moved to Puget Sound with the higher base pay. We couldn't afford a junky, crappy house in So Cal with the $27K I was making at the time. With the move to Puget Sound - and then buying a small house a year later it worked out well for us. Now - after living here for almost 40 years - our cheap home is now way out of price range of young couples. I feel sorry for younger couples just starting out. But they may have to do what we did in moving to a cheaper place to get that first home.