Houses!

"ZHP Sparky, the 5th" (e30s2k) 04/24/2014 at 11:48 • Filed to: None

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There appears to be some trend of posting house pictures today, so wanted to get collective thoughts on where y'all oppos live, cost of living, how you like it, etc., cos right now all I've got is a rented apartment in a 9 story complex to show!

Situation : I'm in my late 20s, girlfriend a few years younger - she's about to start a masters in the bio-engineering field, i have a masters in economics and am a CPA working for a pretty large (fortune 500) tech company. Hoping to buy a house within the next year or two.

Location: We are currently in the SF Bay Area...yikes! It's impossible to find a modest 2-3 bedroom house for less than 750k here, and the market is only getting hotter (until it pops?) with constant reports of houses selling 20-40% over asking value and about 25% of houses being sold outright for CASH (supposedly Chinese investors, IPO cash outs, etc.). We love it out here -mountains, beaches, wine country, city life, countryside within 15 mins, diverse community...we are pretty outdoorsy and love camping, but also city life and food, music, etc..it's truly amazing, but COSTS!

Finances: My girlfriend is getting on student loans for 1 year of grad school but should be making a healthy 6 figure salary soon after - I'm just jumping the 6 figure mark right about now -this truly is a good amount to live comfortably on, but buying a house in this area is still pretty much out of the question unless you win the lottery or hit the rich daddy/IPO jackpot - plus not entirely sure it's worth the cost...See "Location" section above

Considerations (this is where you guys come in!) : Should we try to save up money and buy a house locally, or is it worthwhile considering moving once the GF finishes grad school and is job hunting (at which point I should be somewhat flexible for a career move too). I'll list out points I'd like to consider for any cities you guys might suggest or know of/live in

- Costs to expect (average 2-3 bedroom house in a nice area, not necessarily anything fancy, with a small yard)?

- What draws you to this area, and what perks would you say the area offers?

- Economy/job market? We are both in pretty specialized fields, so an area with a decent biotech/pharma and tech industry would be a huge draw

Cities we've thought of - San Diego, Seattle, Portland, Boston, Denver (any tips/thoughts you have on these cities are appreciated!) - any others?

I truly feel blessed to have the life that I have, but getting close to 30 we are feeling the urge to "settle down" and plant roots - so any advice you kind Oppo folk have on the matter are truly appreciated, Cheers!

For your troubles, here's a picture I took of a stretched pink Scion outside the local DMV recently! -

Tom McParland > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 04/24/2014 at 11:49

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Demuro?

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 04/24/2014 at 11:51

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what.

the.

fuck.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 04/24/2014 at 11:53

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One of the cool things about my area is easy entry into permanent housing.

I'm in the Detroit Metro area which has (despite the light cast on Detroit by national media) some really awesome areas!

Oh, and you can get a 4 bedroom 2000+sq ft house for under 250k.

Or a beautifully done 3 bed for around 200k in the best neighborhoods/cities.

CAR_IS_MI > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 04/24/2014 at 11:55

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Oppo Map

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 04/24/2014 at 11:56

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haha exactly what I thought! I was pissed from being stuck at the DMV all afternoon and having had to take a written test without prior knowledge of having to do so, so at least this made me laugh when I walked out the door.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 04/24/2014 at 11:57

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I think the best thing in the world is a clearly stretched "limo" xb still fits in a normal parking spot! ROFL

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 04/24/2014 at 11:58

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Honestly I know absolutely nothing about Detroit and might be a tough sell with the girlfriend - but it's stories like this that totally make me question our current location. Yes, it's amazing...but over $1M for a small 2 bedroom in an okay neighbourhood is just crack pipe. There are plenty of other cities that have most of the benefits at a fraction of the cost.

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > CAR_IS_MI 04/24/2014 at 12:00

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Did not know that this was a thing!

CAR_IS_MI > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 04/24/2014 at 12:01

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I made it like a year ago but it kinda faded to the background after someone moved everyone into the ocean. Took my a minute to get that fixed but everyone is now in their respective location by a 50 mile proximity.

505Turbeaux > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 04/24/2014 at 12:02

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define "Portland" because I live in the original, east coast one. I love it. 2-3 bedroom house is around 190-200K in the city (rural part where I live). Pay is good enough to cover that. Tons of restaurants, museums, cool people. there is a great veterinary pharma company here as well as others, but that is a performance standout amongst that industry. Tech is all over too.

Stay away from Boston unless you like people to be weird and standoffish with you over anything. (sorry Boston OPPOS)

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 04/24/2014 at 12:05

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Detroit's a cool place. I'd be happy to share more about the surrounding Metro area. I grew up in north NJ and moved to Michigan to go to Michigan State University, Graduated and stayed here working in Automotive Advertising.

Job market is no where near as bad as people make it seem here and like I said, awesome cheap housing. If you have cash saved up for a "down payment" out there, you may be paying cash for a house out here with no mortgage! I'm about to list my current house for sale in the next month or so. This means I've been doing tons of housing research and city/neighborhood research.

Let me know if you'd like to hear more about Metro Detroit, not that I'm the leading expert or anything but I've owned a house for over 4 years in the area.

Spoon II > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 04/24/2014 at 12:08

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It sounds like you have a pretty sweet thing going. Considering you both seem to have a good future, and considering that the area is nice and that the housing market is in recovery, I'd definitely go with the "buy a house locally" option.

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > CAR_IS_MI 04/24/2014 at 12:14

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Is this automatically updated somehow (kinda creepy, but we live in the world of facebook so whatever!) or do we pin ourselves on the map somehow?

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > 505Turbeaux 04/24/2014 at 12:16

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Almost clarified, but figured not too many Mainers on here. I was referring to the hipster capital in OR. My girlfriend is actually from Maine (Deer Isle) and has some family in Boston which is pretty much the only reason we put it on the list. Her parents grew up in Boston and moved to Maine after they got married - honestly a move like that is starting to sound more and more appealing everyday.

CAR_IS_MI > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 04/24/2014 at 12:16

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You have to pin yourself on the map:

Here are instructions

505Turbeaux > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 04/24/2014 at 12:18

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lol Portland OR is the capital for alot of unsavory things...

Maine is great, and we need more than 3 of us OPPO's up here!

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > Spoon II 04/24/2014 at 12:20

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Thanks for the encouragement, a big part of us wants to do this and try our luck by staying put- but then we see the depressing housing prices and think about value for money, so I think it's at least healthy to consider our options to see what else is out there.

The Dummy Gummy > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 04/24/2014 at 12:26

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Wow! So much money. My wife and I are both CPA's and are no where near that mark. Given she works for a midcap firm and I work for a major company that is currently #4 in its arena. I'll answer your question first then give you our cost of living situation. I normally wouldn't suggest buy, but since you have a sizable income I'd recommend it. Buy a house that you can survive off of on your income alone, since that is all you currently have. Try obtaining a mortgage without your GF on it first since she has debt and you have income, you may be able to get a better rate. (Putting her on after is between you and her). The reason I say buy is not so much because the housing market costs will continue to rise, but because rates will be going up after this year. As interest rates rise your buying power goes down. If you don't have enough for a down payment then you are kind of forced to wait. Even if you have to sell in a few years at least your money will be generating more money as your property value will rise with the market. Also the write-offs from interest is sweet. Since you are in the bay area, try looking for some place near Oakland (forget the place, but it isn't as bad crimewise and not as awful in taxes). If you go to SD you are going to have an awful commute; unless you move your career out of silicon valley and into SD area. If you do move down there, check out Jamul. Sweet area, reasonable home prices.

I'm in NJ and our cost of living is through the roof. Probably very on par to where you live. We owned a house for 4 years and then sold because we wanted to move to an area closer to our friends and family. Our house was really close to my wifes work (5minute drive) and about 30 minutes to mine. Personally I rather a longer commute to be closer to friends and family. In the current climate with the US downsizing I rather be close to a constant (friends/family) than not (work). Our taxes were through the roof where we lived. We are currently looking for a new house, but haven't come across anything that we loved. Our house sold so fast that we were forced to either rent or bunk up with parents (no f#$%ing chance). Our new costs for taxes will be less, but it gets offset by the amount of fuel we dump because of our commutes. We live here because of family. I personally want to move out by you (SF area), but my wife will have none of it. Also it would take a lot for me to leave my current career with the long term benefits I have. We are currently less than a mile from the water, less than an hr and a half from NYC and truly enjoy living here.

Sorry for the long winded response.

(Edit: if you are looking for Pharma, NJ is definitely the spot for you. All major pharma is here. Also I would highly recommend staying away from Boston only because you are in San Fran. The cold shock alone may kill you two haha.)

Spoon II > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 04/24/2014 at 12:39

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No problem! Haha, yeah, those are some very costly homes, it's completely understandable. I'm sure you guys will do just fine no matter what. Also, you could potentially live in that stretched Scion.

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > The Dummy Gummy 04/24/2014 at 12:45

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Thanks for the thoughtful response! We are both certainly lucky to have wound up in this area and with the career paths we've been in, and I certainly realize how fortunate we are to be able to even think about buying a house in the first place. If not for the cost of housing (and how bubble-ish everything feels right now) I'd say consider having a serious conversation with your wife about moving out this way - the job market really really is great. And there seems to be a serious shortage of CPAs (at least in the SEC reporting/technical accounting world)....but I understand the friends/family aspect of it. We are both very far away from our families right now and it's pretty tough getting to see them only once or twice a year at the most.

The pay does sound great, but somehow it really doesn't go very far out here. I would've thought my salary should suffice to keep us afloat while my girlfriend goes back to school for a year - but even with rent in a non-prime location (read horrible commute) for a 1 bedroom easily costing over $2k a month it disappears quite quickly. I do have some savings and some money my parents were unbelievably generous in helping us with towards buying a house - but again, given the prices out here and how hot the real estate market is it doesn't go very far and starts getting depressing very fast. Hence at least the desire to do some due diligence about options outside this area.

Thanks for the tip on San Diego - we have some friends out there, and love the size/feel of the area, and the job opportunities seem pretty good too, so will keep Jamul on the radar! Good luck with your housing/moving decisions too!

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > Spoon II 04/24/2014 at 12:52

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Haha yup, unfortunately there are all kinds of laws being put up against sleeping in cars out here. I do need to balance out my boring CPA side though, so maybe breaking the law with a pink stretched Scion is just what I need!

The Dummy Gummy > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 04/24/2014 at 12:56

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Haha oh man, you are making it worse. I work specifically in Corporate finance. Everything I do gets put into our filings for the 10Q/K (and will be released within the next week or so). There is no chance she'll budge on it. Trust me I've tried. We were out in Napa a year or two ago and I tried to use that as leverage, but it was a no go (probably because we get a case every three months shipped to us from them; I should cut off her supply and play dirty).

I feel you on the rent. Justification of throwing away $24k+ a year is rough and it why I another good reason I suggest the buy.

If you do want to move south (you'll have to move to another job since SF is 9hrs away) check out Newport Beach as well. It is a little pricey, but absolutely serene there. It is hard to discern which is better Newport or Jamul. Newport you have a great town, the beach and Balboa Island (quite possibly my favorite place ever in Cali) close. But Jamul if you head out a little into the mountains you have the mountain view, the city view, the view of Mexico and on and on. I suggest Jamul because you said you like outdoor activities. I think that would be right in line with your habits. Good luck! Let us know what you do.

Thanks. I know what two towns we will either end up, but I'm hoping something comes on the market soon. It'd be nice to be settled for the summer.

Logansteno: Bought a VW? > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 04/24/2014 at 13:13

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St. Louis is nice! Tons of cultural stuff and good food. And most people around here a generally nice. And there's plenty of good driving roads not that far away.

In St. Louis county where I live, our 3 bedroom, 3 bath 1800 sqft house was appraised at like 190k last year. We're about a 20 minute drive from downtown and there's 3 major highways not too far away.

Job wise, Monsanto is centralized here (biotech?) and so is Express Scripts (pharma?) I know Express Scripts just opened another facility. Monsanto I'm not too sure about.