Condos are fine, and is an efficient way to live. No backyard to mow, low maintenance. To each their own. I live in a house with a small back yard, and I tell ya, it’s a little too big, and the house isn’t big at all!

While I don’t agree with everything Robert Kiyosaki says, I did like a point he made in “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”: The Rich Dad lived in a very modest home and invested his wealth in money-making small businesses. He told Robert “if your home is your biggest investment, you’re a fool”. In other words, buy a modest home with low mortgage payments, so you have available money to invest in other things….

This may not be specific to San Francisco, but I’ve met several SoCal transplants to my state who look down on condo dwellers. They grew up in towns where the poor kids lived in apartments, and anyone with any money owned a house with a yard. Psychologically it’s ‘moving down’ to buy a reasonably priced condo, instead of buying a McMansion house. Payments be damned!