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The state government should step in and do something about the cost of housing in FFC. Something like a market adjustment and slash the home values all in half so that the middle class can afford housing in FFC once again. Something like mayor Bill DeBlasio of NYC is doing. Why can't we do that here? Excessive bidding on housing prices should be flat out illegal.
The state government should step in and do something about the cost of housing in FFC. Something like a market adjustment and slash the home values all in half so that the middle class can afford housing in FFC once again. Something like mayor Bill DeBlasio of NYC is doing. Why can't we do that here? Excessive bidding on housing prices should be flat out illegal.
Another troll post. DeBlasio is doing nothing like what you describe. The penthouse of 430 park ave is carrying a cool $150mm price tag. Fairfield county is actually not even close to one of the least affordable counties in the country. There are a lot of high salary earners that can afford the prices Nep. Defaults and mortgage delinquencies are also very low. Who is excessively bidding? What the **** are you talking about.
The state government should step in and do something about the cost of housing in FFC. Something like a market adjustment and slash the home values all in half so that the middle class can afford housing in FFC once again. Something like mayor Bill DeBlasio of NYC is doing. Why can't we do that here? Excessive bidding on housing prices should be flat out illegal.
I agree with you. The OP is talking about living relatively modestly. Even their home can be relatively modest. I would say that $150,000 is about right. Jay.
I agree with this as well. While I don't currently own a home, I do make >115K a year and rent a very nice apartment. I feel I live pretty darn comfortably. When I own, it will most likely be with my boyfriend, which would put us at well over >170K (this year....my salary is only going to grow, so more like >200K in a year or so) and we have looked/budgeted....definitely would be comfortable and be able to do those things, the OP mentioned, in the towns mentioned.
I personally think a lot more than $150K for a family to live comfortably in Ridgefield. I'd put it somewhere between $225K - $250K, honestly.
We live in a much more affordable FFC town, 4 bedroom house, 2 acres, and there are four of us. Between mortgage, boys' activities, saving for college, saving for retirement, normal family vacations (i.e. not European or exotic type), etc., etc. our HHI of slightly more than $200K allows us to live very comfortably, but not lavishly. In Ridgefield you would definitely need more to live similarly. You could always not focus so much on savings/investing though, and get by with less. I can't tell from the OP though if this is a single person or a family, which would make a huge difference.
You've lived in CT too long when you think a yearly vacation to Europe and 'hired help' is relatively modest. Definitely need more than 150K for that lifestyle, but a true modest lifestyle is definitely doable at <100K - don't know what nep is talking about.
I agree, 1-2 vacations per year is not living modestly, IMO. There are plenty of people who are conservative with how they spend money who are homeowners in nice FFC towns on 100-150k/year. But if your lifestyle includes paying people to mow your lawn and having luxury car payments, you'll have a tough time living on less than $150/175k here.
It's just me and my husband for now. We are hesitant about kids particularly because of the money issue. It doesnt look like 100k takes you very far around here. We are in FFC because of our jobs, which, although I consider not bad, still don't give us enough to feel really relaxed financially. We have a house already, which is among the cheaper ones in our town, but it's not in mint condition, and despite us working really hard and picking up even extra hours, we don't seem to be able to save a lot to the point where we can just spend on other than the minimum requirements. For example, our vacations are in the US only, we do all the work around the yard/house ourselves, and can't afford to hire anyone to do house improvement projects... Either the place where we live is for the bourgeoisie and not for middle class, or we are not middle class, or we are doing something wrong. When my friends from other states hear how much I make, they imagine that we are filthy rich, when in fact, their houses in FL, AZ or WI are much better looking, despite them making 1/3 of what we make. Sometimes I am not even sure that it's worth living in CT.
I agree with this as well. While I don't currently own a home, I do make >115K a year and rent a very nice apartment. I feel I live pretty darn comfortably. When I own, it will most likely be with my boyfriend, which would put us at well over >170K (this year....my salary is only going to grow, so more like >200K in a year or so) and we have looked/budgeted....definitely would be comfortable and be able to do those things, the OP mentioned, in the towns mentioned.
Not to knock your career success or anything like that, but this is the reason why single middle class people like me making only a $75K salary at the age of 30 simply cannot afford even a modest home around here. And employers tend to only give a measly 3% pay raise each year. People with high incomes bid high on home purchases and it makes it impossible for people like me to make the transition from renting to home ownership. Therefore, people like me are forced to look for greener pastures, because life is too short to keep renting for years and years. But if people like me even bother to look for greener pastures, they are looked down upon in this forum for giving up or refusing to accept a long commute or something along those lines. It's truly sickening. There's a whole Vox article on this subject:
Not to knock your career success or anything like that, but this is the reason why single middle class people like me making only a $75K salary at the age of 30 simply cannot afford even a modest home around here.
If I'm not mistaken you don't have a house because you don't like what is available, don't want a roommate, and don't want to live where you can afford to.
Maybe your definition of modest is different than mine.
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