mgub I am puzzled where something being “fair” is a pertinent observation.
We are all frustrated and the situation regarding socal real estate is emotional. Yet not everything is fair. I went to a BBQ the other day and had a burger with a big guy that started sandiegojobsummit.com out of his garage. He got bought out by jobbing almost a year ago and he is now buying the home on Barrywood in Scripps that I looked at, loved and could not even come close to affording it.
Fair or not fair, you make what you can. Be prudent, save, work hard, try to be innovative.
One thing for sure, out of all the wealthy people I have met very very few of them did it by working a company job. They did it through their own means, through investments, through being creative and driven. They took chances, some failed only to come back and succeed.
None of them gave up because of the rules of the game.