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Photos of items from families in different countries with different incomes

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Re: Photos of items from families in different countries with different incomes

#21
post #5
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I promise you that someone in SF making $50k/month can comfortably afford a very nice house.

I promise you not. Houses here cost $2M+ for something livable and $1M for something with mold and other safety issues. When half that $50K gets taxed, half of what's remaining has to be saved up for retirement in a place that deeply discriminates against age, you don't have much left to save up for buying a $2M house.

I am not even sure if you are being sarcastic.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/80-Prentiss-St-San-Franci...

check this out.

Re: Photos of items from families in different countries with different incomes

#22
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, I made my other comment before seeing this but I find it very difficult to believe you can't find something reasonable for far less.

Nah it's the reality here. I'd say minimum income to safely own housing here is $100K-150K/month. OR cash already saved for the home, in which case income doesn't matter. Yes, lots of households make that much, especially people at e.g. Nvidia with unvested appreciated RSUs. Yes, the US economy is that badly fucked. And the people on mortages were brainwashed into buying something they can't afford, and in for a fore…

In every thread about housing people on HN post wildly outlandish claims about expenses that belie their totally out of touch perspectives. If you make 100K a month (the lower bound of what you just wrote). Let's say you put 25K into retirement. You eat out every meal so 4K food/living budget. That leaves 60K (I'll give you 10K slush fund for savings money or as a general keeping-up-with-the-jones' fund).

60K per month will pay a 4.5 million dollar mortgage. 4.5 million will buy you some of the nicest houses in the bay that aren't mansions. See:

https://www.realtor.com/news/unique-homes/midcentury-modern-...

You are either insane, or out of touch in a way that makes you insane. Of course, you can get a much cheaper very nice condo and "safely" squirrel away phenomenal amounts of cash savings. Expecting to own a high end house in a dense metro are on its own, is a pretty insane expectation.

Re: Photos of items from families in different countries with different incomes

#23
To give context on my other comments, where I live in Scotland, median full time wage is around $55k.

You can live a perfectly comfortable life on that; you don't have to worry about bills or medical expenses, and you can afford to get a mortgage and buy a house (probably costing around $300k or so)

That's why I'm surprised about people from a richer nation saying they can't afford things.

Re: Photos of items from families in different countries with different incomes

#24
> Expecting to own a high end house in a dense metro are on its own, is a pretty insane expectation.

High salaries and an industry boom over the last decade created a sort of whiny arrogance amongst software developers, and particularly those of Silicon Valley. They desperately want to see themselves as the elite.

Of course the elite get their mansion where they want. They are entitled to it.

Re: Photos of items from families in different countries with different incomes

#25
post #3

It's interesting that $14000/month is "rich" on this website, and some people earning $100/month actually own houses. Meanwhile people making $50000/month in San Francisco can't afford a house because half of it is taxed away and housing is astronomically expensive.

If your net pay is $7000 per month you absolutely can afford to own a house, you're just being fussy about the house you want.

The housing market is highly dependent on the job market so no, it’s not “being fussy”, it’s “I need to live here so I can have a job and income”. Unless you’re suggesting that people should quit their jobs and go get that cheap house in the middle of nowhere?

Re: Photos of items from families in different countries with different incomes

#27
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah it's the reality here. I'd say minimum income to safely own housing here is $100K-150K/month. OR cash already saved for the home, in which case income doesn't matter. Yes, lots of households make that much, especially people at e.g. Nvidia with unvested appreciated RSUs. Yes, the US economy is that badly fucked. And the people on mortages were brainwashed into buying something they can't afford, and in for a fore…

In every thread about housing people on HN post wildly outlandish claims about expenses that belie their totally out of touch perspectives. If you make 100K a month (the lower bound of what you just wrote). Let's say you put 25K into retirement. You eat out every meal so 4K food/living budget. That leaves 60K (I'll give you 10K slush fund for savings money or as a general keeping-up-with-the-jones' fund). 60K per mon…

Don't forget taxes. In that bracket, in California, you're paying 50% of your income in taxes, and so $100K/month is actually $50K/month.

I think OP is overselling the point, but not by nearly as much as people think.

Re: Photos of items from families in different countries with different incomes

#28
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah it's the reality here. I'd say minimum income to safely own housing here is $100K-150K/month. OR cash already saved for the home, in which case income doesn't matter. Yes, lots of households make that much, especially people at e.g. Nvidia with unvested appreciated RSUs. Yes, the US economy is that badly fucked. And the people on mortages were brainwashed into buying something they can't afford, and in for a fore…

In every thread about housing people on HN post wildly outlandish claims about expenses that belie their totally out of touch perspectives. If you make 100K a month (the lower bound of what you just wrote). Let's say you put 25K into retirement. You eat out every meal so 4K food/living budget. That leaves 60K (I'll give you 10K slush fund for savings money or as a general keeping-up-with-the-jones' fund). 60K per mon…

Thanks for your comment. It makes a little sense that the average person might struggle with costs in the US, but it doesn't make sense that the highest earners do.

Re: Photos of items from families in different countries with different incomes

#29
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah it's the reality here. I'd say minimum income to safely own housing here is $100K-150K/month. OR cash already saved for the home, in which case income doesn't matter. Yes, lots of households make that much, especially people at e.g. Nvidia with unvested appreciated RSUs. Yes, the US economy is that badly fucked. And the people on mortages were brainwashed into buying something they can't afford, and in for a fore…

In every thread about housing people on HN post wildly outlandish claims about expenses that belie their totally out of touch perspectives. If you make 100K a month (the lower bound of what you just wrote). Let's say you put 25K into retirement. You eat out every meal so 4K food/living budget. That leaves 60K (I'll give you 10K slush fund for savings money or as a general keeping-up-with-the-jones' fund). 60K per mon…

> 60K per month will pay a 4.5 million dollar mortgage

A mortgage is NOT owning! So many people are poisoned by this propaganda promoted by American society and banks. They prey on the masses by infiltrating the public with this live-on-borrowed-money ideology.

Your 60K/month may end NEXT month and become 0/month if you are subject to the next round of Zuck's layoffs, or you end up stack ranked and PIPed at Amazon due to internal politics. One of these things happen and poof you're in the 0th percentile of income.

In the bay area, if you want a $4.5M home, you need to have $4.5M in cash or liquid assets. Period. Otherwise you're risking a foreclosure disaster if you accidentally say something wrong in a leadership update meeting, or if this AI heyday comes crashing down.

Borrowing money does not mean you own something, and is a very American way of doing things.

Re: Photos of items from families in different countries with different incomes

#30
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your net pay is $7000 per month you absolutely can afford to own a house, you're just being fussy about the house you want.

The housing market is highly dependent on the job market so no, it’s not “being fussy”, it’s “I need to live here so I can have a job and income”. Unless you’re suggesting that people should quit their jobs and go get that cheap house in the middle of nowhere?

What does the person who fixes your toilet do? Or prepares your meal? Or basically lives the Fight Club life?
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