[Marin County] - Sausalito for living (San Jose, San Francisco: home, tech jobs, neighborhoods)

[rca215]

In the $3K range or so is fairly common for a 1 bedroom in Sausalito. The rents haven't come down due to COVID. In fact, they might be up a little as more people who live in SF are looking to move to nearby suburbs.

I would consider, although not enjoy, a commute from Sausalito to South SF, but not really any farther south.

[tikkasf]

OP, I glanced over some rental listings, on the rental website Hotpads and saw a number of listings in Sausalito in the price range of $2k to $3.5K for studio to one bedroom. The most charming one, to me at least, was a listing of a 2 bedroom for $3.5K. I would concur with a another respondent, that Mill Valley is definitely worth you giving it a look. I read a recently that average rents in SF are down 9.2% compared to this time last year. I don't know if that has spilled over to Marin though. I would also agree that commuting to a job in the Peninsula from Marin is not really doable. On the other hand, if you landed a job in SF, it should be fine. I have never taken the ferry from or to SF. From what I saw posted on this thread, it sounds like it could be rather expensive option to get to SF from Marin...…..But, only you can answer the question if the cost (commute time) is worth it to you, to be able to live in Sausalito or perhaps Mill Valley.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by tikkasf

OP, I glanced over some rental listings, on the rental website Hotpads and saw a number of listings in Sausalito in the price range of $2k to $3.5K for studio to one bedroom. The most charming one, to me at least, was a listing of a 2 bedroom for $3.5K. I would concur with a another respondent, that Mill Valley is definitely worth you giving it a look. I read a recently that average rents in SF are down 9.2% compared to this time last year. I don't know if that has spilled over to Marin though. I would also agree that commuting to a job in the Peninsula from Marin is not really doable. On the other hand, if you landed a job in SF, it should be fine. I have never taken the ferry from or to SF. From what I saw posted on this thread, it sounds like it could be rather expensive option to get to SF from Marin...…..But, only you can answer the question if the cost (commute time) is worth it to you, to be able to live in Sausalito or perhaps Mill Valley.

Good post.

OP, if you get a job in SF, DO NOT consider driving for your commute, unless you can arrange a schedule that's outside of anything close to commute hours. (The nightmare starts at 3:30 p.m. if not earlier, for the commute home.) The GG Bridge traffic is horrendous! Take the bus. Or the ferry, depending on the location of your work.

[tikkasf]

OP,
You might like this store...….I have been in this store before in Sausalito .....some time ago though

https://driversmarket.com/

[davdaven]

Marin County, and the Bay Area in general, is expensive. The Sausalito Ferry will cost $7.25 each way starting July 1. If you don't take the ferry, the bus will be $6.00 each way and the Golden Gate Bridge toll will be $7.70 southbound. You will need a Clipper card for the bus and ferry fares, and a Fastrak transponder for the bridge toll. (Cash or cash equivalent costs even more.) You can save a little on the bridge toll if you carpool (3+) or ride a motorcycle.

Marin County isn't a practical place to live if you have to commute further south than San Francisco. Well from Sausalito or Mill Valley, it might be doable (but not great) to go as far as South SF. But that's where biotech is, and if you want to work in tech, most of those offices are further south if they aren't in SF proper.

If you think there is a high likelihood that you will be working on the Peninsula or San Jose, you should consider Peninsula neighborhoods along the I-280 corridor rather than the Highway 101 corridor where most of the downtowns are. There are some similarities to Sausalito and Marin County. I think you are stuck with a suburban lifestyle in most of the Bay Area, as the more remote parts (such as West Marin) really require a painfully long commute to job centers.

On a side note, if you are single and ready to mingle, you will have better luck if you live outside of Marin. Marin is mostly families and retirees. I've worked in Marin since my mid-20's, but I chose to live in SF and the East Bay because Marin just doesn't have young-ish people, diversity in restaurants/bars/non-hiking activities, or other urban amenities. But if you love that hermit lifestyle and don't want to do anything other than go hiking in your free time, then you'll be happy in Marin.

[tikkasf]

OP;
The above post does have some good points I think. In your original posting you stated:
"I like to live in a peaceful place with nature being around and I find it to be the perfect place for me" I think you would find that in Marin. I have enjoyed spending leisure time in Marin since the late 1970s. I have never lived there though. I have lived either in the East Bay or SF......because, that is where my job/s were located.

[optimisticStar]

Originally Posted by aslowdodge

My sister has a little 2/1 house , quite charming. Older and a block away from George Lucas. It’s worth just under a million and paid for. She earns about 100k a year and gets by fine. The big thing is the paid for house.
It’s just 5 minutes to the little downtown they have and 5 minutes to downtown San Rafael.

That's nice... Yes life becomes easy once you have loans paid off... I don't have any loans so I feel I might be able to get through with around $1.5K salary.

[optimisticStar]

Originally Posted by rca215

In the $3K range or so is fairly common for a 1 bedroom in Sausalito. The rents haven't come down due to COVID. In fact, they might be up a little as more people who live in SF are looking to move to nearby suburbs.

I would consider, although not enjoy, a commute from Sausalito to South SF, but not really any farther south.

Ahh.. hope rents doesn't go any higher. But yes I do feel the rents will either dip or surge due to more companies moving to WFH option and people moving out of SF and going to states with less COL.

[optimisticStar]

Originally Posted by tikkasf

OP, I glanced over some rental listings, on the rental website Hotpads and saw a number of listings in Sausalito in the price range of $2k to $3.5K for studio to one bedroom. The most charming one, to me at least, was a listing of a 2 bedroom for $3.5K. I would concur with a another respondent, that Mill Valley is definitely worth you giving it a look. I read a recently that average rents in SF are down 9.2% compared to this time last year. I don't know if that has spilled over to Marin though. I would also agree that commuting to a job in the Peninsula from Marin is not really doable. On the other hand, if you landed a job in SF, it should be fine. I have never taken the ferry from or to SF. From what I saw posted on this thread, it sounds like it could be rather expensive option to get to SF from Marin...…..But, only you can answer the question if the cost (commute time) is worth it to you, to be able to live in Sausalito or perhaps Mill Valley.

Thanks for looking at the rental listings! I will definitely explore Mill Valley too.. on maps it looks like Mill Valley has more apts and nearby stores for all the essentials, so might be a good place for me. I have driven through it before, it's beautiful, so will check that out. I commute time and cost, it will depend on where in SF I get the job. Anywhere between 30-45mins one way is fine for me, but not an hour or beyond. Again at this point I am just making an estimate if it's worth for me to move there... since it's my dream place with more work opportunities, I was thinking of just applying for jobs in SF/Bay Area... but if it gets too expensive, then I might will think of applying for jobs in other states too.

[optimisticStar]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Good post.

OP, if you get a job in SF, DO NOT consider driving for your commute, unless you can arrange a schedule that's outside of anything close to commute hours. (The nightmare starts at 3:30 p.m. if not earlier, for the commute home.) The GG Bridge traffic is horrendous! Take the bus. Or the ferry, depending on the location of your work.

Haha... I had guessed driving might not be an option. I was there once over a weekend and it took me an hour to get a Uber at GG bridge due to the traffic. I had asked to Uber driver to get an idea of the traffic and he said it's not this bad everyday, but my guess was during peak hours it might be.