This former Googler is tired of the crazy Bay Area housing prices
Adam Singer is tired of San Francisco.
The former Google market chief says that after living in the Bay area for over a decade, he had received enough of the astronomical housing prices and the city made no progress to improve living conditions.
In a tweet storm last Wednesday, Singer aired his hang-ups with San Francisco announcing that after a trip to Austin, he and his wife (and their rescue dog, Dash the Dingo ) would move to the Texas capital, which is increasingly known for its hot startup scene as much as for bar-b-que.
"So the suburbs of Austin are beautiful. The houses are really affordable. Easy walk to town. Good food and music scene nearby. What's the catch," Singer tweeted. "For the same price of your SF rental, you can basically afford as many houses as you want here. Crazy."
Singer says he recently purchased plots in Austin and will work with a local design center for the construction of the home.
Read more: 1[ads1]1 facts about San Francisco's housing market that will make you happy to live elsewhere
With house prices in the San Francisco Bay area continuing to record highs, many, such as Singer, questions whether it is worth living in the region at all. A recent survey found that 44% of Bay Area residents said they are likely to leave in the next few years. High house prices were the main reason why residents felt the pressure to move.
Another report from Compass real estate company found how expensive it can be to buy a home in the San Francisco Bay Area. Including mortgage payments, taxes and insurance, owning a home median price in the Bay area runs around $ 8,500 per month. And to afford that kind of monthly expenses, a person would have to earn more than $ 340,000 a year, the report states.
The former Googler told Business Insider in an interview this week that after two years of house watch over the Bay area, it became too frustrating to see what type of home they could actually afford.
"I don't pay two million dollars to live in some [baby] boomer's startup next to a strip mall," Singer said, referring to certain houses he saw in South San Francisco, near San Jose.
In Austin, Singer says he was able to find "beautiful" homes for under half a million dollars.
A "NIMBY" state
The former Googler places much of the blame for San Francisco's housing prices on city officials who he says will not increase the number of condos and apartments in the area. Other cities, such as Austin and Seattle, says Singer, have been able to prevent housing prices from reaching pristine prices because they have been willing to evolve.
"People think supply and demand economics don't exist as soon as you enter the Bay Area," Singer said. "There's nothing here."
Singer also points the finger at longtime San Francisco residents who bought their homes years before prices soared. The owners are cashing in on demand from tenants, says Singer, and thus have little incentive to go in for the city to increase the supply of homes.
"For the people who already own here, I think they don't give anything—" Singer said. "They have theirs. Whether they want to admit it or not, this is a NIMBY state. What they want to achieve – they want to squeeze out the middle of San Francisco." (NIMBY is an acronym for "Not in My Garden," often used to describe resistance to development in a particular area. ")
On top of the extravagant housing costs, the Bay Area faces major problems such as how to best support its homeless population and provides adequate transportation options for residents, Singer says, and he also sees much of what initially appealed to him about San Francisco – like local cafes and eateries – being displaced trendy restaurants with "$ 500 prix fixe menus." [19659012] Good weather and FOMO
So why do some San Franciscans still choose to stick around?
In addition to the weather, Singer says he thinks some people, especially technicians, stay in the Bay Area because of FOMO, or The fear of missing out on the idea, he says, is that if you're not in San Francisco, you won't have the chance to work for top tech companies like Uber or Pin terest or Google.
That may be true for those who n at the start of his career, said Singer, who now works as digital marketing manager at biotech company Invitae. But for someone who has worked in a company for at least a couple of years and has proven to be a "linchpin" to their teams, Singer says it is unlikely that a company will let that person work remotely.
"The unwritten rule of a given mega-corps is that if you are a talented individual contributor, they will let you work wherever you want," Singer said. "It's not posted on your site. They won't admit it to you ever. But I've never seen it not right in any big company."
When it comes to reaction to his Austin move, Singer tells us that none of his friends or family were too shocked.
"The biggest reaction is: & # 39; Why did you stay in San Francisco so long? & # 39; from all my non-San Francisco friends," Singer said. "None of my friends in San Francisco or the Bay Area were surprised. They're like & # 39; It's perfectly reasonable to leave. & # 39; No one is fighting to keep me here."
