Feedback from transplants (Nice: real estate market, apartments, mortgage)

[oping00]

Hello all, I was inquired about a job in SF and my question is to all the moved to SF other than cost of living has it been more positive than negative and if negative what were they. Thanks.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by oping00

Hello all, I was inquired about a job in SF and my question is to all the moved to SF other than cost of living has it been more positive than negative and if negative what were they. Thanks.

If you are moving now, the cost of housing, particularly if you have a family, would make it very challenging. It wasn't the same even 3 years ago.

I wouldn't recommend any middle or upper middle class family move here unless they had free housing.

[McGregorShow]

Scottsdale. If you work in tech yes good. But everyone will hate you for gentrification. On these forums though, not in real life.

[Perma Bear]

Originally Posted by McGregorShow

Scottsdale. If you work in tech yes good. But everyone will hate you for gentrification. On these forums though, not in real life.

They'll just be standoffish, fake, and snobby in real life.

[Chuck5000]

I lived in SF from 2003 thru 2011. I still get up there regularly. The city is beautiful geographically. It has awesome parks. I love these two aspects of it - a lot. Plenty of great people, too.

Moving to SF for a job is like anywhere else: it depends on the job, on your boss, on how much you are getting from the job.

Otherwise, I'm glad I no longer live there; I'm in the suburbs now. Yes SF (and all the good suburbs) are expensive, but even when you're paying a lot, most SF housing is still substandard: drafty and dark apartments are everywhere. Nicer apartments than that are mega-crazy-cuckoo expensive. Public transit is surprisingly bad for a city this size - it's too infrequent, too crowded, and not extensive enough. This is especially bad since auto traffic has metastasized in the last 3 or 4 years. You're screwed either way.

The key thing is this: in SF especially, but also the greater Bay Area today, 2016, it's like NYC. You have to be down to make a lot of money. You have to focus on money, and if you want to stay, you need to be ambitious and plan your career, and hit the goals. If you don't, you're going to regret staying unless you like feeling left behind. Take a look at home prices in the city and suburbs with good schools and ask yourself, "can I pull this off and still save responsibly?"

[AZJD]

We just moved here from Phoenix.

This place is amazing, but if the real estate market doesn't correct in a few years we are moving elsewhere. My kids deserve a better home and education. We make well over 6 figures and that's just not enough money here for a normal middle class life in a good school district.

[ambient]

It all depends on how much you make. If both you and your spouse are in tech management positions and your taxable annual income is north of $500K, it will be more positive than negative. If you're trying to support a family of four with house on $125-$150K a year, it will be more negative than positive.

[Lockdev]

Originally Posted by AZJD

We just moved here from Phoenix.

This place is amazing, but if the real estate market doesn't correct in a few years we are moving elsewhere. My kids deserve a better home and education. We make well over 6 figures and that's just not enough money here for a normal middle class life in a good school district.

Originally Posted by ambient

It all depends on how much you make. If both you and your spouse are in tech management positions and your taxable annual income is north of $500K, it will be more positive than negative. If you're trying to support a family of four with house on $125-$150K a year, it will be more negative than positive.

These pretty much nail it.

This place is great if you have the money and have patience for a lot(and I mean a LOT) of people.

If you're making 150k or less, I would not move here. It isn't worth the headaches.

I've always said this on the forums: 3 types of people move here:

Rich people
People with family here
Stupid people

Of course I'm generalizing and every case is different, but it applies to a lot of people that move here.

[AZJD]

Originally Posted by Lockdev

These pretty much nail it.

This place is great if you have the money and have patience for a lot(and I mean a LOT) of people.

If you're making 150k or less, I would not move here. It isn't worth the headaches.

I've always said this on the forums: 3 types of people move here:

Rich people
People with family here
Stupid people

Of course I'm generalizing and every case is different, but it applies to a lot of people that move here.

I agree 100%.

We are around $170k a year and that's not even enough, as crazy as that sounds to people from outside this area. The ONLY reason we even took this job relo was for the experience and because we already own two houses in Arizona.

I would never move here right now to continue to **** away money on rent. At least our tenants in AZ are helping to pay down our mortgage debt.

[WanderingFar]

I'm not sure if we fall under the category of rich or stupid, but we love it here. LOVE. The weather, breathtaking scenery, access to nature, intellectualism, diversity, food and culture ... those things just don't exist together anywhere else in this country.

Of course, we're originally from another very expensive city (NY) so paying $1000 per square foot for a property wasn't exactly sticker shock. Plus, we were lucky enough to be in a position to buy. House hunting was insanely stressful though. The housing crisis here is no joke.