Want to buy in Greater Boston? Making at least six figures helps
He certainly stirred the pot. Commenting on my post yesterday on how the Boston area remains one of the most expensive in the country to buy in, VincenteP argued a family needs to make $250,000 to buy a house and live a typical middle class lifestyle here.
In Boston a family needs to make $250K just to have a "middle class" experience that $70K would buy in most other parts of the country. Oh the culture, right. Except that companies have started to realize this as well and have moved their jobs elsewhere. No jobs, housing prices will come down.
Not surprisingly, that $250,000 number got some people pretty worked up.
Here's Lance:
Anybody who can't make $250K/yr work in Boston is either spoiled, financially clueless, or has an inveterate gambling/drug habit.
While I think $250,000 is too high, it gets to a key point. It takes more to live a middle class life - complete with a single-family home large enough for a kid or two - than in most other parts of the country. And to do so, you need to earn considerably more than you would than, say, in North Dakota or Upstate New York.
I'd venture that breaking into the six figures is definitely helpful if you want to buy within 495, where you'll need to consider spending at least $300,000 on a house, or pretty close to it.
Yes, you can always drive to qualify - if you move far enough out from the 495 beltway you are going to find prices that might not be all that far off from small town Ohio or Pennsylvania - but that's not what we are talking about here.
And of course, it's more complicated that bringing home $100,000 a year, either individually or combined with a significant other.
College loans are a huge burden to many young professionals. And the cost of day care - unless you have a willing and helpful grandparent nearby - can amount to a second mortgage payment. That's going to cut into what you can pay for a house.
So what's your minimum? How much do you think you need to earn to buy a single-family home in the Boston area?
