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I need some advice in regards to moving to the Golden State from Long Island. I am planning on moving there and want to buy a starter house, nothing expensive (under 250K), something within reasonable proximity to the bay area and I am willing to commute an hour so going one way (two hours both ways) every day to work.
I don't have any kids and don't plan on having kids for a long time. My girlfriend might move in with me if she decides to move as well. She can pay rent to live there as she will be using the resources. But I rather not depend on her to make my mortgage payments. There is no guarantee that she will move.
I have about 10K saved up and make just under $50K/yr. I don't have a car and debt free. I only have an associates degree, work in IT, and will continue in the same field when I move.
Why not just get an apartment? Well I have the money which can be used for the down payment, and I really want to make modifications to my future home, such as installing solar panels, and getting an electric car which will need a garage for charging, and renovate parts of the house if I can get a fixer upper kind of place. Most of this will be done through financing of course (those rebates help too).
I have two reasons to move. First one is to get away from my family and the second one is to be closer to the Silicon Valley. I have been financially supporting my parents for over a decade and can't do it any more as it is not rewarding at all to lose your youth supporting your dependent parents; both of them are unemployed immigrants with no skills and a language barrier. And on top of that my father pocketed my tax return money for 13 years until I finally confronted him last year . I have been paying him rent all these years to live in his house ( I would have moved but wanted to keep supporting them in tough times). Yet they have become increasingly more and more dependent on their kids in the recent years.
Second reason is due to my interest in the technology startup world which I want to be a part of, but I want to give myself a year or so to develop skills and contacts.
A third reason, but not a significant one is to experience the variety of geography and national parks in California. It's a beautiful place.
With all that said, there are still some lingering questions in my head.
1) How realistic is it to have a mortgage with my salary. I am considering other revenue streams such as Airbnb and getaround (renting your car for money) as well to make some extra cash.
2) If I get a condo, will I be able to make all the changes I mentioned above?
3) Which neighborhoods are best suited for my setup? I would like to be close to San Francisco and Silicon Valley area. I am willing to commute an hour or so going one way everyday. Is it reasonable to find a house in a nice neighborhood that meets both requirements? I have found some affordable properties in Fremont, Oakland, San Leandro online.
4) Most of all, how am I to do this? I understand I will have to find a job before moving, yet if it can be coordinated so I can move and buy a house around the same time, that would save me the headache of moving back and forth. Is it a wise decision to finance the house before moving so I can move right in to it? I am planning on visiting in September, should I find an agent to show me around different houses in the neighborhoods that are in my range?
5) Should I get a buyer's agent? And where do you get a reliable one (it's my first house)?
6) I have also considered moving to Sacramento instead of Bay area as the properties are very cheap there and IT jobs are available. This is obviously not in close proximity to the bay area. Any other downsides of Sacramento?
Sorry for the long post, but this forum is the best place I know to get all the answers .
EDIT: I just realized this is under Colorado for some reason. How do I move (or delete) this to the right place?
Last edited by snaaaaake; 07-12-2015 at 06:02 PM..
Reason: Opened under wrong category
How realistic (or unrealistic) is my plan to move from Long Island to Bay Area?
Hello CD folks!
I need some advice in regards to moving to the Golden State from Long Island. I am planning on moving there and want to buy a starter house, nothing expensive (under 250K), something within reasonable proximity to the bay area and I am willing to commute an hour so going one way (two hours both ways) every day to work.
I don't have any kids and don't plan on having kids for a long time. My girlfriend might move in with me if she decides to move as well. She can pay rent to live there as she will be using the resources. But I rather not depend on her to make my mortgage payments. There is no guarantee that she will move.
I have about 10K saved up and make just under $50K/yr. I don't have a car and debt free. I only have an associates degree, work in IT, and will continue in the same field when I move.
Why not just get an apartment? Well I have the money which can be used for the down payment, and I really want to make modifications to my future home, such as installing solar panels, and getting an electric car which will need a garage for charging, and renovate parts of the house if I can get a fixer upper kind of place. Most of this will be done through financing of course (those rebates help too).
I have two reasons to move. First one is to get away from my family and the second one is to be closer to the Silicon Valley. I have been financially supporting my parents for over a decade and can't do it any more as it is not rewarding at all to lose your youth supporting your dependent parents; both of them are unemployed immigrants with no skills and a language barrier. And on top of that my father pocketed my tax return money for 13 years until I finally confronted him last year . I have been paying him rent all these years to live in his house ( I would have moved but wanted to keep supporting them in tough times). Yet they have become increasingly more and more dependent on their kids in the recent years.
Second reason is due to my interest in the technology startup world which I want to be a part of, but I want to give myself a year or so to develop skills and contacts.
A third reason, but not a significant one is to experience the variety of geography and national parks in California. It's a beautiful place.
With all that said, there are still some lingering questions in my head.
1) How realistic is it to have a mortgage with my salary. I am considering other revenue streams such as Airbnb and getaround (renting your car for money) as well to make some extra cash.
2) If I get a condo, will I be able to make all the changes I mentioned above?
3) Which neighborhoods are best suited for my setup? I would like to be close to San Francisco and Silicon Valley area. I am willing to commute an hour or so going one way everyday. Is it reasonable to find a house in a nice neighborhood that meets both requirements? I have found some affordable properties in Fremont, Oakland, San Leandro online.
4) Most of all, how am I to do this? I understand I will have to find a job before moving, yet if it can be coordinated so I can move and buy a house around the same time, that would save me the headache of moving back and forth. Is it a wise decision to finance the house before moving so I can move right in to it? I am planning on visiting in September, should I find an agent to show me around different houses in the neighborhoods that are in my range?
5) Should I get a buyer's agent? And where do you get a reliable one (it's my first house)?
6) I have also considered moving to Sacramento instead of Bay area as the properties are very cheap there and IT jobs are available. This is obviously not in close proximity to the bay area. Any other downsides of Sacramento?
Sorry for the long post, but this forum is the best place I know to get all the answers .
I think your plan is mostly unrealistic in multiple ways. Don't be fooled by the number of job openings you see - most won't hire unless they get the exact skill match they want.
I'm from Long Island and the NY area and know it well. California in general is far more expensive than NY (except NYC). And the entire Bay Area is far, far more expensive than I think you think it is. Think of the entire region as pretty close in pricing to Manhattan. There are no single family houses within 1 hour commute of any job center for less than 400k in places that are not very low income, with poor schools and some crime. Think Lindenhurst, Wyandanch, Roosevelt, etc. One rung higher than that and the bottom end is 550k. Commuting here is also more difficult than in the New York metro area, which has superior public transit. Most likely you will be looking at well over an hour to at least one of the two major job markets. It's theoretically a smart idea to place yourself in the middle, but it's expensive for that reason.
Your job plan does not look realistic to me unless you already have strong contacts in the industry. Silicon Valley talks a big game about being open to people, but it is clubby and exclusive to outsiders *except* if you are a good coder, and even then, a credentialed one with a CS degree will always trump people who are good in just one or two languages. All other business functions are very very hard to break into unless you have relationships or directly transferable experience, such as in the same industry that a given software company is targeting as customers.
"Working in IT" is not much to start with; it's not the same as the startup world at all. Better idea: start with the NYC startup world. It should be easier than the Bay Area to get a first foothold, and then you could reevaluate a move.
What is your specific skill base? You won't get anyone to hire and train you. If you can get to the point where a recruiter could placee you, then that's a place to start. If you are a great, natural salesperson, you might have a path there, but breaking in will still be a very tough, long hard road, and not necessarily one that you'll make the kind of money you'll need to make a life here.
I think the Sacramento plan is probably also shaky, but far more realistic than the Bay Area, there's less competition, which is intense here - just like NYC, and costs are far less. Sacramento is very, very hot, but it does have great access to the Sierra Nevada for all kinds of outdoor activity.
Honestly, you'll have a much better and easier path pursuing IT in almost any other major metro area in the USA.
Not bay area per say. But within close proximity to it. Meaning I can commute to it within 40-70 mins.
"Close proximity to it" will still be outrageously expensive. 250k is nothing! The entire bay area is insanely expensive. I believe it tops NYC now. And i just heard that S.F. leads the nation in wealth disparity. Your desire to make a change is understandable but it sounds like you're a bit clueless re; the S.F. bay area / Silicon Valley scene and the kind of money that people spend on housing and the long, long commutes that people do on a daily basis. I think it's crazy. Truly.
It sounds like you have a romantic idea about CA and about Silicon Valley. Understandable. But do become much more informed before you do anything drastic. And my God, don't even think about buying a property here until you've lived in the area where you want to buy for at least a year. That would be really nutty imo.
Also, there is a bubble. If you want to purchase a home in the bay area / Silicon Valley area, best wait till it POPS! Oh happy day!
Also, there may be better areas for you. There are many places in the U.S. now that are part of the tech industry other than CA. California has many wonderful qualities but it's not a utopia ... not even close.
Sacramento? Been there? Far from the coast, not so beautiful and with really bad air quality. And you're not thinking of commuting from there to the bay area are you?!
Thanks for the reply Chuck. I do have variety of skills and kept it vague to avoid making the post too long. I have done computer sales, desktop support, technical repairs, mechanical repairs, soldering, setting up audio/video entertainment systems, setting up survillance systems, router moding and configuration, Microsoft/Linux server setup. I do work on a lot of technical projects as a hobby and it's not just a job to me. Also, I don't shy away from learning new skills. I am confident that I can land a job given my work background alone.
I plan on learning coding for the next year or so and I know it takes more than a year to master coding, but I am not looking to master it but just get my feet wet with programming. The homes I have seen online seem within my range, but wanted to post here to find out if there were any "gotchyas".
There are a ton of gotchas. If you're that confident, then that's what it will take to make it here. But first, know that you just listed a bunch of different skills. People in tech, and in any competitive industry, want to see specialization, focus, and progression, ideally starting with a credential.
You might be able to do this here, but again, I'm sure other markets will be easier, give you a better life. it will take longer and be harder than I think you think it will. And you seem to know nobody here, which is a big problem.
If you said to me, Bay Area or absolutely nothing else (though I see no evidence that you've considered other good markets like DC, or Austin) I'd say you should plan on getting into a coding school here. That would get you a start. Although the Bay Area is very liberal and tolerant, know that if you're in tech and not white, Indian, or Asian, you might feel marginalized culturally. The industry needs to do a ton of work on this front. But this is not the big problem.
Even if you can code right now, and don't do coding school here, how are you going to get a job? Are you insanely amazing at it? Could you go to meetups and blow people away? I don't know how you envision this happening. Maybe if you built super apps on your own, great in design and execution. But again, are you sure you can do that? Shouldn't you do that first so you know it's not just a dream? Also, becoming a homeowner anytime soon here is just a way out there dream. Did you know that there are multiple offer bidding wars for homes here? Often even in low income areas.
Of course, you should do all of this learning in NY first. Having a support system - some friends, anythihg - is critical.
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. I have been paying him rent all these years to live in his house ( I would have moved but wanted to keep supporting them in tough times). Yet they have become increasingly more and more dependent on their kids in the recent years. 
.
How realistic (or unrealistic) is my plan to move from Long Island to Bay Area?
