[Coronita]

[quote=deadzone]Not in San Diego they aren’t making 180K fresh out of college. This isn’t the Bay Area.[/quote]

It really depends. If you work for a local san diego company, chances are your compensation is based on old san diego compensation packages (minus qualcomm and intuit) If, however, you work for one of then Bay Area hq’d companies, your compensation tends to be higher than average in SD. Well at least until we have more people in san diego who end working remotely for those companies outside of san diego who pay a lot higher than the local san diego companies. And then either san diego companies will have to do something to prevent hemorrhaging of talent or have to ship those jobs overseas if they can’t afford to pay more.

And if you’re like me, and work for a company that was started in CA and acquired by a company hq’d in Florida, you end up in a situation where you’re paid more than your VP you now work for..and it’s generally not a good sign if at your meeting for your next year’s compensation, your new boss starts the conversation off say something to the effect (paraphrased) “well, let me just start off by saying that currently our company pays you more than me…” which probably means there’s limited upside for me, short of my boss falling over dead….(I felt like saying something witty like “well, maybe I’m just really good at negotiating my compensation packages”…but then, upon reflection, thought that would be a career limiting move…. ) Nevertheless, if I find a comparable position to my liking, offering more, remote work friendly, I’m outta here too. Show me the money.

Meanwhile, I’m having a lot of trouble hiring talent. I suddenly went from have 0 headcount to needing to hire 2 mid-level IOS engineers, 1 mid level android engineer, and 2 entry support engineers that was suppose to have been filled by mid-May. Aint gonna happen. Why? My company, based in Florida, is cheap. And they are totally out of touch with reality still expect that they can attract great mobile talent in florida by paying them shitty florida wages, and their selling point is, well here in florida we don’t have state income taxes…….

True…no state income taxes. BUT….You see, engineers, particular software engineers are one of the biggest beneficiaries of the post-pandemic economy…..Because while pre-covid, there were only a few companies that allowed sw engineers to work remotely… Now, post-pandemic, if you’re a company that depends on a software engineers or SDET’s or SRE’s, you have no choice. You have to let people work remotely or you will be at a huge competitive disadvantage versus everyone else that is allowing people to work remotely…And once you open the doors up to allowing for remote work, people (the really talented people) aren’t dumb. They know that there is at least one company from CA or Bay Area that will offer to pay *almost* bay area salaries (maybe 4-6% less, anything more would be an insult), even if you work remote from say florida. So for example, in another department we lost a few SDET’s in Florida, because while our cheap ass company in Florida was only willing to pay mid-level SDET’s say $70k, a bay area company offered those guys a $130-140k to work remotely from florida for at least 2 years, with the option to relocate to Bay Area if they want…For bay area standards, that might be on the low side. From florida standards, that’s absurd….So it’s a win win for the SDET guys.. If i were in their shoes, I would have quit and joined the bay area company too. Bay area company gets someone good for slightly cheaper (not really that much cheaper), and florida person gets to make close to Bay Area salary while in Florida…That’s what every tech company in these “low cost” areas now have to compete against, if not now, eventually.

San Diego is no longer consider low cost area to employ. I don’t have a single engineer that makes less than $150k base. I have one fresh out of college bachelor’s degree person starting as a “support engineer”, which technically isn’t a fully software engineer. Had to offer her just shy of $100k…For a support engineer position. Why? She had similar offers from Bay Area companies with pretty deep pockets that were allowing her to work remotely…But here’s the kicker….I gave her the option to work either in San Diego or Florida.She decided she wanted to try florida out, so for someone fresh out of school with $100k in florida, she can afford a house in 1-2 years with a bachelor’s degree versus if she comes her, she maybe can afford to buy a SFH if she saves and invests wisely in 10-15 years…. When she finally develops into as a full blown software engineer via internal training, I’m going to have to pay her a lot more. Otherwise, she can easily just bolt to anyone else that wants to hire her. Actually, who knows, maybe in 6-8 months, I’ll be somewhere else and need people like her, and I’ll poach her from my current company along with everyone else on my current team, offering them CA salaries but remote work from florida. And observe how my current company can build a new world class mobile engineering department to replace all the engineers I eventually poach…. on a Florida budget. HA!

If you’re an experienced software engineer or a SRE, and you’re good, there’s really no reason you should ever take a “cost of living” downward adjustment for a remote job even if you live in a “lower cost area”… If a company suggests that, they are just being cheap. Companies can either spend $X or not. If they can spend $X but trying to give you $Y because you live in a lower cost area, they are being cheap. If a Bay Area company was expecting to spend $200k total comp remote or local for a engineer, and finds you from san diego, and thinks and offers you $150k instead, that company is being cheap. You should be insulted, and if you accept either you’re desperate because you got laidoff and need a job or you did a pretty shitty job negotiating your comp package.

[Coronita]

[quote=an]$130k? That’s probably regular software engineer salary. 5-10 years of experience and you’re looking at base of $150k-ish. Added in RSU, ESPP, cash/stock bonus, etc. and you’re probably looking at $160-190k. So, if you have two of them making similar, you’re now at $320-380k/year. Can probably afford $1.5-2M.[/quote]

Closer to $250k total comp per person.

[Coronita]

And one of the few tech stocks i still have…looks like as predicted, starting to do serious damage to Intels data center business. Ha ha.

https://finance.yahoo.com/m/224fd3a1-3956-3a0b-ae41-d3e0a2f9c92a/intel%E2%80%99s-data-center-customers.html

Intel.is sort of in a pickle…For our servers, weve all switched over to AMD epyc.

For home desktop, those of us running PCs are all using either AMD Threadrippers or the 12 or 16 core consumer ryzen, 3900 3950, and some are upgrading to the latest 5900 5950 when available.

and for apple specific development, the M1 is pretty quick.

intel not being used.

[Coronita]

[quote=gzz]
flu: Visa and MC and amex make their money on interchange fees, which are higher in the USA than other developed nations. Will they stay that way forever?

[/quote]

https://finance.yahoo.com/m/86e32efe-ad5c-3dfd-8c6c-f203336aa737/visa-earnings-beat-as-key.html

[Coronita]

[quote=svelte][quote=scaredyclassic]I have a question.
With trading fees zero, why buy a mutual fund?[/quote]

I guess that depends on whether you want to actively manage your mix of stocks. People who like to hold just a few companies will probably manage the trades on their own. That seems risky to me.

It seems safer to have my $$ spread over a wide range of stocks and have someone who has the time to watch that mix daily for patterns emerging in the market. I don’t have that kind of time. I check in on my accounts every couple of months. That leaves me exposed to major turns in the market.

Besides, most of my money is in my 401K. I can’t buy individual stocks there that I know of.[/quote]

Some 401k plans dont give you a self directed option. There’s a couple of actively managed funds i just like to keep around just in case, things like Fidelity Contrafund that comes in many 401ks.

Regarding index funds versus etf…I do bi+monthly contributions to index funds or sorts…while there are etf equivalents, one thing I found useful is not being able to sell right away and having some sort of penalty for frequently trading (ie being restricted to buy new shares X days from selling) has been good discipline for me on passive side of my portfolio. Having similar ETFs elsewhere, Im finding its much more tempting for me to try to time the markets in those accounts, and do more trading in and out off positions, which probably is a fruitless effort in the long term, at least for me.

Ive moved out of individual tech stocks, except 3. One, IBM, i simply bought for the dividend a few months ago. I dont expect a lot of hoopla on it, which is the point. About 2 months ago, i moved into visa and mastercard and some banks that were beaten down..because i figure given how much stimulus money is being thrown at people, people are going to end up spending $4 on credit for every $1 of stimulus they got, being good American consumers as they are, paying 19% APR, which probably will go higher on the not so far future…That, and costco will always be costco.

[Coronita]

I dont know but im pretty happy im getting a couple from LA that decided spending near $5000/month to live in a small condo in LA isnt as great to spending the same about by renting my place and getting double the square footage and easy access to a great school district. Wanted to sign a longer term lease too. Nice younger couple with excellent credit, low debt, but not quite ready to buy i think.

I do think there is some flifht from CA. Probably people on fixed income or retirees who arent working. But seems like we are picking up a lot of high net worth working people eho decoded theyd rather be here than NYC or LA or SF.

One of my colleagues went to the bay area to work as a staff engineer for one of them big public company. They gave him a comp package well above $300k. He’s considering moving back and working remotely. If he did, he could live like a king. He never sold his house and its paid off.

So i think this is great news for the local economy…its bad news for folks like flyer who wont be wealthy alone much longer and be able to rub their noses at others thinking they are better. Lots of people with a lot more money built from noteworthy accomplishments, not from mommy and daddy’s silver spoon.

[Coronita]

I think some of you folks with money should spend less time blogging about how much money you have to overcome whatever insecurity issues you might have wrto your peers (who may/may not have more money than you)… and spend more time spending it and actually enjoying it versus attempting to fish for self validation on an internet blog that you are financially better off than some people…financilly better off, maybe. Happier, most likely not..aimless, pointless, vacuous, meaningless life, to have no purpose of said wealth…taken to the grave…

[Coronita]

I don’t need to squeeze every penny out of people at the expense of convenience. I value my time more so than money because frankly I have enough money to enjoy my life as is these days.

[Coronita]

In the past, the tenant pool for 92130 seemed to be really painful. People who were tenant prospects in past years seemed to be really picky, and demanding, at least from what I experienced.

There was one person who asked for a jacuzzi to be installed, another thst asked me to change the carpet upstairs (it wasnt that beat up). One that wanted to replace cabinets after I already replaced the counter.

And of course there is always a “Karen of UCSD” of Karens that always starts out with “hi, my daughters(or sons) got into UCSD and we wanted to rent your house so we dont need to drive as much from Orange County….”

(Basically, 90+% of the time, it’s a housing agency that will rent out your house pretending to be a USCD parent, but then end up subletting each of yourbedrooms to incoming UCSD students from overseas for $1800/month per room, without telling you….every single time..)

And if you do find a tenant, they wont stay that long since they will try to buy in 92130.

This year, though it seems different….This year, i guess because of how ridiculous home prices have gotten, I got interest from some who have to move becsuse the landlord decided to sell. So a lot of homes seem to be falling out of the rental pool. Also, it seems like a lot of people can now work remotely indefinitely and many seem like they want to be in San Diego. Some of them are trying to buy a home but due to supply constraints, they cant. So now they too want to rent… And then there are professionals who live in more expensive SF and LA or OC, that now can permanently work remotely, would rather rent a 4-5 bedroom home in San Diego with a nice public school district and pay almost the same amount as they were in SF/LA/OC with half the number of rooms and sq footage and lesser performing public schools, who ask about the possibility of a long term lease…People who have more than enough income, 800+ credit scores and $200k+ household incomes.

Those are the keepers.

Seems like much lower rental inventory, much better quality of tenants this year…and about $700/month higher rent price for me than last year. Otherwise i would have seriously considered selling…

92126, on the other hand has always been a better rental market. Purely from an economoc standpoint, i would be better off financially if I sell my 92130 sfh and buy 3-5 more 92126 condos.. it would cashflow better.

But then again, while selling wouldnt be an issue, finding 3-5 good condos in 92126 would be an issue. So i took the easy way out and leased it to the nice financially well qualified people who hopefully will stay for while. Also, i close on my cash out refinance this week. So im on the market to pick up #5 and maybe#6. Heh heh. But no really, im just small potatos compared to you Esco….I wish i started earlier in real estate. For me its kinda fun…not as fun as working on cars..but almost.

But this year, it felt good to be able to say to 92130 Mr Jacuzziman and 92130 USCD Karen ….”Good luck with your 92130 rental search….”

Im excited by my new tenants. I like them…Even though i probably didnt have to, im throwing in central AC into house that really doesnt need it, at my cost.

[Coronita]

[quote=Hobie]Old man did set aside $30k cash tied to house as he was thinking the kids would make it a rental. ( suggests, maybe, the kids don’t have enough cashflow )

No rental savvy. Also, not huge interest in becoming landlords. Good point re sibling issues. Including emotional attachment to home they grew up in. So many Chiefs..

I was fixated on not loosing the tax base. But these people issues do outweigh the financial side.

I think the only 2 realistic options is for one the them to buy out the others or just sell it outright.[/quote]

I’ve had so many stories about once the spouse is involved things get really dicey. So that definitely is a factor also. Anytime there’s a split asset, it’s tricky unless the siblings are the primary financial decision maker in the household. Other things to consider is when a house gets rented and split 3 ways, maintenance costs also should be split 3 ways. Are all 3 prepared for that, and are 3 spouses ok with that, especially if all 3 are not in the same economic standing wrto each other (one house is a 80k/year household versus another is a 300k/year household)…Because if unforeseen expenses come up, are all 3 households able to evenly split the cost of upkeep? It’s trickier than say splitting a IRA/401k/Roth up, because there’s no ongoing upkeep costs with maintaining those assets.
For instance, I love my sis, and we share very similar financial backgrounds (though she’s definitely a bigger spender than me). But my brother in law, which I totally like, is simply in a different planet when it comes to money. Granted he’s in sales and makes a shitload of more money than me, his burnrate is also much higher. Not sure how that would work out if we had to share an investment property. So when it comes to that, it’s probably better we split things in whole and sell what we can’t split or one side buys the other side out if the other side wants to keep.

I won’t even talk about the possibility of one sibling or spouse of a sibling backstabbing the other sibling’s household, which I’ve seen happen too.

[Coronita]

Tough to say, it really depends on the situation…

It sounds like your friend wants out. If that’s the case, the thing he can probably consider is selling his interest to the other two siblings.If the other two siblings want it they can pay him based on some agreed upon appraised value… If they other two don’t have liquid cash, they can do a refinance to get cash out and deal with the mortgage.

Factors personally I would consider is

1. How well to the siblings get along, when it comes to money things? Red flag is their money habits and outlook are different

2. Are the siblings the decision makers in financial things in their respective household? Siblings might otherwise get along, but sometimes when a spouse is also involved, things get sticky…

3. Is there one particular sibling that wants to live there?

4. Is there one particular sibling that is interested in managing the rental? Or all 3 not really rental “savy”?

I wouldn’t count on Prop 13 being around indefinitely for rental properties imho.

Not sure what me and my sibling will do when our parents pass. We keep telling my parents to spend every dollar they worked hard for since we want none of it. I think we both kinda share the same viewpoint that it’s not the final amount that really matters, it’s the journey we take to getting there. But you know some parents will save every penny and live very frugally. If they don’t manage to spend everything before they pass, i think for convenience we probably will split things between what’s in NorCal versus SoCal, since it’s fairly even in terms of value. NorCal probably has a worth advantage, but don’t really care. I’m done saving for my kid’s major expenses including college and she has years to go for both of hers even though I’m younger… HA!

[Coronita]

[quote=gzz]I went with this $221 mattress. Will it support my massive 60M net girth? Wish me luck.

It is not a fun shopping experience.

Every single best selling mattress on Amazon is highly rated overall but has a few “It stinks and is lumpy and broke my back” reviews.

How to choose?[/quote]

Actually, i think this a “let me try…oops I don’t like it… Oh well, we will refund you the money don’t send it back” amazon purchase….

[Coronita]

You guys are looking at this all wrong. My senior IOS engineer in Florida did the most awesome.

The moment he started working from home since lockdown, he went out with his wife and bought a GulfStream Conquest Class C motorhome with a Starlink satellite beta test account… He works out of his GulfStream and occasionally sleeps in the driveway with it.

Total Prepper awesomeness.

[Coronita]

[quote=gzz]>I was like WTF?

Good rule for life: never hurts to ask.[/quote]

Maybe, but at the same time, questions like these are make think

“gee, just how needy and pain in the azz can you be for a rental?”

Given the choice between an extra $100-200/month or a smaller pain in the ass factor, I’d pick the latter.

[Coronita]

[quote=an][quote=scaredyclassic][quote=sdrealtor]After all these years and now we are finally “going to the mattresses”[/quote]

i wonder if there’s a market for a bulletproof mattress. kind of a home safety item, with gun vault. press a button, presto, barricade against home intruders. maybe a little gun turret.[/quote]

That is so awesome! I can totally see myself getting one because I’m a prepper…

I’d like to build my own end of the world bomb shelter.

Meanwhile, I guess I’ll just have to prep for drive by shootings and anti-asian terrorist attacks..

Our Two Cents: Range Rover Runs Over Bikers in NYC

[Author]

Posts