In the San Francisco Bay Area, renting is considerably cheaper than buying at current home prices and interest rates. For example, I just moved into a two-bedroom apartment in San Ramon, roughly a 45 minute drive northeast of Silicon Valley without traffic, for $2720/mo in rent. By comparison, a Zillow search shows two-bedroom condos in San Ramon ranging from $559,000 to $875,000. With a 20% down payment of $111,800 on the $559,000 place, assuming excellent credit and an interest rate of 6.03%, the monthly bill for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, including taxes, insurance, and HOA dues, is estimated to be $4,077/mo, where there is a $651/mo HOA fee. It’s a big leap going from $2720/mo to $4077/mo, and this is for the absolute cheapest condo in town.
I’d love to own my own place, but it’s extremely expensive in the San Francisco Bay Area. Personally the best I could hope for is commuting from an exurb like Tracy or Fairfield. However, while rents are very high here in the Bay Area, they are still considerably lower than mortgages for similar homes.
I’d love to own my own place, but it’s extremely expensive in the San Francisco Bay Area. Personally the best I could hope for is commuting from an exurb like Tracy or Fairfield. However, while rents are very high here in the Bay Area, they are still considerably lower than mortgages for similar homes.