Home prices nearby are so astronomical, I am not sure what income level is needed to pay $400 to $700 per square foot, but most of the homes are 1400 to 5000 square feet, so when you multiply that, it works out to $550,000 to $2,500,000
Meg takes in $2200 per month as a Nanny & I make about $3000 per month as a School Bus Driver averaging for the entire year, so we pull in about $5000 per month, which if you told me that when I was 10 years old, sounds like a decent income. That is not enough to buy any homes nearby, not even close.
I was speaking to a 24 year old local man about a year ago & he says to me "It is not livable around here anymore, how is anyone supposed to live the American Dream if its become 7X more expensive" So I tell him about the man who did my laser eye surgery in 2006, Dr. Kent Levitt, who that year has a federal income tax filing for $7.1 million in income.
The questions becomes "How many people can possible make $7 million per year in America" "Does the economy of America support an average family income of $7 million? NO / I have it on good authority from doing lots of online research about all the US States, that most families in America are making less than $85,000 per year, data from the IRS says about the same. So what kind of homes can people on those income actually afford?
My examples are from King Country, Washington State, USA, in glib overprices suburban areas that previously had homes for sale at affordable prices from 1950 to 2001, but then from 2001 to 2025 the prices have increased 19-39% every year vastly outstripping average wage or income increases.
Many apartments nearby now cost $2K to $3k per month. In 2025 dollars I think rent for a studio apartments should cost $700 per month by comparison, as that would allow someone working full time 40 hours per week for $20 per hour, making $800 per week, to pay for their rent with 1 week of income. Maybe $900 per month for a 1 bedroom, $1200 per month for a 2 bedroom, and $1500 per month for a 2 bedroom with a garage. It cost $3500 to $5500 per month to rent full homes nearby. I think they should cost $2000 to $2500 per month to rent.
My Uncle purchased a 3400 square food brand new 2 story home with a 2 car garage in 1980, at the top of a local mountain in Bellevue, Washington, USA, for $30,000 & his monthly payment was $215 & property taxes were $411 per year. He was able to work as a school teacher in Seattle at Sacred Heart & living in Bellevue, with a stay at home wife, my aunt, and have 3 children.
A fair value. His same home today is worth more than $1 million, nothing any school teacher can pay, not even if mom & dad both work as school teachers, that's even though they pay more now, the USD or dollar has lost so much of its value since 1980. Let's consider income back then vs now in terms of purchasing power by looking at relative value of the dollar given inflation.
Using my uncle's nice home & his original payment of financing $30K for 30 years, monthly payment & taxes annually adjusted for inflation in 2025 USD terms.
$30,000 in 1980 is worth $114,207.16 in 2025 / Now he purchased the home NEW for $30K, if I purchased it today in 2025 for $115K, that would be buying a 44 year old home that was never designed or made to last a long time like a Stone Castle in Europe. My uncle tells me he has thrown more than $100K in repairs & maintenance, replacing windows, siding, remodeling.
His monthly mortgage payment of $213 in 1980's dollars would be $810 today 2025 /
Renting Land REET Taxes Are A Scam
Annual property taxes are based on constantly reassessed fair market value, so his annual property taxes today would be $17K, but he get a senior property tax exemption of 50% discount & only pays $9500 per year, or $791 per month, which is 370% more than his original monthly mortgage payment, noting that he paid off the loan & owns the title or deed now.
My parents were both realtors and told me that owning a home is a liability & only an investment if the prices of homes keep increasing, in a flip friendly real estate market. Flipping a home means you buy it for $1 million, then pump in $250,000 making it really nice, then sell it for $1.6 million, netting $350K in profit, not withstanding that sales tax & closing fee's will mean more like $250K in profit from the flip, more if you spent less & did some of the work yourself DIY style. Ever watch Home & Garden TV?
In other words life was affordable for people on normal incomes before 1980 in American suburbs. Over time since then the home prices nearby have increased about 10X faster than local average wages, while the money (US dollar) has lost 280% of its purchasing power.
That means that everything today is about 300% more expensive in terms of rent or housing costs nearby, but worse because of property price inflation, or how demands for homes has outstripped supply, putting upward price pressure on homes & rent prices, especially cruel to first time home buyers or people nearby looking to buy their first home.
Older Homes in Disrepair for Higher Prices
Note also that nothing NEW in terms of housing even remotely close to affordable, as even older properties needing a lot of costly work are exceptionally expensive, as in more than $1 million. Most of these local homes build in the 1960's cost less than $10,000 back then, but inflation has increased 959.8% since 1960, so $10,000 in 1960 similar to $105,976 in 2025 funny dollars.
Something rubs me as wrong about paying more for something older that's needed a lot of costly work. Imaging if used cars increased in value. Would that make sense? My dad said homes are large, heavy, stationary, and much more durable than a typical automobile. Sure, an apples to oranges comparison, but I thought almost everything depreciates in value from when it was new vs after it's been used for a long time. That makes intuitive sense. Someone else got to enjoy the NEW thing when it was NEW & got good use out of it for a while before it was used and sold to someone else, usually at a discount.
Consider a new bicycle or snowboard vs a 10 or 20 or 30 year old example, or perhaps RV's or motorcycles. Usually older stuff costs less because it has a lot of wear & needed repairs & works to continue operating in good order, and may even require an overhaul or refurbishment, many times the labor of which can easily exceed the value of the thing being remade correctly to like new or better than new condition.
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