I left Boston and now wonder if I can ever get back? (Burlington: rent, school districts)

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by Hudlander

You just graduated from college, how can you afford a house unless you have inherited Yankee money?

He said his house cost less than $230k, so why not? Most people I know who purchased a house within a couple years of college graduation have a great job, no student loans and were able to put down 5% on their home. He could probably afford that on a $60-70k salary considering he has no kids.

[scoobydew]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

They're all limousine liberals.

Who know absolutely nothing about politics or policy. They can tell you the best place to get a latte in Paris, but have no idea about what's happening in the neighborhoods of their own country.

[pennyone]

Distance brings nostalgia...familiarity breeds contempt.

[bigfatdude]

Originally Posted by scoobydew

Who know absolutely nothing about politics or policy. They can tell you the best place to get a latte in Paris, but have no idea about what's happening in the neighborhoods of their own country.

They're the first ones in line to advocate for low-income housing for the poor and whatnot, as long as it's not in their town. Limousine liberal hearts bleed abundantly from a safe distance, but they gradually stop bleeding and turn to stone when whatever they happen to advocate for at the moment gets closer to their own neighborhood (section 8 housing, housing project, halfway house, pot dispensary, methadone clinic, wind turbines, etc.) They also have a big stack of R(acist) and P(oor demonizer) labels for all the working stiffs in Dot and Rozzy who dare to complain about crime coming from all those section 8 houses and projects dotting their neighborhoods.

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by Parsec

He said his house cost less than $230k, so why not? Most people I know who purchased a house within a couple years of college graduation have a great job, no student loans and were able to put down 5% on their home. He could probably afford that on a $60-70k salary considering he has no kids.

You can't afford a house on 60-70K in Boston. Not a chance.

[scoobydew]

Originally Posted by bigfatdude

They're the first ones in line to advocate for low-income housing for the poor and whatnot, as long as it's not in their town. Limousine liberal hearts bleed abundantly from a safe distance, but they gradually stop bleeding and turn to stone when whatever they happen to advocate for at the moment gets closer to their own neighborhood (section 8 housing, housing project, halfway house, pot dispensary, methadone clinic, wind turbines, etc.) They also have a big stack of R(acist) and P(oor demonizer) labels for all the working stiffs in Dot and Rozzy who dare to complain about crime coming from all those section 8 houses and projects dotting their neighborhoods.

I agree. Many studies have shown that the most liberal states are the lest generous when it comes to putting their money where their mouths are. Liberal doesn't mean what it used to mean. Now it's just a shield that people use to hide their hypocrisies and, in many cases, selfishness. And I say that as someone who identified myself for many years as a liberal.

[MrKevin]

Originally Posted by MassVt

You can't afford a house on 60-70K in Boston. Not a chance.

Nonsense. I'm living proof, graduated college 3 years ago, bought a multi unit house couple months ago. Less than a mile from a T station, 3 car driveway. Dorchester is affordable folks and it ain't what it used to be or what you hear

[bigfatdude]

Originally Posted by MrKevin

Nonsense. I'm living proof, graduated college 3 years ago, bought a multi unit house couple months ago. Less than a mile from a T station, 3 car driveway. Dorchester is affordable folks and it ain't what it used to be or what you hear

How in the world did you swing that? A triple-decker in "good" parts of Dot would be at least $700K, assuming it's not falling apart, which would require way more that $70K/year.

[Woof]

Quote:
Originally Posted by bigfatdude View Post
They're the first ones in line to advocate for low-income housing for the poor and whatnot, as long as it's not in their town. Limousine liberal hearts bleed abundantly from a safe distance, but they gradually stop bleeding and turn to stone when whatever they happen to advocate for at the moment gets closer to their own neighborhood (section 8 housing, housing project, halfway house, pot dispensary, methadone clinic, wind turbines, etc.) They also have a big stack of R(acist) and P(oor demonizer) labels for all the working stiffs in Dot and Rozzy who dare to complain about crime coming from all those section 8 houses and projects dotting their neighborhoods.

I agree. Many studies have shown that the most liberal states are the lest generous when it comes to putting their money where their mouths are. Liberal doesn't mean what it used to mean. Now it's just a shield that people use to hide their hypocrisies and, in many cases, selfishness. And I say that as someone who identified myself for many years as a liberal.

Bad liberals! Bad Obama!

And yet for all that, most liberal cities like Boston have powerful, thriving economies ...... the demand for housing there is what drives up prices ...... conservative cities have lower housing prices because fewer people want to live in them.

[MrKevin]

Originally Posted by bigfatdude

How in the world did you swing that? A triple-decker in "good" parts of Dot would be at least $700K, assuming it's not falling apart, which would require way more that $70K/year.

Triple-decker was out of my price range, so I settled with 2-unit. I had to put in ~15k of upgrades later by choice so it wasn't in that bad of a shape. The 2-unit has many advantages, including being more landlord law friendly. Most importantly though, when getting a mortgage, rental income was included for DTI calculation. And the fact that I have a solid emergency funds, including standard 20% which I have been saving for couple years, was I guess no-brainer for the banks.