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vent... cost of living :-(
Occasionally someone here posts about house prices and I'm always really jealous. Buying is not even on the horizon for us because things here are astronomical.
In my apartment search I have so far seen only one adequate place. It had wall-to-wall carpeting (we ideally want hardwood) and the location was somewhat inconvenient (pretty far from the highway, the amenities in the town are lacking, a longer commute for DH, etc.). Without parking it is 2700. All the places below 2500 have something really wrong with them. The weirdest one had no stove exhaust... not really sure how that would work...
Then I had to fill my car. I don't drive a whole lot (luckily), so it's been a couple of weeks and I was dismayed to find gas has gone up again to 4.27 for regular!
Re: vent... cost of living :-(
I'm sorry
I know it sucks and I always feel like people saying "it's all relative" in terms of people getting paid more in areas where it costs more to live really doesn't even out in the end at all!
We had to move half hour + away from work to find something we liked that we could afford, no way could we afford to buy. Even if the prices are decent in some areas, the taxes are a killer and we just can't afford to add another $800-$1,000 a month on top of a mortgage no matter how great the interest rates are.
Sorry no advice, but I hope you find something ((HUGS))!
Eat.Drink.BeMarried. Blog.
I hope you find something soon!
I can understand how frustrating it is looking for places. For us, we decided it was best to go further out and just increase the commute to work than to spend more on housing. I know that I vent all the time about my commute to work, but it's mainly because gas is so expensive and I still am stuck in my huge SUV (gas is right around the $4.50 mark, I get about 14 mpg hwy and I drive 60 miles round trip)
Just keep your head up and keep looking. Have you talked to a realtor about maybe helping you find something that fits what you want? DH and I worked with a realtor when looking for our last rental because we were having no luck finding anything on our own.
Termulang - Do you ever consider moving somewhere else? Is it the other parts of lifestyle living there that make the HCOL worth it in your opinion? Are you set on living in the Bay area? is your DH?
I do feel badly sometimes that the COL is so all over the place when I read others postings. I feel fortunate we own a house, but it is by no means anything fancy. But there are times in the dead of winter when I think the Bay area sounds like a dream as I scurry thru the skyways to avoid the 15 below weather. I look at some of the salaries over on MM and think WTF did I go into my field for. There is always something though that you trade for.
I hope the search goes better for you. Can you reach out to colleagues,family to see if anyone knows of anything to rent?
Steph -- just in case in came across wrong, I love hearing about everyone's moves and especially home improvement projects. And I know we are definitely able to make more here. I guess it just seems kind of wasteful to have to spend so much on rent rather than be saving for buying a place and the future, and especially when you pay so much for so little and there's not really any choice.
Scarlett -- great idea! I've always looked for apartments on my own, but the needs of two people are totally different than when you're single and maybe I just need more help with this. I just sent out an email asking for RA references.
Bella -- I think about moving every time I see how much less houses cost everywhere else lol! I'm from here, and I like it, but I've lived in other places and I'm fine with them too. DH is attached to this area because of his career, so we're only leaving if we move to India. I'm sure we'll eventually find something, but it's so depressing to see so many really bad places (and we've even been turned down for two because demand is so high).
Sheesh!! So that's why DH ruled out San Fran as a place to move...
Yeah, I think I would move away were I you as well. Although not saying Seattle is worlds better. Better than $2700 probably. When I was a student, most places I looked at renting were no higher than $1700 (and they were pretty decent). I guess if you wanted to rent a fancy condo downtown, it would run you nearly 3 grand per month though.
Sorry about your struggles to find a good place!
Married 11/6/10
That sounds like really high COL, temurlang. Ouch.
We too are struggling to figure all the numbers out. And we could both use a raise to "keep up"... that's the other issue. COL goes up but employers don't necessarily follow suit. They sort of turn the other direction until you force the issue. I guess they are trying to pay the bills too.