How do software developers afford Cape Town rental

[Pakka]

WTF?

My bond is a thousand less for a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom stand alone house with a garage just down the road in Vredekloof. .

Vredekloof, now that's where I'd like to live. Looks like a lovely neighborhood to raise kids in

 

[SauRoNZA]

Vredekloof, now that's where I'd like to live. Looks like a lovely neighborhood to raise kids in

Not bad at all, I just made the mistake of buying a house with a single garage and no space for a dishwasher.

Solving either requires a huge over investment.

 

[StrontiumDog]

Not bad at all, I just made the mistake of buying a house with a single garage and no space for a dishwasher.

Solving either requires a huge over investment.

Was it a rushed purchase? If it helps, you get counter-top dishwashers...

 

[SauRoNZA]

Was it a rushed purchase? If it helps, you get counter-top dishwashers...

No not at all, just an affordability purchase. Also my first house so was willing to compromise.

Now five years later my needs are/have changed.



I've seen those but it's not quite to my liking.



Its just a case of one thing causing a knock on effect to another. If I want to renovate the kitchen I would also move the front door which adds a whole different construction.



I can add a double garage but that alone doesn't make sense unless you extend the entire house and score two more rooms but that costs money again.



So it's just a matter of balancing it out.

 

[StrontiumDog]

Nothing wrong with buying based on current needs. It lasted you five years which is long enough, so now just find a suitable bigger place.

 

[Willie Trombone]

We've imported two of our devs - well one dev and one tester - from Cape Town. We have devs from CT, Durbs, Joeys and PE (in East London). Salaries aren't that good in larger centers. At least many aren't. At least here, cost of living is lower.

 

[ajv]

We've imported two of our devs - well one dev and one tester - from Cape Town. We have devs from CT, Durbs, Joeys and PE (in East London). Salaries aren't that good in larger centers. At least many aren't. At least here, cost of living is lower.

Where is here ?

 

[Willie Trombone]

We've imported two of our devs - well one dev and one tester - from Cape Town. We have devs from CT, Durbs, Joeys and PE (in East London). Salaries aren't that good in larger centers. At least many aren't. At least here, cost of living is lower.

.

 

[StrontiumDog]

.

Well sounds good for guys starting out and wanting to get experience. If they can save the same or more than they would in larger centres then why not I guess

 

[cguy]

Well sounds good for guys starting out and wanting to get experience. If they can save the same or more than they would in larger centres then why not I guess

I prefer to give the opposite advice - live where it's most expensive (rather, where the salaries are highest - usually, but not always the same place) even if you save next to nothing. This tends to push up your income. Then after a few years, you have the option to move someplace cheaper at a much higher salary and with your savings effectively amplified..

 

[CamiKaze]

I prefer to give the opposite advice - live where it's most expensive (rather, where the salaries are highest - usually, but not always the same place) even if you save next to nothing. This tends to push up your income. Then after a few years, you have the option to move someplace cheaper at a much higher salary and with your savings effectively amplified..

Stupid advice.

 

[Willie Trombone]

Well sounds good for guys starting out and wanting to get experience. If they can save the same or more than they would in larger centres then why not I guess

Our guys mostly like not having to spend up to 2 hours a day commuting.

 

[Willie Trombone]

I prefer to give the opposite advice - live where it's most expensive (rather, where the salaries are highest - usually, but not always the same place) even if you save next to nothing. This tends to push up your income. Then after a few years, you have the option to move someplace cheaper at a much higher salary and with your savings effectively amplified..

No need to do that, just put more money into savings every month and spend less. You don't need higher expenses to do that and you get the money back.

 

[cguy]

Stupid advice.

I expect you didn't understand. Why do you think it's stupid?

Edit: rereading my comment, I meant to say: "even if you save next to nothing initially".

 

[cguy]

No need to do that, just put more money into savings every month and spend less. You don't need higher expenses to do that and you get the money back.

Yes, but you don't grow wealth at the same rate, which limits your ability to move out of cheaper areas.

 

[cguy]

Just to clarify the specific scenario I am talking about: Say you work for your first 10 years of your life in East London and your gross salary from start to finish averages say, 240k/y finishing at R360k/y. Let's say you save 30% of your gross on average. This means that over 10 years you have R720k saved. Alternatively, you could have worked 10 years in Johannesburg, at an average of say, 480k/y finishing off at R720k/y, because the pay there is much higher. Lets say you save 25% on average. This works out to R1.2m of savings, which may be a little less than the alternative in terms of purchasing power in Johannesburg, however, at this point, you get to make a choice: if you like Jhb, stay, otherwise you can go to East London where R1.2m is worth a lot more, and salary inertia could put you at R720k/y (+/- R100k). Similarly, you could move to Cape Town (or wherever) at a higher salary (although R1.2m in savings wouldn't necessarily buy you much more than Jhb ).

The same thing works on a global scale - work in London, New York, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Paris, etc. If you manage to make even a middle class income there, you are wealthy relative to the rest of the world, should you choose to live or retire there. The reverse is that you may be in the top 90% of East London earners, and after 30 years, you can't afford a decent house in Cape Town, or even the deposit for a decent house in San Francisco.

 

[Willie Trombone]

Johannesburg is not 5% more expensive than east London, quite sure about that... And it's cheaper than Cape Town. Transport is the real killer.

 

[cguy]

Johannesburg is not 5% more expensive than east London, quite sure about that... And it's cheaper than Cape Town. Transport is the real killer.

Well, I'm not using real numbers - I also never said it was 5% more expensive.

 

[CamiKaze]

I prefer to give the opposite advice - live where it's most expensive (rather, where the salaries are highest - usually, but not always the same place) even if you save next to nothing. This tends to push up your income. Then after a few years, you have the option to move someplace cheaper at a much higher salary and with your savings effectively amplified..

How does it push up your income?

I expect you didn't understand. Why do you think it's stupid?

Edit: rereading my comment, I meant to say: "even if you save next to nothing initially".

I believe in living cheap and cutting down on expenses to save the leftover. Or saving a specific amount and living off the rest of your money for the rest of the month.

I don't see how it's possible to save when you are living In a place that murders your salary.

I don't know how all of this tends to push up your income as mentioned in your previous statement.

 

[cguy]

How does it push up your income?

I believe in living cheap and cutting down on expenses to save the leftover. Or saving a specific amount and living off the rest of your money for the rest of the month.

I don't see how it's possible to save when you are living In a place that murders your salary.

I don't know how all of this tends to push up your income as mentioned in your previous statement.

This is something orthogonal to living cheap and cutting down on expenses to save: Essentially, if you do as you say, but in a place where you're paid more you save more in absolute terms. Places that pay more are usually places that have a higher cost of living, which is what pushes up your income. The key observation is that over time, there is little difference between the percentage you can save in one place vs. another, yet the absolute amount is higher. The second point I made is that if/when you move to a cheaper area it is often possible to keep your salary or take just a negligible hit (or even an increase if you're lucky), which often puts you way above those that have lived in the cheaper area for an extended period of time.