<prompt> Human: Im sort of flabbergasted. At my gym this morning, several people were discussing potential homes they were looking at in our area were outside of Portland Oregon, so relatively middle of the road cost of living. A 25 year old mentioned she and her new husband who with his family owns a multi-multi- million dollar apple orchard and nationwide apartments casually mentioned that most likely they will be purchasing a 2 million dollar home today. My other friend who is about my age mid-40s didnt even blink an eye, and discussed her house that she real estate book keeper and her husband police officer purchased for 800k 10 years ago !!!, and that 1.5 million seems to be the average budget for people around here.Im just sort of gobsmacked. Here I am living in my tiny little house with 4 people hoping in 2 years to scrape enough money and equity to buy something that will better fit the four of us, and to be honest 425k seems like a pipe dream. I am getting my MS right now and work in a very competitive field at a large company and I dont see a chance in hell for my income to qualify for anywhere NEAR where these people are looking at. So what is it - large inheritance? Lottery winnings? Creative financing? Im just sort of flabbergasted that in my peer group 1.5 million is considered an okay amount to look at as far as houses. And to be honest, pretty damn jealous too. Im trying to move past that and make this just be a motivation for me to work harder, but damn.  <response>: Dont try and compare yourself with people who are in a higher bracket than yourself. If they are making the same amount that you are, they will go bust having a mortgage that eats up more than 50 of their income. Keep working hard, and enjoy achieving your own goals. I too, wish I could own a 2mm house, but I cant.. so no bother worrying about it 