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The auction-like homebuying isn't to blame. It's the paucity of supply. Damn NIMBYs.

It's also location. I never appreciated where I lived until I traveled across the United States. It's being close to mountains, nice mild weather, close to the beach, close to well paying jobs. Never cared about being close to "the excitement of San Francisco" though. I always felt it was a boring city.

For years, certain parts of the Bay Area were kept secret. They have pretty much all been exposed--thanks mainly to the Internet, and I guess Apple/tech? I still regret not buying the small house out in west Marin I could have bought for under $100K. I should have just bought it.

I was with you until the "well paying jobs" part. Are they well paying in relation to the insane real estate prices? When I hear of developers getting $80-100k in SF, that sounds...not great.

There's a big dichotomy between the developers working for tech companies and the developers working everywhere else. Most tech companies do a decent job of taking care of people, but those 80-100k salaries are very common in the non-tech industries (who also employ thousands and thousands of technical staff).

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