My early retirement location list (a work in progress) (Santa Rosa: sale, real estate)

[thomasw98]

Here's my list of possible locations to move to for my "early retirement" (will probably still work on the internet, but not too diligently ). Let me know what you think...

Looking for:

A. Nice weather
-Not too hot or too cold, not too much rain, no snow.

B. Affordable Real Estate
-2 bdrm/2 bath single family home...not a condo...for around US$300,000.

C. Character
-Some sort of local culture or character rather than cookie-cutter "suburboria" (I hereby copyright this new word! ).

D. Good quality medical care
-Just in case. I am young now, but I want to stay in the same location for a while, so this might be more important in the future (knock on wood).

E. West coast USA
-To be near relatives.

F. Near a university
-Because I think this would be interesting/fun, plus I could take classes or even teach a class or two as an adjunct lecturer.

G. Good local schools
-Just in case I want to sell someday, this would help the resale value, especially since a small 2bdrm house is probably best targeted at younger families with kids.


Here are the main tools I am using for searching/comparing:

1. Weather check:
National and Local Weather Forecast, Radar, Map and Report

2. School check (California only):
California School Performance Maps

3. Location overall check:
Chico, California (CA) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, news, sex offenders

4. Map check and some limited real estate listings: Google Maps

5. Medical care quality check:
Medicare.gov - Hospital Compare
QualityReport


Current leading candidates:

1. Santa Rosa area
-Seems a little boring, but the Rohnert Park area has CSU Sonoma at least.
-Quality of hospital care in Santa Rosa area is good.
-Real estate pricing is slightly out of range but that should change in the next 6 months.

2. San Luis Obispo area
-SLO city itself is too expensive but surrounding areas like Arroyo Grande and Orcutt seem possible. Unfortunately, that puts me some distance away from the university. These satellite cities seem a little boring.
-Quality of hospital care is good. Equal to Santa Rosa area.
-Real estate pricing is tight but probably workable especially 6 months from now.
-Heard some not good reports about dustiness.

3. Chico
-Fun college-town vibe.
-Real Estate is workable.
-Quality of hospital care is not as good as SLO/Santa Rosa, but not too bad either.
-Might be too hot in the summer.

4. Eugene
-Fun college-town vibe.
-Real estate is no problem.
-Quality of hospital care is equal to Chico.
-Might be too rainy.
-I am not familiar with Oregon.

5. Arcata
-Fun, quirky, college-town vibe.
-Real estate is workable.
-Might be too rainy/foggy.
-Quality of hospital care is low.


I have not visited any of these places yet, but I am planning a car trip in late June and another in early July. (FYI, I grew up in So Cal, went to undergrad in Nor Cal, and have lived overseas for many years. Moving back to the USA in a couple of weeks).

Still looking for any other ideas, so feel free to chime in with comments on these places or other ideas.

[thomasw98]

Another good tool that I just found can show you the air quality issues in each area. I don't pay much attention to the letter grades given, since the "grading curve" seems off to me, but the weighted average numbers are useful for comparing areas:

California

[Petrala]

avoid arcata. it sounds like it would be too foggy and rainy for you. eugene is nice. medford is nice. excellent medical resources, 13 miles from southern oregon U. Santa Rosa if you can afford it is nice, plus you are not very far from extreme cultural opportunities in san francisco.

[CA central coast]

I can speak for SLO County, since I live there. You may want to look at Atascadero. It's a fairly quick drive to SLO city and Cal Poly. The weather is nice, not too extreme either way. Close to SLO city hospitals and hospital in Templeton. May fit your criteria for real estate prices. Los Osos might be another place you might want to check out. Less than 10 min. drive to SLO, close to Cal POly AND Cuesta College, next to the beach, never too hot or cold, Montana DE Oro is next door. You would have to spend more than $300,000 to get something that might satisfy you. But it is one of more reasonably priced coastal areas.

[thomasw98]

Originally Posted by Petrala

avoid arcata. it sounds like it would be too foggy and rainy for you. eugene is nice. medford is nice. excellent medical resources, 13 miles from southern oregon U. Santa Rosa if you can afford it is nice, plus you are not very far from extreme cultural opportunities in san francisco.

I have almost ruled out Arcata based on the poor hospital care. If it had some so so hospitals but was 1 hour drive from somewhere with better quality care, I would still go for it....but since it is so far out there, it seems like a "no go".

Eugene is definitely still in the running.

Santa Rosa is looking pretty good on paper. House prices there have dropped 24% in the last 12 months; average house price is now $372K, but I am not sure exactly what that buys. I am afraid this might be one of those areas with a bunch of lousy houses for $200K which sell in volume to lower income people, and then a smaller number of better quality houses for $600K...viola! a $372K average but not such house available. Not so sure about this though.

Thanks for the input!

[thomasw98]

Another tool for watching price trends by city in California:

DQNews - California Home Sale Price Medians by County and City

[RandalR]

Your items A and B cancel each other out. You don't get both of those things in California for less than $750K.

The "affordable" parts of Santa Rosa have had serious crime and gang problems for decades, but no one likes to discuss that. And it gets very hot in the summer. I wouldn't consider Santa Rosa unless you are prepared to pay $600K or more to live in a more upscale suburb like Sebastopol.

The San Luis Obispo area is probably your best option of the cities you have listed - you'll just have to stretch as far as you must to afford it.

[elcapitan]

Out of your list, I have lived in San Luis Obispo, Santa Rosa, and currently live in Eugene. We must have similar tastes!

San Luis Obispo:
Pros- Pretty area, nice beaches that are close, perfect weather, safe, good college (Cal Poly)
Cons- Very isolated from larger cities, jobs pay very poorly, everyone seems to be either retired or in college

Santa Rosa:
Pros- Beautiful outlying areas, perfect weather, close to SF entertainment, close to wine country, semi-close to beaches
Cons- Doesn't feel like a college town like your other choices, the part of town you live in makes a huge impact regarding crime and gangs, traffic

Eugene:
Pros- Beautiful area, college town vibe, green, decent restaurants & arts for size of town, spectacular (but short) summers, most affordable real estate (perhaps similar to Chico?)
Cons- Isolated, can be very gray for extended periods of time, very high property crime because lack of law enforcement funding, small minded Oregonians can be hard to deal with at times

With that said, I'm moving back to Santa Rosa. It seems to offer a balanced variety of all the things I enjoy. It also has the best employment prospects, since I have a long time before retirement. All the towns you listed are worth checking out though.

[nanannie]

Eugene is grey and RAINING for almost 1/2 the year- yes bits of sun now and then, but usually grey/drizzle. If you have SAD,or need alot of sunshine, this is not the town for you. Other then that, love all that area.

[thomasw98]

Originally Posted by CA central coast

I can speak for SLO County, since I live there. You may want to look at Atascadero. It's a fairly quick drive to SLO city and Cal Poly. The weather is nice, not too extreme either way. Close to SLO city hospitals and hospital in Templeton. May fit your criteria for real estate prices. Los Osos might be another place you might want to check out. Less than 10 min. drive to SLO, close to Cal POly AND Cuesta College, next to the beach, never too hot or cold, Montana DE Oro is next door. You would have to spend more than $300,000 to get something that might satisfy you. But it is one of more reasonably priced coastal areas.

Atascadero: Quite a lot of negative feedback about Atascadero on this website. Probably will need to take a look for myself.

Los Osos: I read that there are serious sewage system problems there which make it unwise to purchase a house (like I plan to do) at this time.

Montana de Oro: I had never heard of this before, but now I see it is a state park located just south of Los Osos and next to the ocean. Sounds nice! Will definitely take a look when I visit!