Vancouver (my city) is always rated as less affordable than every other Canadian or American city (except maybe NYC).  And yet somehow I am a homeowner (mortgage-holding, not outright) in the city of Vancouver proper (not in a cheap suburb), which I purchased when I was making the most I&#x27;d ever made in my life, $50k&#x2F;a (Vancouver junior dev salary around 2010).<p>What can we conclude from this?  The only conclusion <i>I</i> can reach is that <i>most</i> people who complain about not being able to afford real estate are merely people with unrealistic expectations about what type of home they &quot;need&quot;.  I just can&#x27;t make heads or tails of it otherwise.<p>Note: sure, <i>some</i> people really are locked out.  If you&#x27;re a 22yo single parent with no marketable skills and having to work 60 hours a week to feed your kids and etc-etc-etc, you&#x27;re authorized by me to complain about your real estate woes.