How would you make it? (San Diego, Oxnard: transplants, apartment, rent)

[halloweensince78]

I mean seriously how would you make it in California making $10 bucks an hour & minimum wage being $8 an hour & the average house being $200,000 & way way over! & that's ghetto prices, to live in a good neighborhood is $400,000 & over....How do people survive in that state i just wouldn't put myself in that predicament to always be behind, i can understand if you're rich or close, but not an average American....I live in Arizona & i can get a lovely home with a pool & 4 bedrooms for $200,000 maybe less or a gated apartment for $400 a month & in San Diego, LA & SF you can't find a decent place for $1,000 a month..I Just want to know what's so grand about paying that much to live in California?..Not being smart or an A$$ but just wondering!

[MattClyde]

people don't buy $200,000 homes making minimum wage.

[Hemlock140]

People making minimum wage live with their parents or have several roommates sharing the rent on a run down apartment. Much the same as here in the Seattle area, with similar prices but at least we have no state income tax.

On minimum wage you'd have a hard time qualifying to buy any house, even if you could find one for $60,000.

[clongirl]

Originally Posted by halloweensince78

I mean seriously how would you make it in California making $10 bucks an hour & minimum wage being $8 an hour & the average house being $200,000 & way way over! & that's ghetto prices, to live in a good neighborhood is $400,000 & over....How do people survive in that state i just wouldn't put myself in that predicament to always be behind, i can understand if you're rich or close, but not an average American....I live in Arizona & i can get a lovely home with a pool & 4 bedrooms for $200,000 maybe less or a gated apartment for $400 a month & in San Diego, LA & SF you can't find a decent place for $1,000 a month..I Just want to know what's so grand about paying that much to live in California?..Not being smart or an A$$ but just wondering!

Well, the house down the road from me just sold in 2 days for over a million. The people that bought it are both University professors and don't make 10$ an hour. They are also in their 40's...not in their early 20's flipping burgers. It's not really a "predicament" for a lot of people here.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by bisjoe

People making minimum wage live with their parents or have several roommates sharing the rent on a run down apartment. Much the same as here in the Seattle area, with similar prices but at least we have no state income tax.

On minimum wage you'd have a hard time qualifying to buy any house, even if you could find one for $60,000.

I agree with you: the min wage is not meant to be a wage that can support a person or family. Most working for min wage are part timers, kids with summer jobs or 2 in a family. Even then you don't buy a house on min wage. Unfortunately not everyone can afford to buy and it is a priviledge not a right.

Nita

[Bulldogdad]

Give up the Internet service your paying for to post this thread. That ought to help you out. Shall I continue with all the other crap people have that make minimum wage and then complain they don't have enough money to live on?

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Originally Posted by halloweensince78

I mean seriously how would you make it in California making $10 bucks an hour & minimum wage being $8 an hour & the average house being $200,000 & way way over! & that's ghetto prices, to live in a good neighborhood is $400,000 & over....How do people survive in that state i just wouldn't put myself in that predicament to always be behind, i can understand if you're rich or close, but not an average American....I live in Arizona & i can get a lovely home with a pool & 4 bedrooms for $200,000 maybe less or a gated apartment for $400 a month & in San Diego, LA & SF you can't find a decent place for $1,000 a month..I Just want to know what's so grand about paying that much to live in California?..Not being smart or an A$$ but just wondering!

Your 6th post and you are coming to the California forum to figure out how we make it. Interesting.

Sure it is a lot more expensive then lets say the Phoenix area. I know in Surprise AZ I could buy a nice home for around $75,000 right now. My home in Oxnard CA that we bought in December cost me $310,000.

How did I do that on minumum wage? Lets see, I either had all 6 kids working minumum wage jobs including my wife, or it is possible that I make way more than that as does my wife. She brings in $36,000 a year and works part time. I work full time and pull in more than double what she does. we did want to move to the Phoenix area when I joined this forum. I had a lot of questions about that area. We visit quite a bit to see family members.

So you may ask, why would we remain in sunny California, on the coast, with our mild climate where we do not use Air Conditioning and my electric bill hovers around $30 a month and not move to one of those lower priced homes in Surprise?

1. We could not find a job to replace the jobs that we have now.

2. Like Arizona home prices have declined to an affordable amount. For example our home sold in 2005 for $580,000 and by the top of the market in 2007 was in the high $600 to low $700K range.

3. We love working at the hospital that we have worked at for years and the only reason we had considered leaving was the cost of homes back in 2007.

4. We have spent our entire life here in this city and love living near the ocean. I see the Pacific every day of the year, maybe not from my house but still can see it every day.

5. Our utilities are cheap as we don't have to pay to cool the place, hardly have to pay to warm the place.

6. Commute time for us anyway is about 15 minutes from our home to work. (we both work at the same place.) If I had moved to the Phoenix area I more than likely would have been paying for lots of gas to get to work and time in the car.

[mstnghu2]

Originally Posted by halloweensince78

I mean seriously how would you make it in California making $10 bucks an hour & minimum wage being $8 an hour & the average house being $200,000 & way way over! & that's ghetto prices, to live in a good neighborhood is $400,000 & over....How do people survive in that state i just wouldn't put myself in that predicament to always be behind, i can understand if you're rich or close, but not an average American....I live in Arizona & i can get a lovely home with a pool & 4 bedrooms for $200,000 maybe less or a gated apartment for $400 a month & in San Diego, LA & SF you can't find a decent place for $1,000 a month..I Just want to know what's so grand about paying that much to live in California?..Not being smart or an A$$ but just wondering!

As others said, people living on minimum wage aren't the ones buying these houses. You also have to understand that there are still many people who have owned their home for a long time, since before prices became so astronomical. "Regular" people used to be able to afford homes here. My parents have lived in the same house since 1976 and only still have a house payment because they've refinanced a couple of times. Their house payment is just $600/month!

It's also not expensive everywhere in CA. There are many cheaper places to live, but they typically are areas where there aren't a lot of jobs.

You also need to realize that many of us live here because that's where our lives are. I grew up in the Bay Area. Almost all of my friends and family are still here. For transplants who move here and have sticker shock, I'm sure it's much easier to just pack up and leave. There are still many of us here though who have lived here their whole lives and are attached to the area for many different reasons. My wife and I have decent jobs here as well. Without good jobs lined up and a family/friend support network, it would be hard to just move away to a cheaper area. Right now, it works for us. At some point, when my wife and I are ready to purchase a home again, we will probably be leaving the Bay Area...but not CA.

[halloweensince78]

Originally Posted by bulldogdad

Give up the Internet service your paying for to post this thread. That ought to help you out. Shall I continue with all the other crap people have that make minimum wage and then complain they don't have enough money to live on?

I Don't want nor plan on moving to Cal so theirs no that will help me out & very little have internet & all the crap you mention because it is hard to survive these days $7 an hour is for a single person or kids working because it is not made for an average household working their A$$! off for $700 & something a **** month!

[MIKEETC]

Originally Posted by halloweensince78

I mean seriously how would you make it in California making $10 bucks an hour & minimum wage being $8 an hour & the average house being $200,000 & way way over! & that's ghetto prices, to live in a good neighborhood is $400,000 & over....How do people survive in that state i just wouldn't put myself in that predicament to always be behind, i can understand if you're rich or close, but not an average American....I live in Arizona & i can get a lovely home with a pool & 4 bedrooms for $200,000 maybe less or a gated apartment for $400 a month & in San Diego, LA & SF you can't find a decent place for $1,000 a month..I Just want to know what's so grand about paying that much to live in California?..Not being smart or an A$$ but just wondering!

You don't. Instead, one should have realistic expectations.

[or move to Arizona]