[Woost]

I noticed a bunch of people doing the math on a 100k/year salary for a 3br. Presumably, if you need a 3br it's because you have kids and need to give them each their own room.

Is everyone assuming the other partner won't help with anything financially? You can come pretty close to the 4-5k/month number for a 3br if your SO/partner is also making ~100k/year. If you're single with kids, or trying to have 1 stay at home 1 working, it'll be much harder, but it's entirely possible to afford if you have two people who are both working.

[infinite8s]

If you both are working and you have young children (pre-school age) you will take another $25k hit for childcare.

[sliverstorm]

The question they seem to be asking is not "Can I afford it" but rather "How much of a quality-of-life hit will I be taking".