'Sad Reality': Couple Struggles To Buy 'Dream Home' Despite Earning Rs 1.5 Lakh Per Month

How much monthly income is necessary to purchase residential property in India’s metropolitan cities? This question arose following a social media post by investor and financial planner D Muthukrishnan, who shared the story of a middle-class family in Chennai. He highlighted a physiotherapist couple with a combined monthly income exceeding Rs 1 lakh, yet they still face challenges in realising their dream of homeownership. The husband-and-wife team operates a clinic in an upscale neighbourhood in Chennai, where Muthukrishnan himself resides.

“I live in a posh area in Chennai. There is a successful physiotherapist couple in my area having own clinic, paying EMI. They are in their late thirties,” Muthukrishnan shared on X (formerly Twitter).

The man works full-time while his wife can attend to patients for a few hours a day owing to his motherly responsibilities. She has “two young children” to look after, as per Muthukrishnan. Besides sitting at the clinic, the husband also offers home visits for his patients.

For each physiotherapy session, they charge Rs 500. Despite all their efforts, the couple has not yet managed to purchase a residential property in Chennai. Running a clinic might have been quite tough for them as “from electricity charges to property tax, everything has to be paid at commercial rates” which Muthukrishnan deemed “high.”

After covering all their EMIs and other family expenses, the couple manages to save Rs 1.5 lakh-Rs 1 lakh by the husband and Rs 50,000 by the wife. “I’m talking about a successful professional couple in a city like Chennai. Earning money and creating wealth is very difficult in India. They dream of owning a home one day,” Muthukrishnan added.

The X post seemed relatable to many users who shared their opinions in the comment section. One of them admitted, “It’s a tough reality, especially in metro cities. The cost of living vs income gap is widening, and it feels like no matter how hard you work, owning a home remains a distant dream for many in urban India.”

A product strategist thinks “educated white-collar workers who don’t cut corners and pay legit rates (income, electricity, GST) don’t have a chance in hell to earn and create generational wealth.”

“It’s a sad reality of our current existence. Even doctors at big hospitals have targets of operating procedures they can put their patients to,” she added.

According to another user, the story of the physiotherapist couple does nothing but “highlight the financial challenges that successful professionals face in India.”

He further noted, “With high commercial rates, EMIs, and daily expenses, it’s tough to create wealth, even for skilled professionals in cities like Chennai. The dream of homeownership remains elusive for many, despite hard work.”

“Unless they invest, this dream shall remain a dream and that’s true for most of India,” opined an individual.

The post has already amassed over 2.5 lakh views on the microblogging platform, with users hailing D Muthukrishnan for dissecting the complex topic in such a transparent way.