Maybe treating housing as an investment was a mistake

Post by asoneth » Mon, Mar 06, 2023, 7:29 PM UTC

carlosjobim wrote: post #299

lbotos wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is them being underpaid not a function of buyers not willing to pay more for the goods? I'm not under the impression that most restaurateurs are "raking it in" staff be damned. Sure, at the ultra high end, yes, but for most restaurants a chef pay is function of the market, right?

The restaurateurs might be raking it if they own the real estate. If you pay rent for your location you are probably scraping by, and whipping your staff to bring in the money for your landlord. A chef's pay is a function of the market, and that's why everybody is exiting the industry right now. Head chefs and restaurant owners are used to decades of low wages and think it's quite insulting that anybody would dare as…

Post by vjk800 » Mon, Mar 06, 2023, 7:31 PM UTC

t-writescode wrote: post #465

gknapp wrote: post #435

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know this is anecdotal, but whenever I hear these stories, I'm curious about the details. A quick search leads me to believe that head chef pay in Seattle typically ranges from about 90k-110k per year. Finding apartments off Broadway in Cap Hill, I can see that studios, though relatively expensive, range around $1.5-2k a month. An income tax calculator estimates about a 22% total tax bracket and a monthly adjusted…

* They're a head-chef, that seems like a high-ranking position. * That used to feed and house a whole family, easily. * They can now **only afford a studio**

Post by weard_beard » Mon, Mar 06, 2023, 7:34 PM UTC

loeg wrote: post #412

Muromec wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And here at the bottom of the see, there is no down payment (financing up to 100%), but young renters still can't get the a mortage of the same monthly amount as they pay rent, because of regulatory reasons -- mortage ceiling is defined as something like 5x gross yearly salary. Somehow it's fine to pay half the salary in rent, but not fine if it's financing the mortage.

> mortage ceiling is defined as something like 5x gross yearly salary. No -- mortgages are limited to 50% debt-to-income. The exact principal that relates to income depends on prevailing interest rates. You can see this fairly easily by using any mortgage calculator, e.g., Google's (in the "Purchase budget" tab). Keeping fixed: $100k household income, 0% down, California, Google's tax and fees estimates, 800+ credit…

Post by codegeek » Mon, Mar 06, 2023, 7:34 PM UTC

ominous_prime wrote: post #99

codegeek wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You will be surprised how much good plumbers make in the USA. You probably used a bad example. Source: I know my trusted plumber makes well over six figures a year and he cannot take all calls. I asked him once if he has problems generating leads and he smiled saying "I have too much business that I turn people away". He is a "master plumber" which these days is not easy to get certified for in many states. He told m…

You will be surprised how much good software engineers make in the USA -- still many multiples of most successful plumbers, and without the long-term physical consequences of that type of labor. Yes, there's still going to be better examples to highlight the disparity.

Post by itsoktocry » Mon, Mar 06, 2023, 7:36 PM UTC

bityard wrote: post #625

angarg12 wrote: post #551

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a new immigrant to the US, and housing is my single biggest worry together with my work visa. Our household income is north of 300k, but housing still seems unaffordable. It might sound like whining, but we only achieve this level of income recently, so our lifelong savings are in the low 6 figures. We got no assets or property abroad, and no family that can help us to get in the property ladder. Even old, basic…

I don't mean to be blunt, but if modest homes in your area are $1m, then you are in a VERY high-cost-of-living area and what you see here is not at all typical of the rest of the country. Where I live, a charming 1200sqft starter home in a blue collar neighborhood goes for $150-$200k.