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Old 07-02-2008, 11:38 AM
 
3,292 posts, read 4,474,295 times
Reputation: 822

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles View Post
I believe you.

What are you going to do when you are 29, 30, 31, 32 or so and pulling in $100K?
10 years is a long time, maybe my priorities will change and maybe they won't. In my 30s I might be fine living off 100k and I still might not care about home ownership.

Although I do know I'm not moving to Texas.

 
Old 07-02-2008, 02:26 PM
 
Location: here
24,873 posts, read 36,171,415 times
Reputation: 32726
Quote:
Originally Posted by FinkieMcGee View Post
10 years is a long time, maybe my priorities will change and maybe they won't. In my 30s I might be fine living off 100k and I still might not care about home ownership.

Although I do know I'm not moving to Texas.
It goes by faster than you think it will!
 
Old 07-02-2008, 04:54 PM
 
Location: Baywood Park
1,634 posts, read 6,718,934 times
Reputation: 715
Quote:
Originally Posted by CA central coast View Post
They match, but don't exceed? they exceed? tell me how. housing prices in CA? OK, this is a big state. there are areas of Ca that are comparably priced to other states. Can you even find a job in OR? Humidity, tornadoes, hurricanes and bugs that will eat you alive in TX? the beauty of HI? taken as a whole, there is no other state that can make a pimple on CA's butt when it comes to natural beauty. desert, mountains, forests, coast line, beaches, redwoods, sequioas. no state comes close to CA, it's indisputable. AZ? educate me here. maybe I'm wrong.
I'm surprised I didn't get any comments? So, I'll make them to myself. I agree with alot that has been said by previous posters. I'm not trying to say that CA is perfect or that we're the best or whatever. I've travelled around a bit. Never been to the South or New England. I've yet to find a place that I would "want" to leave CA for. It takes an income and a 1/4 just to make my house payment. Yes, I know I'm crazy. I live in a beautiful area with near perfect weather, that costs money. I should have kept renting. I've been broke for years. I'll be 70 when this house is paid off. So, I'll probably be moving when I retire 10 years before that. If you do it right, you can still have a great life in this state. It kills me to think about leaving, but right now I'm looking at MT, SD or NV, to purchase property for retirement.
 
Old 07-02-2008, 05:26 PM
 
Location: Irvine, CA to Keller, TX
4,829 posts, read 6,930,872 times
Reputation: 844
Quote:
Originally Posted by CA central coast View Post
I'm surprised I didn't get any comments? So, I'll make them to myself. I agree with alot that has been said by previous posters. I'm not trying to say that CA is perfect or that we're the best or whatever. I've travelled around a bit. Never been to the South or New England. I've yet to find a place that I would "want" to leave CA for. It takes an income and a 1/4 just to make my house payment. Yes, I know I'm crazy. I live in a beautiful area with near perfect weather, that costs money. I should have kept renting. I've been broke for years. I'll be 70 when this house is paid off. So, I'll probably be moving when I retire 10 years before that. If you do it right, you can still have a great life in this state. It kills me to think about leaving, but right now I'm looking at MT, SD or NV, to purchase property for retirement.
We left for TX about 10-12 years ahead of retirement. We realized right away that having four kids and spending just about all we had on raising them, college cars, etc.. that retirement in CA would not be so comfortable. Luckily with the equity we had in our home we are able to breath easier now in TX and are looking forward to the retirement years rather than dreading. Not everyone that bought in CA will be so lucky but we were.
 
Old 07-02-2008, 08:01 PM
 
1,831 posts, read 5,293,735 times
Reputation: 673
Quote:
Originally Posted by CA central coast View Post
It takes an income and a 1/4 just to make my house payment. Yes, I know I'm crazy. I live in a beautiful area with near perfect weather, that costs money. I should have kept renting. I've been broke for years. I'll be 70 when this house is paid off. So, I'll probably be moving when I retire 10 years before that. If you do it right, you can still have a great life in this state. It kills me to think about leaving, but right now I'm looking at MT, SD or NV, to purchase property for retirement.
I agree with the statement that if you do it right ... you can still have a great life in this state. After moving to the Central Coast recently ... I am shocked at the mortgages people pay here. I just can't believe what people pay ...

We took a different approach.

Instead of overpaying during the boom, we moved out to the desert for cheap housing. This allowed my husband to put me through nursing school so I could make a lot more money.

Now ... we've sold our desert house and are renting on the Central Coast ... watching the market until housing prices bottom out. That's when we'll buy since, we do want to retire here and don't want to have to go broke and overpay during another boom cycle.

So yeah ... if you're smart about it ... it's definitely doable. It's taken us five years to make this happen and we couldn't be happier.

For us, there is no place to live or retire to but the California coast so ... this is our dream come true.

 
Old 07-03-2008, 06:08 AM
 
1,868 posts, read 5,681,724 times
Reputation: 536
Smart about it? Or in the right place at the right time?
 
Old 07-03-2008, 12:06 PM
 
Location: Baywood Park
1,634 posts, read 6,718,934 times
Reputation: 715
Quote:
Originally Posted by shannon94 View Post
Smart about it? Or in the right place at the right time?
Maybe a little of both, or maybe they're one in the same. What got me into trouble was panic and emotion. It's a cycle, booms and busts. I've seen it before living on the central coast. But I listened to a realtor. I let her scare me into believing that SLO County would be the next Santa Barbara in a couple years. And every single house here would be a million dollars. Maybe it will be one day, but not today. I had a gut feeling this would happen, it's a cycle. It happened here in the 80's. I would have been in a much better position had I continued to rent. But I bought at the peak, with a smaller down payment. 900 sq ft, 60 year old house that had to be gutted and rebuilt. $2400 a month mortgage, worth less than what I paid for it. We're broke and I think we'll be broke for years, I'd take a huge loss if I sold. I've also noticed that rent is going up in this area. Right place, right time? It sounded like a previous posters thought this would happen too, and she's waiting it out to buy. It would be nice to have a crystal ball, but we all know that it does move in cycles. Anyway, I have thought about moving ahead of retirement. But I have young children and my entire family, along with my wife's all live in SLO Co., so I would be leaving my entire support system and taking my kids away from family, I just can't do that.
 
Old 07-03-2008, 05:57 PM
 
1,831 posts, read 5,293,735 times
Reputation: 673
Quote:
Originally Posted by shannon94 View Post
Smart about it? Or in the right place at the right time?
Well ... I'm old enough to remember the '92 real estate crash where I did screw up and overpaid before so ... this time I did make my own luck since I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.

As far as listening to realtors ... I quit doing that a long time ago also.


Last edited by sheri257; 07-03-2008 at 06:11 PM..
 
Old 07-04-2008, 01:33 AM
 
Location: Los Angeles
132 posts, read 596,622 times
Reputation: 138
CA Central Coast Nailed it!
That is "The most beautiful place in the world where ocean meets land", John Muir. The tallest living things (Reswood), Largest living thing (Sequoia), Oldest Living thing (Bristlecone pine, 5000 yrs old), The highest point in contiguous US (Mt. Whitney) Lowest point in western hemisphere (Bad Water, 282' below sea level) Climates from Alpine/Artic to Subtripical (Dry Summer Subtropical aka Mediterrain) Highest Lake in N> America, BY FAR the most diverse piece of land in the world, NO STATE can even come close to America's Paradise, California, National Parks-Sequoia, Yoseimite, Death Valley Magnificent, Joshua tree, Kings Canyon, Lassen, on and on.....
A throw in to boot, The greatest cities, Magnificent Lis Angeles, and BEAUTIFUL San Francisco, San Diego, The greatest Mountains, Beaches, Deserts, Sublime....Sensational......Rent is higher, Pay is higer, evens out. You can have Mangoes, papayas, bananas Macadamias etc in the South, Apples, Cherries, Artichokes in the north.
$50,000?? Heck I live on Disability, though not easy, I get by.
Attached Thumbnails
Is California a good place to live in anymore?-angeles1.jpeg  
 
Old 07-04-2008, 04:45 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles
132 posts, read 596,622 times
Reputation: 138
I guess these folks who chose to forgo a more desireable area that is more expensive, beautiful, and diversified feel that it will be nice to have those extra bucks for more trips to the good 'ol Dairy Queen for a couple extra "slushies" to ward off the intense pain of the 95% Humidity and the "drum size" of insect pesticide and repellent.
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