Re: TW and relocation

["Warren, David" <David -dot- Warren -at- NEXTEL -dot- COM>]

     My costs are based on the following sources:

     * San Jose paper (Mercury, I think--always seem to confuse it with
the
       Sacramento Bee)
     * Rent.Net
     * Cahill & Assocs. (headhunter)
     * Relo. specialist of our local realtor
     * Varied other net sources
     * Co-workers hired from that area
     * The infamous yet anonymous "They."

     I stand by what I wrote (or sit, as the case might be.)  Of course
     someone willing to spend several hours a day driving to get a
cheaper
     house spends less...but I value my time (and sanity).

     Neither I nor any of my comrades would submit to a 90-minute
commute
     (I hate to even ask if the correspondant meant 90-each-way or
     90-round-trip!)

     One Project Manager I worked with years ago said that employees
     expected to count commuting time as work time!  I never quite
believed
     him....

     BTW, tax appraisals often understate the market value for reasons
of
     political policy, custom, or law.  Bank appraisals are more
accurate.

     Another factor that surprises the devil out of people relo'ing to
CA,
     MA, NY, KY(admittedly few folks here), and DC are the incredible
tax
     bites taken by state and local taxes.  Figure on giving up an
eighth
     of your salary without any substantial property or sales tax relief
in
     return.

     David T. Warren
     Pubs. Mgr., Nextel
     (former consultant of 18 years standing...err, sitting)


______________________________ Reply Separator
_________________________________
Subject: Re: TW and relocation
Author:  Bob Morrisette [SMTP:writer1 -at- sabu -dot- Eng -dot- Sun -dot- COM]  at NEXTELUS
Date:    6/30/98 2:20 PM


Someone said:

>a house in the SF Bay area.  The *average* middle-class

>     American house (4 br/2.5ba/2-car garage) costs anywhere from
>    $300-500+k...good deals on 1br apt. rents are in the $1500 range
> *if*    you can stand being on a waiting list for a few months.

----------------------------
I constantly see these exaggerations about the cost of housing
in the Silicon Valley area. There are lots of decent houses
under $200K. My 4 br 2 ba house was just appraised at $202K. It
is a nice house located in a clean and quiet neighborhood. It
is the most expensive model in the subdivision.

You can rent a decent house for $1500.

If you don't mind a 1.5 hour commute, you can buy a very nice
4 br for $120K in some of the small towns East of here.
Check out the San Jose Mercury on Sunday.

Bob Morrisette
writer1 -at- sabu -dot- Eng -dot- Sun -dot- com