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Old 08-14-2015, 08:21 AM
 
1 posts, read 1,209 times
Reputation: 10

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Hi,
I've recently got an offer from a tech company in mountain view, and was considering moving from Seattle.
We have two kids (5 and 1 year old), and my wife does not work. While we are looking for a place to live that has good school district, good commute, and good neighbor, we were so surprised on the price of the house.

We are currently live in 2,800 soft single family home(everything up to date with quite high end level) priced around 750k and commute time is 30min to 50min. Also, the school rating from where we live is 10, 10, 9. When we looked for similar home near Silicon valley with commute time within 50min and with good school district, it seems like the price almost goes almost up to 2M.

I am currently making 120k year (excl bonus) and the offer is 150k. When I looked at Glassdoor, typical bonus is 30k cash and 80k stock. Thus, annual income could be jumped from 120k to 260k. However, I don't want to depend on the bonus especially for a mortgage payment as it's not guaranteed as per my experience with my current job (my team barley got one). If I exclude bonus from the equation, the monthly income I get is just $900 more mainly because there's no state tax in Washington. With $900 / month, our budget for a new home will be up to around 850k.

I am not sure if we are missing something from our house search in Silicon valley area. If we are not missing, I am seriously considering if it's worth moving. (We are accustomed to the weather in Seattle and rain is not a problem and it does not rain that much past couple of years. ).
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Old 08-14-2015, 10:19 AM
 
1,696 posts, read 2,861,476 times
Reputation: 1110
*munches on popcorn*
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Old 08-14-2015, 11:26 AM
 
150 posts, read 186,610 times
Reputation: 211
Nope. There is no hidden enclave of big, high-end homes with great schools that is also close to your work the price you want to pay. If you make the move, you're going to have to trade off somewhere, maybe multiple somewheres - house size/niceness, school rankings, commute time, house price, renting instead of buying...

(2800 sq ft!!!)
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Old 08-14-2015, 11:35 AM
 
Location: State of Transition
102,213 posts, read 107,931,771 times
Reputation: 116160
Quote:
Originally Posted by mossly View Post

(2800 sq ft!!!)
Yeah. And people say housing in Seattle is expensive! But this guy has a high-end 2800 sq. ft. place on just $120k.

OP, if you have everything you want in Seattle, why move? It sounds like you've got your dream, so why mess with success and happiness? If you really want to move to CA, tell them they'll need to offer you a lot more than $150K to make up for the big hit in quality of life you'll have to take.
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Old 08-14-2015, 11:47 AM
 
53 posts, read 176,067 times
Reputation: 60
If your company provides shuttles then you can potentially live farther away where you can still buy bigger homes in a good school district for a little bit less ($1.25M - $1.5M). You can than work while commuting which can reduce time you need to spend in your office. It would still be tough on one income (even when making around $250k), but doable. Whether it is worth it compared to what you have now in Seattle is another question that only you can answer. If it was me and if I did't mind the weather I would probably stay there and I would try to look for a better paying job over there... but that's just me.
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Old 08-15-2015, 06:13 PM
 
Location: Bay Area
402 posts, read 538,780 times
Reputation: 335
Don't move... Just don't.
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Old 08-15-2015, 11:03 PM
 
329 posts, read 656,616 times
Reputation: 84
Quote:
Originally Posted by spooky99 View Post
Hi,
I've recently got an offer from a tech company in mountain view, and was considering moving from Seattle.
We have two kids (5 and 1 year old), and my wife does not work. While we are looking for a place to live that has good school district, good commute, and good neighbor, we were so surprised on the price of the house.

We are currently live in 2,800 soft single family home(everything up to date with quite high end level) priced around 750k and commute time is 30min to 50min. Also, the school rating from where we live is 10, 10, 9. When we looked for similar home near Silicon valley with commute time within 50min and with good school district, it seems like the price almost goes almost up to 2M.

I am currently making 120k year (excl bonus) and the offer is 150k. When I looked at Glassdoor, typical bonus is 30k cash and 80k stock. Thus, annual income could be jumped from 120k to 260k. However, I don't want to depend on the bonus especially for a mortgage payment as it's not guaranteed as per my experience with my current job (my team barley got one). If I exclude bonus from the equation, the monthly income I get is just $900 more mainly because there's no state tax in Washington. With $900 / month, our budget for a new home will be up to around 850k.

I am not sure if we are missing something from our house search in Silicon valley area. If we are not missing, I am seriously considering if it's worth moving. (We are accustomed to the weather in Seattle and rain is not a problem and it does not rain that much past couple of years. ).
Bay area is good if you are in a niche field with earnings potential of $200K (excl bonus).

I moved out of Bay area to LA and very happy with the move so far.

I believe Seattle is much better than LA and unless you have a compelling reason..dont move.
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Old 08-17-2015, 02:50 AM
 
865 posts, read 1,828,174 times
Reputation: 525
You sound like you know what you are doing in terms of research. Sorry.
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Old 08-17-2015, 09:39 AM
 
Location: Brisbane, CA
238 posts, read 302,614 times
Reputation: 236
based on your salary i would say the move is not a great idea. the stock grants should not be considered part of your salary - typically they will vest over time and not be available right away. assuming you could find a home that fits all of your needs, the max mortgage you will be eligible for is 625,500. above that will be nearly impossible to qualify for. and for all of the things you listed, that is not possible near mountain view.

not that i would advocate you buying a home now anyway since it sounds you have never lived here before. renting is much better for somebody who is unfamiliar with the area. it will give you an idea of what a reasonable commute is and what kind of towns and housing are available.
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Old 08-17-2015, 09:58 AM
 
Location: Sunset Beach, CA
47 posts, read 230,060 times
Reputation: 103
Umm big time trade off lol. Welcome to pollution, crime, over-priced paradise AKA California!
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