What do YOU think is middle class income in Chicago? (upper-class, real estate market)

[im_a_lawyer]

Originally Posted by marothisu

I thought lawyers made a lot of money. It's ****ing hilarious to me that you continue to not even recognize how many people make good salaries in this city - yeah many don't, but there's thousands who do.

I'm not a lawyer and this discussion is about middle class people and not top 10% of Chicago earners.

Originally Posted by marothisu

$400K is not cheap but it's not that expensive either if you have at least a decent job. If you have good credit, do a 25% down payment and get a $300,000 loan, with a 5% rate for 30 years, your monthly payment will be around $2000 plus what, a few hundred extra per month for property taxes or something in Chicago. So let's say $2200/month.

25% down payment on $400,000 apartment is $100,000... This is not doable for anyone in the middle class. All of your numbers are on the low side and you even forgot to factor in HOA fees. You would need to be making $100,000 in order to afford $400,000 place.

Originally Posted by marothisu

Someone making $80K/year, which is nowhere near out of the ordinary in Chicago for a decent job, is taking home, after taxes and benefits (i.e. 401K, stock purchase, etc), probably about $4000-$4500/month and probably in the middle or upper end of that. If that person doesn't have a lot of debt, they are in no way going to be scraping by unless their other spending habits are ridiculous.

$80,000 is not middle class income...

Originally Posted by marothisu

Get a couple with no kids and it's even easier. Two people living there making only $50K each without a ton of debt each - easy.

So we're at this point where you need two working people to afford four walls and a roof over your head? What's next - kids living with you to pitch in on rent? Are we living in Hong Kong?

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by im_a_lawyer

I'm not a lawyer and this discussion is about middle class people and not top 10% of Chicago earners.

25% down payment on $400,000 apartment is $100,000... This is not doable for anyone in the middle class. All of your numbers are on the low side and you even forgot to factor in HOA fees. You would need to be making $100,000 in order to afford $400,000 place.

$80,000 is not middle class income...

So we're at this point where you need two working people to afford four walls and a roof over your head? What's next - kids living with you to pitch in on rent? Are we living in Hong Kong?

Vlajos is right - you should never do real estate, and your lack of logic skills shows through most of your messages. $80K is not middle class income for a single person in Chicago? Excuse me while I laugh at this. 6 figures is not the top 10% in Chicago, it's actually the top 21% or so, which is almost 210,000 households. Even if it was only 10%, that would be 105,000 households. If only 5% of those were looking for new $400K properties to buy, that's still over 5000 units in demand, which is a decent number of housing units especially if you're talking about most of Chicago which is low-rise.

$100,000 down payment too, while it may take awhile to save that up, is not impossible. Someone who is making a commitment in purchasing a home and wants to stay there long term is going to do that. You do realize that you can save over time, right? Normal people who are not making say, at least $400K/year save up for more than just a year to save up for the down payment now. You can also thank the bubble for the increased percentage you have to pay for a property. There's also a few reason why people are renting more now, instead of buying - but more and more are buying now. Those luxury apartments? The monthly rent for those is going to be just as much, if not more, than a $400,000 condo. And you probably haven't noticed that the number of luxury apartment units in Chicago is increasing, even in some non downtown areas. Some of it is speculative for sure, but there's still a large amount that has demand for sure.


Do me a favor - get out in the city more and meet more people. There's a lot more people making good salaries here than you obviously know about right now. I have friends who aren't even 30 yet pulling in over $200,000 per year and it's more than just a few of them. Many of my friends with good jobs in Chicago were making on average $70,000/year right out of college too.

[hlcvd]

Originally Posted by im_a_lawyer

$80,000 is not middle class income...

are you saying 80k is less than middle class income or more?

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by hlcvd

are you saying 80k is less than middle class income or more?

I think lawyer thinks $80k is more than middle class.

Funny how this week someone posts that they make $81k and feel like lower middle class.

[hlcvd]

so people making 80k is considered rich. i make about 90-100k, i sure dont feel rich.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by hlcvd

so people making 80k is considered rich. i make about 90-100k, i sure dont feel rich.

It's not - unless maybe you lived in a small town or city with a low COL. $80K-$100K in Chicago is solidly middle class for an individual. You probably don't get into upper talk until at least $130K if not $150K..maybe even higher like around $180K or something.

[FAReastcoast]

Originally Posted by im_a_lawyer

I'm not a lawyer and this discussion is about middle class people and not top 10% of Chicago earners.



25% down payment on $400,000 apartment is $100,000... This is not doable for anyone in the middle class. All of your numbers are on the low side and you even forgot to factor in HOA fees. You would need to be making $100,000 in order to afford $400,000 place.



$80,000 is not middle class income...



So we're at this point where you need two working people to afford four walls and a roof over your head? What's next - kids living with you to pitch in on rent? Are we living in Hong Kong?

I guess one persons expensive is another person bargain. Chicago prime real estate is a steal compared to other cities.

Here is the deal, the middle class is being squeezed, not just in Chicago, but everywhere. The world is becoming a place of haves and have nots. This is the new reality.

Want to know the secret to winning financially in the game of life? two incomes, live within your means. 8/10 you will be fine if you follow this rule.

[im_a_lawyer]

I know this place disproportionately attracts high income people(there was a survey somewhere) so to you people this all looks fair, but you would be laughed out on any other internet forum. $100,000 is not a lot of money? $80,000 is middle class income? How much money do you think an average person makes?

[hlcvd]

Originally Posted by FAReastcoast

I guess one persons expensive is another person bargain. Chicago prime real estate is a steal compared to other cities.

Here is the deal, the middle class is being squeezed, not just in Chicago, but everywhere. The world is becoming a place of haves and have nots. This is the new reality.

Want to know the secret to winning financially in the game of life? two incomes, live within your means. 8/10 you will be fine if you follow this rule.

Buy asset before luxury, and let money work for you, not work for money, is what i think truly seperate rich and middle class.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

The median condo price was $219K in February, the median SFH price was $141K in February. Honestly if someone can't afford that, they should not own a home.

http://www.illinoisrealtor.org/sites...-Chicago_1.pdf

Reminder.