How do people afford realestate in MA? (Boston: sale, rent)

[CaseyB]

Originally Posted by matrix5k

500k wedding gift holy crap!! We were probably net negative 15-20k after our wedding gifts LoL. That certainly answers OP's question.

I don't know anyone who received $500K for a wedding gift, but I know of 2 instances where parents purchased a house for the newlyweds.

[CaseyB]

And also, my best friend and her husband bought a house for my friend's mother. When she became too elderly to live there, safely, they gave the house to my friend's newlywed daughter and her husband as a starter home.

[yellowstatus]

Originally Posted by bugelrex

If i had to guess
15% are gifted $ from parents (boomers who benefited from last 30 years)
30% using previous equity from buying early
30% dual income tech,doctor
25% from savings by seriously living below means (no eating out, old cars, no expensive vacations) for 10 years

Anecdotal, but to me the Cambridge owner population feels like
40% long term 15+ year owners, more modest income but it varies
40% established professionals, 35+ age, high income
20% young professionals less than 35, either high income or assistsnce.

The proportion varies widely by neighborhood so not sure this is useful.

I wrote my post very quickly, and re-reading it comes off more humble bragging than I intended. My point is that many buyers in the HCOL areas have advantages that may not be apparent. Earning enough for a down payment takes time, and kudos to those who made it without meaningful support.

[mdovell]

Owning or renting?

I know a number of jobs that provide free housing. Granted you lived on site.

[scorpio516]

Originally Posted by simplexsimon

High COL areas tend to have better paying jobs. Get one of those. Ignore COL calculators...a 15% increase in COL is not the same as needing to earn 15% more.

Or jobs in general. Of the 100,000 people in the country that do what I do, 12,000 do it in NYC, 6100 in LA, 5300 in Chicago, 4200 in SF, 3600 in DC, 3600 is Seattle, 3400 in Boston.
There are less than 350 people that do my job in the entire state of Mississippi, or New Mexico, or Nevada, or Wyoming, or either of the Dakotas

[chicagoliz]

I have also seen a few people who have gotten very lucky -- one of our neighbors moved into the wife's grandmother's house. They lived there for a while, paying rent, after the grandmother had had a stroke or something and had to move into assisted living. (The grandfather had died earlier.) So, the grandmother had owned this house for decades and the woman's father had grown up in the house. The woman and her family weren't sure if they were going to buy the house or not but they eventually did so. I have no idea how much money they paid for the house, but I would assume that it was probably below market value. The woman, had, after all kept the house up after the grandmother had to leave. And there wasn't any kind of outstanding mortgage on the house.

I've heard of a few other people who live in the houses they grew up in or were owned by a grandparent or parent. And whenever we watch This Old House or some of the other home renovation shows, we're astounded by the number of people who inherited a house outright. So it wasn't really such a big deal to spend $500K on renovations.

[matrix5k]

Originally Posted by chicagoliz

And whenever we watch This Old House or some of the other home renovation shows, we're astounded by the number of people who inherited a house outright. So it wasn't really such a big deal to spend $500K on renovations.

All of those reality shows are fake and staged. Most likely scenario is that the house isn't even theirs.

https://www.insider.com/hgtv-show-fi...gations-2019-6

[Bridge781]

My best friends dads co worker died and left him a house in west Roxbury. He had no family. Crazy things happen. Why on earth this man left this cheating husband who drinks too much and scarred my best friends dad a house I have no idea why but he did. I guess one day my friend will get it which is nice for her.

I know soooo many people who have trust funds or had things handed to them it’s insane. There is a lot of money in Boston. My former colleagues dad was CEO of blockbuster them went on to be CEO of T.G.I. Friday’s.

Some people have so much money they don’t know what to do with to. Makes me feel sad to see people like George Floyd feeling the need to use a $20 counterfeit bill and then getting killed over it but I digress. Racial and economic disparity will never go away. White people have made it too difficult for others to get ahead. I have never felt white guilt until the past few days. It is just too difficult for poor people to get ahead in this country. They can’t afford college, they can’t get hired without a degree. It’s just sad and this isn’t going to end. It

[hindsight2020]

This site is so tone deaf lol. Why is this place such an echo chamber for the 10%ers? I started actively perusing this site circa 2007 but have never understood it. Is there a particular historical reason (origin story, owners of the site) that CD bends this way? Guess it's back to reddit for the proletariat sub-150K HH neo-feudal class relocation advice...

[FCMA]

$500k! The total amount I made working full-time during the first 12ish years of professional life while juggling $40k in student debt! Little people like me and the many, many even littler find it fascinating that some people just show up to work and can take it for granted that today’s cost of living is covered and 10% of $800k can just be saved in a few years of less avocado toast, and still contribute enough to nonprofits that like me can have a cute idealistic job and the whole scheme offsets their capital gains. Please, everyone, tell your children not to chase their dreams in metro Boston anymore unless they are gilded dreams or there’s an incredible domestic safety net or they’ll end up in Leminstah or something because even Billerica is overpriced now.