alt Hacker NewsThey didn't say the $575k was stretching, or that it was the current value of the home. Just that it was the price when they bought it, and presumably they couldn't find something nearly as nice in a dense city without paying significantly more.
In any case, you asked why people are concerned about being "zoned for good schools" and why that would be obvious to Americans, and I think I explained it to you: making sure their kids are surrounded by the "right" peers who will pressure them into the "right" behaviors is a high priority for a lot of people, particularly in the professional-managerial class. They generally won't word it that way because overt classism is uncouth, but that's what they mean when you think about it. Obviously that's not a concern you have (it's also not "showing off" to live in an expensive area; everyone around you will necessarily also live in an expensive area...).
> They didn't say the $575k was stretching
Not explicitly, but they indicated that for them to move into the downtown they would require the price to be the same or less. That necessarily implies that $575k is the stretch point. If they had a $1-5M budget, we could have looked at downtown homes in that price range too.
> Just that it was the price when they bought it
That is what it said, but as the mortgage sits at 30 years it is likely that it was purchased recently. Yes, perhaps it is technically possible that he has owned it for 30 years already and just remortgaged it for another 30, or that it was a 40 year mortgage initially, but these are unlikely scenarios. If the commenter is concerned about any detail inaccuracy, he can provide an update.
> it's also not "showing off" to live in an expensive area
I mean, fair enough. Growing up in a rural area that was home to many big-co CEOs and professional athletes who were clearly showing off their extensive fortunes, it's apparent that the real flex is getting as far away from the city as possible. But at the same time I don't expect these houses of which you speak are exactly crack shacks either. Would you not say that they were very nice homes? Nicer than what the janitor at the school lives in? Location, location, location. I get it. However, $5M buys a lot more than just location in a suburb.
But it remains that it would be showing off for me. What useful functionality would a $1-5M home offer that I don't already have in my current home?