patrick.net

My first thought is I feel sorry for your husband.

You are in direct competition with every other couple with a kid that is willing to go to almost any length to "ensure the best for their child." For whatever reason, people insist that the school has more to do with their kids' success than their own involvement as parents, and thus, areas with high standardized test scores are all faced with throngs of anxious parents trying to buy into them. You are one of very many identical people, and the only way to compete in that setting is to out-spend the other participants. Rents are going up in all of these areas since landlords are cluing-into these facts and finding that people will tolerate rent-seeking practices to get at schools & short commutes. It sucks. As someone that rents in Mountain View, and has for 4+ years, it is really disappointing to have had my rent increase 30% last year, and it will probably go up again this year. I don't have kids (yet), but I rent here to maintain a 15 minute walk to work (commute).

Honestly, you just have to suck it up. The BA is teeming with demand and people that aren't really doing much with themselves other than "making money." Combine that with various widespread notions about being a "good parent" and you will find the already high cost of living going up.

It sucks, and as someone that has been hoping for meaningful affordability improvements in single family houses for years, the current market sort of disgusts me. My fiancee and I have both been saving for a long time, but the area just seems to be falling back into the grip of unreality. I want a house because I want a garage (woodshop, car workshop) and a yard. Shared walls also suck, being that speaker building is a hobby lol. The cost benefit analysis on it all doesn't work out though...so we keep waiting/saving.

Anyway, good luck. Do not make ANY decisions based on emotion, and above all, fear. Fear is what the whole RE market is predicated upon: fear of being "unhappy" / "missing out" on something good. It is a powerful emotion, and you would be wise to maintain tight control over it. Sometimes buying a property makes sense, sometimes it doesn't. If you are a middle class / upper middle class family in the Bay Area, most areas don't make much sense to buy in. Renting, sadly, is becoming less and less sensible as rent-seeking prevails. The ultimate conclusion is that the Bay Area as a whole makes less and less sense for middle class people to stay in. That's coming from a Bay Area native BTW. I love the place for many reasons, but the reasons NOT to love it are continually growing.

clambo says

My first thought is I feel sorry for your husband.

+1

dump this loser.

marry a richer guy who can afford the best schools.

Hysteresis says

clambo says

My first thought is I feel sorry for your husband.

+1

dump this loser.

marry a richer guy who can afford the best schools.

LOL

Thanks bmwman91. I think this area is out of control and I don't understand how the average person can afford to live here without dipping into savings/retirement. I'm feeling like purchasing a house will be a stretch and I'm uncomfortable with being house poor. I would love to move to San Diego or even out of state, where I know we can get much more for our money and have a decent quality of life. Unfortunately, moving out of the area is not an option for us at this point since my husband is employed here and his job security is very high. Since tech is here that's where we will be for a while.

I'm starting to wonder if we are heading into another housing bubble in the bay area.

clambo says

Some of the reasons not to love it are growing inside illegal alien abdomens.

Mexicans? I like Mexicans. Seriously. At the risk of stereotyping them, they are hardworking cheerful people who take care of their families.

I believe that I know this neighborhood, or a few like it.

Is your Realtor卐 named Suzanne?

Hydrocarbon why do you have swastika in realtors? No the name is not Suzanne?

So, you are in fear of your rent going up even though it hasn't. Then you live in fear of your realtor telling you of a fictitious bidding war games going on, even though it isn't. Add to it your fear of IPOs exploding the house prices in your area, which is will not. Sounds like you are making a big financial decision all based on fear. Why not make it because you want the house? Maybe because you don't.

Condohelp says

I think this area is out of control and I don't understand how the average person can afford to live here without dipping into savings/retirement.

I hate to break the news to you, but I have lived in the SF bay area my entire life and I have heard this same thing in the 60s, 70s, 80's, 90's all the way up until now. The Bay Area has always been "expensive" so you need to decide if you're going to buy or simply move away. People on this board will be saying the same thing 10 years from now too. Several of those decades when people were predicting doom and gloom and that the Bay Area was too expensive I bought property and it's been a very good move even in the current environment. They said the same thing about SoCal coastal areas too and I bought there as well. Most properties are paid for and I just wish I had more money when people were saying how expensive things were.....I would have bought more of them, but I don't like to be leveraged. I buy a few pay them off and start over again with a few more and pay them off even. There is nothing like massive, passive rental income and it worked out better than I could have ever dreamed when everyone else was predicting doom and glooom :-)

Condohelp says

We want to buy a single family home in a good neighborhood, with good schools (santa clara, campbell, parts of san jose west, sunnyvale, etc.). We have 20% down to buy a home at 600k. The problem is that there is very little inventory at that price in those areas, which aren't even my favorite areas. 600k is a pretty conservative number for us considering our income, but I don't plan to work as soon as we have children...

I would (did) buy a mobile home in a nice park for around $100K in 2011 because rents got out of hand and single family stick built house prices were unstable and out-of-line with both historic norms and incomes. Same Sunnyvale location and schools as the nearby $500K 1950s ranches/$650K town homes/$2100-$2900 per month 2-bedroom apartments in the same location. No shared walls. A shed for power tools and bikes. Small yard for gardening. $925 slot rent with 3% annual increases typical, $400/year property taxes and dropping, if you get a mortgage to conserve cash with 20% down you can be looking at $1500/month total cash flow before the small tax break (an 800 credit score with 20% down nets a 7% rate on a chattel loan).

bmwman91 says

I want a house because I want a garage (woodshop, car workshop) and a yard. Shared walls also suck, being that speaker building is a hobby lol. The cost benefit analysis on it all doesn't work out though...so we keep waiting/saving.

1. It's amazing what you can do with mobile bases for your table saw and drill press, folding legs under your router table, and a small garage or shed to keep the rain of things which should not get wet.

2. You can rent time on machines you use infrequently (14" bandsaw for resawing, 22" thickness sander, big Sawstop table saw, etc.) at the Sunnyvale Sawdust shop by the hour and Menlo Park/San Jose Techshops (12" jointer/planer, 22" thickness sander, vertical mill for metal, CNC router) by the month.

Buy a modest house in the best neighborhood/school district you can afford. When it comes time to sell, you will do okay. A house can be a decent investment if you choose wisely.

BTW, clambo is a moron, but you probably already figured that out.

clambo says

he border up here while her *more responsible siblings* attended high school and then college which is essentially FREE in Mexico.
Of course they are cheerful. They are high

I don't have a lot of experience with Mexicans, but most of the experience is of the Patrick variety. Particularly on the hard work end of it -- consistently the hardest working people I encounter are Mexicans.