[arebop]

Unemployment benefits in California* last for 26 weeks, but the maximum benefit is $450/week, enough to cover about half the rent payment on a studio apartment in the Bay Area. Prudent workers save on their own for the possibility of unemployment.

*(corrected from U.S.)

[ido]

Interesting that it's not a percentage of your wage, seeing as you pay more unemployment insurance/social security the more you earn (at least you do in Austria and Germany).

In Austria it was 55% if your net salary IIRC.

[laxatives]

I believe it is tied to wage, but it isn't really designed to support high income earners and has a relatively low ceiling as far as software engineers are concerned.

[rharb]

It is a percentage of your wage, but they have pretty tight lower and upper bounds on it. Where I'm at in Ohio, it's one-half of your average weekly wage, but also constrained within $118-$435 pre-tax.

[vonmoltke]

You can't really talk about unemployment benefits in the U.S. because unemployment is a state matter.

[refurb]

Being pedantic here, but $450/week is $1800 per month. I'm sure there are examples of studios at $3600/month, but I've seen plenty of one-bedrooms in desirable neighborhoods for less than $3600/month (based on last month's Craigslist).

[seanp2k2]

True, and outside of SF you can find studios for under $2k, but unemployment won't additionally cover any living expenses beyond basically base rent.

If times were super hard, you could possibly find a room to rent for $1200 if you get really lucky, $1400-$1600 if not, then try hard to make that remaining $200-$600 cover the rest of your expenses, and good luck if you're not just single, young, able-bodied, and able to find another job in a few months.

[kbenson]

Presumably you could also relocate temporarily to a surrounding area where it's (relatively) cheaper, and bus, drive, and soon possibly train in for anything requiring you be in the city. You should have enough free time on your hands that the time eaten by commuting isn't a problem.

[shagie]

Relocation typically has the question of "can you afford to live here?" This is done with a pay stub of offer letter to see if you have 3x the money on it than rent. If you are unemployed this can become rather difficult.

This says nothing of the cost of breaking a lease or the expense of moving itself. If you don't have the 3+ month savings, unemployment checks are eaten away by basic living in no time flat.

This is being said by someone who had a paycheck bounce which in turn lead to what would have been a bad check written for rent. Fortunately I had a friend who loaned me $1k for rent who banked at the same place and immediately got me in touch which another job offer.

[kbenson]

True. I was mostly thinking of the situation where you have some money saved, and want to make it last. In that case, showing a bank account balance might be sufficient. You'll have to decide yourself whether you think it's worth choosing a shorter lease and breaking it or living with it if you get another job, or trying to secure a month-to month deal for the short term.

If you don't have enough money saved to even do this, I'm not sure staying in an apartment in SF is a good idea anyway. Probably better to couch-surf if you can swing it, unless you are fairly sure of a new job very quickly. Anything to reduce the outlay on inflated SF housing costs, keeping in mind that if you range far enough, you might find a small studio for half or third the SF cost.

[ChemicalWarfare]

also if SHTF property prices will drop.

there is a dynamic there when once the foreclosure numbers mount, the rental prices stay stable because all those ppl who lose their jobs/houses need to live somewhere but in SF's case the real estate market including the rentals is so over-heated any major hiccup will cause them to drop significantly before stabilizing.

[nedwin]

Unlikely to see a big drop unless something really catastrophic happens. Relatively small drop in 08.

[ChemicalWarfare]

From the numbers I've seen the 2008-2012 drop was in a 30% range, considering the ~1 mil average price right now we're talking a 300K drop in value...

[nedwin]

Wow, you're right. 27%. Versus 10% and 11% for DotCom and 90s recession respectively. That's a lot!

"typically lasting 4 years" but 6 for 08 to return to pre-downturn levels. Rough. Glad I'm mostly cash right now though we have been looking...

http://www.paragon-re.com/3_Recessions_2_Bubbles_and_a_Baby

[rconti]

Rents didn't really drop but housing prices did. The closer to SF you are, the less they dropped. Housing prices had recovered by 2012-ish in SF proper, but are probably STILL not back to where they were in places like Morgan Hill.

OTOH I was paying 1385 for a one bedroom apartment in San Carlos just a couple of years ago.

[refurb]

I can't find it right now, but some SF neighborhoods did see rents drop. I remember seeing data for Noe Valley. Basically tenants went to their landlord and said "Give me a rent reduction or I'll move to this apartment that's nicer and cheaper".