San Jose Reddit users: You can't live here on an $85,000 salary!

First, the group broke down the cost of renting the 3-bedroom Mike desired for himself, his wife, two sons and 3 dogs. Reddit user “Michichael” said:

“You literally won’t be able to live here. My husband and I have a house like that and are paying 4500/mo in rent… and that’s a MASSIVE deal. Everything else we saw (the dogs were the big piece) was 5500/mo+; that’s 66kyr of your post-tax income.”

Maybe @hanera is charging too little for his rentals?

I agree that’s not enough for a family. It’s fine if you’re a recent college grad living with roommate(s).

Affordable housing is your friend.

Also, if you have trouble feeding your family, don’t get pets.

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I am renting out my TH in North San Jose. 3/2.5 for a little under market $3100/month. Unless my read is off, the market is only about $3200-$3400/mth. I am not sure where they are getting this crazy rents.

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Sq ft makes a difference. How big is your place?

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I think these reddit comments are way off. The Florida guy asked at the wrong place. Should have come here instead.

1600 sq ft with a small backyard with a few trees.

article is clickbait. I dug up the thread -

They took the most outrageous comment and printed it as gospel. Others were more reasonable. And the user mouthing off is a someone who seems to be pretty far off on the fringe based on his other posts on reddit.

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If this guy already has a job in Florida, there’s no reason to come to Bay Area for 85k a year. Did he reveal what kind of job was offered? I assume his Florida job pays at least 50k.

He’s probably already a homeowner in Florida. In Bay Area, it would be tough to afford a home good for his family.

If the wife can become a teacher in SJ and also earn 80k, it would be a good deal to move here

I’ve seen rise in lazy journalism that consists of creating articles out of Quora and Reddit threads and twitter wars. Pathetic!

Details current: Me $75k Wife $35k Savings $24k 2 children ages 22 and 12 (22 year old just moved back home) 3 large dogs 1 cat No debt other than student loans and mortgage: $25k student loans $175k on house worth $200k

We haven’t lived in anything other than a house in 12 years and would need something 3 Bed/2 Bath, at least 1500 sq ft.

Details on job: Similar role to one that I have been in for over a decade. $80-85K, no relocation offered as it is a public institution Wife and kids would come out after the school year ends, and of course she would not be working immediately. We estimate $12k in the move alone (on the high side)

If he only got a 10k bump by moving here then definitely stay put.

I have never seen 5500/m house in SJ. That seems high even for PA, no?

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5500 isn’t high for PA.

The going rate for a proper 3/2 SFH in RWC is over 4K. The going rate for a similar home in MP is 6K give or take.

You can always find those tired and old rentals that are cheaper. It seems like those are more abundant in PA.

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Probably yes. But was renting out in slow season (late Fall). Now is Spring, all my daffodils are blooming :slight_smile:
In Austin, rents are getting hot. Easy to rent. RE seems to be hot too, usually can buy at 5% below list price and houses stay longer than 1 month on the market. Just lost a bid to buy at asking!!! House went pending after 2 days :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

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Zero reason he should move here for an “public institution”

Not sure if this Florida man is real. Who would give up 110k in Florida and interview for an 80k job in SJ? Maybe he lives for some 'cause", or simply want to destroy the reputation of SJ

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Yeah, and MP can make it up to $9K. I’d guess parts of PA are similar.

The person who said they pay $5500 didn’t necessarily indicate that they were in SJ. Could have been Cupertino.

Good thing the guy looked into it. We didn’t realize there was an issue. Just moved without doing the calculations.

I’m sure CA state income tax would be a shocker too. FL doesn’t have state income tax.

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Yeah. So, he’d have the same income as FL trying to live here.

Bad idea.

Just saw this ad on a Facebook Chinese RE group. 3/2 SFH really close to Apple spaceship renting for $3950. Rent is really cheap in South Bay compared to sale price.