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Location: Overlooking the vineyards, olive groves, cattle and horses in the hills of San Miguel CA
167 posts, read 336,240 times
Reputation: 253
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bigdumbgod
Problem is, all too many plunging into this forum simply want it all, with NO COMPROMISES! Can only blame demand by so many others trying to get the same thing, in the same place, at the same time.
Dunno if 'blame' is the operative verb here... there are lots of folks coming onto this forum wielding that 'type' of approach none of whom are gonna succeed anywhere near the level to which they aspire cuz face it- if you're coming on C-D to verify stuff you should already know cold to go all Genghis Khan with that kind of 'life-plan' ambition you are *seriously* behind the curve already... good luck kids!
For a cynically inappropriate aphorism courtesy of Willie Sutton, who said that he robbed banks "because that's where the money is.", the SV area is a classic supply and demand nightmare/dream come true... depending on which side of the Social Network (Contract) you find yourself toiling.
The old adage "...be careful what you wish for..." also applies because of, rather than despite the lousy overall job market in the rest of the state and the country at large. It's driving people who make less out and ensuring that those rising towards the top of the tech food chain not only feed first, last and always but choose the menu, the venue and the music ... it ain't right but that is the deep end of the shark-infested (vested? lol) tech pool.
Want someplace more fair? As Flavor Flav of Public Enemy would say- 'Can't Do Nuttin' For Ya Man'. Capitalistic Darwinism shouldn't be the ONLY game in that area but of course it is the engine that raises the noose on 'affordability'.
Too bad. I used to HUNT with my Dad inside Cupertino's town limits in the early sixties but that kind of open space is as gone now as good Mexican food on El Camino Real.
Same deal... show me an area with low, stable COL a high QOL and the comprehensive social responsibility apropos of a civil society and I'll show you an irony-free neighborhood in Manhattan (NOT the beach, natch)... now that irony is classified as a Controlled Substance in CA.
Last edited by threepounduniverse; 05-18-2014 at 02:09 AM..
Location: Overlooking the vineyards, olive groves, cattle and horses in the hills of San Miguel CA
167 posts, read 336,240 times
Reputation: 253
[quote=otterprods;34811440]Yes this is a good point and one I was meaning to bring up before I got sidetracked. Our HR people once presented a pie chart that showed how a typical compensation package was at least 3-times your base salary because they added in numerical values for health insurance, PTO, options, etc. Those things are all great to have but if your base salary isn't enough to cover your projected living expenses, and then some, then don't count on the rest to make up the difference. Owning a nice single family home is still sort of the ideal in everyone's mind but in the bay area it's not that realistic for most younger families. There are other options, and I'm not just talking about shoddy town homes that are the same price. IMO, if you decide to take the job, it will be most equitable for you to rent for a while while you figure out what works for you. You will have have plenty of options with well under $200k options base, they just won't be what you might expect in just about any other region and you might have to make some tradeoffs. Of course if, in the end, you and your wife decide you just HAVE to have that $1m home with a nice yard built in 1960 as temporary housing in Sunnyvale, then it will be tight, even on a $200k base.
"Of course if, in the end, you and your wife decide you just HAVE to have that $1m home with a nice yard built in 1960 as temporary housing in Sunnyvale, then it will be tight, even on a $200k base."
So if that's a silly extravagance in your opinion welcome to Other People's Priorities... the fact that 1mil buys that *now* is actually a BARGAIN compared to what it'll be in ONE year, let alone 3-4... why rent when buying into the near-bottom of an expanding RE market in that area will at least keep approximate value 'pace' with larger more expensive properties one might want to purchase later to continue avoiding becoming a 'commuter hostage'? Renting won't and meanwhile everything keeps rising on helium-filled foundations.
Welcome back to the Bay Area Reality Distortion Field (Jobsian pun intended)... Jesus, that needle-studded Homeless Petting Zoo of Santa Cruz (I can dis my hometown) has LOTS of 'cozy' 1 mil 'fixer uppers' built in the days WAY before any Earthquake code in crap neighborhoods with NONE of the benefits of living in SV... all things RE considered, a 1.4 mil 'updated' 2000 sq ft 3br home in Cupertino/Santa Clara/Saratoga is a far better investment than anything farther afield, as they will become more and more valuable both in family logistics and RE value as the area becomes more and more 'built out', a process that is not even at mid-timeline right now let alone at its apex... and the difference between owning a place like that and 'making it everywhere else in the family budget will reflect that kind of home as a HUGE first priority by how much of the family budget it absorbs. The market's on the way up in a huge way there... renting may or may not be what you want to do if buying one day soon is on the menu... again, it depends on the amount of 'Do Re Mi', as the immortal Woodie Guthrie tune says... forget RE speculation, I'm referring to surviving the wave you just surfed in on without getting 'Maytagged'!
As someone who's owned a few properties ranging from a 2 br Sunnyvale (SV semi-shoddy) townhouse to the aforementioned Cupertino 3br I guess it's simply a matter of priorities... otterprods is right- $$=options, as usual, and if that 3 br is at the TOP of one's list then a 200k *salary* is pretty much the starting point for a sanely structured budget going forward with an attendant lessening of other perks normally associated with such income.
Last edited by threepounduniverse; 05-18-2014 at 03:17 AM..
Yes this is a good point and one I was meaning to bring up before I got sidetracked. Our HR people once presented a pie chart that showed how a typical compensation package was at least 3-times your base salary because they added in numerical values for health insurance, PTO, options, etc. Those things are all great to have but if your base salary isn't enough to cover your projected living expenses, and then some, then don't count on the rest to make up the difference. Owning a nice single family home is still sort of the ideal in everyone's mind but in the bay area it's not that realistic for most younger families. There are other options, and I'm not just talking about shoddy town homes that are the same price. IMO, if you decide to take the job, it will be most equitable for you to rent for a while while you figure out what works for you. You will have have plenty of options with well under $200k options base, they just won't be what you might expect in just about any other region and you might have to make some tradeoffs. Of course if, in the end, you and your wife decide you just HAVE to have that $1m home with a nice yard built in 1960 as temporary housing in Sunnyvale, then it will be tight, even on a $200k base.
"Of course if, in the end, you and your wife decide you just HAVE to have that $1m home with a nice yard built in 1960 as temporary housing in Sunnyvale, then it will be tight, even on a $200k base."
So if that's a silly extravagance in your opinion welcome to Other People's Priorities... the fact that 1mil buys that *now* is actually a BARGAIN compared to what it'll be in ONE year, let alone 3-4... why rent when buying into the near-bottom of an expanding RE market in that area will at least keep approximate value 'pace' with larger more expensive properties one might want to purchase later to continue avoiding becoming a 'commuter hostage'? Renting won't and meanwhile everything keeps rising on helium-filled foundations.
Welcome back to the Bay Area Reality Distortion Field (Jobsian pun intended)... Jesus, that needle-studded Homeless Petting Zoo of Santa Cruz (I can dis my hometown) has LOTS of 'cozy' 1 mil 'fixer uppers' built in the days WAY before any Earthquake code in crap neighborhoods with NONE of the benefits of living in SV... all things RE considered, a 1.4 mil 'updated' 2000 sq ft 3br home in Cupertino/Santa Clara/Saratoga is a far better investment than anything farther afield, as they will become more and more valuable both in family logistics and RE value as the area becomes more and more 'built out', a process that is not even at mid-timeline right now let alone at its apex... and the difference between owning a place like that and 'making it everywhere else in the family budget will reflect that kind of home as a HUGE first priority by how much of the family budget it absorbs. The market's on the way up in a huge way there... renting may or may not be what you want to do if buying one day soon is on the menu... again, it depends on the amount of 'Do Re Mi', as the immortal Woodie Guthrie tune says... forget RE speculation, I'm referring to surviving the wave you just surfed in on without getting 'Maytagged'!
As someone who's owned a few properties ranging from a 2 br Sunnyvale (SV semi-shoddy) townhouse to the aforementioned Cupertino 3br I guess it's simply a matter of priorities... otterprods is right- $$=options, as usual, and if that 3 br is at the TOP of one's list then a 200k *salary* is pretty much the starting point for a sanely structured budget going forward with an attendant lessening of other perks normally associated with such income.
You probably won't take this well, but I'm honestly just trying to help...
Your writing is pretty poor, at least from what I've seen in the last few posts. You use certain words and phrases that may seem clever but they actually obscure the point because we have to decipher them. Also, you over-write so it's hard to get through it all. Simplify.
You probably won't take this well, but I'm honestly just trying to help...
Your writing is pretty poor, at least from what I've seen in the last few posts. You use certain words and phrases that may seem clever but they actually obscure the point because we have to decipher them. Also, you over-write so it's hard to get through it all. Simplify.
Stream-of-consciousness writing style, me think. I kinda like it! But yeah, kinda a bit hard to go through what he/she's saying, but he/she does make a lot of sense once you sit down and really read through what he/she wrote.
Last edited by bobby_guz_man; 05-19-2014 at 10:07 AM..
Location: Overlooking the vineyards, olive groves, cattle and horses in the hills of San Miguel CA
167 posts, read 336,240 times
Reputation: 253
[quote=otterprods;34862685]
Quote:
Originally Posted by threepounduniverse
You probably won't take this well, but I'm honestly just trying to help...
Your writing is pretty poor, at least from what I've seen in the last few posts. You use certain words and phrases that may seem clever but they actually obscure the point because we have to decipher them. Also, you over-write so it's hard to get through it all. Simplify.
BGM- check my Profile- male, Dad, yada yada.
Jesus, Otterprods... 'Trying to help'? 'Take it well'? What am I 'taking'? Oh, yeah- free editorial advice from another forum member who's admonished me to 'Read' HIS posts more carefully.
Sorry- once I passed the Reader's Digest level of writing back in my early teens I decided to keep going. Hope you understand.
WARNING- informal posts on CD forums may be 'target rich' in information and I make no effort to 'water down' my writing... find it difficult to understand? Either read more carefully or skip it.
What are you, an Editor at The New Yorker? My writing is excellent. Maybe it's your reading comprehension that needs upgrading.
Simple enough yet?
Last edited by threepounduniverse; 05-19-2014 at 12:22 PM..
Jesus, Otterprods... 'Trying to help'? 'Take it well'? What am I 'taking'? Oh, yeah- free editorial advice from another forum member who's admonished me to 'Read' HIS posts more carefully. Sorry- once I passed the Reader's Digest level of writing back in my early teens I decided to keep going. Hope you understand. WARNING- informal posts on CD forums may be 'target rich' in information and I make no effort to 'water down' my writing... find it difficult to understand? Either read more carefully or skip it. What are you, an Editor at The New Yorker? My writing is excellent. Maybe it's your reading comprehension that needs upgrading. Simple enough yet?
OK blame your audience. Have a good 1.
Last edited by otterprods; 05-19-2014 at 01:03 PM..
Location: Overlooking the vineyards, olive groves, cattle and horses in the hills of San Miguel CA
167 posts, read 336,240 times
Reputation: 253
Quote:
Originally Posted by otterprods
OK blame your audience. Have a good 1.
If you can't read at your level why complain that others are writing at a level more nuanced than you are capable of comprehending?
If you're trying to read and comprehend material that may be over your head, learn to swim better... that's what they call that a 'metaphor'. I *would* admonish you to 'READ' but that's been done already.
As for the OP's interest in learning more by having his questions answered, I think HE can readily understand what every poster has written. Glad to see *you* are 'taking this well' though.
I've grown weary of fencing with a guy who thinks a rattle is a saber... I think the OP has plenty to consider at this point so unless you, me or anyone else has anything to add I'm going elsewhere.
Do everyone a favor, otterprods- keep your own council and perhaps avoid dispensing all this, to put it charitably 'free advice' to other forum members... playing well with others is the first step towards getting your voice heard... I say this knowing I'm breaking my own advice here but it will have to serve as the exception that proves the rule as it were.
I didn't ask for this p*ssing match and your posts towards me could have actually contained REAL information for the OP... the case for NOT my needing any more of your edification's been made already.
OP- you have an enviable choice in front of you... good luck!
'Nuff said.
Last edited by threepounduniverse; 05-19-2014 at 01:29 PM..
Wow, thanks for all the replies everyone. Didn't know I would start such a lively discussion.
I really didnt mean to be offensive by asking the $200K salary question. We are a middle-class family, and we make nowhere close to that in BC, Canada. Its just that there are a lot of things that are 'free'/Cheap here that cost quite a bit in the Bay area ( healthcare, good schools, housing in good areas ). Once I started seeing $1M+ homes in low-crime + good school + good commute areas, I started wondering about how high a salary would be enough for a similiar style of living as back home.
And yes the offer was $130K base + bonus + stock, so that had me a little bit worried if I couldnt afford a mortgage just on my base pay.
I think I have enough information now to know what I am in for if I do decide to take it.
Thanks Again!
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Can only blame demand by so many others trying to get the same thing, in the same place, at the same time.
