6 ms·

> $5500/mo for a 3 bedroom property with additional appreciation is a great deal in any market. What are you smoking? This is insane even on two $150k salaries

> $5500/mo for a 3 bedroom property with additional appreciation is a great deal in any market. What are you smoking? This is insane even on two $150k salaries. It’s 60k a year on the mortgage alone, when your households total take home pay is under $200k.

Fauntleroy 2y ago
Yeah I'm really wondering what OP's income is like now
- alephnerd 2y ago
  Standard Bay Area tech salary for someone with around a decade of experience: 150k-500k With an SO in the Life Sciences space: $100-300k That's why a lot of Californians can afford it. A lot of us marry peers in the same income brackets.
  - hiddencost 2y ago
    Pretty much anyone with a decade of experience at the big tech companies is making at least the top end of that range.
    - alephnerd 2y ago
      Not even BigTech. Even medium sized startups can pay a $500k TC for someone with a decade+ of experience (how else do you see so many L5 Engineers turned EMs or Tech Leads at startups after a bad review cycle)
alephnerd 2y ago
The kind of house going for $5500/mo mortgage in SoCal will be in a very affluent town like Irvine, where most households will be dual income white collar. The article itself references Torrance, CA which has gentrified from working class Latino American and Asian American to upper middle class Asian American
- jxyxfinite 2y ago
  In Irvine the average is 10k a month. 5500 is more I.E
  - alephnerd 2y ago
    Yea, my Irvine numbers are off. Torrance is becoming the next Irvine, due to a large Asian American community, decent schools, and relatively high paying employers nearby. School district matters to Asian Americans, and Asian Americans skew in the highest income brackets in the US now, but we also prefer living in other AA neighborhoods because of cultural affinity.
sib 2y ago
Traditionally the guideline was that housing costs (rent, utilities, etc) shouldn't be above 30% of gross income. $66K / $300K is only 22%. So, I wouldn't call it insane.
- tempsy 2y ago
  I’m not sure where this $5500 figure came from but if you want a decent sized home in a good area with good schools there are not homes for sub $1m to be found. $1.5m is a much more realistic sale price for a modest home in a good area, and with 20% down that’s more like $10k a month between mortgage and taxes and insurance.
  - alephnerd 2y ago
    > where this $5500 figure came from It's SoCal - Torrance CA specifically as mentioned in the article. Prices are slightly lower because salaries are slightly lower (or maybe it's the other way around)
    - tempsy 2y ago
      Well the article is wrong. Median detached home sale price in Torrance is 1.275m. The $900k figure probably includes condos and is not what a house costs. https://www.redfin.com/city/20094/CA/Torrance/housing-market https://www.redfin.com/city/20094/CA/Torrance/housing-market
- sgjohnson 2y ago
  Except housing costs don’t stop beyond the $5500 on the mortgage. Add all the utilities, property taxes, insurance, and the monthly average of maintenance fees and it’ll probably be closer to $8-9k/mo.
  - sib 2y ago
    Yes, that's why I wrote "(rent, utilities, etc)"... And for a rental, which is what my comment was in relation to, there are generally no property taxes or maintenance fees.
bmitc 2y ago
Agreed that it's insane. The only people paying that for such a low bedroom count house are wealthy people who want location and specific schools. Add childcare to that, and you're close to $10,000 a month for just basic living. Only 5% of people can afford that. This is especially for the middle to slightly upper middle class (someone making $300,000 as a household) not being able to afford it, because they get absolutely hammered by the asinine tax structure, more than any other class percentage wise.
hiddencost 2y ago
Where I'm from a 3BR would run you $1.6M if it's in mediocre shape. $2M in good shape with a yard.

Fauntleroy 2y ago

Yeah I'm really wondering what OP's income is like now

alephnerd 2y ago
Standard Bay Area tech salary for someone with around a decade of experience: 150k-500k With an SO in the Life Sciences space: $100-300k That's why a lot of Californians can afford it. A lot of us marry peers in the same income brackets.
- hiddencost 2y ago
  Pretty much anyone with a decade of experience at the big tech companies is making at least the top end of that range.
  - alephnerd 2y ago
    Not even BigTech. Even medium sized startups can pay a $500k TC for someone with a decade+ of experience (how else do you see so many L5 Engineers turned EMs or Tech Leads at startups after a bad review cycle)

alephnerd 2y ago

The kind of house going for $5500/mo mortgage in SoCal will be in a very affluent town like Irvine, where most households will be dual income white collar. The article itself references Torrance, CA which has gentrified from working class Latino American and Asian American to upper middle class Asian American

jxyxfinite 2y ago
In Irvine the average is 10k a month. 5500 is more I.E
- alephnerd 2y ago
  Yea, my Irvine numbers are off. Torrance is becoming the next Irvine, due to a large Asian American community, decent schools, and relatively high paying employers nearby. School district matters to Asian Americans, and Asian Americans skew in the highest income brackets in the US now, but we also prefer living in other AA neighborhoods because of cultural affinity.

sib 2y ago

Traditionally the guideline was that housing costs (rent, utilities, etc) shouldn't be above 30% of gross income. $66K / $300K is only 22%. So, I wouldn't call it insane.

tempsy 2y ago
I’m not sure where this $5500 figure came from but if you want a decent sized home in a good area with good schools there are not homes for sub $1m to be found. $1.5m is a much more realistic sale price for a modest home in a good area, and with 20% down that’s more like $10k a month between mortgage and taxes and insurance.
- alephnerd 2y ago
  > where this $5500 figure came from It's SoCal - Torrance CA specifically as mentioned in the article. Prices are slightly lower because salaries are slightly lower (or maybe it's the other way around)
  - tempsy 2y ago
    Well the article is wrong. Median detached home sale price in Torrance is 1.275m. The $900k figure probably includes condos and is not what a house costs. https://www.redfin.com/city/20094/CA/Torrance/housing-market https://www.redfin.com/city/20094/CA/Torrance/housing-market
sgjohnson 2y ago
Except housing costs don’t stop beyond the $5500 on the mortgage. Add all the utilities, property taxes, insurance, and the monthly average of maintenance fees and it’ll probably be closer to $8-9k/mo.
- sib 2y ago
  Yes, that's why I wrote "(rent, utilities, etc)"... And for a rental, which is what my comment was in relation to, there are generally no property taxes or maintenance fees.

bmitc 2y ago

Agreed that it's insane. The only people paying that for such a low bedroom count house are wealthy people who want location and specific schools. Add childcare to that, and you're close to $10,000 a month for just basic living. Only 5% of people can afford that. This is especially for the middle to slightly upper middle class (someone making $300,000 as a household) not being able to afford it, because they get absolutely hammered by the asinine tax structure, more than any other class percentage wise.

hiddencost 2y ago

Where I'm from a 3BR would run you $1.6M if it's in mediocre shape. $2M in good shape with a yard.