Wow . . .
That wouldn’t even get you a rundown outhouse in the most gang-infested neighborhood in my neck of the woods . . . it’s all relative, I suppose
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Wherever that is, I’m glad I don’t live there! I hear stories about places where a studio apartment costs $4k a month in rent, and I am very thankful I don’t live there. I can’t even comprehend such outlandish costs of living!
At those kind of prices, even a $100k gross income is barely enough to eat and live indoors! People making less than $60k are forced to share a small apartment with several people, or live out of their car. That’s not what I’d consider “living”.
I make about $41k a year, and can afford to support my family and even own a home rather than rent. Of course, we don’t waste money on such extravagances as lavish vacations, frequent restaurant visits, and we drive old cars with no loan/lease payments.
I know a guy who falls into that category . . . and the people he lived with were literally criminals who threatened him with bodily harm 
That kind of income would NEVER in a million years enable a person to save enough for a down payment in my neck of the woods 
In fact, that kind of income would probably not be enough to afford rent for a one bedroom apartment in a half way safe and decent neighborhood in my general area . . . there’s tons of people working 2 or more full time jobs just to make ends meet, pay the rent, utilities and so forth. Can’t imagine how they actually support a family, but somehow they do. Not exactly a high standard of living, but they’re surviving, but not much more
Here, when you’re down, you’re really down, and sometimes stay that way, despite your best efforts. Sometimes the only option is to move out of the area, sometimes out of the state completely. There have been plenty of articles in my local paper about people who have done just that, and now they’re homeowners in neighboring states, something they could never be here
I
When the Power ball lottery was up in the tens of millions of dollars, my students and I were talking about what each of us would do with the money if we were to win the lottery. When I was asked what I would do, I replied “Two things. First, I would buy a college and run it the way a college is supposed to be run. Then, if there is any money left, I would trade my 1978 Oldsmobile (which was 25 years old at the time) for a 1983 or 1984 automobile”.
That’s what I like about where I live. I (over)paid for the house I live in back in 2008 for $42k. If I were able to uproot my house, as is, truck it out to CA, I could probably get atleat 10X what I paid for it out there
I’m 50 years old. There has never been a time in my adult life that $42K was enough to buy any kind of house anywhere I have lived. I’m sure many others agree with me.
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42000.00 for a house ? In our area those are tear downs so an infill home can be built .
And that was in 2010 when we had ours built .
My first house cost $42,500 for a 3 bedroom, one bath home on 1/4 acre in 1985 and my income was about $33k a year as an engineer.
It was in a midwestern city. The house is currently worth $125K or so Zillow says. $41K income would buy that house any day.
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Wow. First house we bought when I was 25 (1995) was $104K. Sold it at $129 to buy one at $169 in 1999. Sold that one at $272 to buy at $399 in 2008. Sold that one at $430 in 2016 to relocate, bought one in our new town for $279. The house we are now in has gained $30K or so. Zillow estimates that the house we sold for $430 in 2016 is now worth $560. I get depressed when I see that. Mind you these are typical family homes in the suburbs.
In a day and age where the average home price in King County (Seattle) WA is over $600,000, I’m still surprised that people quibble over the pocket change to use premium instead of regular.
Home prices have gone up far faster on the coasts than in between for the most part. I used to work with a guy that lives in Indiana. He’s originally from the same neighborhood I live in now. He thought about moving back until he visited his mother and saw what he could get for the same price his current house would sell for. If he sold his 2 acres with a large house and a horse barn, he could trade that for a house on a quarter acre with about 1500 square feet. He decided to stay put.
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Small mid western town with a population of only 30k.
It’s not a big house by any means, but for a single guy like me, it’s just fine. There’s bigger houses that are basically foreclosed/repo/fixer-upper going for $10~15k in some parts of town. We’re not without our problems, but what place isn’t?
The cheap house has allowed me to be able to afford my cars
Sorry. I missed seeing this bumped back up. Could you please bring it back to cars? Thanks.
Depends on what part of the country you live. I’m mid 60’s and the house my parents bought in central NY when I was about 10 cost them $10k.$42k in the early 70’s in CNY was considered upper middle class home.
In case you’re wondering, no, you’re not invisible. I saw your request.
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