxy for school quality, so "GS 4" means nothing to me. I do, however, know a lot of highly successful Northwood HS graduates and professional parents who are happy sending their kids there.

Out of curiousity, what DO you use as a proxy for school quality? Right now your answer is a couple of anecdotes...

NP, but I look at how kids do that are in MY SES group. In many of these schools, it is the FARMS families bringing the rankings down, but if you drill into the stats, the kids who are not farms are doing great. If those kids are doing well, not sure why mine wouldn't either? I think it is safe to assume that if someone has a 330K income and are buying a home with a GS rating of 4, but the kids who are high SES are doing just as well as other high SES kids in a GS ranking school of 8, will thrive despite the drag on the stats.

I'd only be worried if my kid was recieving FARMS and wonder if my kid would also not be able to hit the basic academic bar.

I am UMC but attended a low ranked high FARMS school as a kid.

Trust me your kid will be impacted. From the benign, where class time is wasted EVERY day with repeated discipline and remedial lessons, to bullying, to the worst where your kids get sucked into a group not destined for college (like a contender for class Valedictorian who got side tracked into a slacker drug group from an art class, and never even went to college).

Peer effects are real; and I want the majority of my DS classmates to be aiming for college. Many FARMS families are in fact academic minded, and hope for college, and that’s why we now attend a school with superb test scores and a 40% FARMS rate — they do exist, but generally housing won’t be cheap there.

100% agree with this pp. It will impact your child negatively there is no question. The only people who don't believe this are people who prioritize feeling like they are "helping their community" more than they prioritize their actual children's educations and futures.

I live in McLean now, but grew up in Alexandria. I went to Tuckee/Hammond/TC Williams Hammond was ROUGH and I turned out more than fine. Went to UVA, went onto get my MBA and I'm in IT sales, am a woman, and make more money than I care to admit.

We grew up with very little money, but our parents ran a tight ship and had high expectations. That goes much further than a GS rating of 10. I now have a 9th grader at Langly and a 7th grader at Kilmer and I'm not so impressed with the BS these high SES kids pull. Many of the parents are drunks, pill poppers or just don't seem to give many fu%is about what their kids are up to.

Sorry, women in IT sales make it on good looks, not quality of education. You are also a single anecdote, and your success likely stems more from attractiveness than educational quality. Please prove me wrong, and state that you studied Econ at UVA and have a Wharton MBA — but you are still a single data’s point.

Your second paragraph is so crass and judgmental, I don’t know what to say.

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Anonymous wrote:We are also two GS-15s with two kids and we spent $500k. I would be very uncomfortable spending $1.4m.

Where the heck do you live? Manassas??

Lorton. We bought almost 6 years ago and have done some updating since then. I'll caveat, that if we were to sell today, our house would sell for in the mid $700s.

Okay, listen if homes go for $700k in BFE Lorton (which is a lovely neighborhood but REALLY FAR AWAY), what options do dual-GS15 have with a closer commute and good schools? I think they are spending st least a $1M, one way or the other (spend less close in but needs tons of work right away)

Close in Silver Spring. Close in Tacoma Park.

For example, https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/520-Ashford-Rd_Silver-Spring_MD_20910_M54127-61743?view=qv

Again that is $800 entry price and all these old homes have $$$$ repairs and maintenance even when freshly painted.

Plus, GS 4 for Northwood would be good schools??

I don't know what you mean by "entry price" in looking at a house that has modern bathrooms, a very functional kitchen, a roomy foyer and living spaces, a nice yard, and is walkable to downtown Silver Spring and Metro. I don't see any $$$ repairs based on the photos, either. Can you clarify what you mean by that?

I don't use Great Schools as a proxy for school quality, so "GS 4" means nothing to me. I do, however, know a lot of highly successful Northwood HS graduates and professional parents who are happy sending their kids there.

Out of curiousity, what DO you use as a proxy for school quality? Right now your answer is a couple of anecdotes...

NP, but I look at how kids do that are in MY SES group. In many of these schools, it is the FARMS families bringing the rankings down, but if you drill into the stats, the kids who are not farms are doing great. If those kids are doing well, not sure why mine wouldn't either? I think it is safe to assume that if someone has a 330K income and are buying a home with a GS rating of 4, but the kids who are high SES are doing just as well as other high SES kids in a GS ranking school of 8, will thrive despite the drag on the stats.

I'd only be worried if my kid was recieving FARMS and wonder if my kid would also not be able to hit the basic academic bar.

I am UMC but attended a low ranked high FARMS school as a kid.

Trust me your kid will be impacted. From the benign, where class time is wasted EVERY day with repeated discipline and remedial lessons, to bullying, to the worst where your kids get sucked into a group not destined for college (like a contender for class Valedictorian who got side tracked into a slacker drug group from an art class, and never even went to college).

Peer effects are real; and I want the majority of my DS classmates to be aiming for college. Many FARMS families are in fact academic minded, and hope for college, and that’s why we now attend a school with superb test scores and a 40% FARMS rate — they do exist, but generally housing won’t be cheap there.

100% agree with this pp. It will impact your child negatively there is no question. The only people who don't believe this are people who prioritize feeling like they are "helping their community" more than they prioritize their actual children's educations and futures.

I live in McLean now, but grew up in Alexandria. I went to Tuckee/Hammond/TC Williams Hammond was ROUGH and I turned out more than fine. Went to UVA, went onto get my MBA and I'm in IT sales, am a woman, and make more money than I care to admit.

We grew up with very little money, but our parents ran a tight ship and had high expectations. That goes much further than a GS rating of 10. I now have a 9th grader at Langly and a 7th grader at Kilmer and I'm not so impressed with the BS these high SES kids pull. Many of the parents are drunks, pill poppers or just don't seem to give many fu%is about what their kids are up to.

We have similar income and bonus on top of that. We spent only 800 k. But not as much in savings. But working on.it. the reason we didn't go above 800 k is because we have two kids and the only reason we paid that much is yo get into good public school and shorter commute so we have more time with the kids. Good luck!

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Anonymous wrote:We are also two GS-15s with two kids and we spent $500k. I would be very uncomfortable spending $1.4m.

Where the heck do you live? Manassas??

Lorton. We bought almost 6 years ago and have done some updating since then. I'll caveat, that if we were to sell today, our house would sell for in the mid $700s.

Okay, listen if homes go for $700k in BFE Lorton (which is a lovely neighborhood but REALLY FAR AWAY), what options do dual-GS15 have with a closer commute and good schools? I think they are spending st least a $1M, one way or the other (spend less close in but needs tons of work right away)

Close in Silver Spring. Close in Tacoma Park.

For example, https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/520-Ashford-Rd_Silver-Spring_MD_20910_M54127-61743?view=qv

Again that is $800 entry price and all these old homes have $$$$ repairs and maintenance even when freshly painted.

Plus, GS 4 for Northwood would be good schools??

I don't know what you mean by "entry price" in looking at a house that has modern bathrooms, a very functional kitchen, a roomy foyer and living spaces, a nice yard, and is walkable to downtown Silver Spring and Metro. I don't see any $$$ repairs based on the photos, either. Can you clarify what you mean by that?

I don't use Great Schools as a proxy for school quality, so "GS 4" means nothing to me. I do, however, know a lot of highly successful Northwood HS graduates and professional parents who are happy sending their kids there.

Out of curiousity, what DO you use as a proxy for school quality? Right now your answer is a couple of anecdotes...

NP, but I look at how kids do that are in MY SES group. In many of these schools, it is the FARMS families bringing the rankings down, but if you drill into the stats, the kids who are not farms are doing great. If those kids are doing well, not sure why mine wouldn't either? I think it is safe to assume that if someone has a 330K income and are buying a home with a GS rating of 4, but the kids who are high SES are doing just as well as other high SES kids in a GS ranking school of 8, will thrive despite the drag on the stats.

I'd only be worried if my kid was recieving FARMS and wonder if my kid would also not be able to hit the basic academic bar.

I am UMC but attended a low ranked high FARMS school as a kid.

Trust me your kid will be impacted. From the benign, where class time is wasted EVERY day with repeated discipline and remedial lessons, to bullying, to the worst where your kids get sucked into a group not destined for college (like a contender for class Valedictorian who got side tracked into a slacker drug group from an art class, and never even went to college).

Peer effects are real; and I want the majority of my DS classmates to be aiming for college. Many FARMS families are in fact academic minded, and hope for college, and that’s why we now attend a school with superb test scores and a 40% FARMS rate — they do exist, but generally housing won’t be cheap there.

100% agree with this pp. It will impact your child negatively there is no question. The only people who don't believe this are people who prioritize feeling like they are "helping their community" more than they prioritize their actual children's educations and futures.

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Anonymous wrote:Have to say theee are very impressive down payments!

This is exactly why Fed workers have NO CLUE how the rest of the people live

What does this comment mean??

What are your other expenses?

We make 380K and our 15 year loan has a PITI of 3400/month. This allows us to save for college, take vacations, kids activities, etc. without any worries. We also have medical expenses (apart from insurance) of around 2k/month.

I personally wouldn't spend as much as you are proposing to spend but if we didn't have some of our expenses it might be more doable.

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Well I'm the poster who lives in Lorton, and I chose it because:
A.) Better schools
B.) Bigger yard
C.) Less overall local congestion because it's a newer area and roads are better planned.
D.) I hate metro and Lorton allows DH and I to commute via VRE or Express Bus, slugging, etc.
E.) Jobs in DC are both close to 14th Street bridge, so close to VA side of the the city.

Different strokes I guess, but I don't know why you'd pick hitchhiking over being on the Metro. That's a pretty damning indictment of the Metro lol.

Nobody has died carpooling in these slug lines. On Metro, one cannot say the same. I'm surprised you don't understand why someone would take a cheaper, safer, quicker route to work each day, LOL!

People have died hitchhiking. Just because someone found a more user-friendly term for hitchhiking doesn't mean it's not the same thing.

I wasn't even talking about the safety issue, I just think that it's bizarre that people justify it as something normal - and don't take it as a clue that maybe they're living too far away from their work - if standing at the side of a road until some random person picks them up and having to deal with an unwritten "slug code" of not talking until you're talked to while you're riding in said stranger's car is part of their everyday life. If you can't at least understand why someone would think that I don't know what to tell you...

FFS, people can have different opinions. Metro makes me incredibly nauseous, to the point where I have vomited upon getting off the train. Slugging is a way for people to carpool and use the HOV lanes to shorten their commute. It's very popular from Springfield, which is 13 miles from downtown DC, certain areas of Lorton which and is 18 miles from DC, etc and down on 95. Vienna is 16 miles from downtown, so it's not like Lorton or Springfield are so much further away. I mostly ride a bus, but anytime I've slugged it's been in a nicely maintained vehicle with other people just trying to get to or from work. No one is trying to get in a fight, cause chaos, etc like you see on the metro.

Anyhow, the OP wants to take on a nearly $1 million mortgage on a $330k salary. I have that same salary and think that's a lot. But they never indicated where the house was, for all you know it could be in Clifton.