Would you move to San Fran area if offered a job that pays 50k more?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Stop exaggerating. Millions of people live in the Bay Area and they don’t all make.500k

I am moving out of the bay area now. Most of my friends make less than 500k HHI. Many make less than we do. We cannot afford to buy here in a decent area. All of my friends bought when the market was much lower. Cupertino has like zero in common with SF, you are talking suburbs. Endless suburbs. Some have cute little downtowns (mine does) but it isn't like living in the city. I have friends who are trying desperately to renovate or add on, or even get a rotten deck removed and replaced, and it is very, very hard to find a contractor now. One of my friends wants to add a bathroom and redo her kitchen, and it will cost more than they paid for their house to begin with! The prices are so high now that the property taxes are significant on homes. When you have to pay 1.6 million then you are talking 11k per year in property taxes.

OP, it is very difficult to find rental houses if you are not here now. There is a housing shortage. If you have any pets, it is even more difficult. The rental market is very competitive (like the real estate market) and many places get listed and have 20-40 applicants within the first 24 hours. Be sure to negotiate temporary housing and, if you can, a housing subsidy for the first two years. I have known people who were able to get those things. FOR SURE you want to the temporary housing. You will really have to be HERE to rent something, unless you are going with a giant apartment complex where you are renting sight unseen. You also may think that you are going to get a great unit for the premium price you will pay - ha ha. Maybe. When we rented sight unseen, we had carpet that should have been replaced.

We gave notice on our apartment, and it was already taken before I even saw it get listed on their website as available. My neighbors moved to a new place a month ago, and the unit was turned over to a new family within 3 days. Just for reference, we are in a safe area on the peninsula, pets are allowed, we have a one car garage and a parking spot, 2/2, and we were paying $3650/mo. 960 sq ft. There is no rent control in most towns (SF has some rent controlled units). A several hundred dollar/mo increase each year is not surprising.

Just make a real plan for housing. Housing is the hard part. This is a beautiful area and people are very nice, but traffic is horrendous.

I would have thought they'd be higher. In Atlanta, $4,000 - 4,500 for property taxes on a $450,000 home would be typical. Or $32,000 on a $2.6 million home.

Atlanta (Fulton County) has high property taxes. My 900k home in dc is 5k per year in property taxes. It’s assessed at 750k.

[Anonymous]

My FIL has a 3 bed, 2 bath small home in the Bay Area that would go on the market for $2 million if he sold it today. Then multiple bids would come in, and the price would escalate from there. It's almost expected that buyers will offer cash and wave the inspection. It's nuts.

I wouldn't do it.

[Anonymous]

Not sure that's enough of a bump.

[Anonymous]

I would not move for that! There are a lot of great things about SF, but housing costs are much higher. Taxes are worse. Schools are mediocre or worse. It's really only viable if you're super rich.

[Anonymous]

I would not move for that! There are a lot of great things about SF, but housing costs are much higher. Taxes are worse. Schools are mediocre or worse. It's really only viable if you're super rich.

Not really. Schools in Cupertino, Los Gatos, and Saratoga are fantastic. There are a few schools in San Jose that are good too. Leland in Almaden is very good though San Jose Unified is a larger system. Most people are not super rich. The spending is just different. People put much more of their budget into their houses. People do not take expensive European vacations. They go camping in one of California's national parks. They don't eat out all the time. They don't spend much on clothing. Its just a different set of things.

Real estate is insane. Living in Cupertino will cost you 2M to buy a tiny house. You might find a TH/condo for 1.5 but the HOA fees will be high. OP - are you going to be working from home while your spouse is working in Cupertino? Is she working for Apple? If she doesn't mind spending time on a bus, Apple runs its own commuter buses down to Scotts Valley. Its more affordable. Its about half way between Los Gatos and Santa Cruz. Other far out options are Morgan Hill but its hot down there.

You can find smaller houses in Almaden for under 1.5M.

Childcare is expensive. If your kids are young, you could consider some of the areas down town. They schools are bad but the real estate is set to sky rocket as Google is building a huge village near the Diderion station.

If you are brave, buy something very tiny and plan to renovate later or sell and move. The appreciation in the south bay area is astonishing.

[Anonymous]

I just filled out a COL calculator. Your $190K equates to $261K in SF. So, you will be going there, and, no two ways about it. You will need to cut back your lifestyle.
Here are some details:
housing, increase of 65%
health care, increase 33%
utilities, up 15%
transport, up 27%
groceries, up 9%
And do not forget about state income tax of, ready, 13.5%. I grew up there; it is beautiful, but, you really need to go into this realistically. I might still do it, if I felt my future prospects were going to zoom higher. Otherwise, expect a big adjustment.

[Anonymous]

Except the big tech companies have amazing health insurance coverage so health care costs may not increase. Utilities are high but again you use less.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, common sense suggests a boost of $50,000 isn't sufficient given COL, especially housing, in San Francisco. So to answer your questions, no, I or my spouse would not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Schools in Cupertino, Los Gatos, and Saratoga are fantastic.

I think what would be more accurate is that those school districts have extremely high test scores and don't have gang problems. They have very high workloads and the students are intensely competitive. The work is not more challenging, but it is high volume. There are a lot of academically focuses families so kumon, russian math, etc is a big deal, and if you want your kid to be in the high ability tracking for math, you need to have them in those outside classes.

And of course the art, music, computer class, etc is all funded by parent donations, the same as anywhere else here.

[Anonymous]

Sure, you don't have any kids yet so go for it. As others have said it will open up many doors. We lived in SF for a year while my husband worked for a start up and it opened up tons of doors for him career wise. I don't think you could be comfortable in that area on that income, but I would say definitely go for it temporarily.

[Anonymous]

Schools in Cupertino, Los Gatos, and Saratoga are fantastic.

I think what would be more accurate is that those school districts have extremely high test scores and don't have gang problems. They have very high workloads and the students are intensely competitive. The work is not more challenging, but it is high volume. There are a lot of academically focuses families so kumon, russian math, etc is a big deal, and if you want your kid to be in the high ability tracking for math, you need to have them in those outside classes.

And of course the art, music, computer class, etc is all funded by parent donations, the same as anywhere else here.

Did/do you live here? I have heard that Cupertino is more intense. Los Gatos and Saratoga not super intense and while students care about academics it isn't competitive. STEM is big out here and the elementary schools have lots of science and engineering. The work out here seems easier to the kids because its clearer. The assignments aren't worded or set up in a way that is almost intentionally confusing. Grading is absolutely harder out here and teachers grade the work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd much rather live in the Bay Area and have to live more modestly than live in SS in a 4 bedroom house.

SF transplant here. "Modestly" is not the word. Living amongst filth and drug addicts modest. It's much easier without a family. I'm at a tech company and had people reporting to me making 150k/yr, 35yrs old with roomates, not by choice, but by necessity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Except the big tech companies have amazing health insurance coverage so health care costs may not increase. Utilities are high but again you use less.

What? I work for one of these companies and this is absolutely not true. They are no better or worse than any other large corporation. If you are part of the elite, you get lucrative RSUs and that's what is amazing, unless you consider a pinball machine and xbox in the break room amazing benefits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just filled out a COL calculator. Your $190K equates to $261K in SF. So, you will be going there, and, no two ways about it. You will need to cut back your lifestyle.
Here are some details:
housing, increase of 65%
health care, increase 33%
utilities, up 15%
transport, up 27%
groceries, up 9%
And do not forget about state income tax of, ready, 13.5%. I grew up there; it is beautiful, but, you really need to go into this realistically. I might still do it, if I felt my future prospects were going to zoom higher. Otherwise, expect a big adjustment.

Aldo, because COL is so high all personal services are higher like haircuts, taking your pet to the vet, car repairs...ect are much more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Schools in Cupertino, Los Gatos, and Saratoga are fantastic.

I think what would be more accurate is that those school districts have extremely high test scores and don't have gang problems. They have very high workloads and the students are intensely competitive. The work is not more challenging, but it is high volume. There are a lot of academically focuses families so kumon, russian math, etc is a big deal, and if you want your kid to be in the high ability tracking for math, you need to have them in those outside classes.

And of course the art, music, computer class, etc is all funded by parent donations, the same as anywhere else here.

Did/do you live here? I have heard that Cupertino is more intense. Los Gatos and Saratoga not super intense and while students care about academics it isn't competitive. STEM is big out here and the elementary schools have lots of science and engineering. The work out here seems easier to the kids because its clearer. The assignments aren't worded or set up in a way that is almost intentionally confusing. Grading is absolutely harder out here and teachers grade the work.

I live here now! Are your kids older?