@James Michael Few, I live in the heart of the Silicon Valley and you’re tech example is comparing apples to oranges.

For years I had an office in Silicon Valley when it rained our office got wet.

Silicon Valley appreciation is almost limitless2.

Joel, welcome aboard.The BP podcasts are a gold mine of information.I too am based in the insolvent state of CA (Silicon Valley). 

He got to keep the car when we lost everything at the Silicon crash because it was paid for in cash. 

Coming from Silicon Valley used to look at dual income high tech professionals your principle mortgage is slightly higher than borrowers from Apple, Google or Facebook at 300-400K per year.

Being in the Silicon Valley, I am in the tech industry, working as an engineer.  

(SILICON VALLEY)Silicon Valley is the nation’s largest tech hub, a top-performing venture capital market and one of the most prominent locations for startups.

Kind of the opposite of Silicon Valley, where the cash flow stinks but appreciation has been outrageous.The list of links posted by @Dmitriy Fomichenko is a great start for a beginner to the site (or a beginner to REI). 

Austin is now a destination city, dubbed Silicon Hills for its tech industry.