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I don't know how "starting" salaries are relevant.
But a look at median Long island teacher salaries is over $100K. Same for many school districts in Westchester.
But is that salary based on a 20 year tenure? I believe most people would want to invest in a home well before that 20 year mark. So it isn't fair to say a "teacher with a $100K salary can easily afford a $400K home." Yes they can, after they have been grinding in that career for at least 20-30 years.
I'm a single male and earn about $100k a year. I have minimum expenses and decent savings. Still, while I would have been able to put down a traditional down payment on a property by year's end (I ultimately made an offer for approximately $450k in Honolulu for a high rise condo unit, which was accepted), I used my VA entitlement for VA financing, which doesn't require a down payment. My monthly mortgage payments, HOA fees, insurance, taxes, etc., should cost about $3,000, which means I'll be able to save between $1,200-$1,500 (depending on how much I splurge on things), a number that will go up by about another $1,000 next year after my raise. Without the VA no-money-down deal, I probably wouldn't be purchasing right now. Of course, there are other similar programs to VA (even if they are not no-money-down, some require only a small down payment).
SOME Union gigs can get you to 100K- but you're generally talking positions that require a lot of seniority within the union, and have rules about who can and can't bid for them. You're going to be putting a lot of time in with the union before you qualify.
You can make 100K in Law enforcement in a major metro area or state police- with a ton of overtime.
MDs and Lawyers can easily make into the 6 figures when they're established, but those professionals are notorious for being loaded with medical school/law school debt that cripples their earning abilities for years. MDs in particular have to shell out for malpractice insurance which can be VERY expensive.
Finance is well known for being extremely well paid- if you can handle 100 hour workweeks and insane competition just to get in the door.
Teachers? you're looking at senior teachers with master's degrees at the end of their careers before they get anywhere near 100K. And many of the districts that pay that kind of money (mine is one- I'm in the Philly area) recruit nationally for the best teachers they can find for those spots. They are [i]incredibly[i] competitive and teaching has an absurdly high drop out rate in the first few years.
there are many ways to making 100K+, and if one puts the work in it's attainable...eventually. But its not easy, and a couple where BOTH are making 100K+ and not pushing retirement age is rare.
Is this really true? I agree that its not easy but its also not a rarity to be making that and not pushing retirement. There seems to be a lot of people making this that I know, most with a masters degree or their own business and many in theirs 30s so no where near retirement. Probably more common in high COL places but i can tell you that salaries in many tech companies in the bay area is $100K+, only problem is that to rent a 1Br is ~$3K+
I presumed that those television shows were all cash. Since it's always a matter of having $400k to spend and that meaning to either put that all in to the purchase or to say buy a place for $320k and put $80k into renovations. A typical mortgage doesn't let you just do that and they certainly don't appear to be 203k rehab loan material.
Oh and even in my old suburb of Dayton, OH there were teachers making over $100k. And you can buy a nice house for that much too.
Just a general question but I often watch shows like House Hunters, My First Home and Property Virgins and the buyers had budgets of $400k and up.
I always wonder how do people (in general) afford such high price homes and where do they get the down payment money?
Is it equity from a previous home? Savings? Inheritances? Are these people just highly paid? Cashing out 401K?
How do people do it? Can anyone share some experiences?
I have also wondered how people do it, especially when the couples shown are young.
One time there was a couple, couldn't have been older than 30, with 5 kids. They lived in a modest house in Texas but were shopping for an exotic vacation home. Supposedly they ended up buying this estate on some remote tropical island country and I was baffled at how they could afford the airfare for their family to go there, let alone to pay for the home itself. I do have a friend whose cousin was on one of those shows and she told me most of that is fake. Her cousin had already bought a new house when a producer approached her to be on the show. Two of the three "choices" were homes that were staged as possibilities just for the program. Oh, and her cousin got most of her down payment from her parents. So you never know the true financial situations of buyers.
I can't believe this thread has so many pages. They either have enough cash or they either make enough and/or are financially responsible with savings to take out a mortgage.
But is that salary based on a 20 year tenure? I believe most people would want to invest in a home well before that 20 year mark. So it isn't fair to say a "teacher with a $100K salary can easily afford a $400K home." Yes they can, after they have been grinding in that career for at least 20-30 years.
On Long Island, you don't need 20 years to get to 100K. maybe 5-7 for a teacher or cop and thats without the extra pay of clubs etc. Keep in mind they also get a pension too and great health insurance.
Its doable if you aren't a teacher or a cop in the area, you just have 2 incomes, cut back on "fun" things.
the 400K purchase price isn't fun. whats worse are the $10K of taxes annually that go with it.
I can't believe this thread has so many pages. They either have enough cash or they either make enough and/or are financially responsible with savings to take out a mortgage.
Yep. No great mystery here. We bought our house with a combination of income and savings, just like most everybody else.
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