I live near Miami a few blocks from the ocean. Those houses would probably be in the 1-2M range here. But it's just the location. An old small 2-3 bedroom house built in 50s or 60s and in disrepair would start at like 400K here.
I think there is also a law that states the house color should blend with its desert surroundings. Hence, the desert tan color so common here. No gaudy paints or material.
Our house is similar to this except we have a 3-car garage and driveway. For a family of 4, it's adequate enough.
OP: I think even in the cheapest areas of the country (of which I am very familiar with) that would still be considered 'upper middle' in my opinion. but unlikely lower upper in most places
I live near Miami a few blocks from the ocean. Those houses would probably be in the 1-2M range here. But it's just the location. An old small 2-3 bedroom house built in 50s or 60s and in disrepair would start at like 400K here.
1 million? Jesus Christ! I thought that Florida had cheaper properties than many American states.
@jun_aka_pekto: Beautiful house for a house in the middle of the desert. Paying a 220k installment how much a middle-class wage earner should earn per year? Adding a wife who does not work and 1 child?
OP: I think even in the cheapest areas of the country (of which I am very familiar with) that would still be considered 'upper middle' in my opinion. but unlikely lower upper in most places
if that answers the question
These two houses look a lot like the house pictured in the movie Home Alone. I think this house should be very expensive because as far as I remember it is located in Chicago.
@littleangrydog: I moved from FL after 25 years there. My brother still lives there with a roommate because it's so expensive.
Those houses would be in the $300,000 range here in TN, in the rural areas. Much more near town. I don't know what middle class is anymore. I make twice as much as most people in my town and still not considered middle class.
@littleangrydog: I moved from FL after 25 years there. My brother still lives there with a roommate because it's so expensive.
Those houses would be in the $300,000 range here in TN, in the rural areas. Much more near town. I don't know what middle class is anymore. I make twice as much as most people in my town and still not considered middle class.
I remember reading an article that said that the American middle class practically no longer existed. People have more than one job and family members also work by exponentially multiplying the annual household income.
@littleangrydog: Yeah, household income is a funny thing when you're single lol. Society seems to make fun of people that live with their parents when they are older, but I'm starting to see why they do. Gonna be like Mexico soon, which maybe isn't a bad thing...(families living together to make ends meet).
seriously though I traded in my house for something like this and a pocket full left over
There are some American states where trucks catch the girls' attention. If you have one of these you can do well in Texas if you understand what I mean.
That's a very hard question to answer because it's entirely dependent on location. Houses like those pictured can be anywhere from 100k to 1m easily depending on where they are located. It would be better to measure based on price and then figure out where you can live within that price range.
@littleangrydog said:
@jun_aka_pekto: Beautiful house for a house in the middle of the desert. Paying a 220k installment how much a middle-class wage earner should earn per year? Adding a wife who does not work and 1 child?
To get an ideal rate on your mortgage, you'd need to be able to get your hands on about 20% of the total price as a down payment (44k) to pay as a lump sum up front. Remaining loan would then be for 176k, so assuming a 30 year fixed mortgage with a 4% interest rate you'd be looking at $840 for the base mortgage payment. Add another couple hundred for property tax and insurance and you'll probably be in the 1k to 1.1k a month range. American consumer Credit Counseling says that you probably shouldn't spend more than 35% of your total income on housing, so your after tax take home should be about 3k or more per month. Keeping the math simple, you'd be able to swing that on a 55k to 60k per year salary (55k per year divided by twelve months is 4,583.33 per month gross, then take another third off of that for taxes and you come out right above 3k).
seriously though I traded in my house for something like this and a pocket full left over
There are some American states where trucks catch the girls' attention. If you have one of these you can do well in Texas if you understand what I mean.
true story, even inside large cities people will buy these trucks even though they never tow anything with it.
anyway..I am a old dude about to retire in less than a year is why I have it
@Byshop: Could these houses be cheaper if they were sold in a small town or in a rural state?
yup.
houses like you posted in some rural areas could go for as low as $150,000 I am guessing.
to give you an example, the place I am going to be retiring in the median house is $50,000, the city I came from the median house was $300,000+
now to be fair, the place I am living close to those houses are almost all falling over but I have seen one bedroom new home for $60,000 in great condition
@Byshop: Could these houses be cheaper if they were sold in a small town or in a rural state?
Absolutely, but the flip side of that is it may be harder to find a job that pays as much in those areas. It really just depends, but house value is really based more on location than anything else. The size of the lot and the quality of the house really just determine the value of that house relative to other houses in the same area. The balance is to try to find a cheap area to live that's not too far from somewhere that you'd be able to get a good job. Check out this article:
It doesn't mention exact square footage but it describes a number of locations in the US where you can get a four bedroom, two bathroom home for between 100k to 110k. If we apply the same math as before you could swing one of those on a job that doesn't pay nearly as much as 55k, although I'd also argue that there's a diminishing return on a lower salary because while the 35% you'd spend on your home has gone down, the price of the food and other living expenses you'd be spending the other 65% on stays the same so the lower you go the harder it is to scrape by even if you can afford your home.
@tryit: Make your dream a reality. Nothing better than living where you really feel good. Choosing a home is something extremely delicate and important. Good luck!
@tryit: Make your dream a reality. Nothing better than living where you really feel good. Choosing a home is something extremely delicate and important. Good luck!
just so you know, I am 50 years old, about to retire and have lived my entire working life in a large city but now about to retire in small town america living in a travel trailer that i have lived in now for almost 3 years. I do not plan to ever buy a house again. I am not suggesting against it but I would not default to say its the best option in all cases
just so you have context on who you are talking to :)
@jun_aka_pekto: Beautiful house for a house in the middle of the desert. Paying a 220k installment how much a middle-class wage earner should earn per year? Adding a wife who does not work and 1 child?
It is a used house, not brand new. The monthly payment for ours is $1200/mo. That includes the loan insurance and property taxes. If you're wasteful like us where we have 2 full-size refrigerators + a full-size freezer (24/7 for these 3) along with ceiling fans and central air conditioning, our electric bill can hit $300/mo during the summer. Our stove and water heater are gas. Surprisingly, water isn't that expensive. Tucson may look like a desert outside, but, there are huge subterranean aquifers deep below ground. We have plenty of water. I think we're full or close to full after last year's record monsoon season.
Add groceries, utilities, DirecTV, Netflix, landline (because the wife wants one), Internet, home insurance, home warranty..... I'd say monthly bills would be ~$2k/mo with plenty of room for improvement. We're quite wasteful. ;) You can figure out the rest of the math, including any car-related expenses.
I've seen retirees/senior citizens set their roots at our neighborhood. They don't work. But, they seem to be getting by.
I live near Miami a few blocks from the ocean. Those houses would probably be in the 1-2M range here. But it's just the location. An old small 2-3 bedroom house built in 50s or 60s and in disrepair would start at like 400K here.
1 million? Jesus Christ! I thought that Florida had cheaper properties than many American states.
Not South Florida. South Florida has some of the highest real estate prices in the country, and they go up the closer you get to the ocean.
Places like Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Ft Lauderdale, Coral Gables, Lighthouse Point, Key Biscayne, etc are really, really expensive.
@jun_aka_pekto : If the monthly expenses are 2k I believe that 50k per year is enough to supply all the bills and the rest can be used to buy a mid-size car adding gas and maintenance. Also spare to spend time with some hobbie(consoles and games for exemple), and maybe travel once a year. If there is any other member of the family who works and earns at least one minimum wage the expenses become even lighter and so on. Lastly, I believe that the income compatible with the lifestyle that this house suggests is something around 50 ~70k per year.
@jun_aka_pekto : If the monthly expenses are 2k I believe that 50k per year is enough to supply all the bills and the rest can be used to buy a medium-sized car for gas and maintenance. Also spare to spend time with some hobbie and maybe travel once a year. If there is any other member of the family who works and earns at least one minimum wage the expenses become even lighter and so on. Lastly, I believe that the income compatible with the lifestyle that this house suggests is something around 70k per year.
50k is close to the amount Byshop mentioned. More is always better though for that safety margin in case something bad happens.
For travel, California is next door. That's where we vacation if we're not visiting relatives up north in Nevada.
@jun_aka_pekto : If the monthly expenses are 2k I believe that 50k per year is enough to supply all the bills and the rest can be used to buy a medium-sized car for gas and maintenance. Also spare to spend time with some hobbie and maybe travel once a year. If there is any other member of the family who works and earns at least one minimum wage the expenses become even lighter and so on. Lastly, I believe that the income compatible with the lifestyle that this house suggests is something around 70k per year.
50k is close to the amount Byshop mentioned. More is always better though for that safety margin in case something bad happens.
For travel, California is next door. That's where we vacation if we're not visiting relatives up north in Nevada.
California is a dream. But it's an expensive dream. Is it possible to dive on the Californian beaches or are they cold?
California is a dream. But it's an expensive dream. Is it possible to dive on the Californian beaches or are they cold?
If you're just vacationing, it's not that expensive. But, yes. The water is fricking cold, even near San Diego. You need a wet suit if you want to frolic in the water. Not me. I stayed ashore (at Oceanside last summer) and admired the view:
California is a dream. But it's an expensive dream. Is it possible to dive on the Californian beaches or are they cold?
If you're just vacationing, it's not that expensive. But, yes. The water is fricking cold, even near San Diego. You need a wet suit if you want to frolic in the water. Not me. I stayed ashore (at Oceanside last summer) and admired the view:
Dude, San Diego is a magnificent city. I'm amazed at the photos and videos of this city. I want to visit this place someday. Maybe live there.
In my area of FL those houses are not middle class. Upper middle, depending on the neighborhood. Otherwise, definitely uppderclass as those are $500k+ houses in my region.
In my area of FL those houses are not middle class. Upper middle, depending on the neighborhood. Otherwise, definitely uppderclass as those are $500k+ houses in my region.
It all depends on the interior design you want. There are several to pick from. Our house isn't open-room either. It's only the exterior layout which looks identical. Plus, we have Spanish-style ceramic roof tiles, not shingles.
It all depends on the interior design you want. There are several to pick from. Our house isn't open-room either. It's only the exterior layout which looks identical. Plus, we have Spanish-style ceramic roof tiles, not shingles.
Now I do like those Spanish roof tiles. I also like the look of stucco but I hear it's not always that great at keeping out water.
Now I do like those Spanish roof tiles. I also like the look of stucco but I hear it's not always that great at keeping out water.
If you look closely at the outside wall textures, the stucco panels here aren't bare that are just painted over. There's a thick coarse sand coating mixed in with the paint that helps a lot in repelling heavy downpours. After that coating, a final coat of paint is sprayed over. We get drenched here every summer. Home builders here are pretty good about waterproofing houses.
The roof style in my neighborhood. Taken while I was photographing thunderstorm cumulonimbus clouds from my driveway.
This is common here every monsoon season. In this case, 3/4" of rain fell in 22 minutes. It's a rude awakening for those new here. Ha Ha! ;)
Depends on what state you live in, and even where in that state you live.
In California, that house might cost you upwards of 1.5 million within 40 minutes of San Francisco, Santa Barbara, LA, San Diego, etc. However if you drive out to Modesto, Bakersfield, and some other less desirable places you might find it going for 800k or something.
@littleangrydog said:
@jun_aka_pekto:
@jun_aka_pekto said:
@littleangrydog said:
@jun_aka_pekto : ...
...
California is a dream. But it's an expensive dream. Is it possible to dive on the Californian beaches or are they cold?
Freezing. Firemen will actually let you drown if you are too far out from the beach because they'd get hypothermia if they tried to rescue you.
But you know if you like to dive or surf, get a wetsuit.
It warms up, though, depending on season but you don't see many people swimming in Santa Cruz a lot of the time, for example, and that is typical California beach town.
Freezing. Firemen will actually let you drown if you are too far out from the beach because they'd get hypothermia if they tried to rescue you.
But you know if you like to dive or surf, get a wetsuit.
It warms up, though, depending on season but you don't see many people swimming in Santa Cruz a lot of the time, for example, and that is typical California beach town.
Beside being too cold, the currents can also be treacherous if you swim out too far. Riptides are a constant danger there.
Does the marine layer stratus and fog reach as far south as San Diego? I know it reaches as far south as Oceanside because we had it overhead when we left. It was good the preceding few days were sunny. ;)
It's the cold currents that cause the marine layer clouds and fog to form.
As for beer, I think whoever makes Corona has the market here cornered.
In my area of FL those houses are not middle class. Upper middle, depending on the neighborhood. Otherwise, definitely uppderclass as those are $500k+ houses in my region.
yup...same for texas I would think.
Texas is interesting. It's such a massive state! Depending on where you live the same house can swing from $150k - $650k easily.
In my area of FL those houses are not middle class. Upper middle, depending on the neighborhood. Otherwise, definitely uppderclass as those are $500k+ houses in my region.
yup...same for texas I would think.
Texas is interesting. It's such a massive state! Depending on where you live the same house can swing from $150k - $650k easily.
yup.
in fact I think it has a few towns that are the cheapest in the country list while at the same time somethig like Austin, Houston and Dallas which are expensive within the city limits
California is a dream. But it's an expensive dream. Is it possible to dive on the Californian beaches or are they cold?
If you're just vacationing, it's not that expensive. But, yes. The water is fricking cold, even near San Diego. You need a wet suit if you want to frolic in the water. Not me. I stayed ashore (at Oceanside last summer) and admired the view:
Log in to comment