An Assessment of Lifestyle Choice

[mishalak]

Okay, the bay area is not for me. Why not? Largely because of the expense associated with living here, even way out with a long commute something I would rather not do. I did like walking to work and I do not mind accepting smaller living space to gain a short commute time. Given my habits it is actually better to have a small living space than a huge one. The difficulty is in living in just one room of a house and feeling more a guest than a co-tenant. Plus all the usual problems that get exponentially more complex every time another person is added to the same living space with one bathroom.

So what do I want? I think a one bedroom apartment or condo. I am not looking to get rich off of getting in on a hot real estate market, just to not throw away all of my housing money. If I could retain half the value of the money I would be spending on housing anyway without spending much more it would put me in a better situation financially. I am totally okay with the idea of renting for the rest of my life though. I do not expect that I will ever get to a situation where I could retire or that I will have children, so why go to the bother of building up an estate?

So I want a condo or very small house in a middle urban area. I do not want to be downtown in the hot zone, I just want to be able to walk to wherever it is I work since I will be working and I go to work a bunch more than I go out. I want it to be affordable on a wage from a modest job. And I want to be social and go out once a week for dinner, drinks, movies, or whatever with one or more of these friends. So the living space needs to have a room in addition to the bedroom where we can hang out watching movies or sitting around talking.

Comments

[cindy-reddeer.livejournal.com]

As someone who is mortgaged up the the hilt, I recommend renting somewhere and saving all your pennies to make the largest down payment you can. Buying property is a good idea, but don't get yourself into a situation where all your money is going to your home and none left over to live your life (travelling, etc.) Living your life to the fullest is better than getting a lot of stuff. If only, I could live my live by my own rules, although I love where I work and the people I work with, even if it doesn't pay as much because I am in the non-profit sector. (I am a bookkeeper, BTW) I could work at the City for $21/hour, but from what I have heard it isn't a great place to work with all the office politics and stuff. Until something changes, I am happy where I am 90% of the time. Hey, we all have bad days. :-D

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

That is why I am not alread morgaged up to the hilt with a place, like my father tried to force upon me. I knew better than to get a morgage given my earnings. There is no such thing as a $650 a month morgage.

Amusement

[flotsomnjetsom.livejournal.com]

I know you are planning on leaving anyway but...Alameda has very reasonable rents for the the area and the transit times aren't bad. There is always someone out and about on the island. Folks are very friendly here. Shops and entertainment are usually just a short walk away. We would have been lucky to find a closet in the tenderloin for what we are paying for our 2 bedroom townhome with storage and 2 designated covered parking spaces in a gated community. For amusement's sake you may want to check out the Craig's list section for the island.

Re: Amusement

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

It may be cheap by bay standards, but I doubt it is cheap enough for me to live there on what I am earning. Using the one third of your net income rule I can afford $650 a month in rent. Well actually that is a bit more than a third. At this point I can already hear the landlords laughing and I've already tendered my resignation so that's probably the end of it. <checking> Yep, and there are two rooms for rent at that price, not efficency apartments, even thought that is what they claim to be, rooms with shared bathrooms and kitchens.