moving from Upstate NY to Upstate Cali -Salary (San Francisco, Oakland: condos, cheap house)

[rubu]

Hi All,

I am a software engineer...getting 76K now and got an offer for 110K and job is in Emeryville. What are you guys thought on this salary? is that acceptable offer? Thought? what are the good area to look for living? closer to Emeryville. Appreciate your help.

Thanks...

[roadwarrior101]

Probably about average, depending on your levels of experience. I wouldn't live in Emeryville...nice condos, but the area is sort of sketchy. I'd look at Berkeley, nicer areas of Oakland (such as Rockridge) or even parts of the city that are accessible by BART.

[mayorhaggar]

Really depends on what kind of lifestyle you want. It's plenty to live on if you're young and just want a 1 or 2 bedroom and live in Berkeley or maybe San Francisco and have a decent car and a decent commute. If you want to raise a family and buy a house then it will be tougher and you'd have to do a really long commute, frankly the Bay Area sucks for raising a family unless you're really wealthy.

[rubu]

Hi all...

thanks for the input....I am married and no kids...my wife is not working but planning to look for jobs when we move their. I am moving for my career and also for better job. I am going to be project manager role.

Any how I am willing to travel. I do not mind travelling at all if it reduce significant amount of cost. What are good neighborhoods to live if buying a house with considerable travel distance.

[mayorhaggar]

Depends on your housing budget. Since you don't have kids you don't have to worry about living in a good school district which will lower costs. Houses really vary in price in the Bay Area, you could find stuff for $250,000 to $600,000, and there's plenty of houses going for over a million. I'd look into El Cerrito, El Sobrante and Pinole. Hercules might be a good option but the city has really gone into debt with some dumb decisions which could really destroy it in the long term:

Hercules in hot water over financial records

And if you want something more urban, you could always buy a condo somewhere like Oakland which also has some cheap houses, though the nice parts of Oakland tend to have fairly expensive houses, like $600,000 and up for something basic. Mainly I'd look at areas near Emeryville and up around El Sobrante. Somewhere like Walnut Creek or Concord might be ok but you'd get bogged down in a lot of traffic driving in on Highway 24 though the Caldecott Tunnel. Concord is way cheaper for houses than Walnut Creek. Martinez or Pittsburg might work too if you find a cheap house in a nice neighborhood and don't mind the commute.

[rubu]

how about living in....

Pleasanton, Danville, San Ramon or Livermore?

[jade408]

Originally Posted by rubu

how about living in....

Pleasanton, Danville, San Ramon or Livermore?

They are nice suburbs. Newer homes than places like Oakland, Alameda, Albany and El Cerrito. But to be honest, you don't want to live in Danville to commute to Emeryville for sure. That would be a pain. San Ramon would be the northern limit on 680, and that isn't really ideal. (Lots of congestion points)

Dublin, Pleasanton are a much better commute to Emeryville. I also think Livermore is a bit too far (lots of traffic).

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by rubu

Hi All,

I am a software engineer...getting 76K now and got an offer for 110K and job is in Emeryville. What are you guys thought on this salary? is that acceptable offer? Thought? what are the good area to look for living? closer to Emeryville. Appreciate your help.

Thanks...

I'd say that's a reasonable salary for a mid-career developer who has a college education (Bachelor's or Master's.)

As an outsider, best place to know what salary you should be requesting is to go to glassdoor.com, put in your job title (be sure to differentiate between junior, mid, or senior) and location. Take the average or median of all the results (there will be a wide range).