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Ask HN: Are there "Hacker Houses" in the Bay Area that aren't trying to rob me?

9 points by stellarmagnet ↗ HN
Is there such thing as a "Hacker House" in the Bay Area that isn't trying to rob me?

It seems like the few places I have seen on AirBnB (Hacker House; Chez JJ) charge over $1000 to share a room with 4+ people..... which is just ridiculous.

I guess what I am looking for more is a place where people are there on a monthly basis as opposed to a place for entrepreneur "travelers".

Having more of a house/office feel and less of a feel as if it's some "incubator" (risesf.com?), there is a kitchen (with stove, refrigerator and cupboard space), there is a workspace where everyone living there has room to work, good WiFi connection, no need really for a couch or TV, and there is place to store your clothing.

Is this too much to ask for? Sharing a room with 2 other people (3 people per room) and paying $700 a month each?

That's what I'm looking for. Does such a Hacker-Utopia exist? Or maybe it's more like a Hacker-Commune? If so who do I call or how do I find these fellow comrades... In some ways it is a Catch 22, because perhaps these comrades do exist, and we decide to create our own house -- but very likely we would be unable to secure a house since I am assuming most of us wouldn't have full-time paying jobs on paper and are probably freelancers... which doesn't jive well with most landlords in comparison to the competition.

10 comments

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ada1981
We might be converting a 4 bedroom in San Jose if you are I retested.
stellarmagnet
This seems interesting, I would definitely like more information. Although I want to first explore the option of trying to find something closer to San Francisco, or maybe in Oakland, Palo Alto, Menlo.

When would you begin converting? I'm a female by the way, and more of a product/design wantrepreneur type.

bpiche
http://chezjj.com/

I stayed there for about a week last year during a round of interviews in the area. The host is very experienced in the hacker hostel tradition, and it's a great deal. In fact, while I was staying there, they got front page here on HN!

stellarmagnet
I do not believe you read my post...
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s_baby
These people have horrible bunkbeds. Creaky pieces of shit from Ikea. Every small motion is felt by your neighbor.

That's not to say there weren't positive qualities as well.

tommaxwell
Don't think there's anything that fits these requirements right now. I've stayed at ChezJJ, StartupHouse, AND Rise and I agree, the price does seem sort of ridiculous. I think these houses believe they can charge such high prices for the potential collisions and connections gained from others in the house, but I think it's BS.
hackingdreams
Honestly, I don't think it does. Until some of this new housing actually finishes, I don't think it's realistic to think prices will come down anywhere. And while you think those places are exploitative with their pricing, when you realize what their mortgages are, it's easy to understand why they're so damned expensive.

Average is about $1600 to rent a 1x1 in Mountain View right now alone, $800 if you split it with someone (probably the cheapest in the region you mentioned in your other post.)

stellarmagnet
I guess I'm not exactly looking for some person that runs the place, more like the roommates though thus there wouldn't be administrative costs. And I said 3 people living per room, that's like 2100 per room.... thus if you had a two bedroom with a large living room/dining room for workspace, thats $4200 a month, which doesn't seem THAT outrageous...

And since it's 3 people per room there probably don't need to be bunks.

ameister14
I have been looking for the same thing, and I don't think it exists at the moment unless you live with your startup founders.