Affordable places to live in Ca. (Los Angeles, Long Beach: condos, cheap home, schools)

[hello47]

Hello, can you please suggest some nice affordable towns in Ca. near the ocean for a family to live?

Iam on the East Coast and just trying to get ideas of other areas. So far all the cities in Ca. I have found seem very expensive and I'm not really sure where to begin looking. I appreciate any ideas and suggestions. Is there any nice areas with homes around $350k ?

Thanks

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by hello47

Hello, can you please suggest some nice affordable towns in Ca. near the ocean for a family to live?

Iam on the East Coast and just trying to get ideas of other areas. So far all the cities in Ca. I have found seem very expensive and I'm not really sure where to begin looking. I appreciate any ideas and suggestions. Is there any nice areas with homes around $350k ?

Thanks

ROFL, no. Well, maybe up along the far northern coast where there's no economy other than pot farming in the forest.

$350k is a small condo (if you're lucky) in any populated area anywhere near the ocean. The cheapest population centers in California are in places like Fresno, Sacramento, Redding, etc. All central valley. All hot, hot, hot.

Affordable means different things to different people. If you tell us what you'd feel comfortable spending on housing each month, that'll help people narrow it down a bit.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by hello47

Hello, can you please suggest some nice affordable towns in Ca. near the ocean for a family to live?

Iam on the East Coast and just trying to get ideas of other areas. So far all the cities in Ca. I have found seem very expensive and I'm not really sure where to begin looking. I appreciate any ideas and suggestions. Is there any nice areas with homes around $350k ?

Thanks

What line of work are you in?
Where might you expect to work?

[califantastic]

You could try Imperial Beach.

[TheDragonslayer]

Not all of far northern is pot growing countrye especially along the coast where it is too cool to grow pot. There are at least 50,000 people in the Humboldt bay area. The towns are from largest on down; Eureka at 28,000. Arcata at 17,000 plus, McKinleyville at 15,000 plus, Fortuna in the 8,000 range, Ferndale, Loleta, Rio Dell, Manila, Samoa, Trinidad, Blue Lake, Fieldbrook, Bayside, Freshwater, Cutten, Myrtletown and a number of tiny towns. Eureka, Arcata, McKinleyville and Fortuna are the four city centers with malls and shopping centers. There is an airport with flights to Portland, San Fransisco and Los Angeles in McKinleyville. Humboldt State University is in Arcata, College of the Redwoods is in Fortuna and there is a hospital in Arcata, one in Fortuna and two in Eureka. Humboldt Bay is right on the coast with most towns having coastal access, including driving on the beach. The schools are ok in Eureka, but are great in Arcata and McKinleyville. Right now a fairly new home in McKinleyville ( your average 3 bed, 2 bath on a descent lot with a 2 car garage ) runs from about $290,000 to $350,000. Our home prices and rents are low here, gas is high at a current median of $3.20 for regular. The good thing is everything is closeby and there is little traffic. I moved here from the bay area in 1992 after I lost nine garden jobs in the Oakland/Berkeley hills fire of 91. It was like moving back 20 years in time. Farming/ranching is still over 40% of the lifestyle here and most of the towns have farms either on their borders or even right in town. And before anyone says it, it is not always raining or foggy here, it can be much like Half moon bay or Pacifica at times and even as warm as Santa Cruz during the summer and early fall. It is really quite beautiful up here and if that is what one is looking for, one will make sacrifices. Google our area and then think about a visit and do not make Eureka your focus, it will dissappoint you; instead check out the Victorian village of Ferndale that was featured in the movie " Majestic ". the quaint seaside village of Trinidad, the bustling college town of Arcata and the rapidly growing rural urban enviorenment of McKinleyville. Go off the beaten track and explore all of our state, local and national parks. It is a large county with only close to 130,000 people. Two years ago the median home price was near $400,000 and it has fallen to under $300,000 recently, seven years ago it was $120,000 and at that time we bought our 3 bed, 3 bath on almost 1/2 an acre for $112,000.

[Havasu]

Santa Barbara!! Thats my vote, Wait you said affordable didnt you? Count that place out. I dont think there is a affordable place on the coast of Ca. Maybe Oxnard..
Big Maybe though. Not safe though. Neither is Santa Barbara. Go inland and look around.

[Woof]

Dragonslayer appears to be right, I just checked and there are some properties in that price range.

Generally speaking it IS a bit chillier and more humid there than other parts of California, you're not going to be able to take casual dips in the ocean unless you really like shivering, and it's usually a good idea to have a light jacket with you. Trinidad is prettiest but you're unlikely to find a cheap home there.

[EscapeCalifornia]

So what's the economy like up there? Affordability means more than just a low housing price. A $300k house is still unaffordable if you can't make more than $40k/yr.

[Woof]

The "economy" doesn't matter as much as individual jobs available, which would depend on Hello's occupation.

[Sorcerer68]

Long Beach is the cheapest place on the California coast. There are a couple little historic districts, one to the west and one to the east of Downtown that have very, very reasonable houses. Cheapest LB fixer (it's small) is 199k, I just checked. You can also get nice condos in historic bldgs for cheap. You can walk to the ocean too.