Here is one more for your list of amazing real estate options that are cheaper than a San Francisco apartment: You can now buy an entirevillage in Spain for less than a down payment on a house in Bayview. 

As NPR reports, Spain's lush Galician landscape is home to bucolic ghost towns that have been abandoned by locals in search of more urban settings. 

The village of O Penso, for example, is situated on 100 acres of land and is comprised of six houses, two barns, and room for 70 cattle. You and your whole family can eat steak for life, and also enjoy free water from the well (what drought?) and try your hand at making Josey Baker's bread in the bakery with a stone hearth. Just six miles away, verdant cliffs drop off onto white sand beaches known for some of Europe's best surfing.

The biggest of the village houses has hardwood floors and five bedrooms overlooking an orchard with peaches, figs, walnuts, apples, and pears. At the bottom of the valley, there's a little river full of trout sure to please the pescatarians.

The asking price for the whole village is not only less than a down payment on most Bay Area homes—about $230,000—it is also "negotiable"...as in, there's definitely no need to offer cash at over asking. If you're one of those humble types and just need one home, that's selling for $5,600 (about the same price as two year's worth of cocktails). 

Ready to trade in your studio for true farm-to-table living? Here's a reminder of what $230,000 will get you in the Bay Area. 

This one bedroom, one bath home in East Oakland features wall-to-wall carpeting and a single ceiling fan. 

Have fun in Spain!  

Oh, and here are more fabulous/depressing European castles and private islands that probably cost less than where you currently live.