Amount needed to support family of four and live comfortably? (Los Angeles: real estate, for rent)

[baddabigboom]

Lived in the valley when I was younger but have now been in Austin for several years. I ended up moving out here for work and have since started a family.

We are potentially looking to move back to CA, and I was curious what y'all think would be a reasonable salary in order to live comfortably? 90k, 100k, 120k? I work in tech, so those salaries aren't unimaginable, however I am wondering if that amount will buy a decent life for a family of four.

By decent I mean potentially being able to own a home in a neighborhood with decent schools, ability to still contribute to 401k, IRA, etc and able to go out on family outings without having to worry about how to pay the mortgage next month.

[jm1982]

Housing will be the main expense but I know housing in Austin has gone up quite a bit too . Seems there are decent suburb parts of Austin still pretty affordable though , not really the case in L.A

Have you checked out housing prices recently ? They have gone up a lot but should be able to buy at the higher amount , 120k

not sure if you are looking to buy or rent too or if you have equity in an Austin home you can use

[highlanderfil]

Honestly, it all depends on what lifestyle you're accustomed to. The question, as phrased, is very broad. Given real estate pricing, I'd say that even at $120K you will make ends meet but you won't necessarily be very comfortable.

[adr3naline]

If you're living in Austin proper I'll wager the housing increase will be negligible. But if you're commuting from a tract home in a satellite city, it's a different story. What many don't realize is the real estate taxes in the greater Austin area are high, along with stupid high housing costs, which really offsets the lack of state income tax.

My best buddy lives in Leander, north of Austin, in a 2000sqft new construction home for <$200k. He is a family of four pulling $120k combined, and they're comfortable. That amount of space in even a mediocre area of LA would cost $3000+/mo/rent...putting him in the red.

So I guess it really comes down to:

• What do you pay for rent/mortgage now?
• How big does your house need to be? (sqft)
• What are you making today?

I understand two of these questions are personal, but if you want an honest response from posters, they're necessary.

[baddabigboom]

Originally Posted by adr3naline

So I guess it really comes down to:

• What do you pay for rent/mortgage now?
• How big does your house need to be? (sqft)
• What are you making today?

I understand two of these questions are personal, but if you want an honest response from posters, they're necessary.

Currently paying about $1800 a month in rent for a 1900sqft house. However, I do understand rent is a lot more expensive in L.A so I fully expect to pay 2.2k+.

Honestly, I am fine with something that is 1500-1600 sqft. I do not need some monstrous McMansion.

Currently making 95k but am underpaid. With a move to a new job in L.A I would hope to negotiate a potential 10-15k pay raise. Obviously if we decided to make a move, I would not do so until I had a job in hand.

[ryanms3030]

Originally Posted by baddabigboom

Currently paying about $1800 a month in rent for a 1900sqft house. However, I do understand rent is a lot more expensive in L.A so I fully expect to pay 2.2k+.

Honestly, I am fine with something that is 1500-1600 sqft. I do not need some monstrous McMansion.

Currently making 95k but am underpaid. With a move to a new job in L.A I would hope to negotiate a potential 10-15k pay raise. Obviously if we decided to make a move, I would not do so until I had a job in hand.

Unfortunately pay scale in LA doesn't match the cost of living. That job that pays 95k in Austin, Seattle, Denver etc will probably pay 95K in LA. I was living in the DC suburbs of VA for one year and actually took a pay cut to move back to LA for basically the same job and COL was much cheaper in VA. I work in tech and I don't know many people that make much more then 100k unless they are upper management/VP levels.

But as for how much you need, that is very subjective because different people NEED different things and most of the NEEDS are really WANTS. I make about 100k and support myself, wife and one kid. We bought a 1100 sq foot 2 bedroom condo in Santa Clarita and pay about $2200/mo with HOA. Renting a 1500 square foot place for $2200 is possible in some areas still but the more affordable areas are usually in poor school districts and bad school districts in LA are really bad so something to consider with a family

[69Charger]

Youre looking at $2500+ rent for a decent 3/2 in a decent area

[BRinSM]

i sent you a PM. your requests seems to match my families situation quite closely, but we bought 5 years ago and homes prices have gone up considerably since then. at current prices, i'd recommend your household income be $120k at the very bottom end to meet your expectations/needs/wants. i'm happy to answer any specific questions you may have.

[socal88]

If you wanted to rent a house that's at least 1,500 sq. ft. and isn't an absolute dump and is in a decently good area, you're looking at paying at least over $2,500/month and closer to $3K/month. This will put you in areas such as Pasadena/Glendale/Burbank and some parts of the Valley. The Westside is essentially out of the question if you want to rent a decent house. Otherwise, I'd go for a condo. If you don't want to pay for private school, then I'd avoid the city of Los Angeles proper and Pasadena, both of which have pretty dismal public school systems.

Obviously everyone has a different definition of comfortable, but for a family of four, I think you want to be at a household income of at least $140-150K. If your family eats at home most of the time, has inexpensive cars, and doesn't spend a lot on entertainment, then I'd say you might be ok closer to $120K, but I think that's still stretching it.

[ryanms3030]

Originally Posted by socal88

If you wanted to rent a house that's at least 1,500 sq. ft. and isn't an absolute dump and is in a decently good area, you're looking at paying at least over $2,500/month and closer to $3K/month. This will put you in areas such as Pasadena/Glendale/Burbank and some parts of the Valley. The Westside is essentially out of the question if you want to rent a decent house. Otherwise, I'd go for a condo. If you don't want to pay for private school, then I'd avoid the city of Los Angeles proper and Pasadena, both of which have pretty dismal public school systems.

Obviously everyone has a different definition of comfortable, but for a family of four, I think you want to be at a household income of at least $140-150K. If your family eats at home most of the time, has inexpensive cars, and doesn't spend a lot on entertainment, then I'd say you might be ok closer to $120K, but I think that's still stretching it.

These are all reasons I ended up buying in Santa Clarita. Not that I want to be there but prices are still "affordable" and there are excellent public schools