I don't know how you're coming to that conclusion. 200k's not going to buy you a large house, but it'll comfortably pay rent/food/savings for a 2-3 bedroom hous

I don't know how you're coming to that conclusion. 200k's not going to buy you a large house, but it'll comfortably pay rent/food/savings for a 2-3 bedroom house or apartment for a family of 2-4 in all but the very most expensive parts of the Bay. For mortgages, you'd need to be looking in the cheaper parts of the Bay, but that still means "dense, boring suburb" as opposed to "crime-ridden slum".