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Ask HN: Potentially Moving to SF / SV with a Family

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Re: Ask HN: Potentially Moving to SF / SV with a Family

#21

Post by natch »

divyekapoor wrote: post #18

School district homes in SV (3b 2b 1300sqft+) are in the 1.5M range or higher near the top employers in the Peninsula. If you're ok accepting a 40min+ commute, the cost reduces to about 900K Townhome + HOA in a good school district. A family of 4 in the bay area with household income at $105350 is low income ( http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/04/22/in-costly-bay-area-eve... ). At 150K you'll be living in rented accomm…

These numbers are in the ballpark, but the tweaks I'd make are not in the OP's favor. I don't think you're going to be able to find a 900K townhome in a good school district here unless you mean a 1 bedroom or studio. A year ago I was looking at the market and a 2 bedroom in a good school district was 950K but that was a 40-year-old building. HOA around $300.

Note to OP at the prices divyekapoor mentioned for rentals, you likely won't be in a house in a good school district, you'll be in an apartment. Or in a house or apartment in a bad school district. Alarmingly, even the options that you can't afford will still seem not good enough. Depressing, I know. If your Priuses are the plug-in type and you want to take advantage of that, your selection is further narrowed.

Other than that I agree with the above.. my comments are just tweaks.

Re: Ask HN: Potentially Moving to SF / SV with a Family

#22

Post by x0x0 »

Holy crap you're gonna be broke. Don't do it.

Expect to pay $3k-ish in the cheapest areas in the peninsula for an older 2 bedroom apartment. Now take all your expenses (eating out, gym, etc) and multiply by 2-3. Oh, and food is at least twice as expensive as in the Midwest (reference: when I fly home to see parents, I occasionally grocery shop for them.) My grocery bill is $700-$800/mo for 2 adults, plus $300/mo of munchery. (That said, I lift hard so I eat a lot of food. Still.)

I really need to emphasize that $3k is for a crappy apartment thrown up in the 80s for bottom dollar.

For comparison, friends rent a (small, crappy) detached 2 bedroom house with a 20x20 ft yard in Mountain View for $4700/mo.

If you want to be in eg Palo Alto Unified, expect to pay $5k-ish for a 3 bedroom. Also, a friend who moved here with a freshman daughter said she hates the school and hates how competitive all the students are.

Sales tax is 9% btw. And don't forget our high state income taxes.

And if you ever managed to buy a home (which you won't be able to do), you'll spend near $1m and pay roughly $1-$1.2k/mo in property taxes. For forever. That makes saving enough money to retire extremely hard.

btw I help manage apartments here; leave your email below if you have questions and I'm happy to answer anything directly.

Re: Ask HN: Potentially Moving to SF / SV with a Family

#23

Post by evgen »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #3

You will be accepting a decline in quality of life to move to SF for work (increase in salary is not congruent with your increased expenses), and must decide if its worth it. I'd suggest looking for full stack remote jobs where you'll make $100k-130k/year while remaining in Ohio (if thats where you want to live). Leaving a support system/family behind if you have a child (and considering another child) is not trivial…

I will concur with the others who are suggesting you explore remote options first. Besides the quality of life hit you would take in moving to SV, you are also increasing your risk if things don't work out. Start-ups, even well connected ones that seem like a sure thing, fail all the time. While your path to savings and local support network sounds like it will provide you with a nice cushion in Ohio, you would not have this in the bay area. With only one income in the family a six-month or more stretch of unemployment might be devastating.

Look for remote work, and see about building a network both in SV and NYC. The latter is a bit closer to you and you might find it easier to land a remote job with a NYC firm.

Re: Ask HN: Potentially Moving to SF / SV with a Family

#24

Post by shostack »

divyekapoor wrote: post #18

School district homes in SV (3b 2b 1300sqft+) are in the 1.5M range or higher near the top employers in the Peninsula. If you're ok accepting a 40min+ commute, the cost reduces to about 900K Townhome + HOA in a good school district. A family of 4 in the bay area with household income at $105350 is low income ( http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/04/22/in-costly-bay-area-eve... ). At 150K you'll be living in rented accomm…

I'm not sure you'll find a 3/2 even at that sqft in a decent school district. Redwood City has not great schools and the decent parts of it are around $1.6+ for a starter home from the 50's. Areas with good schools are probably closer to $1.6 or $1.7+. But I'd love to see some recently sold listing links proving me wrong

Source: recent comps from redfin.

Re: Ask HN: Potentially Moving to SF / SV with a Family

#25

Post by pesfandiar »

I also have an infant daughter, and don't even imagine moving to SV. Other comments have talked enough about the finances, but the main factor for me would be the work-life balance.

From what I hear in online communities, SV sounds extremely anti-family. Companies that can hire new grads that will conveniently work overtime for pizza and beer will not really value a 9-5 family man like yourself. Add to that the stress and time-sink of long commutes, and that's all time that you could be spending with your young family.

Re: Ask HN: Potentially Moving to SF / SV with a Family

#26

Post by tannhauser23 »

I have a family (spouse and two kids), work in SF, and live in the peninsula. Quite honestly, I don't know if I can make it work in the long term. The cost of housing is astronomical - any family home in the peninsula is a million at least, and more likely in the $1.3-1.5 million range. Things are cheaper in the east bay, but I still have to go to the near-end of the BART lines to find a townhome in the $800k range. If I go out there, I probably can't ever take a job in the peninsula because the commute will be too hellish.

Even with a developer salary I'm not able to save anything. Housing + childcare/preschool eats everything up. In a few years when the kids are in public k it's possible that I'll have some financial leeway again.

Spending few years here is worth it because this was a career change and I'm able to learn a ton in the bay area. But unless my salary increases dramatically in a few years, I'll likely move to another area.

For you, I'd wait until you have a few offers in hand, then calculate out how much it would cost for you to live here.

Re: Ask HN: Potentially Moving to SF / SV with a Family

#27

Post by tannhauser23 »

pesfandiar wrote: post #25

I also have an infant daughter, and don't even imagine moving to SV. Other comments have talked enough about the finances, but the main factor for me would be the work-life balance. From what I hear in online communities, SV sounds extremely anti-family. Companies that can hire new grads that will conveniently work overtime for pizza and beer will not really value a 9-5 family man like yourself. Add to that the stres…

It depends on the company. Mine is very family friendly. Don't believe everything you read online (including me, haha) - remember that people who are unhappy with their situation is more likely to post stuff online than people who are content.

That said, commute is a killer.

Re: Ask HN: Potentially Moving to SF / SV with a Family

#28

Post by chaostheory »

One important thing: just because you work in SF (or Oakland) it doesn't mean you need to live there. Check out all the cities with BART access. I've known some developers to live as far away as Concord and even Livermore for the cost of living. Of course, the catch is that the commute is guaranteed to be terrible. But really unless you live and work in the same city (which is a luxury here), that's the case for everyone here.

Re: Ask HN: Potentially Moving to SF / SV with a Family

#29

Post by pascalxus »

SV / SF is no place for a family. Most of it is high crime and quite seedy. You'll pay significantly more for housing. Only the 80% of SF which is rent controlled is affordable (as an outsider, you'll never get this). At market rate, For 6K/month you might be able to rent a tiny 2 bedroom apartment with no parking. You'll never be able to save up for a condo and you can forget about a house. Most of us, are trying to get out of SV/SF. I wouldn't recommend you come here unless you'r facing homelessness or absolute destitute.

If you do come, I recommend, you ask for 170K minimum. Even then, you should make plans to leave within a few years.

Re: Ask HN: Potentially Moving to SF / SV with a Family

#30

Post by shostack »

awaythrow101 wrote: post #15
BadassFractal wrote: post #10

Single income with a kid in the Bay is not going to be luxurious, you'll want to prep for some cuts in lifestyle if you were used to nice things. That 150k gets decimated by taxes real quick, + the 4k for a 2 bedroom which will have to be further away from most of the "sexier" spots where it will cost a lot more, hence more commuting. E.g. you're taking home 90k after taxes, minus 50k for housing, that leaves 40k for…

I would love a remote gig, assuming it was as an FTE with benefits (healthcare being important for family and all). My wife's company cannot afford to provide any benefits whatsoever. It just seems like recently, the move is toward in-office employment with little to no work from home. I've talked to a handful of companies I'd love to work with, but I'd be willing to bet that they would all balk at remote employment.

What does your wife do for the non profit? Is it something transferable to the corporate world where the pay would be a lot better? Or is one of your goals for her to be a stay at home mom?
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