Moving to the Bay Area?

[MrCassdin]

There are tons of jobs in my field there, more than where I am and the salaries are better.

My question is, can I live there on say 125K/year? I know that's a broad question. I have two kids, and a wife who is finishing school. Presumably the wife would add another 75-85k once she finishes school.

Looking at rent and homes, it's not pretty. $750K for a typical family home in a decent area.

I would have approx 100K in cash from the sale of my home going into the move. What things are there to consider? What areas should I look at? Assume I will work in Silicon Valley. I have three cars but could go down to 1 if public transit is decent?

Looking for insight. Thank you in advance.

 

[Pheran]

You cannot say the salaries are better unless you've already adjusted for the cost of living. If the salary is 20% higher but the cost of living is 40% higher, you just took a pay cut. Real estate prices there are pretty insane so research carefully.

 

[marincounty]

You can live there on $125k , but it's not going to be high-end . Consider all of the other people making big money in Silicon Valley.
Public transit is horrible. Hold onto your car. Prepare for horrible traffic.
The bright side, you won't be in Pennsylvania.

 

[Imported]

It really depends where you would live and work. Your cost of living wouldn't be horrible living in say.. Tracy/Manteca and commuting. But that's a 2hr+ commute each way which is brutal. But if you worked in Palo Alto and wanted to live there, expect to pay $3k minimum for any 2BD apartment. Ditto the surrounding areas like Menlo Park or Mountain View.

My only experience with the public transportation here is Caltrain and Bart. I live within walking distance of a Caltrain station and work within walking distance of another so my experience isn't the norm. I still drive though.

 

[smackababy]

According to the first online calculator I pulled up, making $125k in SF is similar to making $90k in Chicago. So, definitely doable. It seems like housing is 118% higher, on average. And that is incredible, considering Chicago isn't exactly cheap in the housing department.

 

[lytalbayre]

How old are your kids? Are you paying for your wife's schooling?

Not sure what you base expenses are.

If you are looking at just food and rent car travel/maintenance, then your salary is going to be fine. As others said its middle of the road, so don't expect to live like a baller.

With your wife earning money and you guys bringing in $200K, you are good to go for sure.

As far as buying goes, I would rent at first until you know the areas well, the school districts well, and know what you can really afford. Just rent in a nice area.

Houses out here are crazy expensive and you get so little...

also, welcome to the drought...

 

[Leyawiin]

Totally feasible. Keep two cars - you'll need them anywhere save for The City. Budget about 3.5K for rent (run-of-the-mill older subdivision home in SJ). You're not going to live a lavish lifestyle, but its fine.

 

[tfinch2]

What's your field? There may be another part of the country that has a ton of jobs for your field that is more affordable.

 

[zinfamous]

certainly doable on that salary. Quite easy, actually.

You aren't going to be living in the city, though. Or Palo Alto

 

[MrCassdin]

Kids are 5 and 1. We don't have any debt but our mortgage and student loans at the moment, cars are paid for.

3K for rent doesn't seem absolutely terrible, but it is double my current mortgage payment on my 3,400 square foot house. I have to admit the housing situation looks rather bleak.

I work in IT (could I be more vague, I know...). I have job prospects in Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and Redwood City so far. Presumably I could end up working anywhere in that area.

What about Fremont? Is the traffic any better hitting Silicon Valley from the south or east? How about prices/crime there?

 

[kyrax12]

Which part of the bay area?

 

[Dirigible]

I wouldn't move to silicon valley.

The obscene housing prices dwarf the salary bump. Traffic sucks. Public transit is quite limited. Silicon valley is a big boring suburb.

That's coming from someone who lives in the bay area and loves it here.

Job opportunities in tech are indeed abundant though.

 

[Drako]

Yes, easily doable on 125K.

Just like most places, there will be areas that you will not be able to afford a house. Don't even think about Atherton for example.

 

[zinfamous]

Kids are 5 and 1. We don't have any debt but our mortgage and student loans at the moment, cars are paid for.

3K for rent doesn't seem absolutely terrible, but it is double my current mortgage payment on my 3,400 square foot house. I have to admit the housing situation looks rather bleak.

I work in IT (could I be more vague, I know...). I have job prospects in Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and Redwood City so far. Presumably I could end up working anywhere in that area.

What about Fremont? Is the traffic any better hitting Silicon Valley from the south or east? How about prices/crime there?

Redwood City might be the most "affordable." But as you are already seeing, be prepared for rents double the mortgages you are now familiar with. Also look into Menlo Park.

Freemont prices are going higher and higher, because it's the midpoint for a lot of couples/families working on either end of the Bay--SV and SF/East Bay.

how to describe traffic anywhere, in any direction, at all times, on every day: bad

 

[zinfamous]

Yes, easily doable on 125K.

Just like most places, there will be areas that you will not be able to afford a house. Don't even think about Atherton for example.

He can live "across the train tracks" (El Camino Real) in Menlo Park!

 

[Drako]

He can live "across the train tracks" (El Camino Real) in Menlo Park!

Parts of Atherton are on the horrible north side of El Camino Real

 

[zinfamous]

I wouldn't move to silicon valley.

The obscene housing prices dwarf the salary bump. Traffic sucks. Public transit is quite limited. Silicon valley is a big boring suburb.

That's coming from someone who lives in the bay area and loves it here.

Job opportunities in tech are indeed abundant though.

I agree with the ketchup-lover on this. It is hard to adjust to the day to day life requirements out here. Yes, SV is a giant suburban snore (unless you like that sort of thing) and I would avoid it. But the commute is rather long.

PT isn't horrible, it's just not the best example of such in the US.

 

[theeedude]

There are tons of jobs in my field there, more than where I am and the salaries are better.

My question is, can I live there on say 125K/year? I know that's a broad question. I have two kids, and a wife who is finishing school. Presumably the wife would add another 75-85k once she finishes school.

Looking at rent and homes, it's not pretty. $750K for a typical family home in a decent area.

I would have approx 100K in cash from the sale of my home going into the move. What things are there to consider? What areas should I look at? Assume I will work in Silicon Valley. I have three cars but could go down to 1 if public transit is decent?

Looking for insight. Thank you in advance.

$750K for a typical home is basically going to limit you to San Jose. Even Santa Clara is in 800K+ selling price range now. Things may list for less, but there is usually a bidding war.
$125K per year with wife and two kids is doable, but don't expect much.
If you can get $100K anywhere else (except NYC) you will have a higher standard of living. But there may be more opportunities for promotions and entrepreneurship here. It's only worth moving here if you will take full advantage of them.

 

[Tommy2000GT]

$125k is doable.

The people who complain $125k is povety are the google/facebook workers who insist to live in the Mission District and pay $4000/mo to share an apartment.

 

[TridenT]

Lol, unless you net $125k/yr, it is going to not be enough for you, your wife, and 2 kids. You will live in a small apartment. (Which will swallow 50% of your income on just rent)

Going from a 3400sqft house will be very difficult and you will have to seriously downsize in every aspect of your life.

If you don't want to save for retirement and not have good financial security (big financial buffer and so forth) then SF sounds right up your alley. You'll be struggling on that budget with two kids. I know $100k/yr in SF nets you $63.6k/yr. So maybe you'll net 80k/yr.

That's enough for one person or a couple but I don't think having two kids makes that easy.

 

[Slew Foot]

So youre basically looking at mid peninsula and south. Your best housing prospects are going to be in the east bay and commuting over a bridge. Fremont/Union City/Hayward arent exactly the ritz but you can find something doable for 750K. Realistically, in the peninsula, a single family home that isnt in the hood or near a train track is going to be a million bucks to start. Traffic will suck, taxes will sucks, liberals tacking on fees for every little thing they can think of will suck, but thats life in the bay area.

If your work is near a Caltrain Station, you can look into south San Jose and take the train in.

 

[CountZero]

125k is doable if you don't care about schools but once you factor in schools rent/buying both go up a lot.

You could rent and see where you want to live but the flip side to that is that housing prices have been sky rocketing so waiting a year could price you out of some areas completely.

I live in San Jose, not the cheapest area but nowhere near most of the pennisula in price, and I pay ~$2500 for two bedrooms ~1150 sq ft. Wife was looking online and found that there was no other place as cheap on the pennisula without dropping to ~900 sq ft.

Once your wife is working you will be fine. Don't touch the 100k, you'll want it for down payment.

It is a massive suburban sprawl but as far as suburbs go I find it to be one of the best I've been to. It is massively massively expensive though. Don't want to dissuade someone from going but if you aren't going to take advantage of living in the Bay Area (ie if you are a home body kind of person) then I would definitely think long and hard about it.

 

[SSSnail]

Consider the running joke around here is ”$100K is minimum wage”, plan accordingly.

Now thinking about it, it's not really a joke

 

[Imported]

We lived in South San Jose.. 2BD with 1050ish sq ft. was under $2200 at the time. Moved to Mountain View last year to spend more on a smaller 1BD. Moving to Palo Alto next month.. bigger, cheaper and closer to work though not as luxurious. The trade off to not deal with traffic on 85/101/280 was worth it. We spoke with a mortgage guy a few weeks ago to see where we're at. Looking good for a purchase in a couple years.. small part of me hopes the market crashes a bit. :\

 

[maddogchen]

$2500 rent for a 900 SQ foot apartment 2 bedroom. It's doable but do you want to downgrade?