Considering a move to the Bay Area? Am I making a big mistake
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bohemianguy
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I have been looking to move to the bay area ( extended family lives there, tired of the weather on the East Coast , etc.) for some time and recently got an offer from a company in the East Bay region. ( Pleasant Hill, Concord area) . It seems like a good package but I have a wife and a five year old son so getting a home in a safe town with a solid school district is important. The package is 180k base with a potential 15% bonus at the end of the year . They are also throwing in a 40k relocation amount ( after taxes) to cover moving costs.
I have a decent job here (160k and a 10% bonus ) and own a home in a good school district . My wife is a stay at home mom and is not looking to get a job in California. I was hoping that someone who has had some experience relocating to the Bay Area or knows the area well could help me out and provide their thoughts on whether I am making a mistake and could end up with much worse quality of life in the Bay Area. I am getting a salary bump of a little over 10% from where I am and looks like my bonus potential would also go up but some of the real estate prices are scary . Thanks in advance . |
Anonymous
| I don't think you are getting enough of a pay bump for the COL increase. |
Anonymous
| What pp said. |
Anonymous
| Go, go run like the wind. Get out of this Type A, driven madhouse here! Protect yourself from pre-mature aging, cancer, illness, and Vitamin D deficiency! |
Anonymous
| Try house hunting, you will get your answer. Double the commute time from what Google says during peak hours (e.g., if it say 40 min for 15 miles it means 80 min). |
Anonymous
| It can be done, but your money will not go as far here. Look online at houses and you will see. You will not likely find a school district you are happy with in that price range that is a reasonable commute, but you might. |
Anonymous
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It's doable on that income, but you will take a hit in quality of life if you are currently in DC on $160K. I would be looking for a salary of closer to $200K (plus any bonuses) to make it worth moving. Most of that difference will go straight to housing. (The other costs of living are not that different, but housing and taxes are a doozy.)
Pleasant Hill itself is lovely if you like suburbia and has strong schools, so if the job is near there, that's where I'd be looking to live, just so that you can get a sense of housing costs. |
Anonymous
Lol, loads of Californians have Vit D deficiency! |
Anonymous
But the rest is accurate. ? |
Anonymous
| If you're working in pleasant hill/concord area, your commute will be easy. Danville, Lafayette, and Walnut Creek have good schools. I'd leave the rat race of D.C. behind in a hot second. |
Anonymous
Where do you find non type A in Bay Area, If they can afford to buy a house? |
Anonymous
| If you can accept having a much smaller house, then you can do it. Walnut Creek schools are considered good. |
Anonymous
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Unfortunately you are priced out of Lafayette (and Moraga and Orinda) and Danville at $180K unless you have considerable equity in your current house that can bump up your downpayment. You're looking at around a $1M price point assuming a $200K downpayment and payments of ~30% of income for at least 3BR. Search for listings at $900K or below to get houses that will close around $1M. Consider whether you can go down to 2BR, which will give you more options.
That puts you in parts of Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek; watch specific school zones carefully for both as there's a lot of variability. Benicia might also be worth exploring, though I don't know how that commute is. |
Anonymous
My impression is the Bay Area has become worse than NYC in the way of ruthless money and status seeking culture. You need to go to Humboldt or something. |
Anonymous
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I would move for the family and the weather, but East Bay has its own issues; it’s crazy crazy hot in summer and wildfires are growing risk (poor air quality for weeks).
The salary is a step down, so if happy with townhouses and living more ‘outside’ It’s a good trade off. |