Maintaining my New York standard of living in Silicon Valley (San Jose: rent, houses)

[roadwarrior101]

Originally Posted by nagleepark

Yes, but you filtered out everything below a certain comp level. That doesn't mean that lower paid jobs don't exist or aren't filled by somebody. You simply concentrated your search at the high end. Maybe the OP can do that, too, or maybe he'll decide to move with the current offer (or in that same range) that he has.

Of course I filtered out towards the high end, or it wouldn't have made sense for me to make a move. I also used my current compensation and competing offers as leverage, to ensure that I wouldn't be low balled. Unless you're in a desperate situation to leave your job, why wouldn't you do that?

[nagleepark]

Originally Posted by roadwarrior101

Of course I filtered out towards the high end, or it wouldn't have made sense for me to make a move. I also used my current compensation and competing offers as leverage, to ensure that I wouldn't be low balled. Unless you're in a desperate situation to leave your job, why wouldn't you do that?

My point being that that's an above average salary that the OP may not be able to get. The OP has neither current compensation nor competing offers.

[NYSD1995]

NY metro is less expensive outside of manhattan vs SF bay which is expensive all over.

Sr PM could make 120k or could make 175k, really depends on the role, company. Vast majority will mae the lower end of that range. 125k will go a lot farther in a lot nicer area commutable 45 mins out in NY (Suffolk, southern NJ) vs Bay Area (Concord, Tracy, ?)

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

NY metro is less expensive outside of manhattan vs SF bay which is expensive all over.

Sr PM could make 120k or could make 175k, really depends on the role, company. Vast majority will mae the lower end of that range. 125k will go a lot farther in a lot nicer area commutable 45 mins out in NY (Suffolk, southern NJ) vs Bay Area (Concord, Tracy, ?)

Yes, true. This is what befuddles many Eastern transplants. They are used to prices declining immensely when you hit the burbs. Not true at all here, at least not true in the nice burbs with reasonable schools.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

Yes, true. This is what befuddles many Eastern transplants. They are used to prices declining immensely when you hit the burbs. Not true at all here, at least not true in the nice burbs with reasonable schools.

I think one of the reasons is that there are also plenty of jobs in the burbs here, they're not all confined to SF. There are major employers in Oakland, Berkeley, Walnut Creek, Santa Clara, etc. So, any burbs in-between the burbs (lol) are targeted from more than one side, if that makes sense. For instance, Fremont is in-between Oakland and San Jose, so people from both sides looking for cheaper rents/houses will look there. Increases the competition.

[HopJokey]

Like everyone has mentioned there is no cheap "Queens" equivalent type living in the Bay Area. Public transportation isn't as good either. Best you can hope for is to be on the BART or CalTrain line for your work/home.

The only places I can think of would be Gilroy (CalTrain), Hayward, Alameda, Oakland.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

Let's pretend you spend $200/mo to commute now, and add that to your budget. Here's what you get in San Mateo for 2 bdrm with $2,000 max:

SF bay area apts/housing for rent classifieds - craigslist

That is a pitiful selection of apartments for under $2k and about half of those are in the part of San Mateo where he probably does not want to live.

Compare to Union City, Newark, Castro Valley, Fremont and even selected parts of Hayward . There are a lot more affordable options! These areas(except for Fremont) are close to the San Mateo Bridge for the commute to San Mateo. Add $5/day bridge toll to the budget too.

SF bay area apts/housing for rent classifieds - craigslist

SF bay area apts/housing for rent classifieds - craigslist

Of these areas only Castro Valley & Fremont have excellent schools. Union City and Newark have ok schols and Hayward has horrible schools. However since school starts at age 5 here, you will have some time to find your ideal school situation after you arrive.

[bentobox34]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

How much do you pay for commuting now? I think you should add that to your budget.

The OP included the information that he doesn't own a car and uses the subway to get to work. That's $112 for a month pass.

Let's pretend you spend $200/mo to commute now, and add that to your budget. Here's what you get in San Mateo for 2 bdrm with $2,000 max:

You forgot to add in the cost of car ownership. For a decent quality used vehicle, that's at least $500/month including purchasing the car, insurance, maintenance/repairs, and fuel. Note that even if you live next door and walk to work, this is a necessary cost to have a remotely decent quality of life almost anywhere in the Bay Area, except parts of San Francisco where the rent premium is even higher than the cost of car ownership.

So now to keep the same budget, you would need a two-bed apartment in an area with good schools for $1500. That's probably somewhere like Gilroy, Livermore, Tracy or Concord. Forget walkability, culture, good restaurants - welcome to suburbia. Transit commutes from these areas to San Mateo are north of 2 hours each way. So you'd probably drive to work, it's only an hour to an hour and a half, depending on traffic, but at least you can see the kid a bit more often. But wait - since you now live in a completely auto-dependent area and are out of the house, with the car, about 11 or 12 hours per day, your wife needs a car too. Now you have the expenses of owning 2 cars ($1000/month) and would need an $1000 2-bed apartment with good schools to break even.

You can see the downward spiral forming. Bottom line, raise your budget and live on the Peninsula or at the furthest, the Tri City (Fremont/Union City/Newark) area. And forget about finding anything remotely similar to Queens in California.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by bentobox34

The OP included the information that he doesn't own a car and uses the subway to get to work. That's $112 for a month pass.

You forgot to add in the cost of car ownership. For a decent quality used vehicle, that's at least $500/month including purchasing the car, insurance, maintenance/repairs, and fuel. Note that even if you live next door and walk to work, this is a necessary cost to have a remotely decent quality of life almost anywhere in the Bay Area, except parts of San Francisco where the rent premium is even higher than the cost of car ownership.

So now to keep the same budget, you would need a two-bed apartment in an area with good schools for $1500. That's probably somewhere like Gilroy, Livermore, Tracy or Concord. Forget walkability, culture, good restaurants - welcome to suburbia. Transit commutes from these areas to San Mateo are north of 2 hours each way. So you'd probably drive to work, it's only an hour to an hour and a half, depending on traffic, but at least you can see the kid a bit more often. But wait - since you now live in a completely auto-dependent area and are out of the house, with the car, about 11 or 12 hours per day, your wife needs a car too. Now you have the expenses of owning 2 cars ($1000/month) and would need an $1000 2-bed apartment with good schools to break even.

You can see the downward spiral forming. Bottom line, raise your budget and live on the Peninsula or at the furthest, the Tri City (Fremont/Union City/Newark) area. And forget about finding anything remotely similar to Queens in California.

Spot on.

[never-more]

You are not going to find New York here outside of San Francisco. This is a land of suburbia. It's not necessarily the standard of living you can maintain, but the lifestyle. While New Urbanism is a popular theory among government planners, it hasn't resulted in massive changes. If your willing to make the move, and have an experience here, go ahead and do it.