Priced Out: The Bay Area Housing Struggle 

Sold my home in the Bay area last year and got out. Best decision of my life so far.

Hey people of San Francisco, you know what is better then making 80k a year? Moving to another state and making 50k a year, being able to own a home in a decent neighborhood, and having a 15 min commute to work.

that teenager from the family that downsized in east palo alto, man my heart goes out to her. very mature with gratitude in such an awful situation

This reminds me of where I reside, Honolulu Hawaii, where it is so expensive that the locals are getting priced out of Hawaii, either becoming homeless, or having to forced themselves to move away. Tough times.

Thank you for doing an entire half hour of this story.

Im an Electrician, wife is a E.D RN and we have 2 kids. We do pretty well but the thought of buying a home where we live in San Jose has become a thing of the past. hearing the stories of these mega commuters makes us realize that we don't want to buy in the valley. We're now looking into Nevada, Arizona and Oregon. the Bay Area has pretty much thrown up the middle finger to the middle class

"The low listing price of $899k" - that quote just about sums up the bay area housing market.

CALIFORNIA is ONLY for 2 classes of people- the extremely rich and the extremely poor, if you're any where in between and you didn't get established 25 years ago...you will not make in CA, take as much of your money/assets as you can to another state. In the report Leow and Yong are both a part of the real estate business and even they are saying housing is not going to become affordable in CA. $ 1.1 million will buy you a mansion in TX.

Remove all the zoning and building regulations, and build high rise apartments. Tons of em like Japan. Rent would be about 1k which would be about right

The quality of life in the bay area gets worse as the cost of housing gets higher. It's like a third world country, now.

I’m outside the Bay Area, but I see my family members struggle to live there. I know two families living together and having all the teens work along with adults to pay for the monthly rent. I would suggest anyone is that situation to just leave the Bay Area because there are 49 other states and territories. Remember think of your future health and what you want to do with your life. Working to just get by is not a life.

in 1979, my parents bought their first home for $97,000.00 in contra costa county i bought my first condo in 1990 for $120,000 - then bought my first house in 1992 for $420K both in Alameda that is why i have decided to give my current house to my son - as soon as he finishes law school home ownership days are long gone!!

I left the Central Valley after rent kept increasing , then went back to home turf ( Bay Area ) but then I saw the same madness happening that caused me to leave the Bay . I prayed on it then months later came to the conclusion that I don't want to be anywhere near CA due to the ever increasing rents , gang violence , too over populated on & on !!! Saved up for a rental , packed all our belongings & left , which turned out to be one of my best decisions ever , years later here I am blessed to be a home owner of a brand new home & still mind boggled on how God opened them doors while watching my newly planted trees/garden grow & equity build .

You couldn’t pay me enough to live in the Bay Area it’s nasty

So glad I left Solano county years ago.

Lived in the Bay Area, San Francisco since 1965. Our family left California 2 wks ago. Living in an air B and B in Portland until tomorrow. will move into a 4 bedroom home in Vancouver Washington. Rent now less than rent of 2 bedroom small house for

That crap house sold for $1.2 million....

120k is low income??? Bye California Hello Texas!

You all need to move to an affordable state. My mortgage for my 4 br, 2 ba house in Minnesota is under $600/month including insurance and property taxes. Don't know how anyone can make ends meet in that type of situation. Good Luck All .

That Dump for 899k is worth 50k. That lady that bought that trailer needs to be in a Nursing home for Dementia.

That house should be worth about 150k. Man I wish I owned property out there before it got so expensive. Imagine the fortune you would make selling your house. This is why buying property is smart. You can get a situation like this where the house appreciates tremendously over time.

Americans: 20yrs and she can’t speak English? Real reason: they work in industries where there are no English speaking coworkers, they live in low-income housing, which is predominantly Latino, they are also working double shifts so they can’t take night classes. Rich American college student: travels the world speaking English.

that chart seems like BS - there's no chance in hell you're finding a house in San Fran for 1.4Mil

I live in NYC. It’s not just the prices of rent, it’s the price for every damn thing. Even the Bronx is getting gentrified. I got tired of long train commutes and excessive roommates and just bought an RV in a neighborhood in Queens just on the other side of the East River. My commute is now only 25 minutes and I pay no rent, but of course there are other trade offs. It’s not glamorous but I recommend people all over the country in similar situations consider the RV lifestyle. Many people here are doing it and NYC is obviously a 4 season city.

Seems like leaving the super expensive bay area would be the only thing that can possibly work.

Every time you fill out an application it cost $30 for a credit check. It can cost you $700 in fees just to find a place.

My job took me to San Jose in 2005- 06. Lived there a year. I would look at the TV and see dumpster homes for $400k! I thought, who the hell is buying these dilapidated homes at such a ridiculous price? Then the 08 crash came. I'm reminded of that watching this.

Looks like a Giant Tech Toilet lol.

Real simple. Move out of the Bay Area. I am. I've been priced out. Rent will never come down. Despite all the housing being built now

Local politicians: we want high paying jobs! Also local politicians: we don't want new buildings!

It’s not just the tech companies that are causing the issue. A big issue is foreign housing investment. There should be a moratorium on these investments.

*People will be commuting from Reno soon.* 😂😂😂😂

$1400 for the lot rent?.....WOW!!!!.....More then my mortgage payment on a 2200 sqft house

This is what it's like in Austin Texas now 😭

My mortgage here in (undisclosed location) for a 3 br, 2 bath house is $762.00 a mo. Our home is worth $179,000 and I make $17.50hr and I don't care much for tech jobs.

It has nothing to do with liberal or conservative. Pretty narrow minded to blame your demise on someone else. My wife is Canadian and that has happened in Toronto and Vancouver. It's mainly the Chinese getting money out of China through real estate. It's also happening in London as well. The people that bought my home in San Jose were from China and paid cash.

I was born in California, my grand kids are 4th generation Californian's and I left and moved to Oregon two years ago. BEST decision I ever made! Housing is normal here, people have quality of life. California has gone downhill over the years and the infrastructure and cost of living is unbearable. Plus the the state is dirty, polluted and completely run down. Bye Bye!!

I was priced out of the bay area 30 years ago. I can only imagine now.

Hello fellow Bay Area residents. I'm Darrick, born & raised in San Jose, Ca. My grandmother worked at At&t in Santa Clara for 33+ years and bought a home in the early 80's for $120k. My father in law's parents bought their home in 1971 for $24k. Now these 2 house are "worth" more than $1.2 Million. 💰It's not necessarily the home as much as it is location (tech jobs aka silicon valley) & supply/demand. I NEVER thought that someone born & raised in a pretty nice city would grow up to be out priced by tech workers & H1B Visa foreigners. Either i stay and put up a good financial fight to survive, or simply leave and find a new horizon.

I saw another show that showed overseas investors that speculated bought and held empty real estate. This artificially lowers supply which prompts price increase. This is not allowed in stock trading but somehow allowed in real estate. When these overseas investor start dumping product you will see another housing market bubble pop.

Move to Washington State, about the same income, no state income tax, and it’s still affordable......if you pay rent in the Bay Area you’ll be able to afford a home. Why struggle so much? Our family left the Bay Area and my children are flourishing. Once you leave, when come back to visit... you’ll be asking why didn’t you leave long ago.

It appears that the Bay area has become the type of city where having a very high income is the only way you can survive in it. For the people who are becoming priced out of the market, it may be time to look at alternatives like a less expensive state. Why prolong the agony? Eight people in a one bedroom is absurd!

Wow! That house on 44 ROBERT ROAD, ORINDA was offered at $899,000 and sold at $1,200,000 on 11/13/2018 and four years later (2022) have a value of $ 1,838,400 ! 🤯

The cost for Tracy is at least 3.5-hours in commuting per day. Assume she gets $20 per hour, and she works 5-days per week, and she works 50-weeks per year. This is (3.5)(5)(50(20)=$17,500. Her opportunity cost is $17,500 per year since she could (invest this time) earn this if she had a second job or lived next to her job place. Over 10-years, this $175,000. Now add to this car depreciation, maintenance, fuel, and insurance. Finally, add to this her health cost since stress and pollution is decreasing her lifespan. In other words, her real cost is way over $200,000 over ten years. This is assuming she and her family will last this long. This is too sad for words.

There’s a SPECIAL PLACE IN HELL, for all the people taking part in the displacement of ALL these people! It’s Ungodly to do this.....

How about move out of California....it sucks!

She lived here 20 years but never learned English?

The Hispanic family were soo humble. Great on them, and hope things work out for them.

I just looked up the price of this home today. July 28, 2022 and discovered it recently sold for $4,650,000! That was 4/21/22.

It’s ridiculous. I’m waiting for retirement and I’m gonna RV full time. I’ll never be in the same place for more than 14 days.

I left in 1994, I'm sure glad I did.... but now this story is in Boise, Idaho.... crazy!

This is so crazy! Bought a new build during the Pandemic in April 2020 for $460,000 in Colorado. Can't believe people could afford to pay that kind of money in 2018. SMH.

About a month ago I travled from EU to visit SF. I was shocked by the amount of homeless people and how people who worked at starbucks,subway etc. couldn't even speak english to me. The city was such a letdown I can't even beging explaning it to you.

wow a studio for $400K....I can buy 3 houses and 1 brand new year model car for $400K where i live

Yeah, $899,000 is the lowest priced home in the neighborhood. Says it all. Nobody in my profession can afford that. I have a small metal shop. We have rented in the Bay Area for 38 years. I always dreamed of building my own home with my own hands. Raising two children we always rented in decent neighborhoods so our kids could grow up in a safe environment and go the decent schools (always more expensive) We sacrificed home ownership for our kids. In 2016 we purchased a 1.5 acre parcel of "raw" land near Flagstaff Arizona. I am building a Timber Frame mountain lodge style cabin from lumber I milled myself for my wife and I to retire with the help of our two boys! The greatest family adventure of our lives. No way we could do this in the Bay Area. I go twice a year and stay for 2-4 weeks (until the money runs out) then I return and start preparing for the next trip six months later. All debt-free. I own the deed. Property taxes were $350 last year. Permit fee for the cabin? $400. In California expect to pay over $100,000 for permit fees alone. Let that sink in.

Priced out? Then one is not looking at all of the options. 1. Find a general contractor to do work on a house. If the house does not need a lot of work find any contractor that will not charge you full retail. Try local hardware stores to find people who do regular company work, but also work on the side - if they can also be insured to do so. 2. Learn to do as much as possible by yourself = within reason and within being legal. You will not be able to do most plumbing work or most electrical work. 3. Get more creative... Add solar/battery to make financing considerably better - and add in a lot of refunds. 4. Strongly weigh an duplex combination, or converting to a duplex if possible (yes it is possible if one knows the way to do it); or even purchasing an apartment building. Besides money (which doesn't take as much as one thinks); time is the only thing against you.

Yeah right the crash is upon us

Having all the rich Chinese buy up everything didn't help. Kick them out before it's too late!

My husband and myself left san jose in '99 when we saw what was coming. The high tech companies came and the rents were super high. We left to monterey county and the rents were so much cheaper by $1000 less..We plan on leaving california when we can retire and go to washington or Utah where it's a calmer and affordable lifestyle. Calif is overrated!

Last time I checked there were no walls on the boarders of the states, you are allowed to freely go and move to places like Nashville , Charlotte , Greenville , Orlando, columbus Ohio, etc I can go on, but you can find steady jobs anywhere I'm the states if one thing doesn't work theirs other opportunties to go and try, this isnt a dictatorship here , we can move wherever we want

Chinese have destroyed Vancouver Canada's housing. SF as well?

Everyone in the bay areas waiting for the crash, even the kids

The fixer-upper looked fine to me. A little paint and a little elbow grease - I would like living in a '50s time capsule, as long as everything worked! I just would like a place to live!

This is sad. I was born and raised in the Bay. Most of the people there now aren’t even original residents. It’s so overcrowded now. I bought a home an hour away in a suburb and couldn’t be happier. I pay way less than what I was paying in rent in SJ. I said adios to SJ and I’m not looking back.

People move move out and leave California empty to see who s going to work for them

Why spending time making the video but not making the volume right?

Supply and Demand or Creed? The Econ question of the day?

Crazy. Talk about greed.

I lived in the Bay Area for 14 years before moving away eight years ago. The housing and rental costs were the primary factor for my move. Despite having a good tech salary (I was making about $160k per year including my bonus), the home costs were just unreachable. The only alternative is to live in the far flung areas and deal with two hour commutes daily. Eventually moved to the East Coast and now own a 5/3 2700 sqr.ft house that cost me $375k. Would have been $2+ million in the Bay Area. The thing that amazed me the most was that my salary wasn't that much lower when I opted to move. I currently make about $130k a year now and I am in a state with no income tax. So from an after tax perspective, I make about the same as I did in California. For those that are considering moving to the Bay Area, make sure you do your research. Even videos and articles like this one often fail to do the situation justice. You can be a six figure worker in the Bay Area and you might be living as well as a college student when the housing costs factor in.

Psh, that's why I moved from the bay to the south. The state is garbage. My sister in law lives in the ghetto of Union City. Paying 2,600 a month in tiny, broken, apartment. People get shot on that street

12:45 he’s worked for the same company $17 hr ..... hmmm ok day labors are 100-160$ a day all illegal but why hire your company when labors so cheap? This is a sanctuary state, and most Hispanics vote for that. Well you would be marking a hell of a lot more than $17 hr but you vote for open boarders. I don’t want to hear any complaints about income. You need to adapt as the hispanic population rises expect higher taxes and lower wages. No big deal for those with money as the rise in cost is minimal to them. Life goes on as normal for the rich as your rent rises 2, 3 now maybe 4 times higher than before. You blame the rich white man for your decision to allow illegals to undercut your wages? Hilarious! I have money as I’m a salesman and Mexico is not really a country of salesman. I just tire of hearing the poor complain as we tell them what’s best and we’re called racist. You can lead a horse to water but can’t force them to drink.

I live in Seguin, Tx. Right in between San Antonio and Austin. Down the road from San Marcos and New Braunfels. In this city you can get a mini mansion for $500k. 🤦‍♂️

I've turned down several professional jobs in the bay area due to the cost of living there.

I live in SF make 145,000 and struggle. Arizona here we come

A lot of people are also priced out in Malibu and Beverly Hills.

No idea why some people absolutely REFUSE to move elsewhere since the Bay Area is no longer affordable. Recognize that prices do go up (sometimes dramatically), and not everyone will be able to afford. Move elsewhere!

not just in Bay Area, housing price is overpriced.

20yrs at that landscaping company and he still at $17/Hr. Smh school would of got him paying more during the matter.

Overpriced housing has been happening in my city over the past few years. The only bright spot is that crime has been slowly decreasing just because all the poorer people are being forced to move outside the city.

So, six months later we're mid pandemic and people are out of jobs. Most of the tech is working from a rental or worse now looking at this seems insane. In my neighborhood alone there is three empty rental homes in the past month.

Don't worry market about to crash..LOL

If you this this is expensive Take a look at hongkong Singapore London Vancouver The list goes on, so yeah this is normal What about all the people that got into the game early, sold their home to make a million or 2 then retired off elsewhere??

Availability of homes and apartments is only part of the problem. The other part is lack of rent control. You could build 1000 new apartments tomorrow, but it wouldn't help the poor and middle class people because they'd all be priced at the current market rate, which is the real problem. Due to the tech giants and other extremely profitable industries making that area their home, there will always be someone (usually from outside the area or US) willing to pay the $1M price tag, or the several thousand dollar price tag for a decent apartment that you could actually raise a family in. There just simply aren't enough affordably priced options. If it can be profitable to sell a 2br apt somewhere else in California at around $1,000, then why can't it in the Bay Area? It's simply that the rich who own all of the land/apt know that whatever outrageous prices they set will eventually find someone willing to pay them; there is no incentive to lower prices. In my area we have several places that are rent and income controlled. It is still not ideal as renting still takes over half of someone's income. But it is, at the very least, manageable if you have a roommate. This way, there are always options available for everyone, regardless of income. And owners are still able to make a nice profit. In fact, they seek out to buy uncontrolled properties and turn them into rent controlled ones because you spend less on bells and whistles and just provide the apt to the renter. Whereas the "luxury" apartments have to provide a gym, pool, community club house, laundry rooms, etc etc in order to justify the higher price point. When some friends of mine were looking for a place to rent, they were interested in one apartment but unfortunately made just over the income limit. The owner told them that they had just bought the complex across the road and it was the next income bracket up. If I remember correctly there are incentives in place here by the gov for owners to provide rent controlled properties.

I moved from the bay area 1 Month ago after growing up there and I’m living life now 🇺🇸

The bulk of this is pure greed and no laws to stop ppl from raising rents simply because they can and they don’t care who they throw out on the streets. GREEDINESS!

Imagine living in a mining town but nobody living there can work in the mine....a fishing town where none of the residents are qualified to fish. This is the problem in the bay area. Nobody can work in the tech industry that actually was raised here. Oracle just moved their big conference to Vegas because of hotel prices and bad street conditions in SF. Businesses are leaving as well. I can't wait for the bay area to self destruct because of the greed of the cities and landlords. You don't need more housing for the people here. You should have never moved these tech people here in the first place. Then allowed the companies to pay little or no taxes to contribute to the communities that they are affecting. If you work in any non tech job in the bay, you are basically paying taxes to a city to put you on the street. Trust me, none of the money you pay for taxes goes to help a gas station attendant, fast food worker, or retail employee find housing or programs to get them in housing. Democrats need this crisis to continue so they can look like good guys and continue to collect money for programs that do nothing for homeless.

Not so different in Seattle Wa. I bought my golf course home in in 2010 and now I could not qualify for my home even though my income has doubled in 8 years. I have moved out with my boyfriend and now rent my home for twice the mortgage.

Decades ago, when I used to work in San Francisco, my Manager lived in Fairfield, where he could afford a house for his family with five children. He left the house early in the morning, then went to North Berkeley BART station to pick up carpool riders. That way he was able to drive onto the carpool lane, then drop off the riders near the Transbay Terminal, in San Francisco. That saved him some driving time.

3:36 That's not an exposed ceiling. That's a deliberate design choice made by the original architect. This ceiling beam look is actually very much in style today, especially in converted factory building lofts.

Yeah in Mountain View now they have built many new multi level apartment buildings.... BUT those new units start at $4000 / month for a dinky one bedroom. It's financial aparthide. Ever since Google announced it was hiring 23,000 new employees in MV, the greedy landlords started jacking up the rents. 3 yrs ago a one bedroom apt went for $1200/mo. Now it's $2800-$3200 At this point my wife and I are living in our van. I wish I could escape from this insane environment. Wish is that my wife and I can leave this Looney bin and find some decent people and a much more peaceful existence

Sad you can get a 6 bedrom mansion in The Woodlands Tx for the cost of a crap home in SF

I got my house in Solano area and at the right time after the last big housing crash. I think it was about 2012. It's not huge. About 1100sq feet. 3 bedroom, 2 bath for $155,000. I've done work on it but prices have shot way back up once again. My commute is about 15 minutes!!! My mortgage is around $1100 a month. Property taxes is a couple grand a month. I just refused to overpay for a house. I lived in q mobile home for years because of that. It was a single wide. Not very large at all, but I owned it and lot space rent was not to bad. That is a way to go. S.F. Doesn't want to build any housing. Many other city's are like that also. So it is supply and demand.

The " HAVES" could give a ratsass about "the HAVE NOTS"...I'M DISGUSTED BY THE GREED OF PROPERTY OWNERS AND CITY MANAGERS THAT LET THIS HAPPWN! What is worse is there are ways to alleviate some of the homelessness....i.e. TinyHones or Secured Tent Cities....maybe not ideal but why must these people have to live like this?!? SHAME ON THOSE WHO SAY," NOT IN MY BACKYARD"...

I live here- time to go, $1M for pieces of crap houses.

3BR house for $6200 a month...now 8 people living in a 1BR apartment. That’s just sad, and wrong.

Just wondering about what are the problems facing homeowners who bought decades ago.

I own 4 homes in the Bay Area. 1 in SF. My house in Central Ca sold within 30 minutes of listing for $20k above asking. And that’s why homes are so high. People too desperate to buy and when a home sells for a lot surrounding homes increase in price.

London is worse, in London we have millions of people that don't work and live for free in London UK (social housing), while working people on good salaries have to live 1 hour train (40-50 miles+) commute out of London. I know a contractor on £900 per day that lives down south and flies in to london when needed because it is cheaper and quicker than trains and cars. Could never take a car in London, not only is there traffic lol, there is charges for just driving in, then there is no parking and I mean zero parking, so everyone has to catch the train, pretty much 90% of professional people in London UK catch the train and live outside of London. I am talking top lawyers and bankers commuting on trains.

Gee, commuting three hours per work day?? What kind of life is that?? Τίποτα!! Nothing!! PS: Palo Alto is beautiful, but I couldn’t afford to live there. I own my lovely home near Sacramento, bought 4 yrs ago, for $178K, now worth $300K, I’m retired, I’m thankful to the good Lord for blessing me

$6,200 a month for a shit hole in East Paly Alto?!? Helll Naaawwwww.....