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That's exactly how it was in my non-California med school. Everyone from California desperately wanted to go back.
Are New Anesthesia Attendings HENRYs or are we Just HENR
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Well the person did have a point in there somewhere. my shack of a house cost 3 times what my end of career colleague's paid for their enormous mansion in the 90s.
Anyone would be crusty about that... let them vent...
Also good advice *if* you can move. Sometimes with family/wife/kids/schools it's not that easy...
If i propose to move rn to bfe, my divorce papers will be posted in the AM and my kids would hate me for moving them from their friends groups...
What kills me about older guys in practice is they have absolutely no insight or maybe amnesia about the stress the young home owner is under. Yeah, old timers had it hard back in their day but that doesn't mean that current guys can't also have it hard or maybe harder. Some empathy pls...
Also we bail these old folks out daily. Those guys that cant do a block to save their lives, can't echo, can't run an icu, cant do ecmo, cant do mitraclip (im not talking about u btw, or anyone here, some of my own coleagues)... yeah i save your ass and line your retirement funds while you sit back choose easy rooms and let us do the work. I got 3 or 4 colleague's like that. Drive 2 ferraris, a boat and can't do blocks so call me to do their shoulders making the same coin as me but im working 20% harder. It sucks
There is a sense that health care and to a lesser extent society in general is in a state of decline. That wasn’t present then.
it was far more present than you think it is, at least as it pertains to anesthesia. Applicants were at an all time low in the late 90s/early 2000s
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9/11 and the subsequent wars in the ME wasn't felt to be a general state of decline?
You serious Clark?
As I noted, when people think back about 20 or 40 years ago or whatever the general sense is things were not bad back then. Because we've seen how the next 20 or 40 years turned out. People are uncertain now, but that isn't really much different than many other times in our history. 20 years from now they will look back and say it wasn't that bad.
Try buying within a certain area of manhattan. TheNYC is only the 14th most expensive county according to this (flawed) listicle:
2024’s Most Expensive Counties In The U.S., Per Zillow Data
You'll be surprised what made the list of the 50 most expensive counties.www.forbes.com
Everyone plays victim. 2005-2007 had peak stock market and peak housing prices and interest rates 6%.
Anesthesia salaries were averaging 300-350k in most parts of the country with partners in most parts of the country making 600k (yes there were places making 800k). I’m just talking about average. And that averaged 6 weeks off with 50 hr work week for the 300-350k. Gentlemen’s agreement if hospitals employed to not work more than 50 hrs and they may give you $150-hr extra if you work more than 50 hrs employee
So now average anesthesia is 500k with 8-10 weeks off based on 40 hrs. And they give you $250/300 extra per hour w2 if you work more In 2025 with partners still making 700-800k.
Correct. That’s me. Very similar era. Lost a ton in the housing crash and stock market crash.
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So the generation of docs since 2015 have been on a 10 year bull run with salaries quite good with recessions lasting 1-3 months only. The only bad is the interest rates maybe?
they also would have graduated with inflation rates near a long term low and entered a much higher rate of overall inflation
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You don’t need to move to BFE to have a more affordable situation. OP is trying to live large in one of the very most expensive locales in America, and it’s not going well.
There are dozens of cheaper metropolitan areas in America where OP could find a more sustainable lifestyle. He needs to pick one.
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Salaries were quite low relatively from 2015-2019/20.
Coupled with student debt and ****ty job market as all the people who were going to retire go part time were still recovering from 2008 crash…wasn’t the best time to finish up residency.
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To answer your question, no you won’t be happy if you think the world owes you a $5MM cliff top mansion and a private jet (like OP aparently).
Happiness has a lot to do with gratitude and personal choice (including conscientious personality traits). Sadly, a lot of Americans lack that gratitude and have an entitled approach to life.
not to beat this to the ground…for you to pay a 24k mortgage - not sure if that includes escrow, your monthly pre tax income needs to be atleast 4-5x that depending on taxes in your state.
general wisdom is the housing should not cost 1/5th of your pre tax income it needs to be no more than 1/3 of your post tax income
generally those numbers reflect the same amounts…
either way you look at it - to comfortably afford a mortgage that’s 24k, you need 110-115k per mth in pre tax income and around 70-75k in post tax income.
you have neither.
even then it’s a poor decision. until i purchased this current house which is expensive and that has to do the lot being expensive and too schools for children…my previous 7 years as an attending were spent in houses that were in 400-450k range. my income during those years were 1.2-1.5x that depending on how hard i worked in that year.
i bought off lease toyota and hondas.
basically the house you are living in - you need a pre tax income of 1.5m or double what you’re making
even then i’d say its a poor choice because the actual net interest you’re paying is a lot per month
so to cut it down you’ll need to make principal only payments - that’s fine if you want to do it- but where are you going to manufacture this money?
general wisdom is the housing should not cost 1/5th of your pre tax income it needs to be no more than 1/3 of your post tax income
generally those numbers reflect the same amounts…
either way you look at it - to comfortably afford a mortgage that’s 24k, you need 110-115k per mth in pre tax income and around 70-75k in post tax income.
you have neither.
even then it’s a poor decision. until i purchased this current house which is expensive and that has to do the lot being expensive and too schools for children…my previous 7 years as an attending were spent in houses that were in 400-450k range. my income during those years were 1.2-1.5x that depending on how hard i worked in that year.
i bought off lease toyota and hondas.
basically the house you are living in - you need a pre tax income of 1.5m or double what you’re making
even then i’d say its a poor choice because the actual net interest you’re paying is a lot per month
so to cut it down you’ll need to make principal only payments - that’s fine if you want to do it- but where are you going to manufacture this money?
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I think an underrated part of the OP is that parents helped/paid the money down for the mortgage. What on earth did they have to say when you “had no choice but to take a deplorable 6.7% 30 year mortgage out”?
Kinda hard to blame the prior generation in this scenario when they’re helping out (I’m a millennial btw). I’m trying to decide who of my father or FIL would have shoved their boot farther up my nethers if I made the same request, so at least you have one victory.
Kinda hard to blame the prior generation in this scenario when they’re helping out (I’m a millennial btw). I’m trying to decide who of my father or FIL would have shoved their boot farther up my nethers if I made the same request, so at least you have one victory.
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I was just surprised it was outside the top 10. Obviously tons of caveats with that list.
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Adjusted for inflation, with no other increases, salaries were at that time for employees on partner tracks
“equivalent to $581,000 in 2025 dollars.”
And partners made “$996,000 in 2025 dollars “
That was the AVERAGED , 50th MGMA compensation.
Sounds about right. But remember a full time generally average 50 hrs w2 hospitals employed with 6 weeks off back than
Now the average hospital contract is worded closer to 40 hours a week plus overtime and 8-10 weeks off
So those numbers for 2025 adjusted for those type of hours is correct.
Well, med school was much less competitive back then
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Neither my parents nor my in laws have the resources to give me $600-800k for a down payment - and if they did, rest assured they wouldn’t be doing it.
The bigger question for me is *why* someone’s parents would decide to do this. I understand that it’s not uncommon in these super high COL areas for parents to do this…but why gift your kid enough money for them to get into a house where they will struggle, when the same $600-800k would buy a terrific house in much of the country outright? Why not tell your kid to move somewhere where the money will actually help them along? How does this make sense to anyone?
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Maybe the parents want them to live nearby. I don’t know the situation but that is plausible. A few of my partners got help from their parents to move back to town. Still none of them bought a starter home in that price range. $2.1 mil is the highest I’ve heard for a 1st home. Newer grad, single, no kids, works like a dog and dad is an allergist.
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Only two new lcme med schools were built between 1976/1982 (Mercer and university of south Florida) I think. No new lcme med schools created until 2000. A pretty long time to go without a new med school.
The number of med schools slots remained pretty consistent around 15k slots available for med schools over almost 25 years in that time period.
Number of applicants was at its lowest in 1989-1990 cycle (29k) for 15k slots. It peaked around 46k applications for 15/16k lcme slots in 1995/1996 cycle. You are absolutely correct it applications tanked after peaking in 1995/1996 cycle years.
Students went where the money was…the tech boom 1996-2000. Its is ALWAYS about the money. People chase money. As the tech crashed in 2000. You saw the applications for med school start to gradually go back up.
We have so many new lcme med schools being created that last 25 years. I simply cannot keep up. The latest new lcme (still in accreditation process) med school being the Walmart school of Medicine in Arkansas (I’m not kidding). Founded by Alice Walton of the Walmart family. And free tuition for the first 5 classes. I want to say we are up to 24k lcme med schools slots available these days. So from the low levels of 2000 (the easiest time to get into med school after tech crash). It took roughly up to 2021 to peak the same level of competitiveness to get into Med school. And astonishing 25 years to reach 1996 levels of competitiveness due to the ratio of slots available 15-16k slots/46k applications back in that era.
The data support that. Applicant totals have ranged from about 52,000 to 53,000 in recent years, except for a couple of years during the pandemic. For example:
- 2017-18 — 51,680
- 2019-20 — 53,369
- 2021-22 — 62,443 (Height of the pandemic)
- 2022-23 — 55,189
- 2023-24 — 52,577
- 2024-25 — 51,946
“That makes room for more new students. First-year enrollees (matriculants) rose 0.8% from the previous academic year, to 23,048, a new high.”
Medical school enrollment reaches a new high
New data from AAMC show mixed trends, as applicant numbers fall. COVID might have played a role.
I’m not even including the number of new DO schools created either. I’m only putting the lcme data out.
So med school isn’t as “hard” to get into as everyone says these days. Us old timers still had the same ratios to compete with. Just more students competing for more meds schools slots.
But what is really competitive is the residency slots available. That has not kept up with the expansion of med school slots. Almost any lcme med school grad was pretty much guaranteed a residency slot. It’s no longer a guarantee.
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This is an interesting thread. To the OP I get you a little…. I hate those fat bitch Kardashians for being billionaires for having no talent (can’t sing, dance, act or catch a ball - they’re ridiculous). You are right - it’s not fair. But expecting life to be fair it a sure way to be disappointed- it’s not.
I understand moving is tough. When I uprooted our lives to move across the country for a better job for me I worried the toll it would take on my marriage and moving my husband away from his kids. I’m sure they resent me a little for it.
But I’m the primary breadwinner and what’s good for my career is good for us.
Letting your kids or your lesser earning spouse dictate your life is a mistake. When I was growing up we moved away - there was no discussion or opinion taken from the kids. The kids don’t want to leave their friends - what? Really? I don’t understand how parents operate these days.
To the OP- why can’t or won’t you move? Can you enlist grandparents to replace the nanny somewhat?
I understand moving is tough. When I uprooted our lives to move across the country for a better job for me I worried the toll it would take on my marriage and moving my husband away from his kids. I’m sure they resent me a little for it.
But I’m the primary breadwinner and what’s good for my career is good for us.
Letting your kids or your lesser earning spouse dictate your life is a mistake. When I was growing up we moved away - there was no discussion or opinion taken from the kids. The kids don’t want to leave their friends - what? Really? I don’t understand how parents operate these days.
To the OP- why can’t or won’t you move? Can you enlist grandparents to replace the nanny somewhat?
Only two new lcme med schools were built between 1976/1982 (Mercer and university of south Florida) I think. No new lcme med schools created until 2000. A pretty long time to go without a new med school.
The number of med schools slots remained pretty consistent around 15k slots available for med schools over almost 25 years in that time period.
Number of applicants was at its lowest in 1989-1990 cycle (29k) for 15k slots. It peaked around 46k applications for 15/16k lcme slots in 1995/1996 cycle. You are absolutely correct it applications tanked after peaking in 1995/1996 cycle years.
Students went where the money was…the tech boom 1996-2000. Its is ALWAYS about the money. People chase money. As the tech crashed in 2000. You saw the applications for med school start to gradually go back up.
We have so many new lcme med schools being created that last 25 years. I simply cannot keep up. The latest new lcme (still in accreditation process) med school being the Walmart school of Medicine in Arkansas (I’m not kidding). Founded by Alice Walton of the Walmart family. And free tuition for the first 5 classes. I want to say we are up to 24k lcme med schools slots available these days. So from the low levels of 2000 (the easiest time to get into med school after tech crash). It took roughly up to 2021 to peak the same level of competitiveness to get into Med school. And astonishing 25 years to reach 1996 levels of competitiveness due to the ratio of slots available 15-16k slots/46k applications back in that era.
The data support that. Applicant totals have ranged from about 52,000 to 53,000 in recent years, except for a couple of years during the pandemic. For example:
There are currently 23k slots for lcme schools available.
- 2017-18 — 51,680
- 2019-20 — 53,369
- 2021-22 — 62,443 (Height of the pandemic)
- 2022-23 — 55,189
- 2023-24 — 52,577
- 2024-25 — 51,946
“That makes room for more new students. First-year enrollees (matriculants) rose 0.8% from the previous academic year, to 23,048, a new high.”
Medical school enrollment reaches a new high
New data from AAMC show mixed trends, as applicant numbers fall. COVID might have played a role.www.aamc.org
I’m not even including the number of new DO schools created either. I’m only putting the lcme data out.
So med school isn’t as “hard” to get into as everyone says these days. Us old timers still had the same ratios to compete with. Just more students competing for more meds schools slots.
But what is really competitive is the residency slots available. That has not kept up with the expansion of med school slots. Almost any lcme med school grad was pretty much guaranteed a residency slot. It’s no longer a guarantee.
I was actually referring to applicants for anesthesia residency spots, not medical school applicants. Anesthesia as a specialty tanked in the late 90s/early 2000s. It was Clinton HMO gatekeeper doom and gloom that was supposed to slash salaries. I agree with your post, though.
Oops. My bad. I saw usc post about med school not being competitive “back then”.
But you are correct. Anesthesia residency was pretty easy to get into 1996-2000 era. Even when I finished. There were quite a few open anesthesia slots with the scramble I think. Probably 15% openings.
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What I find most interesting about this thread is that everyone has agreed that OP has made poor life/financial decisions.
That level of consensus seems to be a recent rarity in this forum which should highlight to @gaspusher just how bad the decisions that they’ve made actually are.
That level of consensus seems to be a recent rarity in this forum which should highlight to @gaspusher just how bad the decisions that they’ve made actually are.
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Still not too late to move before the kids are actually in school which would make it harder to uproot.
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You don’t have to respond, but I still want to know why you don’t get a rental house? I looked on Zillow and you could save a fortune.
What about an au pair?
Obviously investment returns and home appreciation are huge determinants, but you could play around with it and see the results for a range of reasonable possibilities.
If you’re here to vent and not really interested in changing anything that’s fine too. Anyway, I wanted to throw an alternative solution into the pot one more time. Good luck.
One more thing- If your wife is the problem, you should definitely move to Texas before the divorce.
What about an au pair?
Obviously investment returns and home appreciation are huge determinants, but you could play around with it and see the results for a range of reasonable possibilities.
If you’re here to vent and not really interested in changing anything that’s fine too. Anyway, I wanted to throw an alternative solution into the pot one more time. Good luck.
One more thing- If your wife is the problem, you should definitely move to Texas before the divorce.
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I'm willing to cut them some slack and say that maybe the decisions weren't poor or terrible or whatever, but the complaining about the consequences of those decisions is. Maybe the only way you can live a happy life is to be in a very expensive house in one of the most expensive places in the world. That's fine. But it's a bit disingenuous to argue about how rigged the system is against you when you are amongst the small percentage of people in the country that can afford to make that choice.
If you don't want to compare your personal financial situation to tech billionaires, don't live amongst them.
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He was renting for 7-8 k/mo. That 16k/mo difference invested in voo is 3m in 10 years.
Maybe he thinks house wil appreciate faster
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He’s uniting the good old US of A. The Dims, the never Trumper re-pubes, and red hat wearing idiots can all come to a consensus for once. He is a gosh darned hero!!
interesting graph if anyone wants to complain about current mortgage rates. Where we are currently looks like low normal from 1971-2008 or so. It was only from 2008-2021 that we had insanely low rates. The fun thing about a 30 year fixed mortgage is that your lock in your initial rate as the highest it will ever be for 30 years and you may have multiple repeated opportunities to refinance lower in the future.
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This post is exactly why I'm opposed to student loan forgiveness for doctors. Why do I have to subsidize this guy living in a 4 million dollar house while I spent a few years renting in an apartment after graduating to pay my loans?
While op is an extreme, I don't want to pay for someone living in a million dollar house either.
While op is an extreme, I don't want to pay for someone living in a million dollar house either.
People always have something to complain about. Timing is everything. Sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes you don’t. Life is a journey. Eventually everything will work itself out.interesting graph if anyone wants to complain about current mortgage rates. Where we are currently looks like low normal from 1971-2008 or so. It was only from 2008-2021 that we had insanely low rates. The fun thing about a 30 year fixed mortgage is that your lock in your initial rate as the highest it will ever be for 30 years and you may have multiple repeated opportunities to refinance lower in the future.
That’s why I was trolling many people as the stocks were tanking March /april 2025 this year. Because those who have only been in the stock market since 2009 really haven’t felt the pain of a real 40% crash like those in 2000-2001 and 2008.
Same with mortgages. Mine was around 6% (I looked up old document and it was 5.75% in Sept 2005) at peak housing prices housing bubble at that era
So someone still complaining about housing prices and near 7% mortgage rates. If you have access to credit union like navy federal like I do. It’s around 6.25% or 6.5% current for Conventional/jumbo loan.
Yet they will complain housing prices are even higher than peak 2005. True. Very true. But the average anesthesiologist salary is also close to 200k higher in 2025 compared to 2005.
Me and my bff were still splitting a ghetto $1100/month 2 bedroom/1100 sq foot apt in the city in 2004 as new attendings. He was taking year off then doing icu fellowship afterwards.
My than girlfriend at the time (than married her) thought it was so odd I would live that cheap. She had her own $1500/month apt one bedroom that her mom subsidized her.
Same my bff than girlfriend also who he also married. She lived in a $1700/month one bedroom apt by herself
These are 2004 prices. So I’m sure the rents are $2500/3000 a month now.
But like I said. It’s usually the women driving these housing decisions
Notice not a single word from the OP whose decision it was to buy this 3.5 million dollar home.
We all know the truth who made the decision to buy the house.
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interesting graph if anyone wants to complain about current mortgage rates. Where we are currently looks like low normal from 1971-2008 or so. It was only from 2008-2021 that we had insanely low rates. The fun thing about a 30 year fixed mortgage is that your lock in your initial rate as the highest it will ever be for 30 years and you may have multiple repeated opportunities to refinance lower in the future.
Historical Home Affordability in the United States
Tool to graph the history of median home affordability in the United States. Change calculator assumptions and see historical trends.
dqydj.com
This is a better measure. The home affordability index incorporates incomes, home prices, and interest rates. Currently, it’s nearly at a 40 year high.
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Most docs had their tuition (even more) heavily subsidized either on the front end (via higher levels of state support) or very low interest rates on student loans (which are now fixed and high starting in around 2010).
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Somebody missed the day where the rule of thumb stating your mortgage should be a MAX of 3.5x your salary.
Mortgage rates are not as low as they were, but honestly not terrible historically speaking. (I got lucky when I bought my house, but if I knew then what I knew now, probably would’ve bought more house, but as a single guy at the time, it would seemed excessive.)
Little things add up over time, and we make it hard on ourselves when we try to keep up with the Joneses. Fortunately, most of the Joneses I know like talking about their brokerage/retirement accounts, so I’m socking money away there instead of super fancy cars.
Mortgage rates are not as low as they were, but honestly not terrible historically speaking. (I got lucky when I bought my house, but if I knew then what I knew now, probably would’ve bought more house, but as a single guy at the time, it would seemed excessive.)
Little things add up over time, and we make it hard on ourselves when we try to keep up with the Joneses. Fortunately, most of the Joneses I know like talking about their brokerage/retirement accounts, so I’m socking money away there instead of super fancy cars.
Historical Home Affordability in the United States
Tool to graph the history of median home affordability in the United States. Change calculator assumptions and see historical trends.
This is a better measure. The home affordability index incorporates incomes, home prices, and interest rates. Currently, it’s nearly at a 40 year high.
I was merely referring to complaints about mortgage interest rates and where they look historically. A home affordability index based on 50th (or 25th or 75th) percentile household income isn't quite as relevant for affordability for a physician with a likely significantly higher income. Simply looking at their 75th percentile data shows the affordability index being far more flat over time. If you went out to 90th or 95th percentile it would get even flatter (and be more sensitive to interest rates than anything else).
You can have it all as physicians. The boats, the airplanes, the McMansions , the kids in private school.
But it takes time. The OP (I’m assuming they are between ages 34-38) just my best guess. This 3.5 million dollar house is a house you buy when you are 45 years old with 2 kids who are maybe ages 8/10 in school
The OP has one kid who requires a nanny. And a second one on the way or planning a second kid.
They missed the part on some things in life can wait a little longer.
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I guess thats one scenerio 10-12 years after heavy investing. I still wouldn't like it in all fairness but hey then its like ok they built a nest egg and hes dumping most of his paycheck 12 years later into a 3.5m house and he has liquid of 3-4m by then. Will be hard to retire early though but sure u wanna work till 65 and get a 3.5m house at 45 but 24k post tax a month into housing still hurts.
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A few alternatives if you like working 2 full time jobs 😉
Most home purchases pre 1997 housing law changes required profit to be rolled over from one home to another tax free. And homeowners were forbidden to use it as atm machines and cash it out after profit taking There was no 250/500k tax free profit taking. You would need to roll it over
Even with standard growth on homes over 10 years. Even a starter 2.5 million dollar home and a 500k downpayment for the OP. They can roll over their profit to the 3.5 million dollar home in 10 years and afford it with the similar mortgage they are paying
Those are just my thoughts.
2 million dollar mortgage (2.5 million dollar home)
After 10 years you pay around 325k into principal
So 1.675 million left in principal. Assuming Normal appreciation. That 2.5 million dollar home is now 3.25 million
Net 1.575 million net proceeds (give or take with realtor commissions )
Put that 1.575 million into the 3.5 million dollar home and still have the same 2 million mortgage.
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This is what the country needs, to unite against a common enemy lol
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I don't disagree with most of that.
Though I think the joke's actually on China - a impartial and slightly cynical alien observing planet earth from afar might be confusedly scratching the headlike appendage where it keeps its brain, wondering why China keeps sending valuable goods and performing valuable services in return for promised future payments that appear less and less valuable or likely every year.
One more thing I'll add in favor of keeping low fixed-rate debt like a mortgage around ... it's a good hedge vs inflation. The current-year value of the principal and interest payment decreases every year.
Sadly our government isn't as fiscally disciplined as you are. If you think they are wildly irresponsible, and that deficit spending and ballooning national debt can only continue by devaluing dollars ... well, paying off long term, fixed, low % debt isn't an automatic win. Maybe in 2035 I'll be making my $3000 mortgage payment the day after I cash a $300,000 biweekly paycheck.
Among other strategies, I'm going to keep my 2.5% mortgage around because I expect the money I'll use to pay the bank 20+ years from now will be worth far less than the money I'd pay them off with today. That money can be invested in things I expect to grow at a rate that outpaces inflation.
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It's a big assumption.
Talking about real estate risk is kind of like talking to people about stock market risk. We haven't had a significant, prolonged crash in a decade plus. Someone who bought the S&P500 at the top of the market in 2000 didn't go positive until 2007, and then the financial crisis hit, and then they didn't cross that 2000 high again until 2013. It's been awesome since then, apart from a brief glitch during COVID, and 2023-2024 was flat, but there's nothing like a decade+ of straight up winning for everyone to make people forget about risk.
There are a lot of factors at play. I expect real estate everywhere to appreciate in dollar terms, if for no other reason than I expect dollar inflation. But who knows? Real estate periodically dips or goes stagnant, sometimes for extended periods. Valuations, especially in HCOL areas, are quite high currently.
Everyone thinks the tech bro haven of the SF bay area is immune, because tech has been on a 20+ year run. What happens if AI doesn't actually deliver the value it promises? I bet it's like the internet - some world changing immensely profitable applications are coming, and a whole lot of busts are coming too. Amazon.com or pets.com? How bloody will the shakeout and culling be?
What happens if real estate contracts even a little bit and overleveraged overoptimistic techbros and OP-like-anesthesiologists find themselves underwater? One of the most liberal areas in one of the most liberal states isn't exactly zero risk for some heavy-handed government intervention into an increasingly unaffordable place to live. It's probably the #2 democratic concern and poll driver right after Trumpism at #1.
Anyone who thinks they can buy real estate any time at any price because IT ONLY GOES UP is playing with fire. I shudder to think how thoroughly screwed OP will be if he can't muster the nerve to move for a couple years, and real estate corrects 10-20% in that time, erasing his down payment equity.
That phrase - "assuming normal appreciation" - it's loaded and dangerous as ****.
Completely agree. Things can go down. Trust me. I know. Lost a ton of money on my first two homes 2005 and 2009.
But I wasn’t living paycheck to paycheck like the Op
A 10% downward correction on a 3.5 million dollar home is a lot to cover (350k loss) than a 20% correction on my 600k townhouse. (120k)
But only saving grace for Op is California is a non recourse loan state. So they can just walk away if it crashes even more. But risk losing their 700k downpayment. That’s why it’s almost better to put almost nothing down in California and walk away if real estate crashes. The banks can’t go after you unlike Florida which is a recourse state. The banks went after a couple of docs because they knew they knew they could afford to repay the loan.
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24k per month on mortgage alone is wild money tho...
Im pulling double the op and my mortgage is about a quarter that... buddy is insanely house poor
Im pulling double the op and my mortgage is about a quarter that... buddy is insanely house poor
OP needs to make 1 million to feel comfortable especially at w2 California taxes and he’s at 700k.
OP’s best option if he wants to keep the home is to do 1099 locums. Considering he doesn’t want to travel even with full time nanny. 1099 locums is not an option for him.
The dumping of the wife maybe the final solution out of this mess. A lot of marriages end not due to financial problems. And forcing the sale of the house and moving on. They are clearly not on the same financial page. He’s in for a rough few years financially.
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He hasn't said it's the wife who won't move. He's avoided or ignored "why can't/won't you move" the question entirely. He doesn't owe us an answer obviously, but it would really help the context of his problem.
From the tone of his posts, I'd lay even odds on something simpler - he just wants to live there, and thinks that he ought to be able to, because he thinks he deserves it. AKA "keeping up with the Joneses" ... except even worse because it's fueled by the conviction that the Joneses are no-talent hack techbros who don't deserve it. People do crazy stuff in the face of perceived insults and unfairness.
OK maybe that's a little too much internet armchair psychologist, even for me. 🙂
OP, I wish you the best. You've got to get out of there, man. That ain't no way to live.
