I ask the honourable HN readers, how much are you into all that real estate talks? I feel that second to computer stuff, the biggest interest of the tech people is property market.
Is it such a big concern even for so highly paid people?
Is it such a big concern even for so highly paid people?
Unfortunately, in the Bay Area my options for purchasing a detached single-family house are limited. At my current salary, if I want to purchase a detached single-family home, I'd either need to buy it in exurbia (e.g., places like Tracy to the east or Hollister to the south) or in East Oakland, which is still struggling with crime. Both places are a long commute from my Silicon Valley office. If I want to purchase a place within an hour from my job such as the southern part of San Jose, I'd need a considerable salary boost. Places like Cupertino and Sunnyvale seem impossibly expensive to me.
I've been thinking a lot about where I'd like to settle down. Silicon Valley has a wealth of specialized research scientist and research engineer positions, but I don't see myself ever being able to afford a house within an hour from Silicon Valley unless I join an early-stage startup that happens to be a wild success. On the flip side, there are plenty of places across the country, even within California, where homes are affordable with a low six-figure salary, but the problem is the types of jobs that I want tend to be restricted to tech hubs, which tend to have very high housing costs.
That’s not to say that 2br+ apartments are unprofitable to build, just less so.
Yes.
I get paid handsomely for my country and the actual experience I have. However, despite that, it's impossible for me to buy a house within 45 minutes travelling of my workplace, so I'm forced to spend about half my net incoming on rent.
I now pay more for a room in a five person shared house then i paid for a 3 bed house to myself. The only difference is being located closer to London for the better career advancement/salary.
It's the exact reason why many tech people are clamoring for remote work and going for "vacations" to Asian holiday countries (Thailand is a big one) where they stay most of the year. It's literally cheaper to live in a tropical paradise than in a reasonable apartment in London.
I've also seen a trend where companies start their offices in smaller cities next to capitals and their employees don't commute TO work, they commute from their homes to bigger cities on weekends. It's still decidedly far from ideal but it beats spending 1.5 hours on a commute every single day.
(Pity the poor teacher, nurse, etc. who's just SOL)
I mean, if there's 5 properties for rent instead of sale in the example I gave you still have the same core problem.
If 100 people need homes and you only have 50, then the people with the most money they can/want to spend on housing will get it.
It's attenuated by the willingness of people to have roommates, move in with family (if around) etc. so there can be more latent demand than is immediately present. Even if you have no homeless but a whole city is 4 rich tech workers per 3 bed apartment, there's still plenty of demand.
Healthcare is the second biggest.
Food, clothing, and other sundries are a joke by comparison.
but otherwise. little to no interest.