Quote:
Originally Posted by Mywifes335
Not here to troll...
In response to the $1.25M home being average in LA...which it is. It's a decently-sized home but definitely not MTV Cribs worthy. In fact, it looks like an average house.
I realize the stats indicate much lower. Then my question becomes where and how do people live on 1/2 that income or less in NY, North Jersey, LA, SF, Chicago and Boston?
Live in an apartment with 2 kids? Drive 1 car? Have no savings? Eat frugally? Before the torches and pitchforks come out...realize that in NY, to buy a 700 sq ft apartment in Manhattan is $1M. The mortgage on that home, assuming 20% down, is $3800. Add in maintenance, you're at $5000 easy. You're not leaving much to spend on anything else. But let's go through the exercise:
Mortgage $3800
Condo maintenance fees: $1000
Utilities: $400
Garage rental (1 car): $500-$600+
Daycare (1 kid, assume 1 kid in school): $2000
Car payment (1 car, incl insurance): $750 ($500 lease/finance payment, $250/mo insurance)
This doesn't include food, health insurance, savings, entertainment, vacations, etc.
You're already at an annual gross of $225k.
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A lot of people don't do it like that. They don't buy, they rent. They don't have a car, nor kids, so no car payment, no garage, and no daycare. And they have roommates because they can't afford the rent on their own. That's how a lot of people do it, and that I can understand.
As for how people actually have kids and buy houses and cars and everything else that goes along with that lifestyle, I don't know. It's really a mystery to me, because there's no way there can be that many people making that much money. A lot of people have to be hurting and have to be in way over their heads.