Housing prices and shortages

This past weekend, I was in Seattle for the wedding of one of my college buddies. We stayed at my friend’s parents’ home in Olympia where they live on a nice golf course. The nice was huge with a big backyard and everything you’d want in a suburban home. You even had hole #8 right behind you. It may have been the first time I thought that life in the suburbs may not be so bad after all.

Naturally being in my early to mid 30s, the topic of real estate comes up a lot. My friend’s parents made sure to ask me about whether I’m buying in San Francisco sometime soon. The unfortunate reality is that even with Sophia and my joint income, buying a home in San Francisco will likely be out the picture for at least the next 5-10 years unless one of us has a windfall.

I’m not the only one who goes through this. I know nearly all my friends are struggling to buy real estate in the cities that they love. The only ones who are buying homes are those that are lucky enough to have supportive parents. One of my clients awhile ago proclaimed that he was a “middle class millionaire” in San Francisco.

This housing shortage started in California long ago and has gotten worse. It’s definitely not fun to be directly impacted by this. My Dad likes to remind me to buy a house every time I come home. I have to remind him that buying a house in San Francisco 30 years ago for $200k was much easier than it is now.

Unfortunately for now, there’s not much we can do. At this point, my strategy is to save, invest, and hope for the best. I suppose if buying a house in San Francisco doesn’t work out, the suburbs aren’t so bad after all.