jillinnj that's a great link. It points out a factor that I think we keep missing here with our comparisons and justifiable rants. The tax on a property is relative to the income of the owner. The house highlighted in the original post has high property tax, but if the owner income is proportionate the taxes are not a burden. My original question was what do you pay as a *proportion* of income because I think that's a more realistic indicator of impact on lifestyle. I'm wondering if people in NJ, for example, are more likely to be house poor because of the ratio of income to tax or if the people in TN are living a relatively easier life with more *proportionately* discretionary income. Everything is relative. My DH could not earn the same income he currently does in a small town in TN but an equal house in terms of size and amenities would probably cost significantly less and be taxed far less. It *could* have a significant impact on lifestyle. Quality of life is a very subjective qualifier - I might hate small town life in TN or I might hate city life in NJ but I don't know of another way to get the same sense of what it costs to live where. Certainly there will always be very high incomes in low cost of living areas but not likely to be the norm. But in some places a property owner really has to be in a high income bracket nationally just to be able to afford housing. It's not easy to make this an apples to apples comparison.

That letter is a very accurate depiction of what it's like for most people breaking into the business. A friend of mine from HS was a successful broker who needed administrative support for her office when I was home on maternity leave with my 2nd child. She offered me a part time position with very flexible hours. I was going a little stir crazy being home and it gave me the opportunity to help her out and earn some money. This was in the early '80's when the market was hopping and lots of people got licenses and dove in to reap the rewards, i ended up going from part to full time managing the office. I had a good rapport with both customers and agents and people asked me all the time why I wasn't in sales. My quick response was that with 2 little ones I needed more structured hours than sales allowed. But all the things listed in that open letter became clear to me very shortly when I began working there. i know some folks who've spent decades in the business who've ridden all the economic cycles, have had great success and good home lives. But they are people who have been extraordinarily committed to the work and they're by far the exceptions. To do well and be happy in real estate I believe you need to be extremely detail oriented AND be someone who doesn't sweat the little things. Those traits are often at odds.

"“There are no bad guys in all this,” Goldman said of Carlyle and Plaza del Rey. “When I see people saying ‘It’s really expensive for me,’ I say if you’re not working in high tech, which requires you to be here, why are you here? If you’re here, you’re making a decision every minute you’re here that the cost of being here is worth it.” what an incredible idiotic thing to say. what if you feed the ones who work in high tech, teach their kids, nurse the sick and the elderly? A city can't exist if it's populated only by X people. It needs the whole alphabet array of folks functioning properly you know the numerous strikes of different unions in Jerusalem where I lived for many years showed me who's the really more important to the infrastructure-and you'd never tell. teachers-can go on strikes until everybody's blue( which they do. lol). nurses..reach agreements a bit faster. still might take a couple of weeks. i remember them being on strike even longer once. doctors-goes faster with them than with nurses city bus drivers-couple days and their requirements are met waste management? all it took was several hours of not picking the trash ..in 35 C heat. they were all set by the evening of that very day lol thank you for sharing that article..and I read each and every response with great interest here in Southern OC young families can be outbid for months in a row on the most affordable homes in 400s-500s and such..usually these will be small attached condos in okay parts of the cities with okay schools, nothing remotely fab. New construction-no lot, stupid layout, probably costs like our remodeled fixer upper( maybe including the cost of remodel)..tons of association fees, and I'm not even sure what these associations do Our condo we sold-yeah they were PITA sometimes with their constant repairs maintenance and beautifying..but on the other hand they did repair maintained and beautified:) (except for a big miss when they decided to paint exteriors a new color. without consulting me ahahaa. or anybody for that matter) The rental for my MIL is already approaching 2K for a tiny one bedroom apartment, built in 60s, nothing to look at, the complex looks like my life lol, maintained but not updated in any way, very basic, laundry outside(and you need to pay for it. the nerve of these people)..the only good thing about it is its location-close proximity to us, to shops, library, parks..especially to one of the parks that she loves that's several steps away. Gives her some independence, us-some peace of mind knowing that we can be there in 2 min pick her up for whatever, and she has her room in our place if needed. Still I remember coming here from Stamford CT where we lived, on and off, for seven years altogether, and being somewhat pleasantly surprised by the prices:) It was 2010. (some cities in CT are very upscale and look that part but Stamford even though it's right there surrounded by them, could use..I don't know..could use something LOL. Some revolutionary thought. Like, clean the damn ice in the winter?)

Ugh, im exhausted. Realtor just left . She was nice and very knowledgeable, but wow that was a lot of info all at once. Right now I need a valuation. She loved the house and the property, but what else would you expect her to say. Most helpful is that she is working with the township to determine the correct size of the lot, and if there is a possibility of subdivision. She also has contacts to sell the contents and clean it. Of course its a beautiful fall day and everything here looks gorgeous and I want to keep it. That isnt possible and it is waaay more house and property than i could ever manage.