[bradlys]

It's $230k after tax.

> Anyone can live even in the bay area on half of that, extremely comfortably.

You really might want to expand on "extremely comfortably". We all have very different definitions. I'd like a home with AC, good transportation, close enough to SF to actually make it up on weeknights (30-40 min drive), a retirement plan that works with the assumption I live in this area indefinitely, and a <=20 minute commute. I will not have that for $115-130k/yr net income. Just isn't available in the rental market we have. I'm not even getting into the part where I'd like to live in a nice neighborhood with good schools.

[taurath]

$115k/yr is $9600/mo.

You can spend $5k/mo on a rental with all of those properties, and have $4600/mo for food, utilities, bi-annual trips to europe, the payment for your porsche, and a housekeeper, all whilst saving half of your income to buy a house in the most expensive region of the US in 2-3 years.

You can literally have all of those things.

[closeparen]

>You can spend $5k/mo on a rental

This is the key to happiness in the Bay Area, honestly. The rentals are just fine if you're willing to shell out. Sure you're not building wealth but you have plenty left over to invest, even in a kickass high-rise apartment. It's specifically a desire to own that will screw you over, no matter your compensation.

[bradlys]

Where is this $5k/month house with AC within 40 minutes drive of SF and 20 minutes drive of work? (Menlo Park to Mountain View generally being work area) It basically limits you to San Mateo to Mountain View. I haven't seen anything for $5k/month with AC there. If you find it, let me know. I'm in the market - lol.

I have seen one show up here and there but it's almost unequivocally in a terrible neighborhood and/or near the train tracks. Both are dealbreakers. I ain't listening to trains go by at midnight or blast horns at every intersection. Lived that life - done with it.

[borski]

I spent 3 minutes searching:

https://www.padmapper.com/apartments/36746960/3-bedroom-2-ba...

https://www.padmapper.com/apartments/13951431/3-bedroom-2-ba...

Point is: the trope of “nobody can live in the Bay Area on 125k net” is total bullshit, tired, and flat-out untrue. Is it harder than living on 125k elsewhere? Absolutely. Are you “poor” and unable to afford a great house? No, not at all.

There are plenty of great places.

[bradlys]

> https://www.padmapper.com/apartments/36746960/3-bedroom-2-ba....

> https://www.padmapper.com/apartments/13951431/3-bedroom-2-ba....

These are apartments - not single family homes.

[borski]

I mean, I’m not actually a realtor, but here’s a home for you:

https://www.padmapper.com/apartments/35506914/3-bedroom-2-ba...

My search space was Mountain View, so expand and you’ll find more. Point is there are plenty of options, you just have to look for them.

And, to be fair, I only searched PadMapper, which is an apartment rental website, so my results weren’t even focused on SFH.

[bradlys]

> https://www.padmapper.com/apartments/35506914/3-bedroom-2-ba....

Doesn't have AC. Looks like a pretty depressing home - tbh. HDR'd to hell but a brick yard and a BYO washer/dryer that's literally underneath the sun and skies isn't exactly where I'd like to put my expensive appliances.

You can check Craigslist and you won't have much better results. Adding AC | Air Conditioning to your search criteria makes it narrow. Go figure - homes with it are in high demand. God forbid they say, "Air conditioning" but really mean just central air and there's no actual air conditioning. Went to more than one showing that advertised that falsity. :(

Either way, this is beyond the point. Spending over 50% of your net income on rent alone isn't a great move. Which is what you'd be doing at $115k net income.

[taurath]

Ah, so you want a single family home now.

And it has to be in San Mateo->Mtv. And it must have /CENTRAL/ AC, one would assume. I'm not going to look for houses for you, except to note there are over 100 houses available right now under $5k in that region, all of which you could install central AC into for a couple grand if you wanted. If you MUST live in the San Mateo->Mtv corridor, with all those amenities, why would you imply you're looking to move? It seems like you know what you want, and are not willing to compromise on anything. Go forth and find that perfect rental, or if you don't make enough money to get it, work harder, or re-evaluate whats actually important to you.

[briandear]

You can’t install central ac for $2000 and certainly not in a rental.

[taurath]

$4k-$5k you can, and maybe even get a break on the rent. Add an extra month to getting your 30% down payment.

[bradlys]

Where are these numbers coming from? Adding central air to an old home without it costs way more than that even outside of the bay area.

[BubRoss]

In 40 minutes you can get so far north that there are no cellphone towers, no lights and no pavement.

[astrange]

In 40 minutes driving north from Mountain View I think you'll be in SF at best.

You might make it to North Bay/Marin - which is true that it's rural, but it's not because it's a secret or far from humanity or anything. It just has the fiercest NIMBYs on the planet who are fine with all their services being provided by day laborers with 2 hour commutes.

[BubRoss]

Are we talking about SF or mountain view? 40 minutes north of SF is beyond Marin. Remember that this is about living comfortably on $5,000 per month for rent. That should get a pretty incredible place anywhere north of the golden gate bridge.

[base698]

Eh, twice that ($230K) after 401K, insurance, and taxes is barely over $10K a month. Not sure how you got $115K being $9600.

[taurath]

We were talking net, after taxes, and after saving half of the net on a $400k salary.

$115000 / 12 months === $9583.33

[joshuamorton]

They're talking about net, not gross.

[PenguinCoder]

Do people really bitching about ~barely~ over 10k USD a MONTH? There's a lot of people living on that or barely double that, for a year. Yes, even in/near SF. Quit with the damn entitlement.

[closeparen]

You need $8-10k/mo for mortgage and property tax payments on a median home, so yes, the "barely" part is your entire discretionary budget.

[base698]

Wasn't bitching, just not understanding how one could get $9600 from $115K.

[cdkee]

After taxes 115k is more like 5-6k a month, depending on how much you’re putting into retirement accounts, healthcare, etc.

[borski]

Parent was already talking about net, after taxes.

[esoterica]

Unless you want a 5BR SFH you can definitely have that on much less than 130k/year.