[quote=Hatfield]I’ve got several friends in the bay area as well as a brother, and they all say tech is going gangbusters. It’s like the late 90s all over again, and they’re having trouble hiring good engineers. The other interesting data point: a friend was looking buying a house or condo or some sort of ski getaway in the Tahoe area, and those prices are getting stratospheric as well. It’s all bay area tech money, apparently.[/quote]Hatfield, you may be aware that South Tahoe was on my retirement “short list.” If this is true, I won’t be able to purchase a place there for at least another year and could very well be “priced out.”

I was looking at 35-55 yo tract houses on generous lots in the middle of town on the busline. In October 2010, these houses were going for $175K to $275K. If the cash-rich “tech crowd” from SV is now interested in these houses, then they may end up being listed at far more than I want to pay.

Hopefully, this younger crowd wants condos in Stateline, NV or the more “luxurious” custom houses at the base of Heavenly or in more “exclusive” areas situated west and southwest of the CA Base.

It will be interesting to see what happens to the previously depressed SFR market in El Dorado County, CA. In any case, I won’t be ready to “retire” for another year to year and a half.