I mean, I’m not actually a realtor, but here’s a home for you:

https://www.padmapper.com/apartments/35506914/3-bedroom-2-ba...

My search space was Mountain View, so expand and you’ll find more. Point is there are plenty of options, you just have to look for them.

And, to be fair, I only searched PadMapper, which is an apartment rental website, so my results weren’t even focused on SFH.

> https://www.padmapper.com/apartments/35506914/3-bedroom-2-ba....

Doesn't have AC. Looks like a pretty depressing home - tbh. HDR'd to hell but a brick yard and a BYO washer/dryer that's literally underneath the sun and skies isn't exactly where I'd like to put my expensive appliances.

You can check Craigslist and you won't have much better results. Adding AC | Air Conditioning to your search criteria makes it narrow. Go figure - homes with it are in high demand. God forbid they say, "Air conditioning" but really mean just central air and there's no actual air conditioning. Went to more than one showing that advertised that falsity. :(

Either way, this is beyond the point. Spending over 50% of your net income on rent alone isn't a great move. Which is what you'd be doing at $115k net income.

Many people ignore more meta aspects than numbers:

Seriously, I went to a top-3-in-the-world engineering school...seriously dont I deserve something better than a shack?

Secondly, half the 40+ workers in tech I know are washed out and cant get hired, likely due to age discrimination. Tech is a lighter version of Football -- you better make the money in your 20s and 30s, because you need to live on that cash for the rest of your life. So I cant just blow ALL my post-tax income on rent, I need to save it for the post-40 slump.

Thirdly, you are constantly on the treadmill learning the new new technology. Its an uphill battle constantly for those high paying jobs.

I think your standards may be too high. That looks like a gorgeous home to me.

To be fair, I will agree with you that most places in the Bay Area don't seem to have A/C, but that's also because it's not generally needed here except for a couple weeks a year. You could do what we did in NYC all the time: window A/C's.

That is kind of depressing. My wife would swear I was joking if I told her that we could rent a house for $3,000 more than our mortgage that was less than half size and looks like something built in the 70s.

And people on HN wonder why software engineers living in other major cities in the US have no interest in going to the west coast.

Nobody wonders why. The Bay Area is clearly more expensive than anywhere else other than NYC. Nobody has ever argued that that isn't true. The salaries are also significantly higher, to compensate.

What is being argued here is whether you can live comfortably on a six figure net salary (after taxes).

That housing is expensive in the bay area does suck, no doubt, and is super annoying. But it's far worse for non-engineers. Engineers are fine, and frankly, are the ones who are driving the prices up, by virtue of being capable of and willing to pay more, as companies continue to increase compensation.

Are the salaries “significantly enough higher” that someone moving to the Bay Area could buy a 3000 square foot 5 bed/3-1/2 bath house with a large office, as soon as they move there?

The average software as a service CRUD journeymen developer could do that in many non west coast cities could do that with an FHA loan with less than $15K down with 3-5 with a salary they can make with around 5 years experience. If they are part of a married dual income couple they would be quite comfortable.

They look like they were built in the 70s because they were. That generation decided there were enough houses and promptly banned building any new ones - so we've still got the same ones.

For some reason most of them have the original gross beige carpet too.

OTOH, they do - frequently. If you can bank half your take home which is totally doable you get to move out and buy whatever home you like nearly wherever you like and retire.

Or if you are married dual income earner you can get a job anywhere else, not have to spend $5000 a month rent just to live in a small 35 year old house, live off one income and save the other.....

It’s 90 degrees plus 4 months of the year in many parts of the Bay Area, such as San Jose. So yes, you need air conditioning.

I grew up in San Jose. It's more like 2-3 weeks out of the year where air conditioning 'would be nice'

Me too. You’re right that it’s 90+ a few weeks cumulatively. Although the data is a little old.

Last year there were at least 2 weeks of 100+ degrees at my house. It’s a personal preference, over 80 I need ac. I’m sure some people like heat more. There are ~80 days a year it’s over 80 degrees.

Source: https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/California/Places/san...

Also point out the high doesn't last that long usually. Not like Phoenix where it'll be 90 degrees at 1am and you have trouble sleeping. When I lived in San Jose in August and September I'd just open the windows at night and close them in the morning. Usually the house would stay bearable though the afternoon and early evening.

I remember May and June weather as 'nice'. August and early September as 'hot'. And then October through early December as 'nice'.

If you really want AC, couldn't you buy an air conditioner? You're eliminating most places in the Bay Area with an unusual requirement like that.

I know people living in $2 million+ homes in SF without AC...

AC is completely unnecessary in most parts of SF.

San Francisco is not Silicon Valley. There is a substantial temperature difference between Mountain View and San Francisco.