Can I afford a 3M+ house

[kdeva]

B+ here. I used to donate all the time in college, but after a 20 year hiatus, donated last month and I felt good. I am planning twice a year going f...

[kdeva]

For those that are curious, this is the house: https://www.redfin.com/CA/Palo-Alto/...06/home/606013

[kdeva]

We have spoken before back in 2018 when we were in the market, but decided to not buy.

I like the way you have put it, we are short of a...

[kdeva]

Update: We didn't get the house. We bid $3.42 M, they accepted an all cash offer at $3.7M. Market is really crazy here!...

[kdeva]

I was living in an apartment near Stanford on a $60k/year research associate salary for 5 years. I put some money in 401k, and after paying taxes had...

[kdeva]

Yes, we did chat!! we were close to buying a house two years ago in 2018 with a budget of $2M, placed a few offers, but didn't get any of the houses since...

[kdeva]

Oh, how I wish for $3M I could afford that kind of a living!! It's a 2400 sq. house two story on a 6000 sq. lot. We are in the final throes of making...

[kdeva]

We are going to invest the windfall in index funds if we don't buy. Our jobs are decently secure I would say, if tech crashes, we would crash with it,...

[kdeva]

The house prices have shot up by $500-600k in the last 6 months alone, and by $1.2-$1.5M in the last 5 years, this house would have costed $1.6-1.8 about...

[kdeva]

Yes, we live in a nice neighborhood and the house is nice with a large yard and plenty of space. The schools are bad where we are renting, that's why...

[kdeva]

We are not medical doctor's, but we are doctors of the useless kind. I have a PhD in physics and my spouse is a math PhD. My husband works at one of the...

[kdeva]

Did you hire a contractor who did the whole remodel or did you have to spend a lot of your time during the remodeling time? Our thinking is similar, if...

[kdeva]

Property tax will be $3500 per month...

[kdeva]

I have posted a couple of times before in this forum. I guess I am looking for advice or a reality check as I am about to bid on a $3.3M home. My family...

[kdeva]

Hello,

My company just announced that they are going IPO in a few months. I have a lot of ISO stock options with them that I haven't exercised....

[kdeva]

We must be neighbors I presume you have one kid. I have two kids and my rent is a little less than yours, but overall we ended up going from spending...

[kdeva]

I have used this starter many times and really like it: https://www.amazon.com/Euro-Cuisine-..._1_11?crid=1LG...

[kdeva]

I tried doing a vegetarian low carb and it very very hard to sustain it for a long time without carbs. I was able to succeed keeping carbs to say 120-150...

[kdeva]

I eat a vegetarian diet as well and I have taken a different approach to yours. I eliminated 90% added sugar and trying to minimize carbs, but very hard...

[kdeva]

Yes, I am Indian. Why do you ask? Are there cultural aspects to this way of thinking?...

[kdeva]

Thank you for that slap in the face and a heavy dose of reality. I am going to say no. I really appreciate all your comments!

[kdeva]

We are considering a mortgage between <2x (husband) and 2.5x (me) our income and we are still deciding....

[kdeva]

My sibling and I are very close and that makes this very hard. I don't know what the reasons for buying currently are. I think there is some pressure...

[kdeva]

I wish it were This came out of the blue and I had no idea my sibling was even looking for a house. The timing and the request were strange since I...

[kdeva]

That's right, we are also looking for a house and my husband and I are arguing about <2x (him) to 2.5x (me) mortgage on the house we want to buy. We...

[kdeva]

Hello,

I am in a bit of an awkward situation with my sibling.

My sibling lives in a HCOL area with spouse, no kids. They are...

[kdeva]

My husband and I stayed apart for 4 years when I was in grad school. I would have of course preferred to stay with him, but we were young, didn't have...

[kdeva]

I did read this paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1419405/. "Mean cholesterol saturation index was signi- -ficantly greater after...

[kdeva]

I tried 16 hour IF for 2 months and ended up with gallbladder pains and no weight loss (only had 5 lbs to lose to reach target). I had gallbladder issues...

[kdeva]

I appreciate these views as well as others that goes contrary to my current thinking. I guess that is why I am on this forum cross-checking my arithmetic...

[kdeva]

With Prop 13, it makes sense. My neighbor who lives next door to me in a $3M home that she purchased in the 70s pays $500 property tax yearly for her...

[kdeva]

When I was at Stanford, my graduate students would live in a 8 or 10 bedroom bungalow in Menlo Park or Atherton area with 8 or 10 other roommates and...

[kdeva]

Property tax is 1.2%. I am assuming 10k for home insurance, but don't know the exact number yet....

[kdeva]

A different way to think about this is that you have a house that you can pass on to your kids with very little tax penalty in a VHCOL area if you choose...

[kdeva]

Thanks danesgod Your thread is a treasure trove of information. I think we can afford more than $2M as well (my husband doesn't agree), going to $3M opens...

[kdeva]

That's a great point!!...

[kdeva]

Silicon valley IS the south bay area comprising of the stretch from originally Menlo Park to Cupertino and includes all the neighborhoods we are looking...

[kdeva]

After years and years of postponing, we really feel that we are short of a house now and with young kids running around, I want stability for them as...

[kdeva]

Hubby's job in the bay, mine is in SF, but I work from home now. If I leave my company, most other opportunity will be in the south bay area....

[kdeva]

That's right, we are not physicians, hubby is a mathematician and I am a physicist turned engineer. Bay area does pay very well and our jobs are tied...

[kdeva]

I used to be at Stanford, I left a couple of years ago, I work in SF now...

[kdeva]

- Downpayment: We can do 20% - 30%, but prefer 20%.
- We max out 401k, Roth IRA, and hubby does megabackdoor roth, I don't have that option with...

[kdeva]

The homes we are looking at were built in the 1950s and most of them haven't been upgraded since the 70s, so the 300k is for upgrading the house to more...

[kdeva]

Son starts public school next year and daughter follows in two years....

[kdeva]

I am 36, husband is 42, he has been working for 10 and I have been for 6 years. NW: $2.8M, all money is in stocks/bonds 80/20 split....

[kdeva]

After many years of deciding and trying to buy a house, we are starting to look into the market again. Our current income is $800k combined and we don't...

[kdeva]

I have had a 60 (drive)-90 (train) minute one way commute for 6 years through two pregnancies and small babies until the pandemic hit and here's how we...

[kdeva]

Oh, I can vouch for the stress busting session I have when I wash dishes or clean the kitchen counters at night....

[kdeva]

Grandparents do not live nearby unfortunately. It seems strange, but my 4 year old's preschool is reopening on June 1, I am not sure how many will send...

[kdeva]

I have a 2 year old and a 4 year old. Preschool is closed and my 4 year old stays at home. My 2 year old used to have a nanny, but we gave her time off...

[kdeva]

When I was in college and even for a part of time in graduate school, I would not return shopping carts thinking I was in a hurry to go back to the lab...

[kdeva]

It's been almost 2 months since I started cold showering. I just dial it all the way to the coldest setting and jump right in. My showering time has been...

[kdeva]

Day 2: Really enjoying cold showers now, I am making it a habit. Starting off lukewarm then dialing it cold and finishing back up lukewarm helps avoid...

[kdeva]

I used to take cold showers routinely until college days. But, I got inspired by this post and took a cold shower this morning, it was so refreshing and...

[kdeva]

you can view by state
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/a...-america/60841...

[kdeva]

I guess now Elon Musk and Trump are talking about it, if there is any truth to this, we will know soon.
This is not peer reviewed and has a very...

[kdeva]

Death rate for critically ill is 49%
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-persp...-23-death-rate...

[kdeva]

I gave paid two months off for my nanny. I am paying for my weekly cleaning service though I have asked her to not come to work. I have a few elderly...

[kdeva]

I hope things turn out fine for you WBD. Here's a study that says that says reinfection unlikely: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.13....

[kdeva]

Thanks for asking! It's exactly one year to the glass swallowing anniversary and she has grown up into a totally normal and very mischievous toddler ...

[kdeva]

Saw a lot of pre-print articles talking about chloroquine phosphate as an effective treatment. Thought I would post a couple of them, one even suggests...

[kdeva]

This is an excellent Twitter thread.

Summary, genome sequence shows the virus has been spreading for six weeks in the community...

[kdeva]

I have two children under 3 and I have been very worried as well. But, children seem to be getting the mild version of this illness and I am starting...

[kdeva]

Microwaves

[kdeva]

I used to hold 90/10 in stock/bonds, but I changed it to 80/20. I also am putting 1 years worth of emergency fund in my savings account. Other than these...

[kdeva]

A book I read recently that I loved and probably want to re-read  "Never split the difference"

[kdeva]

I live in a HCOL area. My nanny works 45 hours per week and I pay her $4300/month.

[kdeva]

I know the issue of market timing keeps coming up over and over again in this forum, but recent turbulences in the market combined with these two doom...

[kdeva]

I wanted to say that I just read the book "Beyond the Grave" and it is comprehensive and covers both the legal and pragmatic aspects. I highly recommend...

[kdeva]

Paradigm Shifts https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/paradigm-shifts-ray-dalio This was an interesting read, wanted to hear your thoughts....

[kdeva]

Follow on question, equal split or unequal split for the kids based on how they are financially doing?

[kdeva]

My kids are 3 and 1. We are going to meet with an attorney next month for estate planning. I wanted to ask what the forum members who will eventually...

[kdeva]

We are at 1/5th of our FI number and currently have a nanny, weekday cook (1 hour), weekly house cleaning service, twice a month gardening service, and...

[kdeva]

I wanted to provide an update here. It has been 12 weeks since the incident and my little baby grew up into a walking, talking, and mischievous toddler....

[kdeva]

There is a new startup in the bay area called zerodown.com it's the latest craze here. You out zero down payment, they make an all cash offer on your...

[kdeva]

Gas_Doc wrote: So… Palo Alto? Click to expand... Sunnyvale Palo Alto these days is closer to $3M for similar sized house...

[kdeva]

CordMcNally wrote: If you’re looking for specific advice, actual numbers can help elicit better responses. Click to expand... A not so fancy, 1500 sq. 60-70 year old house in decent school district here goes for about $2M...

[kdeva]

FIREshrink wrote: Do you mean equity or value? Primary home or rentals as well? Does taxable include business equity and franchise ownership and commercial real estate or just paper assets? Click to expand... I guess I mean value, not equi...

[kdeva]

Dont_know_mind wrote: I think kdeva really wants to post “should I buy a house in a VVHCOL or not”. Very hard to answer. It’s very operator dependent. I stuffed up my VHCOL home purchase, so I wouldn’t listen to me ! But I surv...

[kdeva]

What fraction of the forum users networth is in home equity vs. retirement accounts vs. taxable account? Our current split is probably very different f...

[kdeva]

rb6p wrote: Is the second ‘not-clearly visible’ piece of glass the larger, roughly 4 sided structure to the right of your daughter’s upper abdomen? Click to expand... Yes, it's the la...

[kdeva]

We saw the pediatric GI yesterday and he was reassuring. I took all the broken pieces of glass with me. He looked at all the pieces and said that none...

[kdeva]

I have a few more pieces of the glass, as well as several new glasses that I can take to the appointment

[kdeva]

I elevated this issue just now with my pediatrician and she got me an urgent appointment with a Stanford GI later this afternoon. I will update after...

[kdeva]

Update: Day 7, 12 poops and no glass. We followed up with her pediatrician to discuss options. Ped opinion is that because my daughter is very small ...

[kdeva]

Update: Day 5 and six poops later, still no glass. https://bit.ly/2UMhWj2 This article has provided an algorithm for suspected foreign body ingestion in a clinically ...

[kdeva]

don't you have to pay taxes in the interest from ally bank? Isn't treasuries better from a tax point of view at least for the big purchase savings?

[kdeva]

Update: day 3 and four normal looking poops later, still no glass. But fever is gone and cough almost gone and she is behaving like a healthy baby. Her...

[kdeva]

Things are the same, she is behaving as usual and playing. she still has the cough and mild fever. She went poopy but didn't find anything. Her pediatrician...

[kdeva]

RollieStrummer wrote: A 1cm piece of glass is often not going to be visible on an x-ray.  If it is lodged in the neck, it may be seen on a soft tissue neck x-ray, but if it is in the esophagus...

[kdeva]

Saw her pediatrician. She is running a fever of 100.4 and has a cough and cold. But, the ped thinks the fever is because of the cough and she looks good...

[kdeva]

Should I take her to a GI specialist or an ENT? Should I request a CT scan as a precaution?

[kdeva]

May be it wasn't 2cm, more than 1cm for sure. It was a wide as her tongue, but narrow, like a cylinder. We are going to her pediatrician at 2 pm today....

[kdeva]

It was definitely glass, I found a few more pieces in the corners after we got back home last night. What should I watch for? How long will I need to...

[kdeva]

My 11 month old daughter swallowed a broken piece of glass yesterday about 2cmx0.5 cm at 5:30 pm. She had something on her month, I asked her to open...

[kdeva]

We are in the SF Bay area and looking to buy a house in the next year or so. We bid on a property earlier this year and lost the but, but the housing...

[kdeva]

I read this article today https://www.recode.net/platform/amp/2018/9/17/17867990/kai-fu-lee-ai-superpowers-book-artificial-intelligence-jobs-doctors-kara-swisher-decode-podcast?__twitter_impression=true T...

[kdeva]

Hi everyone, This is another thread about minivan vs. SUV. We are a family of four with 2 small kids (2.5 years and 6 months). So far, we have been c...

[kdeva]

My husband has a PhD in Computer Science and I have a PhD in Physics. We both did postdocs for several years and I was also an academic faculty for a...

[kdeva]

Dont_know_mind wrote: I think few realise that taking on a hot housing market is like agreeing to fight Mike Tyson in his prime. They should make public health announcements about this: you are about to be pu...