[fyi80]

200K income, you can easily afford to allocate 25% of that to a mortgage interest (plus 10% for principal, taxes, etc), $50K/year

3.5% mortgage -> 50K/yr * 100% / 3.5%/yr = $1.5M house price

interest rates are so low these days, you can spend 50% more on principal for the same interest, compared to 2006 when rates were ~6.25%.

[BillSaysThis]

$1.5M doesn't really buy a lot of house in Atherton, at least more than a block or two from El Camino Real.

[auctiontheory]

In going from $200K*0.25 = $50K, you forgot about personal income tax.

And houses here cost more than $1.5M.

(Side note: I was surprised to learn that private schools around here are $30K+/year!)