Google Employees Secretly Living On Campus

XvMMvX said:
There are other cities booming (Houston, TX) and there is plenty of affordable housing in non-ghetto areas.
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There's really no better place to work than SV career-wise, so it isn't a simple question of wanting to live in the area. You're certainly not living in SV for the culture or local attractions.
 
I can believe it...I live in the bay area and was lucky enough to buy a townhouse in 2010 when the market was at the lowest.

Unless you live in the shittiest of areas (example East Palo Alto), you are looking $500k for a 1000 square foot townhouse + taxes + HOA fees. To even be considered as a purchaser you are going to need 20% down payment which means you need $100k in cash to even put the offer.

Renting isn't much better. A good apartment, in a decent area, is going to cost you at least $2k/mo for only 800 square feet...
 
msde said:
You're certainly not living in SV for the culture or local attractions.
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I don't know, depends on what you're in to. If you're one to eat out, you'd have a hard time finding a better range of choices anywhere else. There's an amusement park if you dig that, in the winter you're a 3 hour drive from snow activities, 3 hours from Yosemite, coastal activities, beaches, forests, only Hawaii has more climate types in a shorter area. Museums, aquariums, plenty of things you can do.
 
pavementeater said:
Put the bath salts down , step away for the computer and get you head out of your ass.
This has nothing to do with being ran by a specific political party .
This is all about an extremely growth / injection of population, extreme greed and letting things get away out of hand to quickly. The local governments were sleeping on the job or just not caring about what was going on until it because to late.
It would not make a single difference which political party ran the local and state government be it far left ,center, or right... Dem , Republican , Libertarian or Green this shit would have happen not matter who was running the show out here.
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Hasn't CA always been like this? I thought that was the main reason they froze property taxes at the price you paid for a home. Otherwise, you could be priced out of your own house simply because it appreciated in value.

It's definitely cheaper to live in houston, but Houston's weather is generally hot and muggy from June through September. Austin is another hot bed, but like houston it's hot (albeit less muggy). Dallas is more of the same.

Of course the good CA weather = no water, so not all is good out west. ;)
 
sfsuphysics said:
So same part of state as Detroit is in mortgage is cheaper than rent... ok.

I will say one thing about home ownership in California, is that those of us who didn't buy when the price was high, is that if we want to move to just about anywhere else in the country we can... and it would be a major upgrade... with money left over. Hell I could probably buy a whole city block in Detroit... but then I'd have to live in Detroit :D
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"South East Michigan" is code for not Detroit City. Detroit City has almost nothing in common with the rest of the south eastern corner of the state. The contrast is quite stark on many levels.
 
Epic| said:
Smart move if it fits your lifestyle. People, including Steve apparently, underestimate/don't realize the power of living frugal even with a healthy income. If you can put away an extra $1500/mo for 5 years that's a cool 100k extra in your coffers. $1500/mo is probably a low estimate, too.
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$1500 is a bit high where I am for just rent, but once you add in other costs, utility, ins, etc, I would save that much easy, and that's in south Texas. So if I could save that much in south Texas, I would not be shocked in more expensive areas being able to stuff away an extra 2-3k a month.
 
XvMMvX said:
High taxes, higher regulations, restricting building expansion with gov regulation, more cost associated with employing people, etc etc etc. Yes the government is a MAJOR contributor to the problem out there. Google probably supported the politicians but now doesn't want to pay their employees enough to live in the area they work.

There are other cities booming (Houston, TX) and there is plenty of affordable housing in non-ghetto areas.
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Google pays their employees plenty enough to live in decent housing. They also provide buses for those that commute in from a long distance away (which is an awesome benefit by the way).
 
Haha. I used to work in retail in the area. A ton of Google employees are Indian and they we'll known to be notoriously cheap. I am not surprised by this at all.
 
Staples said:
Haha. I used to work in retail in the area. A ton of Google employees are Indian and they we'll known to be notoriously cheap. I am not surprised by this at all.
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Yes that is correct, that's what came to my mind really in the first place about employees living in el goog campus, yes its the same thing here in the middle east but sad reality is that I know SF really has some serious issues with their housing and real estate prices. But hey in these economic ties where inflation is so serious its like ISIS haunting us slowly and slowly, life hacks such as these can really work out! I gotta say live smart, spend smarter!
 
Staples said:
Haha. I used to work in retail in the area. A ton of Google employees are Indian and they we'll known to be notoriously cheap. I am not surprised by this at all.
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Notoriously cheap because they actually may be saving their money with a goal in mind? Sounds like you're upset that the majority of them are more successful than you :rolleyes:
 
It comes down to state income taxes, $115k a year sounds good until you factor in federal and state taxes, then since landlords pay those taxes too, they increase rental prices, which in turn affects real estate prices.
 
Grahamkracka said:
Google pays their employees plenty enough to live in decent housing. They also provide buses for those that commute in from a long distance away (which is an awesome benefit by the way).
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Correction, Google pays its engineers well. I happen to know that a sales job at their HQ pays about 45k a year to start.
 
This is why I live in Austin and not the bay area... Screw California. You can make over 100k in texas where land is virtually unlimited. It's funny when recruiters try to convince you to move to the bay area though. Oh wow you'll give me 15% more pay for 100% more cost? What a DEAL! Not only our house prices absurd but state income tax is high, gas is high, groceries and utilities. Once again.. Screw you, California!

Now if only traffic didn't suck here, but oh well. Most tech companies let you commute around traffic so I just come in early, leave early. Before I had kids in school I did in late and leave late.

Also just to note, entry salaries at any of these companies aren't that great. Sure 70k or whatever google is paying sounds like a lot but only if you live with a bunch of roommates and drive a pos car, etc.
 
m heisty said:
Correction, Google pays its engineers well. I happen to know that a sales job at their HQ pays about 45k a year to start.
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Although some in sales probably has a more frugal nature of life, they realize they don't need to live within walking distance of work, they understand trains run up and down the peninsula, and there are Google buses that pick up people at many major subway (BART) stations at bus stops, they might also not have delusions of grandeur that making $45k a year makes it affordable to live by yourself in this area and might split rent with another person elsewhere.

So who cares about the $2k/month 1 bedroom apartment within walking distance of GoogleHQ. They can get a much larger apartment elsewhere, and split the cost for less, and simply spend an hour (or more) commuting to work. Not everyone can be picky about the jobs they have.
 
I noticed both employee's mentioned cost of living in the Bay area, they are right it is ridiculous to try and live here, before we left our apartment, they were looking for $3k for a two bedroom one bath 850 square foot apartment.

Only reason I can live in a fabricated home, in the same general area, is due to my grandmother leaving me some money, and even those are going for $200k or more (we were lucky, the housing market was just starting to recover when we had to find a place, got ours for just under half of that)...Otherwise, we would be sleeping/living in our cars as well, which wouldn't be fun with a couple of cats, and a few tropical fish.
 
m heisty said:
Correction, Google pays its engineers well. I happen to know that a sales job at their HQ pays about 45k a year to start.
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I make just under that, and I couldn't afford the apartment we had, show me an apartment with at least 800 square feet in a low crime area, that is going for under $2k, within the city. You will be lucky to find anything like that within a ten mile radius of the outskirts of Santa Clara County.
 
I actually thought about doing something like that with a little trailer home:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFvTmemGL4E

But then I realized I live in Texas and I can get a huge house for $180K if I live out in the boons, and get a mortgage with an insanely low interest rate. So I did that. ;)
 
Last june i did some work in san francisco, it was my first trip to california and i liked it so much that i spent my evenings looking at places to rent and it was pretty comparable to where I live Grand Rapids Michigan. Am i going to get an ocean view for $800 a month? no. but there are some plenty expensive areas here in grand rapids too.

For example a 100+ year old home that would sell for around $80,000 in most parts of GR goes for about $250,000 in east grand rapids. Id imagine San Francisco with its potential shoreline views would crush that, but my point is -- its not that expensive if you commute 15-20 minutes like everyone else.

For the record, i think living in a camper for 2-3 years and saving $1000-1200 a month is pretty brilliant.
 
buttons said:
For the record, i think living in a camper for 2-3 years and saving $1000-1200 a month is pretty brilliant.
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If you're a guy.

Most women have just figured out that they can move in with a boyfriend who pays all the bills. Easy-mode in life. :D
 
Looks like ill have to retract my statement. i just looked again and im not seeing anything decent within 15-20 minutes of san francisco for a fair price. I swear i did last june, but maybe i was looking at santa cruz or something.
 
nilepez said:
Hasn't CA always been like this? I thought that was the main reason they froze property taxes at the price you paid for a home. Otherwise, you could be priced out of your own house simply because it appreciated in value.

It's definitely cheaper to live in houston, but Houston's weather is generally hot and muggy from June through September. Austin is another hot bed, but like houston it's hot (albeit less muggy). Dallas is more of the same.

Of course the good CA weather = no water, so not all is good out west. ;)
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yes and no depending on the city and the local laws; it all depends on the property tax for the city that winds up the $$$$ issues... in SF they have a messy law where if you inherit your place or lived in it from X time to current then your property tax does go up by much per year unless they amend the annual increase by new laws.. but the main property tax increases will not reflex the current property revaluation or current property values, say you bought the place in 1930 and it cost you $30k and you have lived in this place until now and over time the property value has gone up and it's now worth 2 million < this happens and is true> unless you make certain remodeling changes you are being asked to only pay the value of your own at say 1970s rates you kids who inherit the house are slightly grandfathered into a low prop tax rate ... this is to protect lower and middle class families and retired elderly people.
I'm not sure if that was what you were asking or referring too. If now then ignore my nonsense LOL .
Bay area has a lot going on for it... The Ocean , Mountains < 4 hours away> , lots of National and regional Parks and forests , tons of places to bass fish , Hog / deer hunting is excellent , Micro climates , and tons of Micro Breweries . So it's a place that's hard to move away from once you're here.
Sorry no time to proof read ...
 
sfsuphysics said:
Restricting building expansion? Have you seen the Bay Area from San Francisco to Silicon Valley? It's a peninsula, there's no place to expand. Compared to Houston which is over 600 square miles and it can still go outward, San Francisco is 13 times smaller, and there's a lot less property per housing unit too. I live in San Francisco, I don't want to see more housing, there's no place to park as it is, traffic is horrible in the city when all those workers leave the city to go to work, and the amount of open space is laughable at best. There are people who want to see a NYC type of city come out where things go vertical, I most certainly do not want to see that.


A lot of this is due to rent control laws, I'm not sure how the rules are in Oakland, but renters actually have more power than home owners in the city. If you rent to someone with low prices, you'll basically but stuck at those low prices and you're not allowed to move people out when their lease is up in order to get higher priced tenants, you have to give the tenant the right to renew their lease for the year and the inflation index dictates how much you can raise rent.
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Have you sat down and read the rent control laws for SF ... The laws are a mess and yess and they need to be changed and amended due to the laws having so many loop holes in them. they also side more with the land owner and management than the renters...
Here's a butchered down version of the laws... Units under rent controls can have their rent increased annually or at the end of every lease agreement, controlled units can see an increase of up to 5% of the rental units last lease amount. these are ones units made before 1976.Now if a tenant moves out the owner and management team can increase the amount for the new tenant to a sum of what every they dream of charging them....
For units made after 1976 with more than 3 units in the building and depending on the type of building they are then under rent control the rent increase for rent is the same ...Now if you own a small 3 unit building decide to move into or have a relative more into one of the units and they do not pay you rent for it then that building become a 2 unit rental and its no longer under SF rent control.... most units after 2001 no sure the exact year loose rent control . So if a person moved to any new non city ran building that was say built in 2010 that build has no rent control and rental prices can go up as much as the management and land owner wants... So rent control units are an can be profitable. There are not a lot of pre 1976 renter out there what have been in the same place for 38 + years in SF .
There's nothing wrong with rent control but it has to be done wisely and in SF the laws are not very well thought out but they surely do not hamper building owners down as much as people are complaining about.
That's my twisted 2 cent view ... and I am not proof reading this so yea it's a messy ass post :p :D
 
okashira said:
Low? Lol. A google engineer living at work, eating at work, would be able to put away $10,000 a month without even trying.
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"Extra".. as in over and above what they could save anyways. I was only referring to what could be saved on rent, not their entire salary. Obviously $1500/no overall is a pretty weak amount for any first worlder to be saving ;)

Just a guess but you may find a small apartment for that money and of course the sky is the limit there.
 
Not too different here in Ohio, most places I tried to rent were more expensive then something nicer I could buy, its just getting financing to buy.
 
SGA76 said:
Not too different here in Ohio, most places I tried to rent were more expensive then something nicer I could buy, its just getting financing to buy.
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HAHAHAHAHA. Don't even compare the housing situation in Silicon Valley vs Ohio. Not even close. Plus, the costs of rent AND ownership are astronomical in SV for what amounts to a tiny closet.
 
Grahamkracka said:
HAHAHAHAHA. Don't even compare the housing situation in Silicon Valley vs Ohio. Not even close. Plus, the costs of rent AND ownership are astronomical in SV for what amounts to a tiny closet.
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Wages aren't as high in Ohio as Cali either, here you have a mass of people making about $10 an hour struggling to pay $600 a month in rent or if they have the credit they could buy at about $250 a month. Its lower down the scale, but I'm pretty sure wherever you go anymore rent is probably around twice or more of the purchase price, its meant to prey on those with lower credit scores.
 
can't under estimate the power of a stress free life due to no worries of what is owed.

I can't blame the people one bit. Love to do that and not have a house payment.
 
Grahamkracka said:
HAHAHAHAHA. Don't even compare the housing situation in Silicon Valley vs Ohio. Not even close. Plus, the costs of rent AND ownership are astronomical in SV for what amounts to a tiny closet.
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No kidding. My sister just bought a nice house in Hudson, Ohio (4000 sq ft.) for $350,000. I could buy that without a mortgage.
 
There are other cities booming (Houston, TX) and there is plenty of affordable housing in non-ghetto areas.
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Too bad Houston is a total fucking shit stain of a city. I'd rather live in a camper at Google.
 
Dawill said:
This is why I live in Austin and not the bay area... Screw California. You can make over 100k in texas where land is virtually unlimited. It's funny when recruiters try to convince you to move to the bay area though. Oh wow you'll give me 15% more pay for 100% more cost? What a DEAL! Not only our house prices absurd but state income tax is high, gas is high, groceries and utilities. Once again.. Screw you, California!

Now if only traffic didn't suck here, but oh well. Most tech companies let you commute around traffic so I just come in early, leave early. Before I had kids in school I did in late and leave late.

Also just to note, entry salaries at any of these companies aren't that great. Sure 70k or whatever google is paying sounds like a lot but only if you live with a bunch of roommates and drive a pos car, etc.
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You get the same flexible schedule in the valley. I agree with you on real estate (even though Austin is pretty expensive by TX standards), but I'm not sure about some of your assertions (and don't feel like researching it). Gasoline is definitely more, but most months you wouldn't have to run your heat/AC much, if at all. Drive 3 hours (give or take) from Austin and you're in where? Houston, Dallas/FT Worth San Antonio? Nothing wrong with those places (I've lived in most of them), but it's not Monterrey, yosemite, the Redwood Forest, Sequoia National Park and countless other breathtaking areas within 3 hours (give or take) of the Valley.

There are advantages to both places, but if you can make enough to live decently in the Valley, it's nicer there. Highs average somewhere between 60's in January to 82 in July. TX is generally hot and humid from sometime in May through September. I guess Austin is a bit wetter, though last time I was there the lakes were drying up and I've heard it's worse now (so perhaps it's a wash).

Nevertheless, I like Austin...but not in the Summer ;)
 
Staples said:
Haha. I used to work in retail in the area. A ton of Google employees are Indian and they we'll known to be notoriously cheap. I am not surprised by this at all.
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Samething came to my mind too. Probably stinking up the bathrooms too.
 
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