Relocating to Central Ca? (San Diego, San Francisco: real estate, crime, mortgage)

[sassyaztec]

Hi all-

DH and I have started conversations about relocating BACK to CA. never thought I would even consider it, but we now have two kiddos and all of our family is in the LA area, where we are both from. Went to school in San Diego and lived there a while after graduating.

We currently live in the burbs of Indianapolis in Fishers. We LOVE it here; cost of living, seasons, friendly people, great size city, close to lots of major cities, lots to do, major airport, etc. My husband is a PE teacher, currently certified in CA and IN and looking to add Health to it, willing to teach middle and high school. He is currently looking for a teaching gig here and we are planning to move to another house in the general indy area in the next year or so anyway. I stay home right now, but planning on going back part time once both kids are in school-- in 4 years.

soooo... we did the big "what if". What if we could find a place in CA or approx. 10 hrs. drive time to LA, that would be similar to what we have here AND be close to family. I know real estate is ridiculous compared to here (we paid 130K for a 3 bed. 2200 sqft house in a nice area, great schools) , but we would be willing to pay more for a house. My main concern is standard of living once we get there. If we could, I would be willing to leave Indy. But otherwise, it's not worth it to me.

We are checking out central and northern California, n/w Nevada and Seattle area (we have some extended family there). So in a perfect world, Sacramento would have a burb that would work, or Reno or Flagstaff even. I am totally ignorant of anything other than So. Cal. and it's been 8 years since we've even lived in CA.

So the big question. Does this place exist?

TIA!

[Charles]

What is your housing price range?

[DMenscha]

Calaveras County. 7 hours to LA 90 minutes to Sac and believe it or not we even have schools here

[Havasu]

Do a search on Turlock,Ca Small and somewhat affordable.

[sassyaztec]

Originally Posted by Charles

What is your housing price range?

We were thinking 250K, but my in-laws may be willing to help us significantly, since it would be a move closer to them. They were talking about helping us here anyway, so we just need to have "the talk" and see what numbers we are looking at. realistically, 250-325 for a 4 bed/ 2 bath. I just don't see it happening for less than that. We would put a big down payment down and make sure our monthly mortgage was manageable and realistic. No way is it worth it to me to overextend ourselves.

[sonarrat]

With that price range in mind.. Ukiah. Fantastic little gem of a town.

[MWJamesLDS]

For that type of house in that price range your going to pretty much be limited to an area from Sacramento down to Bakersfield. Out of all your choices in that area Sacramento is going to have the most culture and things to do in the city. Plus, its only an hour or 2 to San Francisco depending on traffic. As you go south the prices get more reasonable (by current CA standards) But crime and weather get more unpleasent. Fresno is big, it has a metro near 1 million people. It has most of the shopping you want, a few water parks, a museum and a zoo. There are also several National parks within an hours drive, as well as lakes like Millerton Lake. That being said, its not your power house for cultural events. There are occasional concerts, but nothing like LA. Theres pleanty of places to eat with many of the chain resturants that have sprung up all over the State. Than being said, there is a big gang problem, though the city has been cracking down on it. Theres lots of safe places to live, but just as many that you wouldn't go walking alone in. Bakersfield is pretty much the same way, minus the zoo, museum etc. Bakersfields plus is that it is about 100 miles from LA and all its amenities. With Fresno you have a good 3 or 4 hour drive to the next major metro. I grew up in Visalia, lived in Orange County for a few years, then moved back to Visalia when I got married. My wife and I work in education and decided we'd actually like to be able to afford to live without having to rack up credit cards. Visalia is nice, 45 min to Fresno, an hour to Bakersfield. It has less amenities than either of those cities, but barely. Its perk is it has a population under $150,000. You can drive across town in 15 minutes, even during rush hour. It has two malls, though one is run down. There is also a nice outlet in Tulare a short 5 mile drive from Visalia. There are at least 3 movie theaters in the area, and several theater groups. Tulare is actually turning into a really nice city in its own right, but you'll want to live on the east side of town if you consider it. Visalias main highway takes you right up Lake Kaweah then on to the gates of Sequoia National park. Centex homes has several new homes under 300K, though the lots are only 6 or 7K sqft. That being said, Again, crime is a problem in all these cities. You just have to research what part of the city you are interested in moving into. A good way to get a feel is to go to Greatschools.net Look up the schools in the city with the higher ratings, The areas that feed into the better schools are often the nicer areas. The Valley's schools aren't up to par with Say Orange Counties, but the houses cost half as much. Lastly, the weather is "ok" in the valley. We don't get snow, the worst part of the summer is really only a few weeks long. you'll usually get a month or so of 100-105 degree weather. For the worst few weeks it doesn't go under 80 at night, though this can be great for night swimming! During the winter your highs range between 50-70. Its suppose to get up to 76 this week. The lowest of the lows gets into the high 20's in the middle of the night, but that is not every year. Usually when you hear about the freezes ruining CA crops and putting farm Labor out of work, thats a year it got cold. Even those day tend to warm back up into the 50's. Winters are short. The fog can bad, as the recent 100 car pile up demonstrates, but in reality, most people get used to it, just like any other bad weather. And unlike large amounts of snow, the fog is ususally gone by noon. Anyway, hope this helps! Best Of luck. Oh!!! PS. as far as teacher Salary goes, Bakersfield pays the best in the areas I've mentioned. Starting wage for a teacher with a BA and credential is 43K You can find the Salary schedules on the websites for each district. So if he can get a job in Bakersfield, you'll have the best income Vs. Cost of living Ratio, though you may spend the extra cash on trips to SoCal just to get a break from the Valley!

[sassyaztec]

thanks for the suggestions.

I think we are going to focus on northern cal. I grew up in the Inland Empire and don't want to be anywhere close to it. We really want to have a similar feel to what we have here, but still close to a major city/airport. We'll see what happens. DH is going to start applying for teaching jobs asap, already certified, so we are ready to go on that end.

[Jadelady]

Atascadero Ca.....GREAT here on the central coast of Calif...a little pricy but most of Ca. is

[chani29f]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

With that price range in mind.. Ukiah. Fantastic little gem of a town.

Not if you are a young person or are just starting out. I have lived here for 30 years and it is well past time to get out. The housing market is taking a huge dive. There are no jobs. The city council & county supervisors are catering to the environmental no-growth wack jobs and our whole economy is going to pot (no pun intended). I give myself another year and then I'm fleeing CA and never looking back.