Wow, really? I haven't posted anything for four years?

Well I'm just so peeved now I have to write it out to the world! I am now back in the SF Bay area, and I am super happy about it. I really am. Now, when I lived here back in 2002, for over seven years, it was very expensive. Back then, we had a very small one bedroom flat in upper Haight for $1850/month. Now, we're in the South Bay, right in the heart of Silicon Valley. Down the street is Apple and LinkedIn. A little to the north is Google. Dinosaurs like Yahoo! and HP are right down the road. We even have Stanford and Facebook only a short distance away. When we moved back to the area in mid-2011, we knew the prices would be steep. We found a pretty crappy (but large) two bedroom apartment for $2100. Still affordable for our Bay Area salaries. Now, only two years later, I can't believe my eyes. I am always on the lookout on Craigslist for a good rental and I have seen prices rise every month. This ad on Craigslist is but one of many examples - $4355 / 3br - 1406ft² - Beautiful Townhome at the best location!

Now, it really is a good location. We have great schools here and it's right next to a Trader Joe's, Chipotle and Starbuck's. I mean, you can walk from your apartment door and be there in about two minutes or less. I have personally looked at this complex in person two years ago and thought a 2BR/2BA at $2700 was over the top, but really liked this place.

But, $4300 for a "townhouse?" Quotation marks are there because they call this a townhouse because it is a two level apartment. yes, APARTMENT! For $4300. A look at their website shows a 2BR/2BA is about $3500. Yes, $3500!!!

Not only is $3500 too high for a 3 bedroom apartment, but they have added $1000 for a bedroom and a bathroom!!

Not to mention, the price has gone up $1000 in two years.

Just who are the people living in this place? Like I said, our combined salary is pretty darn good, and we can afford about $3000/month without hurting at all. So, what's up here?

I'm just mad! It's unconscionable! So unconscionable that it forced me to blog!

I think I'll be back to post again soon about this. Have to marinate on this a bit...