[the invisib1e hand]

In our area, you can rent an okay 2 bedroom apt (not great, but okay) for $700 a month.

You could do that in most civilized American cities about 25 years ago.

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

$700 a month? In central PA you can rent a really nice house for half that! Yes, $350 a month will get you a house, garage, 3 bedrooms or more, plus most utilities — in a nice neighborhood. You can buy a foreclosure in Youngstown OH, Pittsburgh PA, Buffalo NY or Birmingham AL for ten times $350.
My mother used to invest in real estate and help people down on their luck, to relocate to places they could start fresh. She taught me that for most of them, the only thing really standing in their way was lack of imagination: when they think they can’t, they can’t, and when they think that where they are is where they will always be, it is.