Was the financing in podcast episode 25 really possible?

[Brendon K.]

The first guy on the show said he earned average for a financial guy in Boston and that he saved up 3.5 percent for a FHA loan on a $383000 triplex. Overall Boston income is around 60k. I earn a bit more than average in Austin Texas but every calculator I've seen doesn't tell me I'm able to get a house that's that expensive. Was he b.s.ing or is there some kind of knowledge I have yet to learn about first mortgages?

[Ann Bellamy]

The "average for a financial guy in Boston" is very different from the average income in Boston.  Plenty of people in the Boston area earn well into 6 figures.  That is balanced by plenty of people below the poverty line.  Hence "average"