Relocation Questions (After research) (San Jose, San Francisco: 2013, apartments, rental)

[ablaze117]

I'll try and keep this short. I'm moving to San Francisco, from Iowa, in May after accepting a job offer. I am a 23, turning 24, single, straight, and very sociable guy (Being around entertainment and people my age is very important). I've done some research on where I would enjoy living, and The Marina and Mission Street come up pretty frequently. I don't believe this will be relevant, but I will be commuting to San Jose for my job via the company bus. The commute is included in my 8 hour work day, so roughly 2 hours and 40 minutes will be spent on the bus, and the other 6 hours at the office.

Relevant information
85,000 yearly salary with 10% bonus payable at the end of the year
I already own a car, no payments. All aspects of health insurance are covered by my company.
Overtime will be paid as time and a half, per hour, as soon as I surpass 40 hours a week.
There will definitely be overtime.


Here are my questions:

1) I've read a lot about the 30% rule on what I should be looking to pay for rent. With a little college debt, would 1.8k a month for a loft/1br be reasonable? What should my price range generally be since state income tax is so high? My bonus will always go straight to my college debt until it's paid off.

2) What are some other recommendations as far as neighborhoods go?

3) Other than the nightlife, what activities go on throughout the week that I should participate in that would be good for meeting networking with people my age?

4) Any specific apartment recommendations? I'd like to live in a place with a nice gym, or near one.


I am sure these questions are common. However I wanted to be able to follow up on responses with further questions.

Thanks!

[ccm123]

The Mission is generally a younger neighborhood. You should be fine with your salary + bonus, but keep in mind that most other items (groceries, utilities, gas, insurance) will be higher than in Iowa.

Here's a map with average rental prices in the city:

New S.F. Rent Map Says 1 BRs Now Average $2,800: SFist

I think you would need to up your budget a bit, for rent though.

[ablaze117]

Wow. Maybe I should consider a loft? The apartment itself isn't as important as the location. I wonder if I'd be able to afford ~2,500 a month.

[Cloveygrl]

You should probably play around with a paycheck calculator to try and get some numbers. I threw 85k into one (btw I never count on a bonus for day to day living as lots of things can happen) and I came up with take home of 4600ish a month. Obviously this can change with additional deductions (401k, health, savings accounts etc). That means you will most likely be paying far more than 30% in rent. I believe your best option for living in the city on that salary (and trying to keep rent % down) is roommates - which seems to be the norm.

[NorCalLover]

I would research the company shuttle and learn where the stops are. You'll ideally want to walk to one of them - when you already are spending so much time in a shuttle you won't want to take a bus first.

Most apartments in San Francisco are older and don't have amenities like gyms. With a budget of 2k or so you'll be priced out of studios in the SOMA area (the main place with newer apartment buildings in SF), and you'd also need roommates in The Mission or The Marina. If you'd like a new complex with a nice gym I'd suggest looking for a place with roommates in SOMA. There are a lot of young people and techies there, especially surrounding the Caltrain station at 4th & King.

You could also live in a neighborhood a little further out and get a studio - somewhere like the Inner Sunset around 9th & Irving is younger (since it's by UCSF), or the area around USF, and you could probably find your own place there. Again, this depends on where you can get picked by the company shuttle.

[ablaze117]

Following the 30% rule, and guesstimating federal and income tax impact on my take home salary, will I really only have about 1.4k to work with for rent every month?

[felinius]

Originally Posted by ablaze117

Following the 30% rule, and guesstimating federal and income tax impact on my take home salary, will I really only have about 1.4k to work with for rent every month?

Are you doing before or after taxes? Usually they look at before taxes are taken out. You should be able to afford around $2k, but if you're paying off loans, you could look at $1.5k and use that extra $500 to beat down that loan every month.

I'd also suggest taking a look at San Mateo. It's closer to SJ, you don't deal with AS much traffic (even if you're taking company bus, you'll be stuck with the rest of us on 101 ) and can possibly even just take Caltrain. Downtown is walkable, pretty good amount of nightlife, and you can hop on the BART to head up to SF.

[ablaze117]

I don't mind being stuck in traffic . As I said, they count time on the bus as part of my work day.

"You should be able to afford around $2k" That's what I figured. Any recommendations (not Craiglist!!) of websites to search for a roomate?

[Ruth4Truth]

It must be nice to get full-time pay for 3/4-time work.

[humboldtrat]

Originally Posted by ablaze117

I already own a car, no payments.

If you live in SF, you might want to lose the car. It's not practical in SF. You will have to pay extra for an off-street parking garage or you can park on the street (if you can find a space) and move the car for street sweepers or time limits (if you can find a new space).