Relocating to SF from Cols., OH (San Jose, San Francisco: apartment, rent, health insurance)

[Dominik41604]

Hello,

My family and I are considering a move to the SF area. Husband is looking to take a job with a company in the Santa Clara area. I would like to be able to stay at home with my 2 boys for a while before starting a job search.

In Columbus, we own our own home, but are planning on renting in SF. We are playing around with areas of interest to live. We currently live a suburb of Columbus, but a looking into the idea of life in a big city for a year or so. We want to avoid living a struggle every month to make ends meet.

Does anyone have any advice regarding our relocation. I have done a tremendous amount of research and everything pops up to to cost of living. My husband currently makes $50,000 and I make $36,000. $20,500 of mine goes to daycare with me bringing home $200 each paycheck afer childcare. We are planning on my hanging out with the boys 3yr and 4 months for a while. I am a marketing coordinator in the AEC industry.

Depending on negotiations and if he is even offered the job we are struggling with how to actually grasp what we are looking at in term of living an everyday life. Obviously house is the big issue, we are planning on renting a apartment/small house for the time being. 2 bd and 2ba would be our hopes of finding. Since we are from the midwest, and about as land locked as they come, I would prefer to embrace a different kind of lifestyle for a while. Experiencing something new and exciting is what we are hoping to do for a while. I have looked at prices in SF and can find some appealing options $2000 - $2500. We have also looked at Pacifica due to its location.

For a 4 years while I was a kid I lived in Folly Beach, SC (near Charelston). Anyway, I love the beach so that is also an idea we would like to have some information on.

My note is now much longer that I planned. If someone could be so kind to shed some light on the areas that may be a possibility. Any information that you have is great.

What do you think is a reasonable amount of salary to live comfortably with a family of 4. We are not looking for crazy nights on the town, but would like to be able to explore the city with the kids. We just want to be able to pay our bills and live comfortably. With a current salary of $50,000 we do struggle. My husband is throwing around numbers, but is looking into the $80,000 range. Is this feasible? Should we accept that I must work? If so, any ideas of cost of childcare in the area?

[feskone]

I cant believe it. When I read ur post I thought it is mine. Just one but ,Ive just registered here and didnt post anything. Wer living in Sacramento, Ca and my husband also looking at jobs in Santa Clara and we also have 2 boys and Im planning to stay with them at home when we move to Bay Area. Maybe we should exchange emails and keep in touch? Anyway, Im going to use here posted info for our family too BTW, we've been planning on living on west bay somewhere in between SantaClara and San Mateo so it would be the halfway to my hubby's work and SF. So far... ))

[feskone]

BTW, Ive noticed u wrote about Pacifica due to its location. As i understand due to SF location not to Santa Clara cuz Pacifica is like more than 31 mile away from Santa Clara then. Or maybe ur having private jet Maybe somebody can help. Is it easy and fast to commute from Pacifica to Santa Clara? Anybody?

[gahomes247]

Hello there,

I hope you are doing well, I moved with my family from southern California more than 3 years ago to Atlanta, Georgia. let me tell you. we love the place. The houses are very affordable and beautiful , great schools, nice people, nice weather( 4 full seasons) and 1% property taxes, same as California. Beach is either savanna or south Carolina, about 3 hours, but we have mountains and a big city that is growing very fast. I have a very good friend neighbor that moved after us from California she has an employment agency in Ontario, California and she opened one here. She tells me that people in the professional level makes the same amount of money here as well as southern California.
I can’t tell you enough of this place you have to see it for your self to believe it.
as my husband’s ex partner said to another friend “ do your self a favor and get on the plane and check this place out. You’ll love it too. I can help you finding a home 4 bed 2.5 bath in a beautiful neighborhood for 200k to 250k and if you like to get in contact with my friend who has the employment agency send me an email
make it a great day

[Dominik41604]

Feskone:

We are looking into the Pacifica area because prices are reasonable, the ocean, and a realtor we spoke with said its about a 15 minute drive into Santa Clara. However, even if its a longer drive, my husband would rather live in a great area and drive the distance. This is all based on internet searching and realtors we have spoken to regarding home searches. We are also considering living in San Francisco as well. But all depends on what we find out this weekend. We are flying out Sat. morning and exploring thru Sun. Then my husband has his interview on Monday.

Have you done much searching in terms of childcare costs? I am trying to get an idea of public transporation. Do you know much about that? In Columbus you just drive everywhere basically. We have three vehicles right now but would love to get rid of two of them if its feasible in the area.

What areas are you generally looking in?

[feskone]

well, I dont think I will be much of a help. We came here to Sacramento just a year ago from Stockholm Sweden so I have no clue about many things. All I can tell is what Ive experienced here and what my hubby experienced b4 leaving for Europe 10 years ago. He was working in San Jose back then and lived in San Mateo and it took him around 25 min to get to work. Looking at the map and realizing how far from SC is Pacifica 35miles plus congested traffic it makes it closer to hour than to 15minutes. However I could be totally wrong and I would like somebody else from locals to help us. I cant help u about childcare either. I just had my second boy 2 month ago and my oldest one is just 2 years old so I wasnt interested in childcare yet. Hope somebody will help here))
About location we were thinking to live on caltrain line or smth. That looks a bit easier. San Mateo, to Redwood city and all in the middle. Im basically studying this caltrain.com - General Info: System Map And what u looking at since ur planning to give up cars? We have 2 now... would be kinda cool to give away one if it is possible... Can somebody help and tell how to commute between Pacifica and Santa Clara fast and efficient????? ))

[Dominik41604]

Wow, you have lived in some interesting places. We are looking forward to finding out some information this weekend, so even if no one responds, I will hopefully so have news next Tuesday. The interview weekend is providing us with hotel and car for the whole weekend, so we are planning on doing a bunch of running on Sat. and Sun. My husbands interview is an all day event, so I am venturing out to time traffic first thing in the morning on Monday. I will let you know how that goes.

We are really working hard to keep me at home with the boys, but just the idea of cost of living in SF area scares me. Here we are able to buy a house, three cars, etc. By no means are these fancy items. Our home is a start home, we have renovated the bathroom since moving in, and there is still a lot to do. Of the three cars there is only a payment on my husbands truck. But to live comfortably we may need my paycheck, depending on child care costs. Childcare in Columbus is even unreasoable so I have no idea about SF.

I would love to find out how long it would take to get from SF one of the districts to the Santa Clara area. I am really pushing for the city area myself.

[renoguy]

I lived in Pacifica as a kid and have been to the east cost. The two are really different with regard to weather. The water is dangerously cold and there Pacifica is almost always cold and foggy. It does have a small town atmosphere but I remember fog fog fog and more fog.

The cost of living in California is a lot higher than where you're at in Ohio. Check out car insurance and home insurance and see. I think you'd have to make at least double what you make now to live the same lifestyle you're use to. I'd honestly stay put and maybe go on vacation more.

Don't get me wrong. I still have great memories of growing up in the area and I love to visit but couldn't imagine living there again. The traffic is bad and there isn't really any good public transportation out of Pacifica except for maybe SamTrans which is the regional bus service.

If you really decide to move though, San Francisco is a true city. You could get rid of your car. Public transportation there is great and you can get anywhere in the Bay Area from SF. Good luck and please carefully consider this choice.

[Dominik41604]

We are not moving because we want better weather. My husband is being offered a job in Santa Clara. We want to make sure the salary difference is proportional to the cost of living. I would like to take a year off to spend with my boys. Here he makes $50,000 without my salary. What would this translate into out there. We are trying to come up with a bottom dollar number that we feel comfortable living on. The company said they would match $62,000 columbus, with SF. What does this actually amount to? I have read SF is 118% higher cost of living but they only pay 20% higher salaries. If so, we won't be able to afford the cost of living. We are thinkning $87,000 is out bottom dollar but does this seem feasible for a family of 4. We are looking for a 2br and 2ba in the city, with husband commuting down. Are we completely crazy?

[renoguy]

Check the rents on Craigslist for San Francisco this should help. The city does have rent control as far as I know so once you're in, the rent doesn't go up a lot each year.

Commuting could work but traffic is traffic. Would he be using public transportation or does he plan on driving? Cal Train runs out of the city to Santa Clara but the stations in the city aren't exactly convenient and if his work isn't near the cal train station this might make for a long commute. Living closer to his work might be a good idea. The south bay has a more suburban feel and then you could go into the city to do stuff.

I think your $87k is a good number to bottom at. There are other things to consider. How much will you be paying for health insurance?