I just talked to a classmate who earned a Ph.D, from Princeton. He moved from NJ to CA in 2000. They sold all their stocks at peak to put down payment for their 800K house. Earlier this year, he moved to east coast for a manager's job and sold his house. He did not tell me how much he got for his house. But in 5 years, I would guess it would be about 1.2 Million.
Why count $10K or $20K when you are making $400K or $500K every 5 years?