Careful: don't be hipnotized by big numbers

People in California tend to get hipnotized by giant numbers. They are so accustomed to see price tag like 1 million, 1.5 million and even 2.5 million for a regular house. Therefore, they tend to think like this: if everybody bid this price, it must be reasonable. This phenomenon is called "hipnotization". It may blind people of their valuation system. When they arrive in lower priced region, like, Las Vegas, they will proclaim that "I can't believe the price is so so cheap...!". But if we step back, Las Vegas' 350K house is not cheap at all, even for a high income family making 200K. 350K house is simply affordable, but by no means "cheap".

I need to remind people that there is a huge difference between a loan principal of 500K and 800K. 500K may not break you when bad times hit, but 800K may. Therefore, when it comes to applying for a loan, don't get carried away with giant number hipnosis.

Afterall, people need to be mindful that salary in Bay area is not too much higher than other regions in the country. Google and YouTude are simply exceptions. Most people in BA work for regular salaries.