$2,800,000 for a 1,500sq. ‘ home in Silicon Valley !!

[RJSakowski]

Thirty years ago, I bought my 2300 sq. ft. farmhouse with 35' x 90' barn, 1 car garage, and 20' x 30' granary with attached 20' x 12' covered parking on 12.5 acres of land for $25K. The property is now assessed at ~$300K, mostly to keep up with surrounding properties as a tax assessor has never done a walk through.

For the 16 years, prior, I was renting the property for $125/mo. Back then, moving away from Madison, AKA Mad Town, and Dane County to the relative wilderness of Iowa County was highly attractive to people like myself who favored the far less regulation and freedom to hunt. OTOH, the area was a little too wild for many if the more affluent types.

As more and more suburban and rural land surrounding Madison got bought up and colonized the c4rowds started pushing outward. Now, at 25 miles from the center of Madison, this is a reasonable commute. Whereas I used to be able to see only on other residence and that was when the leaves were off the trees, there are now nine within a half mile of me. Thankfully, zoning restrictions have limited further growth although the town board regularly receives petitions to modify the zoning.

 

[Janderso]

A few years ago there was an article in one of the Bay Area newspapers about a homeless man who lived in a tent in the middle of a cloverleaf interchange. He had a nice car, cell phone and a club membership where he showered etc. He had a good paying job, just not good enough.

That’s Daryl!
I used to work with a guy who had the dame experience.
He went to his gym to shower and shave, had a good job, stayed with friends when he could but basically lived out oh his van because he could not afford to rent.
First, last, deposit is close to $10,000 in these high rent areas.
He got cancer which drained his accounts.

I have met several people in the IT industry that lived in their cars and showered at the YMCA while they worked in Silicon Valley... They make very good money and can't afford to live there.

I guess they can struggle for a couple years then move or work from home they paid cash for in some more reasonable part of the country.

 

[Navy Chief]

That’s Daryl!
I used to work with a guy who had the dame experience.
He went to his gym to shower and shave, had a good job, stayed with friends when he could but basically lived out oh his van because he could not afford to rent.
First, last, deposit is close to $10,000 in these high rent areas.
He got cancer which drained his accounts.

I guess they can struggle for a couple years then move or work from home they paid cash for in some more reasonable part of the country.

Yeah, they are doing it to build their resumes.

 

[MrWhoopee]

That’s Daryl!
.
He got cancer which drained his accounts.

Off-topic, I had two friends who were similarly devastated, one name Daryl. Each had standard Medicare and the 20% they were responsible for wiped them out. Daryl was the lucky one, he died. At the urging of a friend, I bought a Medicare Advantage plan with an annual out-of-pocket cap. I can afford $6k but not $100k.

On the upside, I inherited Daryl's oxy-acetylene setup.

 

[Hozzie]

I don't feel sorry for people choosing to live in their car and choosing to work in a place they can't have a life. If you choose to live that way, that is on you.

There are all kind of places people can live and work and have a life. You get what you deserve in most cases.

 

[projectnut]

I don't feel sorry for people choosing to live in their car and choosing to work in a place they can't have a life. If you choose to live that way, that is on you.

There are all kind of places people can live and work and have a life. You get what you deserve in most cases.

I'm not quite that much of a harda**, but I do agree that sometimes people get caught in a career where the salary doesn't meet the cost of living. I have 2 brothers in computer programing. One is a contractor living in Silicon Valley currently working for Google. I'm sure he's paid handsomely in that he does own a house and all the amenities that go with it. Just in case he has a Jeep Wagoneer he refers to as his "4 bedroom" should he suddenly become unemployed.

The other brother worked as a contractor for Fermi Labs. He kept the job because it paid about 5 grand more than one could have had locally. We tried to reason with him telling him the cost of fuel alone would exceed the difference in pay. The commute time, and wear and tear on the car were other factors making the job less desirable. After running through several cars and several thousand gallons of fuel it finally dawned on him, he'd made a mistake. He quit the job, went on unemployment until that ran out, and now sits at the local coffee shop with the boys grumbling about how unfair life is, while his wife is still working

 

[Reddinr]

I got two offers early in my career that would have landed me in the thick of it up there. I visited the area, which was nice but very crowded, even then. The money was pretty attractive and "Silicon Valley!", but once you did the math (salary minus expenses), I was better off with a lower salary where I was. It was one of my better life choices I think.

We have this fridge magnet that shows different statistics in 1959: Average income: $5016, Average home cost: $12,400, Gallon of gas $0.25, Dow Jones ~600 (now about 35000). The $5K income would put you squarely in the 22% tax bracket. If you were rich and made $100K, your tax bracket was 75% ! Average income last year was about $51K, 12% bracket with the highest bracket being 37%. (Married/joint) Interest rates were pretty good then too at about 2.6% but went up quickly in the following years through 1985.

 

[BGHansen]

Wow! Glad we bought our 64 acres and 2800 sq. ft. home in 1993 for less than 1/10th that Silicon Valley palace! That's a $7,777.77 monthly house payment on a 0% interest note over 30 years! Nice place to visit, but we couldn't afford to live there!

Bruce

 

[Navy Chief]

I loved California when we lived there, but financially leaving was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I moved to a much lower cost of living area and earn more than my counterparts that still live in San Diego.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

 

[matthewsx]

That's my old neighborhood, parents bought an Eichler in Cupertino in 1959. It's not really cheap anywhere anymore, building hasn't kept up with demand. Having lived in lower cost areas (Arizona for 8 years and Northern Michigan 10 years) I'm darn happy (and lucky) to be back in NorCal.

John