Salary to "Live Comfortably" (San Jose, Huntington Beach: short sale, day care, loan)

[neutrino78x]

Originally Posted by cbone4

we are doing "okay" but the housing situation is what kills us.

Yeah, that's not going to improve much. You have to have low housing expectations in the Bay Area. I only make $11.25/hr and I live here, but I'm sharing a one bedroom apartment.

To buy a SFH you're looking at 200K after taxes in most cases, because a SFH in a good school district in Silicon Valley is going to be 800k+.

I love the Bay Area; the only other place I could think of living is maybe Seattle. I lived across Puget Sound from Seattle when I was in the US Navy (Bangor Naval Submarine Base). Seattle was awesome too.

But since everybody wants to live here, and salaries are high, housing is also expensive. Personally I'd be happy if I had a bedroom to myself. I don't need a house or condo. But if I were married with kids, or was planning for that, I would obviously want a multibedroom dwelling to myself.

So yeah there are 600k and even 300k SFHs and condos here, but you would sacrifice the good school district part.

--Brian

[phantompilot]

People are willing to pay an extra million dollars to not have a commute, or to be in the school district they believe to be the best. That's just reality. But that doesn't have anything to do with comfortable lifestyle, not really. I think what has happened in the psychology of the buyers, is that the lifestyle they feel is comfortable, revolves around luxury items and not around necessities.

So the term has become a bit distorted and possibly even meaningless. Comfortable living used to mean meeting expenses without a problem (the original meaning) and now it means something completely different.

That's my take.

[Jane M]

Hi Carcher, thanks for answering. That's a long way. We lived in S. SJ where Cottle meets 85 and it was a 45 minute commute to Mountain View in the Morning. Then, my bf's company moved to San Mateo and his commute ended up being 90 minutes. I'm curious, Do you commute during traditional hours?

[neutrino78x]

Jane M, hopefully he's doing it via Light Rail + Caltrain. That's also 90 minutes but at least he can kick back and not have to drive.

I go everywhere on transit...but in my case I don't have much choice. I make $11.25/hr. :-O

[roadwarrior101]

[quote=neutrino78x;43057577
To buy a SFH you're looking at 200K after taxes in most cases, because a SFH in a good school district in Silicon Valley is going to be 800k+.[/quote]

I think you're underestimating the cost unless you're referring to a really tiny, run down house, your definition of a good school district is just ok or you are expanding the commute distance to somewhere like Morgan Hill. I'd say $300-400k (and a couple hundred thousand for a down payment) is the bare minimum to get a decent house in a good (not great) school district.

[bentobox34]

Originally Posted by roadwarrior101

I think you're underestimating the cost unless you're referring to a really tiny, run down house, your definition of a good school district is just ok or you are expanding the commute distance to somewhere like Morgan Hill. I'd say $300-400k (and a couple hundred thousand for a down payment) is the bare minimum to get a decent house in a good (not great) school district.

I think he was saying you need a 200k income to afford an 800k house.

Are you saying 300-400k income is the minimum required to afford to live in a good school district? That sounds a bit high to me, even for this area...

[roadwarrior101]

Originally Posted by bentobox34

I think he was saying you need a 200k income to afford an 800k house.

Are you saying 300-400k income is the minimum required to afford to live in a good school district? That sounds a bit high to me, even for this area...

I'm saying most good houses in good school districts are well above $800k. That may have been the case 4-5 years ago, but I think the nicer areas of the Silicon Valley (even San Jose) are well over a million now for a decent house.

[neutrino78x]

Originally Posted by roadwarrior101

I'm saying most good houses in good school districts are well above $800k. That may have been the case 4-5 years ago, but I think the nicer areas of the Silicon Valley (even San Jose) are well over a million now for a decent house.

Well, you agree with me then.

I was saying you need to make around 200k after taxes in order to buy "a single family home in a good school district" in Silicon Valley because it will cost around 800k to 1m.

[neutrino78x]

Having said that, I don't think one needs a SFH to live comfortably. I will never make enough to buy one here in the valley, but even if I did, I wouldn't want one. I'm really ok with renting a room in an apartment that I share with others, but at most I would buy a condo in a building that has other condos in it.

Condos are way cheaper. You can still get a three bedroom for 600k. Not sure about the school district, though. Even with condos, only so many people can live in a given school district. See here:

https://sanjosecondomania.com/info/browsePriceRange.php

[NewbieHere]

Originally Posted by Lanienguyen

"Not only you can walk away, you don't lose your down payment and you can move to lower cost area where you can live off savings."
That is not always true. A friend of mine got lay off last yr as senior Eng and his wife, a CS, also was let go 2 months after. They sold the house they stayed in Milpitas for 1+Mil. They bought it in 2005-06 for <$700K. Not only they got back their down, but also made $300K profit. Of course, everyone at that time thought 2006 would be the peak. ( They bought 2 houses in that period and now move back to the house they rent out earlier.)

"The point is you don't have to live in high COL if you don't have high paying jobs. I know plenty of people moved to Las Vegas, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon."
Both of them got new jobs few months later. That's a reason why people stay or stuck in Silicon Valley. People can work as a janitor to make a living. But other poster had pointed out that in those low COL area, they don't need people with a Ph.D or Master degree. There is a reason why this Silicon Valley is so expensive.

I'm talking about the dot com bust scenario where 90% were laid off. I still have a friend who has not found any engineering job or any job for that matter since he was laid off in 2001.