Instructions to my son on how to buy a house in the SF Bay Area (school districts, income)

[MountainHi]

Originally Posted by WizardOfRadical

Instructions for your son:

Wait till your dad dies.

Inherit house.

The end.

What house? Mom and dad sold it to pay for their assisted living facility, a couple of cruises to Alaska and the South Pacific, and a first-class summer in Europe. Too bad you didn't take him up on his offer to live at home after you got married, to build savings to buy your own house. Have a nice life being forced by raising rents to move farther and farther away from where you work, or moving to some cultural backwater where housing is cheap and salaries are, too.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by sav858

I would also say stop trying to look for your "forever home" in the best/good school districts as your FIRST house, especially if you don't even have kids yet or if they're not school aged. My parents first home was in Vallejo but I grew up in Walnut Creek from 3rd grade on. We hope to upgrade to a better school district later on down the road but private school is about the same as childcare for us anyways. Personally I think a good Middle School and High School are a lot more important than elementary anyways.

I agree with you, and even if the OP's son does everything right unless he's real lucky his first house might end up being in Vallejo or Fairfield, but there's always private or charter schools. My stepson and his wife live in SF and have a 3 year old they save every penny they can. They both have very good jobs but they can't get save enough for 20% down because prices increase faster than their saving account does.

[likealady]

Originally Posted by ambient

This is kinda true... I am one of those parents working a "big tech" job that earns good money; my wife is in an even better "big tech" job. Yes, we own a house - nothing special, pretty small - but in a good mid-peninsula area. I work long hours. I have two and a half year-old who I struggle to spend time with. We would have a second, but not sure when we would even conceive the kid much less raise it. We are amassing a good foundation of wealth, but we may need to leave here sometime soon.

Truth is that this is, by and large, the valley of the workaholic. There is not a big interested in the culture here in concepts like work/life balance; there is an interest in becoming rich. That is what fuels this place. Business workers tend to come here to become the next bigshot tech mogul, not to take it easy. In most cases, if you want the pay to make it here, you will accept the frantic pace of work life that comes with it.

This is what I'm thinking, too. Having to constantly be at the top of your career game just to live a normal life raising a kid or two just sounds exhausting. Wouldn't be surprised if it were to lead me to a premature death. What kind of life is that?

[MountainHi]

Originally Posted by likealady

This is what I'm thinking, too. Having to constantly be at the top of your career game just to live a normal life raising a kid or two just sounds exhausting. Wouldn't be surprised if it were to lead me to a premature death. What kind of life is that?

A lot of people enjoy being the best they can be, and realizing their full potential.

[WithDisp]

Originally Posted by TR95

Once again you oversimplify. What were interest rates back then. About 16%. I already did the math in a prior post and proved my point. Good day. You have to learn to think.

Your flat out wrong and in denial.

If you were putting down 10% your interest would kill you then- but a handful years of conservative saving with a little help with a down and you've got nearly 50% in equity off the bat.

Today, the cash poor with great credit and a huge income ARE in better playing field.
Everyone else... is not.

Also the average teacher salary in California in the 1979-1980 school year was 19,090 (Olmsteinm 1980).
Those numbers would make it nearly impossible for even entry level to pull in only 10,000.


Municipal salaries have not kept par with housing costs.
SF has rent control and taxation limitations which keep a middle class in the city who would never be able to move out and move back in. I.E. It's unfordable even to them.

[bodyforlife99]

Originally Posted by WithDisp

Your flat out wrong and in denial.

If you were putting down 10% your interest would kill you then- but a handful years of conservative saving with a little help with a down and you've got nearly 50% in equity off the bat.

Today, the cash poor with great credit and a huge income ARE in better playing field.
Everyone else... is not.

Also the average teacher salary in California in the 1979-1980 school year was 19,090 (Olmsteinm 1980).
Those numbers would make it nearly impossible for even entry level to pull in only 10,000.


Municipal salaries have not kept par with housing costs.
SF has rent control and taxation limitations which keep a middle class in the city who would never be able to move out and move back in. I.E. It's unfordable even to them.

Complete and utter bull****! And I suggest you look at the compensation package as these are costs that they don't have to pay that people in the private sector do.

Bay Area Public Employee Salaries - 2014 - San Jose Mercury News

http://transparentcalifornia.com/agencies/salaries/

Let me guess. You're one of those BART employees that likes to hold the city ransom and clog up freeways while you're out on strike demanding gold bouillons while people sit in traffic for 3 hours.

P.S. And your comment on the teachers salary is disingenuous also. You're simply focusing on the low end (the average salary....not compensation...is closer to the $67-68k range). And that's for 9 months of work.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by WithDisp

Not as relevant today.

You bought and sold at all the right times, which is great- however your entry level home in 1995 is likely no longer available with 'entry level' funds.

True.

Originally Posted by TR95

Let's even go back to when my parents bought their first house. It was 1974. I was 8 years old. They paid $50k. My dad made about $9-$11k/yr as a teacher. Interest rates were high. .

My parents bought a (not their first) home in a suburb of L.A. in 1960 for $29,000. My dad was an executive making $10K and my mom did not work outside the home. Most people followed the 3 X one's income advice when purchasing a home. That's no longer possible today.

[WithDisp]

Originally Posted by bodyforlife99

Complete and utter bull****! And I suggest you look at the compensation package as these are costs that they don't have to pay that people in the private sector do.

Bay Area Public Employee Salaries - 2014 - San Jose Mercury News

Transparent California

Let me guess. You're one of those BART employees that likes to hold the city ransom and clog up freeways while you're out on strike demanding gold bouillons while people sit in traffic for 3 hours.

P.S. And your comment on the teachers salary is disingenuous also. You're simply focusing on the low end (the average salary....not compensation...is closer to the $67-68k range). And that's for 9 months of work.

Let me guess. You're one of those garbage human beings who's lack of comprehension shows up really quickly on an Internet forum.

I was making a comparison to the poster who claimed that her father as a teacher in 1978 had it just as hard as someone in the same field trying to cut it today.

That's why the salary was on the lowest end, without further input I could only assume they were entry level teacher.


I won't disagree that many public employees are paid far above market rate for their value, in fact I believe what I said earlier in the thread about stay-at-home-moms applies to jobs like bus drivers, and county clerks- however you have plenty of people in public fields who absolutely cannot afford the area anymore.

Aside from the most educated holding highly managerial jobs, the higher up in education and credentialing you have, the less incentive there is to hold a gov't job.


Do you really think a MUNI driver with a HS education should make more than an Associate College Professor at City College?

[bodyforlife99]

Originally Posted by WithDisp

Do you really think a MUNI driver with a HS education should make more than an Associate College Professor at City College?

Do you? I provided you websites that refute what you claimed.

"Municipal salaries have not kept par with housing costs"

Again, complete and utter bull****! Maybe you shouldn't make false statements.

[WithDisp]

Originally Posted by bodyforlife99

Do you? I provided you websites that refute what you claimed.

"Municipal salaries have not kept par with housing costs"

Again, complete and utter bull****! Maybe you shouldn't make false statements.

Alright- since I've gotten the ball rolling, pick 3 careers- match the base start salary to a starter home in 1980, 1995 and today.

Provide citations, as I did.

You've got salaries for 2015-2016 through the web. That's a great start.
Now you just have a few other components to get. I'd suggest old newspapers. They're on record at the library.

Or, find a first year teacher or postal clerk who is relocating to the Bay Area, and see how they're making it work.
Either or will satiate the curiosity you've posed on the forum.

... and not the one related to the topic, the one if you're saying bull**** or spewing it.