[zcdziura]

How much land and house does that $1M buy you? In New Hampshire where I live, $1M buys you quite a bit: several thousand square feet of house, several acres of land, an excellent local public school system, great views... Heck, I even imagine that in the greater Boston metro area you'll get a similar bang for your buck.

Your normal family property (approx 1500 - 2000 ft/sq, ~1 acre land) goes for $200k - $250k. Still expensive, but doable, especially if both parents are making decent money (>= $50k/year is what I count as decent money). Less than $30k down payment brings your monthly expenses to less than $2k/mo. Exactly half price for what I'd imagine to be similar living conditions in SF Bay (albeit Bay Area public schools are probably better than NH's, though New England has very good schools).

It's clear that you're making a lot more money than I am for similar experience -- I too am less than 30 years old -- but I wonder the difference in percentage our savable income is, given the difference in costs we both pay for housing. I too wonder for others in our age and job demographic what they're able to save when living in SF Bay vs. elsewhere.

The cost of living there doesn't seem worth it to me. Heck, NE I think is too expensive! Been looking to move down to Raleigh, NC after I get married, but that's neither here nor there.

[apendleton]

I don't live in the Bay area, but I live in DC and still pay a lot for housing by national standards, and at least for me, looking at it in terms of land and square footage misses the point. Obviously people optimizing for those things won't live in SF or DC (or Manhattan or Boston, etc.). Those things will clearly be more cheaply attainable in places where land is plentiful. You pay to live in a dense urban area because you value the amenities of the city, the economic opportunities it affords, the walkable or bikable lifestyle it facilitates, etc.

My commute is ten minutes on a bike, I live alone so I don't need a big house, and I have no use for a lawn. Your values are clearly different, so New Hampshire is the right call for you (or NC, or whatever). But they're not apples-to-apples comparisons.

[alistairSH]

I'm in suburban DC (Reston/Dulles area). $200k gets you a 1-bedroom condo in an older building. $400-$500 buys a nice older town-home. It'll be smaller (1500sqft with small bedrooms). For a small single-family, $500+. For a modern single-family home, you'll need $700k or more.

If you want to live inside the Beltway, add 20%-50% to those figures, depending on neighborhood.

All those will be in livable, reasonably safe neighborhoods with decent public schools. I'm sure there are options that cost less if you look hard enough.

FWIW, I chose "nice, older town-home" for a bit under $500k. That's on two mid-career, white-collar salaries. We have enough left over to max our 401ks, take vacations, etc. The loss of one income wouldn't drive us to homelessness, but it would hurt. I walk to work, bike to grocery store, and my spouse has a 7 mile commute (it's also bike-able, which she does occasionally).

[dbcurtis]

In Sunnyvale, a two bedroom townhouse with two car garage, and a 30 foot by 12 foot back patio, in a complex that I was very, very happy to get out of (for various reasons) 16 years ago, is listed for $1.1M, but I would expect it to go over by $100-200K because supply is so tight right now.

Yeah, I'm catagory #4. Been here long enough to get on the escalator when it was possible, living in a modest house in a neighborhood I could never buy back into. And I understand what the money would do elsewhere, I moved here from Minneapolis/St. Paul area, and would be shopping for lakeshore if I moved back there.

Housing is broken. Sunnyvale is at least building new high-density housing, but not at a fast enough rate. Units are sold before the dirt has been scraped clean to start construction.

[bunfunton]

I grew up in New Hampshire, incredibly boring. I would never move back after moving to an exciting city. Good places to live are expensive for a reason.

[mccoyspace]

$1M doesn't buy you the time of day where I live in northern Brooklyn. And it's $1250 minimum per person in a rental share, often more.