Has CA gone insane? (Huntington Beach, Monterey: loan, property taxes, income)

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by Alexus

This is a premier place to live. Period. If you want to come here you better be pretty well-educated in the right industry or have a very stable means of making a living or have the resourcefulness to redefine yourself if need be at any age. Life is not stagnant here.

So true ...

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by kansaslady

Thanks for both of your replies. It is nuts how housing has skyrocketed. I would love to move away from KS because of the frigid winters (better than North Dakota though! lol)...however, the cost of living here is do-able. I live about 5 miles SW of Kansas City, and except for Jan-Feb's cold spells, and the ice we have to fight, I love it here. We can still buy condos in the 80k price range (and these are in excellent/safe areas, and not cracker boxes). Sure we have homes in the million dollar range, but you're getting a million dollars' worth of home/land....not some granny-shack that was build in 1920 and has only one bathroom.

The wages in this area actually are better than in CA....I work as a secretary and make 40k. If I headed back to CA, there is no way I could earn that salary, and no way I could find a rental for $600-$700/mo, or buy a home/condo for $80k - $150k.

We don't have the gorgeous scenery that CA or OR or WA offers, but we do have a lot of positives. The people in this area would not hesitate to give you the shirt off their back, are extremely courteous and down to earth. We have excellent schools, the crime rate is low, and the air is clean.

I miss the ocean and the mountains, but it's too high a price to live back out there again.

When people think of living in Kansas they run in the other direction, and I guess that's what helps to keep the housing costs within reason.

To each their own though.

I am leaving KS (Kansas City Area) as SOON as possible!
It offers a decent quality of life if you like things to be predictable, bland, and horribly conservative.
The negatives include:
Bad Weather- Strong Winds and Unrelenting Summer Heat.
A Lack Of Jobs In My Career Field.
Extremely Conservative People Who Are Pushy and Pretentious.
The Constant Political Nonsense About Things Unrelated to Economic Issues Such As Evolution and Abortion.
The Lack of Trees and Good-Sized Parks. ( I live on the KS side of the metro)
The Lack of Any Water Bodies Except Reservoirs!
In KS You Get What You Pay For. If the Housing Costs and COL were Higher Hardly ANYONE Would Want To Move There If It Wasn't For Many Good Jobs in Various Areas.

[kpoeppel]

[quote=Plains10;3591199]I am leaving KS (Kansas City Area) as SOON as possible!
It offers a decent quality of life if you like things to be predictable, bland, and horribly conservative.
The negatives include:
Extremely Conservative People Who Are Pushy and Pretentious.
The Constant Political Nonsense About Things Unrelated to Economic Issues Such As Evolution and Abortion.
QUOTE]


It's good to see how "tolerant" and "accepting" you are of people who are different than you!

[thomasw98]

Originally Posted by sheri257

...As far as wages ... we realized that we had to make changes in that department also if we were ever going to be able to move back. Four years ago, I realized that a high school degree and working in relatively unskilled professions just wasn't going to cut it anymore so I went back to college in my '40s and changed careers.

Now we're making a lot more money so we can afford to move back. Once we get settled, I'm also going to be putting my husband through college (as he did for me) so he can improve his income also.

We really want to retire there so, we're willing to do what it takes to make it happen.

Now that's a real success story. Congrats to you and your husband for the hard work and the well deserved results!

[Mach50]

Most couples w/children I know that live in Orange County or San Mateo County have dual 130k+ incomes, with 260k coming in you can afford a 1.2 million dollar house, 2 cars and live very comfortably.

That is how some afford to live here and still save money, jobs, especially in the Tech/Aero industry pay a lot here in CA.

[karkyco]

Originally Posted by Need_affordable_home

Can you show me where those crappy million dollar houses are? Even CA is not that insane yet, I hope. What city was that?

Oh, how I wish you could get your hands on a copy of the LA Times Saturday or Sunday edition, and take a look in the Home/Real Estate section.

The asking prices are beyond unreal - and have only gone further and further up in the "desirable" (remotely, at that) areas.

I don't understand how these ads are getting funded - the realtors and RE agents should be telling these sellers that they are asking completely insane prices, often well above the peak from the 2006. Or are they simply targeting the fabled overseas buyers who are ready to make cash offers on everything thanks to the weak dollar?

I've seen more ads for million dollar shoe boxes in the southland than I care to recall.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Mach50

especially in the Tech/Aero industry pay a lot here in CA.

Is the pay commensurate with housing prices?

[Mach50]

Originally Posted by Charles

Is the pay commensurate with housing prices?

Well it can be, but you need a strategy here. You have to be an investor as well as work. Because out here real-estate doubles every 5-10 years.

You are not going to jump right into a 3000 sq ft house, however, you can buy an 1800 sq ft home, sell it and make 200-300k and then move into the $1M home and put the money you made down on a new house. You know the drill, that is life in the fast lane.

Sure real-estate is expensive here but you can make a fortune from it, so in that case you need to consider the ROI in addition to your high salary.

I am a Senior Software Engineer, in Silicon Valley I can make 130-150k. In Denver the same job makes 90-100k. Now that doesn't seem the far off, but you also have to factor in your real estate ROI, which will always be higher 10 years from now, even after the current correction.

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by thomasw98

Now that's a real success story. Congrats to you and your husband for the hard work and the well deserved results!

Thanks. I think there's a reason you see Cali ex-pats posting threads like this all the time. I mean ... the OP moved from California 20 years ago yet, she's still complaining about this state. It's kinda weird ... c'mon, it's been 20 years. Get over it already.

But they probably still miss it. If you're really happy with your new home state ... I'm not sure why you would feel the need to post here at all. Except that you're trying to make yourself feel better about not living in Cali anymore ...

I guess you can complain about it for the next 20 years or, you can work to live where you want to live. We chose the latter ...

Now our dream is finally coming true ...

We move to Monterey County in mid-June and I am SO EXCITED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[thomasw98]

Originally Posted by sheri257

Thanks. I think there's a reason you see Cali ex-pats posting threads like this all the time. I mean ... the OP moved from California 20 years ago yet, she's still complaining about this state. It's kinda weird ... c'mon, it's been 20 years. Get over it already.

But they probably still miss it. If you're really happy with your new home state ... I'm not sure why you would feel the need to post here at all. Except that you're trying to make yourself feel better about not living in Cali anymore ...

I guess you can complain about it for the next 20 years or, you can work to live where you want to live. We chose the latter ...

Now our dream is finally coming true ...

We move to Monterey County in mid-June and I am SO EXCITED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am researching Monterey area now also. A couple of places like Seaview and Marina seem OK...prices still too high, but moving in the right direction for me to consider at the end of this year.