Guys we are in 2019. Freakin' big mac combo with small fries and drink is $9.50~ in suburbs today.
'Six figures' and $100K salary was a big deal back in mid 90's. That's equivalent to 160K today due to inflation alone and possibly more since CoL has gone up terribly.
$100K is not a big deal and super common in non-coastal areal too (Atlanta, DWF, midwest). I just interviewed two people in their mid/late 20s in IT. One is a PM with minimal technical background, another is a full stack dev. Both have just 4-5 years of experience after undergrad.
We are offering them $95K/yr~ for both.
This is not a brag, period. You make $100-150K and just become a 'standard' home owner with 3-4 bed. Similar to what boomers have today.
'Six fig' prestige has been dead. My wife and i still use coupon codes.
This is tecg forum, you guys know this.
It's all location-dependent. I live in a MCOL area, and I bought a $275k house (mortgaged $230k) with a single salary of $70k. Did just fine and always managed to put money into my 401k and savings account.
In my area, which is just under an hour west of Boston, you have your pick of homes. In my town/area, you'd be hard-pressed to find new construction single-family homes for under $350k, though some may pop up. You're usually looking at good homes in nice neighborhoods that need cosmetic updates. For comparison, I bought my house brand new in 2012 for $275k. For $275k today, I could buy a two, maybe three bed 1 bath home built in the 50s or 60s (or earlier) with maybe a one car garage, that needs a lot of cosmetic updating. My home's value has risen to ~$375k in the past seven years - one neighbor sold their house for over $400k earlier this year, and I think they paid somewhere in the low-$300s for it.
Some towns (maybe 30 minutes up north from where I am) have cheaper housing. You can definitely get a 3 bed 1.5-2 bath home with a two car garage, built in 1970-1980, for around $300-325k, in good condition in a nice neighborhood. Granted, you won't be living in the big city or even a small city, but it's there.
If you go ~30-40 minutes west of where I am, or southwest, you head into the very rural parts of the state. There you can get a brand new 3/2 home for $300-350k with a two car garage on 1+ acre of land. I've seriously considered moving there, but it would increase my commute from ~15-20 minutes to ~40 minutes. When I retire, it's certainly an option, as I like the more rural areas compared to the city. That, or buy land ~15 minutes west from where I am and build a house.
On the flip-side, if you go even 20 minutes east of where I am (heading closer to Boston), home prices skyrocket. You're probably looking at $300k for a rundown piece of crap that would need to be completely torn down or gutted. A livable home with two bedrooms that needs updating would probably be $400k.
Oh yeah, and I'd rather spend $4 on a pound of 80/20, a couple of potatoes, and corn on the cob, and grill up something far better than what I can get at McDonald's for less than half the cost.
