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Employees at Airbnb, Square and Stripe Are Spending 50%+ of Income on SF Rent

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Re: Employees at Airbnb, Square and Stripe Are Spending 50%+ of Income on SF Rent

#81

Post by temuze »

washedup wrote: post #30
aaronbrethorst wrote: post #4

That's ok. When Airbnb, Square, and Stripe IPO in 12-36 months, all of the people currently flooding into SF to work for them will surely be able to sell their pre-IPO shares to ... Well, I don't know, honestly. I doubt that employee #1000 at Square would even be able to pay the down payment on a SF condo with their earnings. Also, just FYI: Seattle isn't that much cheaper than SF, the people are way meaner, traffic…

Median rent for a 1-bedroom in Seattle is $1,615, compared to $2,800 in SF (from Rent Jungle)

$2,961 in Brooklyn and $3,361 in Manhattan. Ouch.

Source: http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2015/05/14/rents_rise_across_n...

Re: Employees at Airbnb, Square and Stripe Are Spending 50%+ of Income on SF Rent

#82

Post by minimaxir »

nilkn wrote: post #60
minimaxir wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One does not simply "become remote." There are strong advantages to working in direct contact, despite what sentiment on HN and logic dictates. Working in SF for a few months wouldn't make you super rich anyways.

I think his/her strategy of working in SF for a few months at first is not to become "super rich", but to establish a high salary that could then be "exported" to a cheaper area while staying on with the same company.

I'm reasonably sure that a decrease in CoL would be adjusted into the salary, or at the least, any company in a lower CoL is less likely to give a competitive salary.

Re: Employees at Airbnb, Square and Stripe Are Spending 50%+ of Income on SF Rent

#83

Post by eastbayjake »

blisterpeanuts wrote: post #38

I love these high salaries. My thought is to find a job in SF, live there temporarily for 3-6 months, then become remote and move back to my real home on the east coast. Is that feasible? Aren't these kinds of companies pretty comfortable these days with video conferencing, IM, screen sharing etc.?

"Sorry, blisterpeanuts... we know telecommuting is really attractive, but we like to have people in-office at least four days per week so we can get together in a room and really hash out problems. But feel free to work from home on No Meeting Thursdays!" - Your future SF manager

Re: Employees at Airbnb, Square and Stripe Are Spending 50%+ of Income on SF Rent

#84

Post by idlewords »

danso wrote: post #44

Do (m)any of the SF startups allow workers to occasionally commute from places like Sacramento? I actually knew bankers who lived in Sactown and got up at 5AM to head out to SF every morning. But technology requires less in-person time. And Sacramento is much, _much_ cheaper than the Bay Area...I shared a great 2-bedroom place in the nicest area of town for around 1,200, where you could walk to great food, parties, a…

The commute from Sacramento to SF is not really workable. Traffic across the Bay Bridge has reached a point where there's almost no lull, and parking at BART stations is impossible to find. I go to a Sacramento colo sometimes and would never dream of trying to make the trip on a weekday or Sunday afternoon.

Re: Employees at Airbnb, Square and Stripe Are Spending 50%+ of Income on SF Rent

#85

Post by jimmyhmiller »

nullrouted wrote: post #2

Which is silly....honestly companies need to start opening offices in more affordable areas. Colorado (Blouder, Denver, The Springs), Texas (Austin, San Antonio), Missouri (Kansas City, Saint Louis)....there are so many places you can put your employees that saves them money as well as your company a lot of money not only in Salaries because you'll be able to employees less but your rent/power/etc.

Boulder is one of the places I was looking to move. But looking at houses there it seemed far from affordable. Is that not the case?

Re: Employees at Airbnb, Square and Stripe Are Spending 50%+ of Income on SF Rent

#86

Post by jusben1369 »

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #4

That's ok. When Airbnb, Square, and Stripe IPO in 12-36 months, all of the people currently flooding into SF to work for them will surely be able to sell their pre-IPO shares to ... Well, I don't know, honestly. I doubt that employee #1000 at Square would even be able to pay the down payment on a SF condo with their earnings. Also, just FYI: Seattle isn't that much cheaper than SF, the people are way meaner, traffic…

Everybody is running with your Seattle humor but your comment on IPO'ing is worth discussing. 1) The reason a startup is appealing is because you're supposed to make a great low 6 or even 7 figure sum once your company goes public. 2) To achieve success you're supposed to work intensely hard and smart (@pmarca) for a short period of time (3 - 7 years) and then if you've picked successfully you'll create a really nice nest egg for yourself while you're peers who graduated will only be up to around $50K in their contributing 401K's. 3) Based on the size of that exit you are free to go somewhere else and enjoy luxury or double down in the Bay Area but this time with a little more money to get a better apartment or even buy something in the burbs.

So the point is looking at just Income isn't helpful. One would hope your stock is appreciating in value at an equivalent or greater pace than your income.

Re: Employees at Airbnb, Square and Stripe Are Spending 50%+ of Income on SF Rent

#87

Post by jaggederest »

cdnsteve wrote: post #13

Seriously, the number of companies still not hiring remotes is ridiculous. We work in the most flexible industry out there yet most companies still want you sitting in a chair in some downtown office of a giant and expensive city. No thank you. No you don't need to make your entire team remote but you can easily augment a large portion with talented remotes. Keep your high living costs and horrendous commutes, been t…

I deeply enjoy when recruiters are convinced that I'll move to SF for their company, even though I haven't over the past decade. They also balk when I ask for the cost of living adjustment to make the move (+180%, give or take).

Re: Employees at Airbnb, Square and Stripe Are Spending 50%+ of Income on SF Rent

#88

Post by swsieber »

zrail wrote: post #63
callmeed wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are ... for their non-engineering employees (Lyft in Nashville is the most recent example). But for engineering talent, it doesn't work. I don't know the exact reason but it seems to be some combination of the ability to poach from each other, herd mentality, and the concentration of VC money. Take a look at the remote engineering jobs on WWR. Most of them aren't in SF. To me that screams "We opened an office in…

To me that screams "companies that choose to locate in SF refuse to hire remotely".

More like: "If we're hiring remote, why the heck are we when it is so expensive"

Re: Employees at Airbnb, Square and Stripe Are Spending 50%+ of Income on SF Rent

#89

Post by raldi »

ec072201-474b wrote: post #79

I was recently contemplating the hostility between tech workers and some SF residents who have lived here longer. Long-term residents blame tech workers for increasing housing prices and resulting evictions, but high rent is detrimental to both groups. Then I considered the interest group who is coming out on top in all of this: SF property owners. The total value of all residential property in SF is probably well in…

Yes, and they're doing a really good job: http://sfbarf.org
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