wrote in message

Somewhat affordable property still exists in SF proper. I have a friend
who paid $650 large for duplex in a choice location. It needed a bit of
work, but as pretty much move in ready. Of course, this was a few years
ago, so maybe things have changed.

I think a lot of nice, smaller homes can still be had for that sort of cash,
especially in Sunset or the area just over the hill from it, whatever it's
called. But that kind of money buys a deluxe executive home in the 4,500
sq. ft. range around here. Back in the mid-80s, a professor of mine moved
to Bloomington, IN (home of Indiana University) from an LA suburb. He sold
his house for $700K, The most expensive home for sale in Bloomington at
the time was only $350K, so he had to buy a condo in FL, too, to avoid
paying capital gains. What's really funny is that his Bloomington house was
double the size and far more luxurious than his LA home. He couldn't
believe it.

In Sausalito, the homes are in the
millions, but there are some slightly lower cost places to be bought or
rented.

I considered buying a fixer-upper in Sausalito back in '84. It was not
large, in poor condition, but had a fabulous view of Richardson Bay and
Belvedere. It was only $300K at the time and probably a mega-bargain. I
passed. We took a look at it last week, and it apparently was torn down and
a newer house of (I'm guessing) 2500 sq. ft. now sits in its place, no doubt
valued at $2million or so. Hindsight is 20/20.

Max