MA Real Estate is CRAZY

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

But that's what makes the lines fuzzy, because I know people who will leave a meager lifestyle and then go vacation in Europe for a month staying at fancy hotels and really enjoying themselves.

So even lifestyle isn't the correct way to draw the lines.

Yup, there is no one good way. Income vs assets is another big issue. Probably an index that compiles multiple indicators would be best, but finding the data sets would be very problematic.

[GeoffD]

I wrote

The point I keep trying to make is that this describes metro Boston, not Massachusetts.

This guy who keeps trolling me wrote:

Originally Posted by massnative71

Falmouth is NOT commutable to Boston jobs. Locally, Falmouth has a median HHI of $39K. A $400K home is NOT affordable for local workers, nor is a $300k home even.


Springfield area MIGHT qualify as "affordable", for those there lucky enough to have a decent job.

When did I ever say Falmouth or Longmeadow were commutable to Boston jobs? The thread title on a Massachusetts message board is "MA Real Estate is CRAZY". That is incorrect. Metro Boston real estate prices are crazy and the most desirable properties wealthy people want to buy as vacation homes elsewhere in the state are crazy. I pointed at East Falmouth where the average guy working a trade, school teacher, nurse, etc can afford a house and send their children to pretty good schools.



our numbers are totally wrong for Falmouth which is hardly surprising. 2017 US Census data says $68,444 for median household income.
Citation: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fa...s,ma/PST045217


You really need to work on that reading comprehension.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by timberline742

But for instance, the boat and slip, well that's more likely to be a top 5-10% I would wager (probably less than the top 5%), which to me, is a pretty small percentage. If you consider the bottom 5-10% to be the analogous lower class), that means 80-90% of people are going to be middle class.

Kind of depends on what boat and what slip. My next door neighbor's son works for Eversource driving a company logo pickup truck. That's not a 6 figure job. He's got a boat in a slip. It's an older 25 foot powerboat and the slip is in New Bedford harbor where the going rate is $90/foot.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

I wrote








This guy who keeps trolling me wrote:







When did I ever say Falmouth or Longmeadow were commutable to Boston jobs? The thread title on a Massachusetts message board is "MA Real Estate is CRAZY". That is incorrect. Metro Boston real estate prices are crazy and the most desirable properties wealthy people want to buy as vacation homes elsewhere in the state are crazy. I pointed at East Falmouth where the average guy working a trade, school teacher, nurse, etc can afford a house and send their children to pretty good schools.



our numbers are totally wrong for Falmouth which is hardly surprising. 2017 US Census data says $68,444 for median household income.
Citation: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fa...s,ma/PST045217


You really need to work on that reading comprehension.

As usual you have no idea what you are talking about. The Cape job market is notoriously low wage dominated, and the real estate market is notoriously out of line with the average income there. When measuring "affordability", you need to take into account income as well. Houses could cost half of what they do in Boston, yet that doesn't make them affordable if the average person earns $12/hour cleaning hotel rooms on a seasonal basis. Didn't they teach you that at whatever elite private university you went to? There are a very limited number of jobs in nursing, teaching, etc. and those that are there pay considerably less than in Greater Boston. If things were so rosy there, the entire state would be flocking there for that kind of work. The only data you seem capable of posting is stuff like the "highest 20 paid members of the police department make 6 figures in my town", like totally irrelevant stuff.



I got my numbers off of City-Data, that was what they showed for 2016. Not sure where they got those numbers. But even with the $68k, that is still not enough to buy a $400k or even $300k house. That is not an "affordable" balance by any measure.





If you think I am "trolling" you, then I suggest reporting that to the moderator.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by handy99

Also, consider the many millions who may smoke weed...or are gay....or even do opiates. In many other states you are going to jail or getting some really bad marks on your record for the drug thing. In MA. you don't.

It's good to know that if I do opiates Mass. will take me with open arms.


You are right on some of your other points though, I just disagree that MA is above all other states in those respects.