My brother just bought a house. Yes, despite everyone’s fears, it is possible, even in today’s economy and with one parent in kollel, to scrimp and save and finally find an actual affordable house, which, thanks to today’s housing market, is not really bigger than his basement apartment. His apartment has three bedrooms, depending on your definition of a bedroom. The house, meanwhile, is advertised as four bedrooms, but that’s because the people who lived there before him did not see the need for a dining room. (Non-Jews dine like once a year. The rest of the year they just eat.) The only thing he’s gaining I think is a yard. And a basement, but he has a basement.