2 ms·

Well, it isn't below market if he thinks he shouldn't be able to afford a house. If he does, than it is.

• twblalock 10y ago
  Being able to afford a house has nothing to do with what a market-rate salary is. Your market-rate salary is the salary the market is willing to pay for your labor. Nothing more, and nothing less. It has nothing to do with the kind of lifestyle the salary will enable you to have, or the things you will be able to afford.
  • someguydave 10y ago
    >Your market-rate salary is the salary the market is willing to pay for your labor. Yes, I understand this. I mean that people are bidding lower than they should - they get fewer goods and services than they could have gotten in cheaper locations with their Bay Area salaries. This artificially low bid can be understood as people paying to live in the Bay Area (and therefore take a salary that buys fewer goods and services than elsewhere). In so doing they are granting a subsidy to their employers who would otherwise pay higher wages to location-indifferent laborers. Why they are motivated to pay to live in the Bay Area is a mystery to me.
    • twblalock 10y ago
      > Why they are motivated to pay to live in the Bay Area is a mystery to me. Owning a McMansion isn't everything. The Bay Area has more to offer in terms of job opportunities, career advancement, culture, and general quality of life than most metropolitan areas in America. Besides, successful engineers are doing just fine here, and many have no problem affording to buy houses.