I can't even imagine the type of house I could purchase for $415,000. Yet Jeremy is talking about spending that much on the place he's looking for. The real kicker is that he's going to spend that much for a 2 bedroom with 2 bathrooms and, hopefully, a 1 car garage. He will most likely not even have air-conditioning. And it won't even be a house. It'll be a townhome, or a condo. I remember a few years back I was considering taking a job in the Bay area. Only the job I was looking at paid $90,000/yr. I thought that was pretty good, for me, but, in reality, with the cost of housing being that high, I could barely afford to live. Around here, $150,000 will get you a nice new place in the sticks. $200,000 will get you a really nice place in the sticks, or a modest place in the middle of town. With $250,000 you can get something very large, in a good location, with all the features you could imagine. I think that, even if I were filthy rich, spending more than $350,000 on a home would be absurd. I mean, that place had better be enormous, brand new, and in a great location for that much money.
I knew the cost of living was high out there… I just didn't realize how high. It's amazing to me to consider making over $100,000/yr and still having trouble making my house payment.
