Meritocracy

[bae]

Visionary geniuses who figured out better ways to order pizza on your phone. And their lawyers.

But what if *I* decide SF is a great place to live and want housing there?

[LDAHL]

But what if *I* decide SF is a great place to live and want housing there?

You would need to outbid one of the geniuses for housing. You could try getting permission to build a new place, but the permitting process might exceed your remaining lifespan.

[iris lilies]

Y

Things are definitely more competitive and driven. Look at the recent celebrity scandal where college admissions people were bribed to get their unqualified children into selective schools. When I worked for the Board of Education, the high school principal would bemoan to me that parents would storm his office insisting that he give their child an A+ instead of an A so their chances at Ivy League wouldn't be diminished.

My own daughter was an achiever in academics, captain of the soccer team, winner of a state golf tournament, and even in movies and Broadway plays, and she was denied admission to 3 colleges, waitlisted for one, and accepted by one.

And, ironically, it's the college-educated millennials having a hard time finding jobs, and to save my life I can't find a plumber, electrician, or carpenter who has time for me.

To play devils advocate, I bet she wasn’t trying to get in the State U was she?

[pinkytoe]

I keep wondering who is buying expensive houses. We are thinking about moving again in a year or so but I am watching prices rise in any place that is the least bit desirable. We won't be able to afford anything comparable to what we are in now even though ours has gone up too. DD just bought what I consider an expensive house ($500+K) which is still making my head spin at the thought of it.

[catherine]

Y


To play devils advocate, I bet she wasn’t trying to get in the State U was she?

No, two of my sons went to Rutgers. She applied to Boston College, Vassar, Skidmore, Brandeis, and American. She was waitlisted for Skidmore and got into American. In 1970 I applied for Boston College and got in... she didn't.

[JaneV2.0]

I keep wondering who is buying expensive houses. We are thinking about moving again in a year or so but I am watching prices rise in any place that is the least bit desirable. We won't be able to afford anything comparable to what we are in now even though ours has gone up too. DD just bought what I consider an expensive house ($500+K) which is still making my head spin at the thought of it.

I swear I heard my neighbor's house went for $900,000K, but I can't be sure of that and it sounds ridiculously high. I remember when a friend and her husband bought a house in Portland for $500K some years ago, and the figure seemed astronomical at the time. These are head-spinning figures to me. I can find older condos for sale for around $350K, which seems reasonable, considering.

[Gardnr]

We bought for 91,500 back in 1991. Our neighbor just paid 408k. It's 400sf larger...but really? The market is ridiculous. Across town, on a very busy street, a new build went for $550k and under 2000sf. It is nuts here!

[Tammy]

Anything over 200,000 scares me. A decade ago anything over 100,000 scared me. It’s just a house.

[razz]

Rentals are so hard to find these days so as long as the mortgage rates stay low, it pays to buy to have a roof over one's head and build up some equity. When and if the rates spiral up, it will be challenging.

[Teacher Terry]

The average price here is 420.