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Comment by mabbo | Hacker News Reader

> In San Francisco the housing shortage and lack of support for new construction wipes out a lot of gains that come with higher salaries.

You can even see that problem get worse as people leave. Fantastic dev I worked with moved from Seattle back to India. She said that yes, she made more money in Seattle, but cost of living was so low in Bangalore that she effectively made a lot more money there. Coupled with her family being closer, it made perfect sense.

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If you don't care about buying 'big ticket' items e.g. iPhones, MacBooks, VR, etc, - this is true. But these items don't change in price depending on where you are, and are likely much harder to buy as a result.

Would you rather own a house and a Xiaomi phone or never be able to afford a house and own an iPhone?

iPhones are cool, but houses are cooler.

and houses in seattle are a lot 'cooler' than houses in bangalore

Not if they actually build houses with A/C in Bangalore.

(mostly joking)

Does it matter if the house in seattle is cooler if you're never going to be able to buy it?

Some of us have no desire to actually own a house, as far as a home goes. I'm no opposed to buying a house for investment, but have no real urge to live in my own house.

unless the difference between your rent spend and a hypothetical mortgage is well invested, you're very likely worse off renting. after all, your rent is paying someone else's investment mortgage!

Rental life is a simpler life. It means someone else is responsible for fixing your sink when it leaks. The biggest financial risk renters take is not getting their deposit back due to necessary repairs when they vacate at the end of their lease terms.

And, from an investment point of view, maintenance may not be worth it if you believe that housing prices are too high and that a correction will be coming in the short to medium term. Why spend your own money on repairs if your house's value is going to tank in a few years anyway?

You can retire comfortably in many places in India on 1 year of a developer's salary in the US.

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