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03-14-2009, 11:14 AM
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Is 110K enough for a family of 3 in DC?
Im considering a position with the NIH in the DC metro. We currently live in St Louis, and I make 67K. For us, 110K sounds like a lot of money. We want to increase our standard of living by relocating to the DC area. According to salary.com DC is 50% more expensive thank STL. Can a family of 3 find a newer home in a suburban area and live comfortably off of 110K?
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03-14-2009, 11:59 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jul 2008
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Check out this thread in the Northern Virginia forum. It might help you gauge what folks in NoVA are able to live off.
I'd say you could do it, but only if you rent. You might be hard pressed to find an affordable home big enough for a family of 5 on that salary, unless you're willing to commute long distances. |
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03-14-2009, 02:33 PM
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Why would you need a home big enough for 5? The poster said a family of 3.
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03-14-2009, 02:37 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by no_cre0
Why would you need a home big enough for 5? The poster said a family of 3.
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Aaah...you're right! I read it quickly, and thought it said 3 kids.  |
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03-14-2009, 08:41 PM
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Your question is too vague -- how much house you can buy at a given salary will depend upon, among other things, the size of your down payment.
However, in general, the starting point for a standard OLDER (30+ years) suburban home in a good school district inside the Beltway (giving you a reasonable commute) will be at least $500K. In some parts of desirable neighborhoods in Bethesda or Chevy Chase, it's more like $700K and up. If you want newer, you'll have to spend more or accept a considerably longer commute. Or consider a townhouse.
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03-15-2009, 06:52 AM
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Location: Oakton VA
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Yeah of course you can live off $110K in the DC area. I mean if you have to keep up with the Jones then no. You'd be bring home over $5K a month I don't bring home half of that and I'm still here to tell the tale. I think too much focus has been on homeownership. Not everyone needs to own a home and if you don't own home it doesn't make you less of a person. But I digress. So yes $110K should be fine. It will all depend on your particular lifestyle. Is owning a single family house a top priority? Do you have a lot of debt? Do you have to drive a fancy car? Do you have to live close to the city or can live further out? All that has to be taken into consideration.
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03-15-2009, 02:58 PM
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Wow... you're like my twin. My family is also living in St. Louis, our income is around the same, and we are complating a return to the DC area as well. We are a family of three... daughter is school-aged. I would love to live in the city (preferably around Dupont Circle/Kalorama), but while we wouldn't mind paying for our daughter to attend private COLLEGE, we are not going to pay 30K/yr for elementary school. I find that ridiculous, and we're not going to be starving poor to pay for kindergarten. So far, we are considering NOVA (which has really good elementary schools) and Bethesda. However, we would never ever be able to purchase any kind of a house in Bethesda, so I'm thinking we're going to have to live in Arlington or Centreville or something. I went on realtor.com and the houses in Centreville are way closer to our budget.
We are getting really nervous, though... The current economic crisis is not encouraging and I'm scared to leave the stability of our current lives only to get laid off in DC.
P.S. We currently live in West County... Blandest neighborhood ever.
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03-15-2009, 06:53 PM
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You didn't say what your current standard of living is, but I would guess that your standard of living would be about the same. It really depends on what you mean by "increasing your standard of living". 110,000 is not a lot of money in this area, but you are not poor folk either. In the areas surrounding the NIH, prices start around 550,000 for an older home, less than 2000 sq ft, in a good school cluster.
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03-17-2009, 09:33 PM
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Commuting would not be a problem. I guess that we have a lot of things to consider before we make another move.
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03-17-2009, 09:36 PM
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Thanks for the info on the housing prices in the area (I was afraid that the prices were that high). Im doing more research before I decide to move my family again.
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