Who has tried moving to another state (Santa Clarita, Thousand Oaks: real estate, new house)

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

So explain how someone making $100k (a very good income by most standards) buys a house, supports a family, saves for retirement, etc when the median price for something not in gangland is north of $500k? What's going to give? Accept apartment life? Take on another 2-3 jobs? Live with extended family forever? Rent out the garage?

Correct me if I'm wrong but, based on reading your previous posts ... I'm under the impression that you bought your house at the peak of the market. It sounds like maybe you're extremely frustrated with the high mortgage payment?

You ask ... what's going to give? Well ... it's already happening. Prices are already down by a good $100K statewide ... including OC btw ... and prices continue to fall. So whatever is listed at $500K isn't going to be listed at that price for very long ...

That may not be good news for someone who bought at the peak of the market and is losing equity but, it is good news for other people who want to live here.

Will California always be more expensive? Sure but ... you seem to be ignoring the fact that prices are falling and will continue to fall. There will be some buying opportunities ... especially in the next five years so ...

The situation is not nearly as bad as you're making it out to be. Maybe it's a bad situation for you but, it's not necessarily a bad situation for other people.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

I posted in detail of a young couple in their early 20's that did just that..

I couldn't find this post (in two minutes of searching unless I blew it). It wasn't in this thread. Where was it? I'd like to read it.
Thanks

[DawnW]

Yeah, if you didn't get into the housing boom between 2001-2005, I think it would be very difficult.

What I also see as a huge problem is the property taxes. If you bought a home for 500K with less than 20% down, you also have PMI and at least $500/month just in property taxes.

Dawn

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

So explain how someone making $100k (a very good income by most standards) buys a house, supports a family, saves for retirement, etc when the median price for something not in gangland is north of $500k? What's going to give? Accept apartment life? Take on another 2-3 jobs? Live with extended family forever? Rent out the garage?

[DawnW]

well, I am not sure how much you have looked at salaries but DH took a 30% pay cut when we moved here and I took a 50% pay cut from my job in LA.

The difference was around $80,000 total.

So, lets say we take our current NC salaries and live off of that and use the additional $80,000 simply for housing.....we will actually live better in CA if we are fine with a smaller house (certainly can't afford a 4200 sq. ft. house on 2.5 acres in LA! ha!)

Dawn

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

I haven't failed miserably. My wife and I make good money. We're just smart enough to realize that'll we'll never truly get ahead in a state with such a high cost of living.

[ChocolateTae]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

Well I'm not 25 any more. I don't have the luxury of spending years working toward a goal. Now is the time to have kids if we're going to have them but there's absolutely no way we can afford them in California where it takes both of our incomes keep ourselves in a house that's not even big enough to have a family in. And I'm sorry, but we're not going to rent out a room in our house (even if we had a spare one - which we don't) to a stranger. We value our privacy and safety too much to do that. We are house poor. The only reason we have any issues with money is because our housing expense is nearly double what any rational person would consider healthy and practical.

Now I've never bought a house before but didn't you know how much your mortgage would be when you bought the house? And I don't know how much you paid for your house but why pay 500k for a house that's only big enough to house you and the wife? Didn't you know you wanted children when buying the house?

Like I've said before, I find a lot of your posts hilarious. But you seem really bitter towards California. LOL I hope you and your wife find happiness in one of the other 49 states in this country. I am really looking forward to moving there next week though. Goodluck!

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by DawnW

well, I am not sure how much you have looked at salaries but DH took a 30% pay cut when we moved here and I took a 50% pay cut from my job in LA.

The difference was around $80,000 total.

So, lets say we take our current NC salaries and live off of that and use the additional $80,000 simply for housing.....we will actually live better in CA if we are fine with a smaller house (certainly can't afford a 4200 sq. ft. house on 2.5 acres in LA! ha!)

Dawn

It sounds like you moved to the wrong state then.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by ChocolateTae

Now I've never bought a house before but didn't you know how much your mortgage would be when you bought the house? And I don't know how much you paid for your house but why pay 500k for a house that's only big enough to house you and the wife? Didn't you know you wanted children when buying the house?

Like I've said before, I find a lot of your posts hilarious. But you seem really bitter towards California. LOL I hope you and your wife find happiness in one of the other 49 states in this country. I am really looking forward to moving there next week though. Goodluck!

We got the house well below market before the peak. But even then, its just still too expensive. Prices here really aren't coming down much. Not enough to become truly affordable again. Some parts of OC (the parts I don't want to live in) are where the price declines are. The better parts are holding up better.

[Cali4life80]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

It sounds like you moved to the wrong state then.

I read your profile and I saw that you live in OC, California. NO WONDER why you're complaining about how expensive CA is. There are many other, beautiful parts of CA that ARE affordable. I just hope you don't give up too soon, move to a new state and end up being miserable there. You should look around central or northern CA. You may be surprised

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Cali4life80

I read your profile and I saw that you live in OC, California. NO WONDER why you're complaining about how expensive CA is. There are many other, beautiful parts of CA that ARE affordable. I just hope you don't give up too soon, move to a new state and end up being miserable there. You should look around central or northern CA. You may be surprised

It may still come down to the house prices vs jobs thing. I too, just for fun, looked for jobs near Vandenberg AFB where I know I can get a job. (Ideally I would have liked to find a place about half way between VAFB and Goleta where there are jobs at Raytheon.) Homes around Buellton, Santa Maria, Solvang...basically the places to look for homes near VAFB were just about the same price as Ventura County...we're talking $350-$400 per square foot.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by Charles

It may still come down to the house prices vs jobs thing. I too, just for fun, looked for jobs near Vandenberg AFB where I know I can get a job. (Ideally I would have liked to find a place about half way between VAFB and Goleta where there are jobs at Raytheon.) Homes around Buellton, Santa Maria, Solvang...basically the places to look for homes near VAFB were just about the same price as Ventura County...we're talking $350-$400 per square foot.

Yep, that's the catch. I need an area with both a decent sized population with some disposable income (to support my business) AND affordable housing. Moving to the sticks in CA and paying $250k for a house isn't going to do me much good if I can't make any money there.