Could I do California? (Sacramento, Oakland: to buy, school, living in)

[waxwolf]

Originally Posted by Charles

Where did you come up with the $400K housing budget?

Everything comes after the stuff in bold.

Do you know anything about starting a business? Especially in a high demand region like the desirable, warm coastal areas of California? (You could probably start a dental business a lot easier in North Dakota, Alaska, or Mississippi.)
Do you have the necessary capital?
What about student loans and business loans and buying a home?

Shh shh don't worry about it. It's an estimate. I used average income for dentists in the area, took 80% of that, and then came up with a budget for food, utilities, phone, internet, vacation, etc. 400 is the absolute max I think I'd be able to afford (hence asking for a place with houses below that number). I'd much rather spend around 300K.. well.. 300 for a home and 300 for a practice. I'm not saying it will be easy, but I've spoken to a couple specialty loaners and they stressed that dentists have a much easier time getting loans due to their extremely low default rate (around 1%). My student loans are nothing to laugh at, but I am going to a state school, and I plan to pay them off over a long period so I can focus on what I assume will be my larger home and business loans. And we're not having kids. Also it's not like I expect to buy a practice right away. I want to work as an associate for at least a couple years first, which will give me a more accurate feel for the area and help me save some start up capital.
If you want to give me some advice, feel free, but your barrage of questions was a bit condescending.
Also, North Dakota, Alaska, and Mississippi might have the potential to make me millions, but that's not worth it to me. I'd rather live on a more modest budget in a town I'll actually enjoy.

[waxwolf]

Originally Posted by sll3454

I don't know which part of California is best for you, or whether New England is better, but I do know this:

Cross North Carolina off the list. I spent many years in California (Pasadena area) before moving to NC, and the heat in California is nothing compared to NC. NC heat stays all night, too, so no nighttime relief from June through August. GF would do more than raise her eyebrows here; she may lay down and die. (Hopefully we'll be on our way to the NW before another summer arrives, or I might too.)

Nooooooo!!!!
Noted! Thanks! I should add that life of girlfriend is in fact at the tippy top of my list. Maybe my friends in Raleigh are downplaying the heat. Good luck getting out.

[.highnlite]

My mother grew up in North Carolina and Georgia, after about age 60 she would not go back there in the summer for any reason, funerals or weddings, nuthin. The heat and Humidity of the deep south in the summer cannot be described.
You can walk out side in a crisp ironed shirt and in ten minutes it is a limp rag and you are wishing for a shower.

I took my son back south one summer to tour the Civil War Battlefields. We did most of our viewing from inside the air conditioned car, it was exhausting to hike even a mile.

[katnip kid]

Originally Posted by .highnlite

My mother grew up in North Carolina and Georgia, after about age 60 she would not go back there in the summer for any reason, funerals or weddings, nuthin. The heat and Humidity of the deep south in the summer cannot be described.
You can walk out side in a crisp ironed shirt and in ten minutes it is a limp rag and you are wishing for a shower.

I took my son back south one summer to tour the Civil War Battlefields. We did most of our viewing from inside the air conditioned car, it was exhausting to hike even a mile.

Absolutely true. We went to Raliegh, NC for a month in the summer. There was a heat wave. Miserable was not the word. We went back home to CT, where they were having a heat wave. HA! We thought it was cool weather. Yep, miserable summers in NC. The humidity is awful.

[sll3454]

Have you considered Colorado? I have never lived there, but from what I've heard it's worth looking into. Lots of sun, winters not too bad, summers hot but not very long. Here's a Sacramento-Denver climate comparison:
Climatology Comparison for Connellys Springs, NC (28612) - weather.com
(Ignore the Connellys Springs thing - I don't know how to change the title of the link.)

[Capt. Dan]

Originally Posted by waxwolf

Nooooooo!!!!
Noted! Thanks! I should add that life of girlfriend is in fact at the tippy top of my list. Maybe my friends in Raleigh are downplaying the heat. Good luck getting out.

Hi Doc. Google "San Luis Obispo County" and see if anything strikes your fancy. $400,000 probably wont get you a house right in town but it very well may out in the county. They have a vibrant,community active and well educated gay and lesbian community there too. Good luck Doc. Now open up and say ahhhh!

[katnip kid]

Hmmmm....if we recommend a place and you like it, do we get reduced cost or maybe even a FREE dental visit?

[pjg66]

Originally Posted by .highnlite

My mother grew up in North Carolina and Georgia, after about age 60 she would not go back there in the summer for any reason, funerals or weddings, nuthin. The heat and Humidity of the deep south in the summer cannot be described.
You can walk out side in a crisp ironed shirt and in ten minutes it is a limp rag and you are wishing for a shower.

I took my son back south one summer to tour the Civil War Battlefields. We did most of our viewing from inside the air conditioned car, it was exhausting to hike even a mile.

All this "ain't it awful" moaning and groaning about the heat and humidity makes me chuckle. Really, it's not that big a deal.

After spending my childhood in the West (Montana and Washington state), I lived most of my adult life in the mid-Atlantic region of the East and now live in the Deep South. So maybe I'm just used to having a few months of heat and humidity.

Like most other folks around here, I don't pay much attention to it. And it is certainly not anything that would keep me from living somewhere where I otherwise wanted to live.

[sll3454]

Originally Posted by pjg66

All this "ain't it awful" moaning and groaning about the heat and humidity makes me chuckle. Really, it's not that big a deal.

After spending my childhood in the West (Montana and Washington state), I lived most of my adult life in the mid-Atlantic region of the East and now live in the Deep South. So maybe I'm just used to having a few months of heat and humidity.

Like most other folks around here, I don't pay much attention to it. And it is certainly not anything that would keep me from living somewhere where I otherwise wanted to live.

"It's not a big deal," is what I thought until I'd lived here a while. You're just tougher than me, or you stay indoors a lot. There are plenty of discussions (arguments) about this on the NC (and probably any other Southern state) forum if you'd like to contribute. OP says they like hiking. GF wilts at 80. So we're thinking about what would be good for this couple.

[.highnlite]

Originally Posted by ferretkona

I lived in Monterey for a few years. Foggy, damp and rainy. Average temp was 68. One week near Labor day it was a heatwave at 85.

Good working weather..