Raising a Family in the Bay Area is Nonsensical
-Imagine having a household income in the top 1% in the country, closer to top 0.001% in the world -Imagine spending $4M on a house in order to raise a family not in 800 square foot cockroach conditions -Imagine living paycheck to paycheck to afford your mortgage, while “getting rich” on paper -Imagine having to do this for decades while you pay off the mortgage and your kids finish school. And the stress of knowing if either parent gets laid off, they miss a payment and get screwed -Imagine finally paying it all off at 65, but not sell your house or move because you’ve already spent your life and built your roots in the Bay You are in the top percentile of income and net worth, but have chose to spend your entire life with a middle class lifestyle. For what? Good weather, sushi, and good public schools? All of those exist elsewhere If you chose to live here you have more dollars than sense…
It looks that way when you buy a home. But a few years in, it will feel very different. You could probably pay off your home in 10years.
Somewhat agree with you. Quality of life one can have with similar or even 10-15% less pay in socal will be higher. Even if you pay upwards of 1.5 mil for a home the quality and size of that house will be bigger and you will be living in a much more cosmo environment than this monotonous Bay Area. Bay Area has its perks but I hear you.
Your mistake here is “paycheck to paycheck.” Most folks in the bay make nearly a million in combined income and mortgage their house at 2.8% with a monthly payment of $4,000. Few homeowners are living “paycheck to paycheck”, they wouldn’t even be able to qualify for the loan.
Lol you assume you will be able to earn that much throughout your career. That's naive, we all are one layoff away from habing to accept a job with half or one third the pay. Just a matter of being at the wrong team at the wrong time.
If we assume you will be able to earn that much amd payy off the $4M mortgage, you will literally ne rich whrn you retire with your home equity alone. It is amazing how people view home as a sunk cost. It is not unless you want to live there till you die.
Imagine living outside San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. The Bay Area can be affordable if you look around.
You can buy a $2-2.5 million home outside Cupertino/Palo Alto, etc. with at least 2000 sq feet. $4 million seems hyperbolic.
It is hyperbolic.
otoh home prices going hyperbolic again will make this non hyperbolic. This is the utterly real scientific law of The Conservation of Hyperbole. TBH home prices have no room for another major jump so this is hyperbole
Now imagine living in cornfields
> OP wrote: > Imagine living paycheck to paycheck to > afford your mortgage You’re describing being “house poor”, as far as I can tell. I agree that it doesn’t make sense to be house poor in the Bay Area when it doesn’t have to be that way if you live elsewhere.
Or just shop smart in the Bay Area.
The problem is its not only with the bay area, it's almost the same with metros of all the countries. Inflation numbers are highly under calculated. I still don't know what data they take and what curve they fit, doesn't matter how much your tc goes up, your standard of living remains the same because other things costs have multiplied compared to your tc.
Sounds rough but none of these imaginations are remotely accurate lol. Luckily if you don't love the bay it is incredibly easy to move almost anywhere else.
Assume a 7% interest rate and 20% down payment on a $3M home That’s $600k down payment and just under $200,000 a year for principle, mortgage, interest, property taxes So you need a gross income of around $450,000 to even live paycheck to paycheck And if both parents work to make that much, you need to pay like $60,000 a year on child care for young kids. Never mind the fact you aren’t even there to raise your own kids
>> So you need a gross income of around $450,000 to even live paycheck to paycheck Thats only accounting for paying the $20k per month monthly payment. You need much more gross to afford anthing close to $20k pm