$350,000 1 bed 1 bath condos in my area...and those are the cheap ones....with a $400 HOA fee

2 bedroom 1 bath costs a million dollars in the SJC (San José California).

My cousin just sold here house in the outskirts of the Bay Area for a cool million- she a fucking face book mod er something~

Not to downplay how bad things have gotten, but home ownership was already outside the reach of most people by the end of the 80s.

I was able to put in an offer for the first time in my life last year, on literally the cheapest house in the city that wasn't a trailer. It was some post-war ONE-BEDROOM single-floor house, no garage, but decently maintained. I would have had to pay out ALL MY MONEY, but I got outbid pretty handily by someone with a "no conditions" offer (i.e. probably a flipper). Probably for the best since my contract in this city is only for 2~3 years.

So I'm still a renter, but I got lucky with a seemingly non-insane private landlord who isn't trying to squeeze too much rent out of me. He keeps the house so his aged brother has a place to live (in the other suite).

Does everybody but me live in large cities? I live in a pretty expensive part of my state, but the real estate prices aren't insane. It's a nice place, there's a lot to do, and there are jobs.

It's insane what people pay to live in NYC, California, and other such places, but why do so many people think they need to live there?

Also, why don't more companies move away from those areas? They could hire well-qualified people who can work for a fraction of the wages because the cost of living is so low. After all, it's not the 19th century. We don't need to live or do business where ships or trains can move our goods about. I hear even the most backward of states have the interwebs these days.

I'm sure a lot of people think I'm dumb, but I have a large, comfortable house that's paid off on a big chunk of land, I have a job that I like and which offers great benefits, and I'm reasnoably happy. My commute is up to 40 minutes round trip on a bad day, but at least there's nice scenery.

But yet, I live in a "flyover" state, which to many seems to be inherently evil. Ah well. I'm pretty OK with that.

San Diego is pretty nice other than the insane housing prices. Plus mechanics can get at least double minimum wage in California, so I’m making a lot more money than I would in some flyover states.