Bay Area Thread

[iong516]

random question:

I just had a phone interview with a company in South SF that went really well and sounds promising for the most part. would 80K/yr be enough to live comfortably in the area without a roommate? should I expect to let rent prices and commute times dictate where I live?

I would expect roommates or some less than ideal conditions like a crappy place, long commute, not having extra money to buy lambic on the secondary market...

 

[user 306349]

yeah that's exactly what I was thinking. I did some quick math when I was sending out resumes and I need at least 95K down there to keep it semi-real.

 

[dimensionx]

yeah that's exactly what I was thinking. I did some quick math when I was sending out resumes and I need at least 95K down there to keep it semi-real.

wait, you want to move from Portland-ish to SF??? Wrong way amigo!

In all seriousness, Craigslist is the best place to look. There are some deals around but they go quick, lots of places shared via word of mouth/facebook work email groups. I will point out that a Pilsner can cost you 9$ at many places here so factor that in. Taxes are actually lower than Oregon(for me at least).

 

[matedog]

wait, you want to move from Portland-ish to SF??? Wrong way amigo!

In all seriousness, Craigslist is the best place to look. There are some deals around but they go quick, lots of places shared via word of mouth/facebook work email groups. I will point out that a Pilsner can cost you 9$ at many places here so factor that in. Taxes are actually lower than Oregon(for me at least).

There are A LOT more options if you are open to having a roommate.

Otherwise, South SF is bartable so you could technically commute from the affordable burbs. Even out to Antioch but **** that.

 

[Juncture]

random question:

I just had a phone interview with a company in South SF that went really well and sounds promising for the most part. would 80K/yr be enough to live comfortably in the area without a roommate? should I expect to let rent prices and commute times dictate where I live?

Fairly dependant on how much you spend. Rent within the city is pretty atrocious if you want to live by yourself. Much easier to do if you have one or two room mates. Make a spreadsheet of what you currently spend and see how much you have left over. I know people that make 50K and do perfectly fine, I also know people that make close to 120K and are barely making it.

 

[rrryanc]

Fairly dependant on how much you spend. Rent within the city is pretty atrocious if you want to live by yourself. Much easier to do if you have one or two room mates. Make a spreadsheet of what you currently spend and see how much you have left over. I know people that make 50K and do perfectly fine, I also know people that make close to 120K and are barely making it.

Ya, run some numbers. Assume $2500/month or so if you want to guarantee no roommates and a reasonable room (though you can find cheaper). Personally, I didn't find housemates objectionable if I had my own room and bathroom, and that kept my rates way down until marriage.

 

[KevSal]

random question:

I just had a phone interview with a company in South SF that went really well and sounds promising for the most part. would 80K/yr be enough to live comfortably in the area without a roommate? should I expect to let rent prices and commute times dictate where I live?

i love in ssf! only reason i do is because it’s the second cheapest city to live on the peninsula . 1st is daly city which isn’t too far, you should be good on making a short commute, but a roommate is much better, i can see you finding a built out basement with bathroom in dc for a reasonable price and a 15 min commute to work driving along hillside (pretty much city driving)

where is work located? near or around genentech?

edit:
$850 in-law studio in daly city
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/apa/d/daly-city-in-law-for-rent/6829133460.html

15 min commute on beautiful hillside (don’t go thru sf)

and extra $$$ for lambic

boom see ya when you’re down here!

 

[atomicpunk5151]

i love in ssf! only reason i do is because it’s the second cheapest city to live on the peninsula . 1st is daly city which isn’t too far, you should be good on making a short commute, but a roommate is much better, i can see you finding a built out basement with bathroom in dc for a reasonable price and a 15 min commute to work driving along hillside (pretty much city driving)

where is work located? near or around genentech?

edit:
$850 in-law studio in daly city
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/apa/d/daly-city-in-law-for-rent/6829133460.html

15 min commute on beautiful hillside (don’t go thru sf)

and extra $$$ for lambic

boom see ya when you’re down here!

What is going on in Bayview/Hunters Point? I was shocked to see some of the high $ rent prices. I assume those are all new condos/apartments??

 

[RyanG1]

What is going on in Bayview/Hunters Point? I was shocked to see some of the high $ rent prices. I assume those are all new condos/apartments??

https://www.lennar.com/new-homes/ca...area/san-francisco/the-san-francisco-shipyard

Last spot in SF to buy an "affordable home"

 

[dimensionx]

I live in Bayview and it's dope if you are into murders and enjoy the close proximity to downtown, but otherwise it's a bummer.

 

[Juncture]

https://www.lennar.com/new-homes/ca...area/san-francisco/the-san-francisco-shipyard

Last spot in SF to buy an "affordable home"

Too much toxic waste.

 

[jtmartino1]

I live in Bayview and it's dope if you are into murders and enjoy the close proximity to downtown, but otherwise it's a bummer.

This made me lol, so true. Bayview/Hunters Point is one of the most violent and dangerous neighborhoods in the Bay Area, because gang activity is alive and well there.

yeah that's exactly what I was thinking. I did some quick math when I was sending out resumes and I need at least 95K down there to keep it semi-real.

$95k is considered low income in SF for a household.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44725026


$2500 min for a one-bedroom apartment in a reasonable neighborhood as mentioned. Rooms around here rent for $800+. If you are in healthcare or pharma or biotech message me, I can give some insight into salary ranges you can shoot for down here.

 

[pen15clubmember]

The only SF neighborhoods you can get your own place in for sub-$2K are the west side: Sunset and Richmond...maybe like Ingleside, too, but I don't know that area at all. The Richmond doesn't make sense working in SSF.

I moved here for a job making about the same 6 years ago, got an $1800 SF apartment (that I would kill to still be in) and there was not much left over after bills...in fact, if I'm being honest I got myself into some debt and that was not leading an extravagant lifestyle at all.

If the company offers a shuttle then I would strongly considering not having a car which can save you hundreds per month and lots of stress trying to find parking. Sunset is one of the easier hoods for parking, but it's still a struggle. You could do it, but it will work a lot better if you can get a promotion or find a better gig within a year or two, which should be doable, depending on what you do. As mentioned, if it's a biotech job, there are tons of those around here, a great deal of which are paying six figures.

 

[Gaseous Clay]

The only SF neighborhoods you can get your own place in for sub-$2K are the west side: Sunset and Richmond...maybe like Ingleside, too, but I don't know that area at all. The Richmond doesn't make sense working in SSF.

Honestly, even that is questionable, and the sub 2k apartments in the Richmond are all small basement units at this point if you can find one. I lived in the Richmond for years and saw average rents jump from $1400 in 2012 for a 1br to $2800+ by the time I left last year. My old apartment jumped to $2800 the second I moved out and that appeared to be average for neighborhood by that point.

 

[KevSal]

id stay out of SF all together honestly.

 

[rrryanc]

The only SF neighborhoods you can get your own place in for sub-$2K are the west side: Sunset and Richmond...maybe like Ingleside, too, but I don't know that area at all. The Richmond doesn't make sense working in SSF.

I moved here for a job making about the same 6 years ago, got an $1800 SF apartment (that I would kill to still be in) and there was not much left over after bills...in fact, if I'm being honest I got myself into some debt and that was not leading an extravagant lifestyle at all.

If the company offers a shuttle then I would strongly considering not having a car which can save you hundreds per month and lots of stress trying to find parking. Sunset is one of the easier hoods for parking, but it's still a struggle. You could do it, but it will work a lot better if you can get a promotion or find a better gig within a year or two, which should be doable, depending on what you do. As mentioned, if it's a biotech job, there are tons of those around here, a great deal of which are paying six figures.

Making $100k/yr and living in a $2k/mo place should be plenty of money. You can't live like you make $100k in a different part of the country, but ~$3k/mo for one person for utils, food, transportation and savings should still leave you with plenty of discretionary funds.

 

[pen15clubmember]

Making $100k/yr and living in a $2k/mo place should be plenty of money. You can't live like you make $100k in a different part of the country, but ~$3k/mo for one person for utils, food, transportation and savings should still leave you with plenty of discretionary funds.

Disagree on "plenty" but you can make that work, especially without a car or if you have other ways to keep non-rent costs down. My monthly bills living in SF were over 2.6K before food, but that did include GG bridge tolls.

 

[rrryanc]

Disagree on "plenty" but you can make that work, especially without a car or if you have other ways to keep non-rent costs down. My monthly bills living in SF were over 2.6K before food, but that did include GG bridge tolls.

It's certainly not living large, but it's also not hiding in a hole poor. Regardless, everyone should draw up a budget of their actual expenses and go from there.

I actually did the math wrong as well. Making $100k and paying $2k/mo for housing leaves you with ~$4k/mo for the rest of expenses. Even if you drove the GG bridge every day (incl weekends), that's still <$200/mo, so not nearly as large of a contributor as you're making it seem.

 

[Lupulin the 3rd]

So it looks like ODM's having a Fremont launch event on March 6th. I wasn't aware that Fremont was going to be distributed to the SF Bay, but that's exciting news!

 

[KevSal]

So it looks like ODM's having a Fremont launch event on March 6th. I wasn't aware that Fremont was going to be distributed to the SF Bay, but that's exciting news!

brew3k...

 

[Juncture]

id stay out of SF all together honestly.

I don't know how much people make, but moving to San Francisco makes no sense. Rent is stupidly expensive, and there isn't a good transportation infrastructure. You'd have to make a stupid amount of money to want to move here. Most people that live in SF don't come back. A majority of my friends moved outside of SF and they're probably never going to come back.

 

[pen15clubmember]

It's certainly not living large, but it's also not hiding in a hole poor. Regardless, everyone should draw up a budget of their actual expenses and go from there.

I actually did the math wrong as well. Making $100k and paying $2k/mo for housing leaves you with ~$4k/mo for the rest of expenses. Even if you drove the GG bridge every day (incl weekends), that's still <$200/mo, so not nearly as large of a contributor as you're making it seem.

We're way off track here, but but I think your math is still way too generous in terms of take home and I was just using the toll as an example of the factors that made my monthly fixed expenses so much higher than my rent back then. My paychecks were just under 2K when I was making ~$100K. 401K and ESPP played into that, but taxes are high af out here. Maybe I need a tax person instead of TurboTax? I wish I had $4K a month left after rent back then! Would have never moved closer to work Marin, especially considering I got a job in the peninsula six months after moving there *womp womp*. I make a decent amount more now and still don't feel "comfortable" but that's probably my own anxiety about money #talkbayareacostofliving

 

[rrryanc]

We're way off track here, but but I think your math is still way too generous in terms of take home and I was just using the toll as an example of the factors that made my monthly fixed expenses so much higher than my rent back then. My paychecks were just under 2K when I was making ~$100K. 401K and ESPP played into that, but taxes are high af out here. Maybe I need a tax person instead of TurboTax? I wish I had $4K a month left after rent back then! Would have never moved closer to work Marin, especially considering I got a job in the peninsula six months after moving there *womp womp*. I make a decent amount more now and still don't feel "comfortable" but that's probably my own anxiety about money #talkbayareacostofliving

Just doing basic math here, but under $2k/paycheck is around $50k/year in takehome. That $4k includes 401k and ESPP (savings in my list above), so you were likely putting in a ton into savings (relative to your takehome at least).

Or you were getting taxed nearly 50% and definitely need a tax person.

 

[pen15clubmember]

Just doing basic math here, but under $2k/paycheck is around $50k/year in takehome. That $4k includes 401k and ESPP (savings in my list above), so you were likely putting in a ton into savings (relative to your takehome at least).

Or you were getting taxed nearly 50% and definitely need a tax person.

Using the $50000 take home and subtracting $21600 ($1800 x 12) leaves you with $2366 per month after rent, which is quite a bit less than $4000 and is obviously going to be $200 less for a 2K rent.

This was doing like 8% ESPP and 4% 401K but yeah not keeping much more than half after all deductions.

 

[Juncture]

Using the $50000 take home and subtracting $21600 ($1800 x 12) leaves you with $2366 per month after rent, which is quite a bit less than $4000 and is obviously going to be $200 less for a 2K rent.

This was doing like 8% ESPP and 4% 401K but yeah not keeping much more than half after all deductions.

Why 50K take home? I think it should be more.

$100K - 12% ($12K, ESPP + 401K) before taxes = $88K
$88K - 24% ($21,120) filing as single in 2018 = $66,880K
$66,880K / 12 months = $5,573.33 per month

Edit: Whoops, got you two confused, please excuse me. Also if you're taking home 50K net, you're still looking at 24% tax I believe.

 

[Lupulin the 3rd]

brew3k...

Man, in a perfect world, Fremont will send some bottles down for sale at select shops. I doubt it'll happen but one can hope.

 

[rrryanc]

Why 50K take home? I think it should be more.

$100K - 12% ($12K, ESPP + 401K) before taxes = $88K
$88K - 24% ($21,120) filing as single in 2018 = $66,880K
$66,880K / 12 months = $5,573.33 per month

Edit: Whoops, got you two confused, please excuse me. Also if you're taking home 50K net, you're still looking at 24% tax I believe.

It was six years ago he said, so the rates are a bit different. From a quick look, Fed taxes would have been closer to 19% for an income of $88k and CA would have been another 6%. So still a take-home of just below your number at basically $66k. I suspect that he was taking out more than 8% for 401k and was probably closer to maxing it, which would drop that bi-monthly paycheck down closer to the stated $2k mark.

Specific numbers aside, the point is there is plenty of $$ leftover if you're single and have an income around $100k.

 

[Arbitrator]

I would expect roommates or some less than ideal conditions like a crappy place, long commute, not having extra money to buy lambic on the secondary market...

I make more than $80k and have all of those problems. Man, I'm doing something wrong...

We're way off track here, but but I think your math is still way too generous in terms of take home and I was just using the toll as an example of the factors that made my monthly fixed expenses so much higher than my rent back then. My paychecks were just under 2K when I was making ~$100K. 401K and ESPP played into that, but taxes are high af out here. Maybe I need a tax person instead of TurboTax? I wish I had $4K a month left after rent back then! Would have never moved closer to work Marin, especially considering I got a job in the peninsula six months after moving there *womp womp*. I make a decent amount more now and still don't feel "comfortable" but that's probably my own anxiety about money #talkbayareacostofliving

Yeah, your math is closer to how I'd do it.

100k start
- 19k for 401k
= 81k

After withholding, about $53k. Subtract $3k a month for rent, food, utilities, and you have $17k left for discretionary ($1.4k monthly). Car payments, gas, insurance come out of that, so maybe half is left. You should save some liquid funds outside of 401k for emergencies, let's say $400 a month.

I think that's $300 a month left. I imagine most of us spend more than that a month on alcohol alone.

Edit: ****, I spent more than that in the past week.

 

[iong516]

I don't know how much people make, but moving to San Francisco makes no sense. Rent is stupidly expensive, and there isn't a good transportation infrastructure. You'd have to make a stupid amount of money to want to move here. Most people that live in SF don't come back. A majority of my friends moved outside of SF and they're probably never going to come back.

I walk two blocks to work it's incredible.

 

[rrryanc]

I make more than $80k and have all of those problems. Man, I'm doing something wrong...



Yeah, your math is closer to how I'd do it.

100k start
- 19k for 401k
= 81k

After withholding, about $53k. Subtract $3k a month for rent, food, utilities, and you have $17k left for discretionary ($1.4k monthly). Car payments, gas, insurance come out of that, so maybe half is left. You should save some liquid funds outside of 401k for emergencies, let's say $400 a month.

I think that's $300 a month left. I imagine most of us spend more than that a month on alcohol alone.

Edit: ****, I spent more than that in the past week.

Sure, but you're also putting in $25k/year into savings doing that. It's hardly a suffering wage, even here.