“Do you know anyone that lives in a home worth over a million dollars and if so, how are they able to afford it?”

“Dear PoPville,

Because I am genuinely curious, the Friday question would be:

Do you know anyone that lives in a home worth over a million dollars and if so, how are they able to afford it (if you know):

a) inherited wealth
b) great paying job
c) made enough profit selling previous houses
d) are in a ton of debt”

I got this question on Monday and on Wednesday WAMU happened to have a report on exactly this question:

“While lawyers and business executives do make up a large percentage of the million-dollar homeowners, Pitingolo’s data show it’s less than half of the total. “You might be led to think that people who live in million dollar homes are all lawyers and they’re all CEOs,” Pitingolo said. “And that just isn’t the case. I think that speaks to the fact that there was a time in history when you could work in a more modest occupation and afford to buy a home that would today be worth more than a million dollars.”

But it’d still be interesting to know how and who are the people buying $1,000,000+ homes today. My home was not a million dollars but it was still a shit ton of money and my story also confirms the WAMU report. My wife and I were able to do it because I bought my Petworth house in 2003 and it appreciated significantly by the time I sold in 2015. Otherwise it would’ve been impossible for us. Do you guys know anyone who’s bought a million dollar house recently?