Young newcomers to Bay Area (Sunnyvale: apartment, to rent, condo)

[AnomFromBA]

A lot of posts lately are around the same theme - young couple (or single person) moving to BA and looking to get advice on where to live. The common theme is that they are all looking for really nice places - i.e. close to downtown, safe and nice area, house with backyard, not too old and nicely updated (i.e. nice kitchen), etc etc. What happened to the mentality of living cheap when you are young and save money while you do not have family etc, to buy a house, start a family, create startup, whatever your dream is?

I find it amusing that young people with more or less OK salary are trying to find housing up to the max of what they can afford.

When I came here (more than 10 yrs ago), I lived in a cheap studio in a bad part of town, then moved to cheap 1 br in slightly better part of town, then saved enough money and bought a house in good part of town.

When you are young and have no kids, this is the only time in your life when you can actually live in a small dinky apartment in a bad part of town. Saves you money and makes you appreciate good things in life

[RecentGrad1]

I completely agree, as a single 24-year old currently living in a 250-square foot studio. I'm actually looking at renting a room instead.

This area is crazy expensive. You are not going to buy a single-family home as a young person, and living in a luxury apartment will hurt your financial future. Live cheap, and appreciate how much money you can put away without having as many costs compared to having kids.

My philosophy after graduating was to continue living as a college student (actually, even my studio is nicer than college). I bike everywhere, and enjoy spending time with family and friends, my hobbies, and even improving my cooking skills more than spending lavishly on something that won't give me any additional happiness.

[fashionguy]

I think one reason is that the houses are so ridiculously expensive now that the younger generation just don't have plans to own any more. If you are not going to own anytime soon, you'd better find somewhere nice as that will be your quality of housing for many years. I knew I was thinking like that before I purchased my home. Now looking back I think I wasted some money into rent but in the mean time I did enjoy the amenities.

[RecentGrad1]

Originally Posted by fashionguy

If you are not going to own anytime soon, you'd better find somewhere nice as that will be your quality of housing for many years.

Wouldn't you prefer to have the money? It's called long-term thinking.

Originally Posted by fashionguy

I knew I was thinking like that before I purchased my home. Now looking back I think I wasted some money into rent but in the mean time I did enjoy the amenities.

Yup, but probably not as much as you would have enjoyed having the extra savings.

[nagleepark]

So, of course, Americans have the right to spend their money on anything they want, even if somebody else finds it to be foolish. I assume that you are not advocating that we pass laws or regulations that limit where people live or how they spend their money or implementing a forced savings plan. Once somebody is an adult in America, they are free to conduct (or destroy) their finances in any way that they choose.

People want to live in a nice place. That's normal. It may be incompatible with their finances but it's still a normal desire. If they are coming from outside the area, they may not understand the extent that their desires for a nice place will challenge or be incompatible with their (new) salary. So, they ask. They aren't meaning to insult you or be selfish or waste money. Things are different from where they are from and they simply don't know what it's like here. So, they innocently ask.

Living in a dinky apartment in the bad part of town may have been a good experience for you but I'm sure that it wouldn't be a good experience for everybody. We should leave it up to them to decide whether they want that experience with the associated advantages and disadvantages.

I'm sure that there are many people who bought a house, started a family, created a startup or accomplished other dreams without living in a dinky apartment in a bad part of town. It isn't a required experience.

[zdg]

Originally Posted by AnomFromBA

When I came here (more than 10 yrs ago), I lived in a cheap studio in a bad part of town, then moved to cheap 1 br in slightly better part of town, then saved enough money and bought a house in good part of town.

Let us know where to send your medal.

[AnomFromBA]

Arent there are other reasons to save? Future family, cool startup, education,retirement, etc etc?
Also you can get townhouse or condo instead of SFH which is very doable.

All of the people i know who own houses in good areas lived in a very modest places before buying their first house.

[wsugrad03]

For young people, sure....I 100% agree. Live/Rent cheap until you save up enough to buy. However, I think for most young people they want to live conveniently more than they want to live cheaply. By convenience, I mean living close to work. Sometimes that doesn't really facilitate living in a cheap and poor part of town.

[AnomFromBA]

There are plenty of places centrally located that are on the cheap side. East of 101 in Sunnyvale, areas close to 101 in RWC (i am not even listing EPA here).

And surely not everyone has to live in a dinky place when they are young -ever heard of people living in mansions and never worked a day in their lives? I was talking about majority of people (no parent money, no lottery wins, no luck with successful startup at young age,etc). If you dont have parents to help or rich spouse.

The other type of the common theme here is how expensive it is to live here with kids (=good schools areas) and impossible to save for downpayment with all child care expenses, high rents etc.

Somehow it seems like these two themes are related

[MrBR]

Glad I live at home for only a few hundred a month. Let's me save for my retirement.