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2002-06-13 | 10:01 a.m.

"If you want to live in Northern California, you know real estate values are outrageous, so for most of us in the middle class, you have to make a sacrifice somewhere," said Mitchell.

He added that nearly all first-time home buyers have done something extraordinary to afford a home here, whether it's borrowing $50,000 from relatives or selling a cherished family heirloom.

According to the California Association of Realtors, only about 17 percent of people in the Bay Area can afford to buy a median-priced home--which was $529,940 in April (not including condos or new homes).

The nationwide housing affordability index hovers around 57 percent; the median home price nationwide is $153,000.

First-time home buyers in the Bay Area are in a particular bind because even a starter home can cost well above $300,000. ... [San Francisco Chronicle, June 9, 2002]

This is why I will swallow my pride to stay in this house. I am not ready to move anywhere else, and I'm not in a position to buy. I really do need to win the lottery or write a best-selling book just to break in to the housing market. It is so crazy it is beyond crazy.

I will keep de-cluttering, work on building up my cleaning routines, make small repairs myself. I will slowly get to work on the garden. I will lose the piano. These things are not beyond me.

I started to say I will let other people's negativity roll off me, but that might be pushing it. Still, I will damn sure try to make that happen.

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