4 ms·

A couple of tips (these only apply to the SF Bay Area): 1) Unless you can afford a $1.5M US house, don't bother thinking you can just sweep in and buy a home

A couple of tips (these only apply to the SF Bay Area): 1) Unless you can afford a $1.5M US house, don't bother thinking you can just sweep in and buy a home within a month. The competition is way too fierce these days. It will probably take you about 1 year unless you're very rich already. Since you have a daughter, you need to figure out if you want to live in a cheaper area, far away from your work with a long commute, and send her to private school, or live closer to work, and pay an exorbitant amount, and probably still pay for private school. I suggest paying the exorbitant rent for 6 months or a year, in a place close to work so that you familiarize yourself with the area, and then start the search to buy a place. 2) $30k sounds like a very generous relocation package. I think your expectations as to what it will cover are way too much. Things like multiple airfares and real estate broker fees sound like you have a sense of entitlement. Those shouldn't be covered in my opinion, those are the cost of leaving your home.

EduardoBautista 10y ago
Buying a home in SF after only a year?
mbrameld 10y ago
> Things like multiple airfares and real estate broker fees sound like you have a sense of entitlement. Those shouldn't be covered in my opinion, those are the cost of leaving your home. I know you said those only apply to the bay area, but those were covered when I took a job with a fortune 500 financial institution. They even flew me down all expenses paid for house hunting several weeks before I actually moved. It was just a senior dev position, not even a lead. I think it's fairly standard for larger companies trying to attract top talent.
- pfarnsworth 10y ago
  So your relocation package was > $30k? That's my point is that I think anything they want to do should be covered with that. It's pretty generous. Real estate fees for a 1M house is approximately $50k in Canada. Should the company really cover that, plus everything else? That's approaching $100k relocation package for a Dev Manager, if he already lives in a high-cost area of Canada. At some point, it doesn't make financial sense to switch jobs, there's no shame in that. Personally, I would never recommend anyone to come to SF Bay Area if they have a family with children, and if they spouse isn't a high income earner as well. Especially if they already have a house, it's going to be a big step down. I have friends who make > $400k combined that can't afford a reasonably priced home in the Bay Area.
BinaryIdiot 10y ago
> Since you have a daughter, you need to figure out if you want to live in a cheaper area, far away from your work with a long commute, and send her to private school, or live closer to work, and pay an exorbitant amount, and probably still pay for private school. In SF itself most public schools are lowly rated. But many areas, especially MOST of the East Bay, public schools are very highly rated. Unless the OP moves into SF I don't think private school is necessary at all. Just make sure to check the ratings before moving into an area. > I suggest paying the exorbitant rent for 6 months or a year, in a place close to work so that you familiarize yourself with the area, and then start the search to buy a place. This is good advice and what we ultimately ended up doing. It's crazy expensive but now we know where we want to live, how much to expect things, etc. Our weekend trip out here to pick out a house was just no where near enough time to buy or figure out the area for renting. > Things like multiple airfares and real estate broker fees sound like you have a sense of entitlement. Those shouldn't be covered in my opinion, those are the cost of leaving your home. Relocation is meant to cover the cost of leaving your home. Many friends I've talked to had company cover air fair and sometimes real estate broker fees. I know a company I went with did. I think it's a bit much saying OP has a sense of entitlement; OP seems to not know what to expect and simply asked a question and discussed the real logistics behind the move. When you search online many places offer to cover that and many do not.
- pfarnsworth 10y ago
  There are pockets of good school districts in the Peninsula, but any one of them have prices of > $1.5M for 3br2ba and ~1500 sqft. I can't speak for the East Bay, though, but that increases the commute tremendously. Much like the CAP theorem, you can only optimize for two of: good schools, good commute, good house prices. I said it sounded like he had a sense of entitlement, I actually meant from the point of view of the company. I mean it sounds like he also wants free meals included, and Wifi on the plane as well. $30k I think is pretty generous, all things considered, and at some point, it won't make sense to move to the Bay Area. Does he really expect a $100k relocation package? I hate to say it but he's only a dev manager. Personally I don't think unless his wife is an engineer or another high-wage career, that they shouldn't move. Their quality of life will suffer. Anything less than $300k combined salary is tough with kids, rent, commute, etc.
Normal_gaussian 10y ago
> relocation package > shouldn't be covered in my opinion, those are the cost of leaving your home If costs of relocating shouldn't be covered in a relocation package then what should? It doesn't sound overly entitled at all. Negotiate it. - Note, of course not being American I can't comment on the actual amount. A quick google suggests around 15k in physically moving everything long distance (inc. self), plus the second move locally (2k?), plus rent difference of the temp place compared to expected place (rent/mortgage). So if my ballparks are OK then they have 6mo at 2k extra rent (no idea if thats reasonable). Private school should be factored into salary.

EduardoBautista 10y ago

Buying a home in SF after only a year?

mbrameld 10y ago

> Things like multiple airfares and real estate broker fees sound like you have a sense of entitlement. Those shouldn't be covered in my opinion, those are the cost of leaving your home. I know you said those only apply to the bay area, but those were covered when I took a job with a fortune 500 financial institution. They even flew me down all expenses paid for house hunting several weeks before I actually moved. It was just a senior dev position, not even a lead. I think it's fairly standard for larger companies trying to attract top talent.

pfarnsworth 10y ago
So your relocation package was > $30k? That's my point is that I think anything they want to do should be covered with that. It's pretty generous. Real estate fees for a 1M house is approximately $50k in Canada. Should the company really cover that, plus everything else? That's approaching $100k relocation package for a Dev Manager, if he already lives in a high-cost area of Canada. At some point, it doesn't make financial sense to switch jobs, there's no shame in that. Personally, I would never recommend anyone to come to SF Bay Area if they have a family with children, and if they spouse isn't a high income earner as well. Especially if they already have a house, it's going to be a big step down. I have friends who make > $400k combined that can't afford a reasonably priced home in the Bay Area.

BinaryIdiot 10y ago

> Since you have a daughter, you need to figure out if you want to live in a cheaper area, far away from your work with a long commute, and send her to private school, or live closer to work, and pay an exorbitant amount, and probably still pay for private school. In SF itself most public schools are lowly rated. But many areas, especially MOST of the East Bay, public schools are very highly rated. Unless the OP moves into SF I don't think private school is necessary at all. Just make sure to check the ratings before moving into an area. > I suggest paying the exorbitant rent for 6 months or a year, in a place close to work so that you familiarize yourself with the area, and then start the search to buy a place. This is good advice and what we ultimately ended up doing. It's crazy expensive but now we know where we want to live, how much to expect things, etc. Our weekend trip out here to pick out a house was just no where near enough time to buy or figure out the area for renting. > Things like multiple airfares and real estate broker fees sound like you have a sense of entitlement. Those shouldn't be covered in my opinion, those are the cost of leaving your home. Relocation is meant to cover the cost of leaving your home. Many friends I've talked to had company cover air fair and sometimes real estate broker fees. I know a company I went with did. I think it's a bit much saying OP has a sense of entitlement; OP seems to not know what to expect and simply asked a question and discussed the real logistics behind the move. When you search online many places offer to cover that and many do not.

pfarnsworth 10y ago
There are pockets of good school districts in the Peninsula, but any one of them have prices of > $1.5M for 3br2ba and ~1500 sqft. I can't speak for the East Bay, though, but that increases the commute tremendously. Much like the CAP theorem, you can only optimize for two of: good schools, good commute, good house prices. I said it sounded like he had a sense of entitlement, I actually meant from the point of view of the company. I mean it sounds like he also wants free meals included, and Wifi on the plane as well. $30k I think is pretty generous, all things considered, and at some point, it won't make sense to move to the Bay Area. Does he really expect a $100k relocation package? I hate to say it but he's only a dev manager. Personally I don't think unless his wife is an engineer or another high-wage career, that they shouldn't move. Their quality of life will suffer. Anything less than $300k combined salary is tough with kids, rent, commute, etc.

Normal_gaussian 10y ago

> relocation package > shouldn't be covered in my opinion, those are the cost of leaving your home If costs of relocating shouldn't be covered in a relocation package then what should? It doesn't sound overly entitled at all. Negotiate it. - Note, of course not being American I can't comment on the actual amount. A quick google suggests around 15k in physically moving everything long distance (inc. self), plus the second move locally (2k?), plus rent difference of the temp place compared to expected place (rent/mortgage). So if my ballparks are OK then they have 6mo at 2k extra rent (no idea if thats reasonable). Private school should be factored into salary.