• IP addresses are NOT logged in this forum so there's no point asking. Please note that this forum is full of homophobes, racists, lunatics, schizophrenics & absolute nut jobs with a smattering of geniuses, Chinese chauvinists, Moderate Muslims and last but not least a couple of "know-it-alls" constantly sprouting their dubious wisdom. If you believe that content generated by unsavory characters might cause you offense PLEASE LEAVE NOW! Sammyboy Admin and Staff are not responsible for your hurt feelings should you choose to read any of the content here.

    The OTHER forum is HERE so please stop asking.

Coming to America. Bay Area/New York how to.

Ash007

Alfrescian
Loyal
Wonder if any Bros here can give me some details as to the living expenses/rent/schooling fees etc in the California/San francisco/Silicon Valley/Bay area for housing/rent/living expenses/schools fees. I'm thinking of moving to America under the E3 visa scheme. Basically, I need a base salary figure to survive in the area.




And to politicise this thread.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-3_visa

The E-3 visa is a United States visa for which only citizens of Australia are eligible.[1] It was created by an Act of the United States Congress as a result of the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA), although it is not formally a part of the AUSFTA. The legislation creating the E-3 visa was signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush on May 11, 2005. It is widely believed to have grown out of the negotiation of a trade deal between the USA and Australia.[2]

Looks like being an Aussies means I'm the favorite FTs of USA. Which citizens are the favourites among the PAPs in Singapore's open door/leg policies?
 

eatshitndie

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
bad timing. home prices and rents have skyrocketed in the bay area. the more affordable homes are over 70 miles away from the epicenter in sf: cities such as antioch, brentwood, stockton, tracy, vacaville, sacramento in the east and gilroy, los banos, modesto in the south and south east. most high paying jobs are on the peninsula between sf and sj (silicon valley). commute from outlying areas to the peninsula is a nightmare. you'll be stuck in traffic for at least 2 hours each way. the median single family home price (2000 sq. ft. 3-4 bedrooms 2 baths) in recently crime-ridden antioch is around us$600k these days (just went up us$100k in 1 year). crime-ridden because black gangs in east oakland and richmond are migrating eastwards as oakland and richmond become gentrified due to white and asian migration from expensive sf to east bay cities.

meanwhile hispanic gangs are taking over hayward (hayward is no-man's land between black and hispanic gangs) and terrorizing east bay cities with home invasion and burglaries. they too are being gradually gentrified to the south east to los banos and modesto and south to gilroy and salinas.

those with homes in sf, the peninsula and south bay are sitting pretty as the median single family home price is at least us$1m today. 37% of homes bought recently in this area are full cash purchases with over-bids of at least us$100k. the rest require downpayments of around 40% cash with pre-approved jumbo loans of over us$600k. no more stated income and zero down with adjustable mortgage rate as vast majority of buyers on the peninsula have exceptional high incomes, great credit and huge cash piles. you'll be competing with multi-millionaire overseas buyers from china and india and instant millionaires or stock optionees from tech companies such as apple, facebook, google, salesforce, tesla, etc.

rents are also crazy these days: us$4000 for a 1-bedroom apartment in sf and us$3000 to us$3500 for the same thing on the lower peninsula. it's going up fast as rental properties are being acquired by predatory syndicates in palo alto and mountain view, and they are evicting tenants including facebook and google employees and jacking up rent two to threefold.

if you have family and make only us$120k per year, you can rent in more affordable santa clara (most affordable nearest the job hot spots) but you can't buy unless you have us$1m in spare cash. if you can't get a job paying us$120k per year, you may as well forget about it. it's a "nasty, vicious, fuckers'" place to start fresh.

read my other threads on the bay area.....

http://singsupplies.com/showthread.php?125331-window-of-opportunity

http://singsupplies.com/showthread.php?181491-real-estate-market-in-the-bay-area

and meanwhile we are experiencing a devastating 4-year (and counting) long drawn out drought.....you'll be drinking "saichwee".....

http://singsupplies.com/showthread.php?182909-california-drought
 
Last edited:

Ash007

Alfrescian
Loyal
so 120k a year base is the minimum I should go for in the area then. not gonna get a house. just need a rough estimate on the rental expenses in the area. thanks for the info.
 

eatshitndie

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
so 120k a year base is the minimum I should go for in the area then. not gonna get a house. just need a rough estimate on the rental expenses in the area. thanks for the info.

you need to set aside 33-35% on your w-2 and 45-50% on short-term capital gains and bonuses for tax. you'll end up with about us$75k-80k net out of us$120k gross per year. if you own a house, it will set you back another us$13k per year for property or parcel tax for a us$1m home. you can file for rental credit on your tax return if you rent, but it's not much. you'll need health insurance coverage for you and entire family from your company. otherwise, it's more than us$20k per year for a couple and us$35k per year for a small family of 4.
 
Top