Moving to SF, I am really wondering how do people afford their apartments (Los Angeles: best neighborhood, rent)

[Mitoman]

I am moving to SF soon, and I make close to 6 figures. When I start searching for apartment, it really surprise me how little I am getting for close to $2,000/month.

I think I make pretty decent income, close to 6 figures and other money on the side easily break the 6 figure income. In Los Angeles, My entire monthly spending on living/parking/utility is barely around $1,000. This comes down to 20% of the income after tax since I am single, which makes me flexible enough to get whatever I want and live in a pretty decent life in Los Angeles, that includes the fee for traveling somewhere nice for a break every month. Right now I live right in the center of hollywood, which gives me access to the hottest clubs in walking distance, and I can afford my VIP entrance anytime I go.

I am just wondering how do people really survive in SF, 6 figure makes me look poor, rent/parking/utility is close to 2k+, if I was making any less I can not even afford my coffee...

Everybody has been telling me to live in SF, since they work in SV or San Mateo and they still live in SF, they'd die for a job in SF. I am wondering what is your guy's opinion and where I can get everything down to around $1,600 which includes rent/parking/utility.

[jade408]

Rule number 1, don't live in SF. Many people live in the east bay. Berkeley/Oakland/Emeryville is actually closer to the center of SF than SF is. It is a local call too. Taking BART is about 20 minutes to downtown and driving can be the same if you don't hit traffic
Rule number 2, if you live in SF ditch your car. Parking is a pain and it costs like $200 a month for a spot or you have to park on the street
Rule number 3, people have roommates.

An important note, the "scene" isn't always in the best neighborhood. I guess there is the Marina which combines social life and living, but it is pretty homogeneous. You could live in the Richmond/Sunset but it can be far from the center of town.

[ssmaster]

a lot of people spend more than >45% of their income on rent

they don't save for retirement

don't have kids until they are old oops i mean more financially secure

[mayorhaggar]

Generally you're not supposed to spend more than 1/3rd of your salary on housing. If you were making $90,000 a year, 1/3rd of your monthly salary would be around $2500. You can get a 1 bedroom in SF for $1600, it won't be great but it will probably be in a decent area.

Honestly most people in SF now are yuppies and poor people, along with a lot of people who got apartments with cheap rent years ago. Even just a few years ago rent was lower, it just keeps going up.

You can get much cheaper places in the East Bay or other suburbs. That $1600 apartment in SF would be more like $1100 in a nice part of Oakland like Rockridge, and you'd be able to park on the street safely and much more easily or park in a driveway, the weather is better, etc etc.

If you like LA and don't like the idea of SF then you don't have to move here. There are probably less six figure jobs on average in LA compared to the Bay Area, and if you have a high-paying job in a place with a lower cost of living like LA then you're not going to have much incentive to come to SF. A lot of people who move to the Bay Area are coming here because they can make more like $40,000 a year compared with $20,000 back home in Florida or Texas or Bakersfield or wherever they came from.

[Mitoman]

remember about the tax, tax takes off 1/3rd of my salary away right away =(

I have incentives coming to SF, biggest one being learning how to do a start up and get connections I need. I don't really want to live in a life where I am 35 year old and driving a BMW, thinking about I accomplished something in life. I want to be able to start my company and bring it up from ground level into a million dollar asset. Nobody in LA is willing to teach me that -_-, unless I want to be a movie star or something.

I might just live in SV and commute to SF if I can't find anything decent, I do enjoy the freedom having extra cash all the time as I am very use to it, I enjoy walking on the street and just walk into a new city and book any hotel without thinking about how much it's gona cost me, simply because I can afford it... But if the rent is gona take around 40% of my salary, that really gets in the way of having that much freedom.

[mini_cute]

yeah, like the last poster said, making six figures in la sounds like a sweet deal. sounds like u enjoyed your life there- why r u moving?

the rent is higher than la, but i am surprised it has been hard to find something good for 2000 if u have been looking at just 1 bedrooms. i think it depends a lot on the particular neighborhood and what amenities u r going for. back in february we found a spacious rennovated 2 bedroom apt in bayside village which includes parking spot for 2200. that is in the south beach neighborhood. we couldn't find anything good for that priced in marina, pac heights, or the other popular more established hoods.

ditching the car could help and u may not need it. u can always rent a zip car when u do need a car, commute on bike- lots of people do here, ride public transit or walk.

[mayorhaggar]

Originally Posted by Mitoman

remember about the tax, tax takes off 1/3rd of my salary away right away =(

I have incentives coming to SF, biggest one being learning how to do a start up and get connections I need. I don't really want to live in a life where I am 35 year old and driving a BMW, thinking about I accomplished something in life. I want to be able to start my company and bring it up from ground level into a million dollar asset. Nobody in LA is willing to teach me that -_-, unless I want to be a movie star or something.

I might just live in SV and commute to SF if I can't find anything decent, I do enjoy the freedom having extra cash all the time as I am very use to it, I enjoy walking on the street and just walk into a new city and book any hotel without thinking about how much it's gona cost me, simply because I can afford it... But if the rent is gona take around 40% of my salary, that really gets in the way of having that much freedom.

Well clearly you have a long-term plan that you think would work better in the Bay Area. If you think you could be making more like $200,000 after a few years if you're successful with a start-up here whereas you'd be making like $90,000 in LA if you kept doing what you're doing now, then those money worries wouldn't be such a big deal. But lol @ someone making nearly six figures worrying about money even in SF. Unless you spend your money stupidly you won't feel poor in SF at that kind of income, you're just not going to have as much money as you'd have somewhere with a lower cost of living. You just have to adjust when you move to SF. You get over the high cost of housing here pretty quickly and there are so many urban amenities here that make up for it like great places to eat and go out and decent public transportation. LA is supposed to be pretty expensive so you'd probably adjust pretty quickly.

Also SV can be just as expensive for housing as SF. Also most tech start-ups are in SV. SF is more old money firms like banks and law firms and a few established tech companies like CNET. There are a few new companies in SF but nothing like the number in Silicon Valley.

[gnomatic]

I am just wondering how do people really survive in SF, 6 figure makes me look poor, rent/parking/utility is close to 2k+, if I was making any less I can not even afford my coffee...

Look poor to who? And who cares?

Different people have different needs and priorities. Live & budget accordingly. Too often people mistaken their wants with needs. Learn to prioritize your money on what makes YOU happy and you will be fine. Don't pay a premium to live in SF because "everybody" is telling you to...do it because YOU want to. You might be happier living somewhere further out, because you will get a nicer/bigger apartment etc. What constitute a "decent life" for you is obviously very different from a lot of people here, who survive living in SF on income less than 100K. You probably won't be happy living the way they do in order to be in the city.

[lmk1707]

That's funny, when I was helping my sister apartment shop in LA I was thinking the same thing about LA - even the ugly, carpeted apartments in huge buildings were expensive. If you have a nice apartment in LA for $1000 you're getting a great deal. If it's not that great of an apartment, or area, and you're okay with that, then you should compromise on the neighborhoods you consider in your search in SF as well, and you will certainly be able to find something for $1600.

[CAVA1990]

Find a roommate or better yet a girlfriend or boyfriend who makes good money like you do. You can live a lot nicer on two incomes than one.