Plans to move to SF / Bay Area (San Francisco, San Mateo: apartments, renting)

[sav858]

Originally Posted by mulliganx

Commuting time should be between 30 to 45 minutes. 60 minutes is a possibility,

Commuting time to WHERE?

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

Bottom line there are no suburbs here equivalent to "good" Long Island, "middle class" Westchester, "nice" inner Rockland or suburban NE NJ.

Here you are either in a "high end" Westchester or "bad" NE NJ / LI.

Classic example to contrast with the reality on the ground here:

10 Hickory Hill Road, Tappan, NY For Sale | Trulia.com

[jade408]

Sorry OP, you have been priced out of the Bay Area. You need to give up about 2 things on your list and you might find something. It sounds harsh, but it is true.

Also where you want to commute to is extremely critical information. You have slightly better hope if you want to commute to SF. But if you want to commute to Menlo Park, Santa Clara, Redwood City, Cupertino, Mountain View or similar, then the answer is no. Unless you add to your commute, around 75 minutes.

[mulliganx]

MillBrae and San Mateo look nice and look to be in the "high end" area, however I am thrown off by the average household incomes and the cost of housing (unless real estate has jumped up that dramatically recently). Average incomes show between $80k - $95k, whereas the homes are selling in the 1 million - 2.5 million range. Our HHI is slightly above $150k however the cost of homes in these specific areas are priced at a higher HHI in my opinion.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by mulliganx

MillBrae and San Mateo look nice and look to be in the "high end" area, however I am thrown off by the average household incomes and the cost of housing (unless real estate has jumped up that dramatically recently). Average incomes show between $80k - $95k, whereas the homes are selling in the 1 million - 2.5 million range. Our HHI is slightly above $150k however the cost of homes in these specific areas are priced at a higher HHI in my opinion.

There are a large number of people who have lived in those areas for decades long before prices went through the roof, hence the lower than expected median income. Where will you be working?

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by mulliganx

MillBrae and San Mateo look nice and look to be in the "high end" area, however I am thrown off by the average household incomes and the cost of housing (unless real estate has jumped up that dramatically recently). Average incomes show between $80k - $95k, whereas the homes are selling in the 1 million - 2.5 million range. Our HHI is slightly above $150k however the cost of homes in these specific areas are priced at a higher HHI in my opinion.

We would not be able to afford to buy our house now. We cannot even afford to rent in our area.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by mulliganx

MillBrae and San Mateo look nice and look to be in the "high end" area, however I am thrown off by the average household incomes and the cost of housing (unless real estate has jumped up that dramatically recently).

I would not call San Mateo or Millbrae "high end". More like above average. High end would be Hillsborough,Woodside & Atherton.

Originally Posted by mulliganx

Average incomes show between $80k - $95k, whereas the homes are selling in the 1 million - 2.5 million range. Our HHI is slightly above $150k however the cost of homes in these specific areas are priced at a higher HHI in my opinion.

Plan A: Make a huge chunk of cash with your employee stock options so you have 500K- 1M for the down payment.

Plan B: 3 bedroom=3 extended families=6 working adults. 6x$80k=480k household income or even 6x$50k=$300k.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by mulliganx

MillBrae and San Mateo look nice and look to be in the "high end" area, however I am thrown off by the average household incomes and the cost of housing (unless real estate has jumped up that dramatically recently). Average incomes show between $80k - $95k, whereas the homes are selling in the 1 million - 2.5 million range. Our HHI is slightly above $150k however the cost of homes in these specific areas are priced at a higher HHI in my opinion.

Home prices have gone up a lot since the bottom of the crash, but many people bought their homes a long time ago when things were much cheaper, you also have a lot of wealthy people buying there because of the desirability, you also have a lot of people renting too.

[Chuck5000]

The income of new buyers near SF and SV typically starts near 300, 400k+ (anecdotal, but ask any agent) with both one and two income couples. There are a ton of such people making that kind of money. And that's for $1m homes. This is why even 250k income is priced out of the peninsula, and out of most of Silicon Valley (barring massive savings/cash). You could look in parts of San Jose, but house-wise it's a step down from the East Bay burbs I mentioned.

To duplicate the life you have on Long Island, my guess is that you'd need $325k or so HHI here. Salaries here are higher, but not nearly higher enough - again, unless you're sitting on many 100s of thousands in cash.

Key thing to consider: the tech economy here can be cyclical. Be sure that before you move a family, you have a skill-set or career path that can get you employment in a tech-led downturn.

To understand the causes of housing costs here, it's complex and multi-factored - read this: How Burrowing Owls Lead To Vomiting Anarchists (Or SF’s Housing Crisis Explained) | TechCrunch

[cardinal2007]

Originally Posted by mulliganx

Thanks for your replies. Yes, we are currently residing in Long Island (massapequa) and would like to live in an area with a similar suburban feel. A house between 3-4 bedroom would be needed. In terms of the quality orbs cool district we would seek a strong 8. In terms of looks this may be a funny comparison but homes which are similar to the "Weeds" show from the fake city of agrestic would be an ideal feel in California. No idea If a particular town resembles this. Commuting time should be between 30 to 45 minutes. 60 minutes is a possibility,

Newer parts near Dublin, San Ramon around, and Blackhawk have that feel, but looks like they are probably closer to 1.1M these days, at $424/sqft it is almost as expensive as San Jose, but a lot newer.

I think for that kind of feel closer to your budget you would be looking at Brentwood, where will you be working, Brentwood can be 2hr commute to either SF or Silicon Valley, which are the biggest job center in the Bay Area. Unfortunately it looks like there are few jobs in that area.