When you say you need a "lot" of money to live in the Bay Area... (San Jose: leasing, condos)

[cardinal2007]

East Bay rents do start at lower than $1100/month, a friend of mine in Berkeley was renting a tiny studio for $850/month for a while there. If you look at craigslist you can see that, I wouldn't suggest to people that they find the cheapest place to rent, most of the time the neighborhood is not that nice, or the place is old, or small or a combination of these, but you can if you want to. Starting rents are starting rents, you will not find something under $1100 in the peninsula, except for parts of Daly City or EPA, but you will in the East Bay. It would be false to say that you HAVE to pay more than $1100/month to live in the East Bay.

Those are the facts, you can try arguing against them but in order to prove that rents in the East Bay start at levels under $1100/month I only need to find one rental below that level. Note if you work in the peninsula you won't necessarily be better off financially commuting, the bridge tolls would add up to $80-$90/month, and you have to add gas and other car expenses on top as extra commute costs.

As for BART, there are currently 43 stations, 12 do not provide parking. Of the other 31, 15 Charge for parking, 16 have free parking, so the majority of those that provide parking are free. Once they start charging for parking in the peninsula that won't be the case but currently it is, wait until February.

As for employers, I believe most major employers in the Bay Area provide parking, except for those whose in SF, Berkeley, downtown Oakland, or Cal or Stanford. These include Safeway, Oracle, Google, Apple, Chevron, Hewlett Packard, Lawrence Livermore, most places don't have a shortage of parking, since most jobs are in the suburbs.

[bayarea-girl]

So this doesn't become a huge debate I will just disagree with you. It is very misleading to suggest to anyone that the cost of living in the bay area isn't that bad. Most people have to pay for parking with their employer that is a fact (even for large size companies which my husband works for one of them has to pay for parking).

In terms of rentals other will also disagree with you but they can chime in if they won't to. I've noticed a decrease in rentals over the last couple of months so hopefully this will continue to be a trend. The East bay has always been cheaper to rent than SF but it is still expensive and a good place under $1100 is a bit unrealistic.

[cardinal2007]

Despite what some people may claim I never claimed you can find a good place in the East Bay for under $1100. I said that basically eventhough in the peninsula you have to pay $1100 minimum to rent a place, but you can find places for less in the East Bay if you want to.

I just checked craigslist and I was wrong about $1100 being the minimum in the peninsula, you can rent for less but you would really be scrapping the bottom of the barrel then.

If you're moving to the Bay Area don't worry about the parking thing if you're not moving or working in the city, most employers have lousy public transport to their places, so it would be an exercise in wasting time and money to charge for parking, since the employer would pay $180/month so the employee can pay $80 in taxes, and another $100 for parking, they save themselves all that hassle by having the employer provide free parking, and pay the employee $180/month less and the company would keep the $80 instead of having it go to the gov't.

Food here costs more, and rent is more, I would say twice what it is near Dallas, 12-20% more than it is in DC area Virginia side, if you're buying then you will see the costs way up there, eventhough the median house price has dropped to $330k, that is heavily weighed toward foreclosures in Oakland, Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood and other such cities that are not that nice, or very far from working centers. If you want to buy a house in the peninsula you should be prepared to pay at least $700k, there are some neighborhoods that costs less, like San Mateo North Shoreview neighborhood, there you can get a house for about $500k. On the other hand in the East Bay there are plenty of houses in the $220-$330k price range in Pittsburg, Antioch, and Brentwood, and they are much newer and bigger than what you would get in the peninsula.

So yeah you COULD live in the Bay Area for a very little if you really wanted to, and rent a studio for $850/month, or an apartment in Pittsburg for even less, and you wouldn't need a huge income. Or if you want to buy a house you could buy a house out there and only need about $70k/yr. But if you want to live in SF you will need a big budget in comparison if you want to live there by yourself. If you want to buy a house in SF, I would imagine you would want at least $300k/yr income. Rent a nice 1bd I would say $70k, I'm not sure, I'm guessing it would cost 2k/month. Buy that nice 1bd you would probably want at least $120k/yr, and so on.

Rents and house prices are going down on average. A few top choice places are still going up, but very few of those exist. So we will probably quote lower numbers next year.

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by Jonotastic

In San Francisco:

If you want to rent a decent 2/2 bedroom apt, expect AT LEAST $2500 month

I think it all depends on your definition and criteria for "decent" - considering I only pay $2165 for a 3-bedroom HOUSE with a garage, driveway and small yard. The neighborhood is fine too, just really close to a bad one (Bayview) and greatly lacking in public transportation. My point is, sometimes you have to compromise on things here, but the payoff can be surprisingly good. I love my house and neighborhood, and was shocked to see how much people pay to live in trendier parts (North Beach, Mission, SoMa, etc)... especially when you realize my area is safer than those.

And to answer the original post, all of the above applies to "how much you need" as well. I earn just around $50K, and while it's sometimes really tight, I am surviving alright... my biggest expense is my car & commute, but aside from that I live rather cheaply. Having a family is a different story, though, and you will need to earn much more to live comfortably. Most middle-class families here probably gross at least $150-200K, so take that as you may.

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by cardinal2007

Despite what some people may claim I never claimed you can find a good place in the East Bay for under $1100.

Right now, you actually can... I was just perusing craigslist, and there are some great deals in the East Bay. Marina Bay (Richmond), which is probably my top possibility if I move, is renting beautiful renovated condos for around $890!! They were going for $1200 six months ago, so that does show the rental market is dropping - but for how long?

P.S. I have seen these condos in person, and they're reaaaalllly nice.

[bayarea-girl]

Employers also charge for parking in the East Bay as well.

Gizmo, I think rents will continue to be on a decline since job losses continue to increase.

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by bayarea-girl

Employers also charge for parking in the East Bay as well.

I've never had an employer charge for parking, and don't think anyone I know has either... I usually work in city jobs, but my friends/family are mostly in corporate jobs. In fact, my job even pays ME if I have to park anywhere outside of the workplace (like for the training I have to attend in SF next week). So while that might be true for some companies, in my experience that is definitely not the norm.

Gizmo, I think rents will continue to be on a decline since job losses continue to increase.

We'll see... I hope the economy improves soon, but in the meantime I might take advantage of the rental/housing market. I'm actually thinking of purchasing a place, but have to wait at least another year.

[gizmo980]

P.S. I work in the East Bay.

[bayarea-girl]

Gizmo, I have worked both in the East Bay and in SFran and in all my jobs I had to pay for parking. One of the companies I worked for owned their own building and still charged people to park. Most companies don't own their building and or there is no parking available at the office site so an employee has to pay, companies just don't pay. You got lucky if you didn't have to pay for parking. Every place I worked does reimburse for travel expenses which of course is different from parking spaces.

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by bayarea-girl

Gizmo, I have worked both in the East Bay and in SFran and in all my jobs I had to pay for parking. One of the companies I worked for owned their own building and still charged people to park. Most companies don't own their building and or there is no parking available at the office site so an employee has to pay, companies just don't pay. You got lucky if you didn't have to pay for parking. Every place I worked does reimburse for travel expenses which of course is different from parking spaces.

I guess it just differs from job to job... so while it is something to consider, it's not an automatic expense factor.