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housing in SF is well over a million now, and if you're hoping to have kids and raise a family Why isn't a nice condo in Mountain View for $700K good enough? 1

housing in SF is well over a million now, and if you're hoping to have kids and raise a family Why isn't a nice condo in Mountain View for $700K good enough? 1,300 sq.ft is plenty of space to live. For instance http://www.mlslistings.com/property/ml81517677/1945-mount-vernon-ct-13-mountain-view-ca-94040 http://www.mlslistings.com/property/ml81517677/1945-mount-ve...

geogra4 11y ago
Because you can get a 1300 sq foot condo for 70k (or less!) in most of the country. If you aren't among the elite of financial means (we're talking 1% wealth) SF is a losing proposition.
- refurb 11y ago
  Whoa wait. The top 1% makes >$400K/yr. You're saying you can't afford a $700K condo on a $150K+/yr programmer salary? How comes it's always the "other guy" that's the problem?
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
amyjess 11y ago
Because you can get a nice house with almost 2000 sq. ft. in Texas for under $300k [0]. We're not talking about somewhere out in the country or in some distant exurb, either: I'm talking about housing prices I just looked up in a nice neighborhood within the City of Dallas. It's a safe neighborhood with good schools (speaking from personal experience: I grew up in that exact neighborhood). Also, I currently rent a 1500 sq. ft. townhouse in Dallas for $1220/month. There's no way I'd be able to get anything nearly that nice in the Bay Area. [0] http://www.dallasrealestate-homes.com/Dallas%20Subdivisions/Pepperwood%20Estates.htm http://www.dallasrealestate-homes.com/Dallas%20Subdivisions/...
- Nicholas_C 11y ago
  Fellow Dallas resident as well. Everyone here in Uptown keeps complaining about rent increasing but these HN threads help me realize how good we have it. The job market is extremely hot as well.
  - amyjess 11y ago
    Actually, I live in Far North Dallas. Rents in Uptown are too rich for my blood. I get all the benefits of living in a suburb (low rent and lots of space), but I can still walk to Addison Circle when I want to go out and have fun. It's the best of both worlds to me.
geebee 11y ago
It's best to go by sales price rather than asking price, since very low pricing to start bidding wars is a common real estate strategy in the bay area. I went to zillow and looked up actual sales prices for condos/townhouses in mountain view for the last six months, with more than 1,250 square feet of living space. From my search of actual sales prices rather than listing prices, the cost of a 1,250+ sq ft condo in Mountain View ranges from $910,000 to $1.08 million.
nickv 11y ago
Pretty much nothing in Mountain View goes for "asking price". I strongly bet that place will go for near $1M. The Zestimate (http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1945-Mount-Vernon-Ct-APT-13-Mountain-View-CA-94040/19514054_zpid/ http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1945-Mount-Vernon-Ct-APT-1...) is $800k, and zillow estimates for that area are notoriously low.
cdcarter 11y ago
Plus a $500 monthly HOA fee...

geogra4 11y ago

Because you can get a 1300 sq foot condo for 70k (or less!) in most of the country. If you aren't among the elite of financial means (we're talking 1% wealth) SF is a losing proposition.

refurb 11y ago
Whoa wait. The top 1% makes >$400K/yr. You're saying you can't afford a $700K condo on a $150K+/yr programmer salary? How comes it's always the "other guy" that's the problem?
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]

amyjess 11y ago

Because you can get a nice house with almost 2000 sq. ft. in Texas for under $300k [0]. We're not talking about somewhere out in the country or in some distant exurb, either: I'm talking about housing prices I just looked up in a nice neighborhood within the City of Dallas. It's a safe neighborhood with good schools (speaking from personal experience: I grew up in that exact neighborhood). Also, I currently rent a 1500 sq. ft. townhouse in Dallas for $1220/month. There's no way I'd be able to get anything nearly that nice in the Bay Area. [0] http://www.dallasrealestate-homes.com/Dallas%20Subdivisions/Pepperwood%20Estates.htm http://www.dallasrealestate-homes.com/Dallas%20Subdivisions/...

Nicholas_C 11y ago
Fellow Dallas resident as well. Everyone here in Uptown keeps complaining about rent increasing but these HN threads help me realize how good we have it. The job market is extremely hot as well.
- amyjess 11y ago
  Actually, I live in Far North Dallas. Rents in Uptown are too rich for my blood. I get all the benefits of living in a suburb (low rent and lots of space), but I can still walk to Addison Circle when I want to go out and have fun. It's the best of both worlds to me.

geebee 11y ago

It's best to go by sales price rather than asking price, since very low pricing to start bidding wars is a common real estate strategy in the bay area. I went to zillow and looked up actual sales prices for condos/townhouses in mountain view for the last six months, with more than 1,250 square feet of living space. From my search of actual sales prices rather than listing prices, the cost of a 1,250+ sq ft condo in Mountain View ranges from $910,000 to $1.08 million.

nickv 11y ago

Pretty much nothing in Mountain View goes for "asking price". I strongly bet that place will go for near $1M. The Zestimate (http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1945-Mount-Vernon-Ct-APT-13-Mountain-View-CA-94040/19514054_zpid/ http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1945-Mount-Vernon-Ct-APT-1...) is $800k, and zillow estimates for that area are notoriously low.

cdcarter 11y ago

Plus a $500 monthly HOA fee...