How in the Heck does Anyone Afford to Live in California? (condos, mortgage)

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by jkbatca

Here's my experience on how people afford the astronomical housing prices in CA:

1) Have lived in California for greater than 40 years where housing prices were a tenth or less of what they are now

2) Have parents who lived in California for greater than 40 years and either inherit or they sell the house to you for way under value

3) Bought a house 30 years ago in a dumpier area and kept "buying up" as each house appreciated in value tremendously

4) Have lots and lots of money to begin with

5) Go into astronomical amounts of debt

In 2009, (5) isn't working anymore, (4) are kind of still here, but some are leaving, (3) have left or thinking of leaving the state, which leaves (1) and (2) remaining here...

Live like a starving student until getting married (5 - 6 years later than the US norm), all the while being a complete workaholic, clawing one's way as far up the ladder as is possible with the grey / Boomer ceiling, get a little but not very much help from the bank of mom and dad, then, buy the worst house on a good street in a good area during the mid 1990s. In other words, a combination of dumb luck, blood, sweat and tears.

[The Floridian]

Originally Posted by Austin83

Yeah I wanted to address the comments by "The Floridian". You must work with the state tourism agency or for Charlie Crist because Florida is a joke. Before you discredit me though, I currently live in Florida, have lived in Florida for 4 years now, and am looking to get out with California being where I am focusing my energy on.

First of all, Erin is exactly right in her comments. People in Florida are just as materialistic as California and 10x more fake than California. Everyone comes to Florida expecting to live the "Florida lifestyle", even though no one here has a clue what that is. Everyone for whatever reason thinks that they can move to Florida, never work again, and just drink margarita's on the beach all day, and are shocked when they get here. Also, if you live in Florida you better have either a New York/Boston accent or be of Cuban/Puerto Rican descent, or you will not fit in at all. People in Florida are shallow, mean, and stay in their little clique of friends and never try anything new. A lot of the older people here in Florida are not happy and try to do a very bad job at hiding it. They don't call Florida "death's waiting room" for nothing.

In terms of the economy and jobs (since you will need one to afford to rent or pay a mortgage which are not that much better than California), if you don't have anything lined up you will be selling t-shirts or dealing with rude guests working at a hotel for minimum wage. There are RN's here that only make $11-$12 an hour and hotel managers that only make $13-$14 an hour, that should tell you something.Compared to Florida, California is such a progressive state, there is a greater variety of things to do (if you don't like the beach, fishing, or golfing there is absolutely NOTHING to do in Florida), more opportunities in a variety of economic sectors, and the people are nicer and more open. Nevermind California weather is a lot better (in Florida you do not want to leave your house from early May to the end of September), the beaches are much more beautiful, and you have the advantage of being close to the beach and the mountains (closet mountains to Florida are 8 - 10 hours away in Georgia/North Carolina). Diversity is a big joke as well, California has a lot of different cultures that mix together and a variety of groups, activities, and restaurants to enjoy. The biggest decision you will make in Florida in terms of variety is Walmart vs. Target or Olive Garden vs. Carrabbas.

"The Floridian", I am glad you enjoy Florida, but do not disrespect California or other states. Florida wishes it had half of the economic opportunities and half of the natural wonder that California has. Unless you enjoy the beach, golfing, or fishing, Florida is boring and the cost of living in Florida is not that much better than California. Nevermind that Florida might soon have a state income tax, which would eliminate the only real advantage Florida has over California. I'll take California over Florida anyday. I am attempting to get out to California sometime this year if all works out. I am just keeping my fingers crossed.

Austin -
Fyi: I just returned from 3 monnths in Marbella Spain doing well, NOTHING. I flew back to US and into Miami. I decided to hang out in Miami a few weeks at a Extended Stay Hotel in Coral Gables. I hit Biscayne Bay Beach and Miami Beach every AM, looked at real estate and every night L.A. Fitness. I am now back home. In about 30 days I am flying to Rio de Janeiro, for how long, not sure... depends the fun factor. Now, if I had continued my life living in LA, I would not be where I am today. I've lived in Los Angeles for 5 years; I have experience there and I love California, but I chose to leave LA for Florida and a different career and life.

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by The Floridian

Here ya go... Florida sucks? http://www.city-data.com/forum/miami...-miami-so.html

That's easy... Europeans love anyplace warm, sunny, on a beach with palm trees... it's called Paradise in the European Vernacular...

Doesn't hurt that Euro Dollars go farther than ever... either

[rachelinala]

Originally Posted by Melissa E

I am thinking of moving to Oregon now, but I orginally was interested in living in CA (live in MO now). I am freaked out about the housing prices I have seen out there. I honestly do not understand how the average people can afford it there at all? I was wanting to live around the Mendocino area orginally ... average house price was what $948,000? But, not just there, everywhere I have looked. I am an RN and not sure what the wage difference is there for RNS, but I make $28 an hour here (that's working nights & weekends) and I can't imagine paying more for rent now than what I do. If I moved to CA I'm afraid I'd always live in poverty.
Does anyone know RNs there and average wages? Also is there housing and rental places I'm not coming across online that aren't so bad? Any thoughts?

Hi Melissa, I'm an RN here and we make more money. Depending on the area of course. Stanford RNs (south of San Francisco) make over 100K a year. Starting in the 50s/hr depending on experience. I only have 4 years experience & make $52/hr. Not to mention the wonderful laws set in places for RNs. I get a 30 min lunch break and 3 mandatory 15 min breaks. Night shift, I get a 1 hour lunch break! It's the law However, as a single person, it's nearly impossible for me to afford a home, when decent homes around my area start at 1 million.

I feel I really lucked out w/working @ Stanford. You have to really research and look into the different hospitals, as they're all under different unions (another law in CA for all hospitals). I started here as a travel nurse, so was able to get the feel for different places, and there are still some really bad places to work here. While most hospitals were under hiring freezes and giving no raises this year (across the country this was true), 5% raises were given here.

I was wondering about other jobs, do they typically make more? Like does a person say working at NASA who makes 90,000/year in the south make 200K/year here in CA? I'm not sure, maybe others can answer my question.

But as a nurse, you will make double what you'd make in many other parts of the country. Good luck

[The Floridian]

Melissa, my sister in law a Nurse in Fort Lauderdale, she works at Broward Medical. She makes coin and owns a nice large home on a canal near the Beach. She loves animals and invested in RE around the Beach. She is set for life but still enjoys health industry. She loves her life and she used to work in Bay area. She told me recently, "best thing I ever did was move to Florida." She also loves the low stress lifestyle and easy, laid back lifestyle not found in California. She says the Beach in South Florida is night and day over west coast.

Good Luck

[SheRa]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

It mostly depends on your expectations. I work in the public sector and make just over $24/hr. plus good benefits. I live in the SF Bay Area. I live in a studio apartment and pay $850 month rent (cheap for my area). I manage to save over $12K per year in my deferred compensation plan (similar to 401K) I don't want a big house to take care of or pay high rent / mortgage on. Some people would say my lifestyle is "poverty". But if you compare it to a middle class lifestyle even in most European countries, it would be fairly close to "normal".

However, I know that I am definitely not the norm. I have had to say "no" to a lot of things other people regularly say "yes" to. Including blowing money at expensive entertainment venues every weekend, etc.

Americans expect to have huge amounts of living space to put all their "stuff' in (that they often don't use) and also expect to drive the biggest possible SUV the bank will lend them money for. And then they act shocked when they're stressed out because they can barely pay their bills and then want someone to come in and bail them out.

Brilliantly said! I lived in San Francisco for a few months and was totally able to "make it." I think that if you do all the things you've listed (live a relatively low-key lifestyle, etc.), you can be just fine. I also think another problem is that Americans have been conditioned to expect to be able to afford a home by the time they're in their late twenties, and that's just not realistic these days. Just use common sense, try to find multiple sources of income and/or develop your earning potential at your career as much as possible, look for ways to save money, don't pop out a bunch of kids before you can afford them, don't expect extravagance, and you'll be just fine (even in CA)

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

No disagreement that wages are higher here. But they're usually not double, or often not even 1.5X what people earn in other areas, even thought the cost of living here is at least 1.5X the national average, and sometimes more.

Some people (and I think this is the exception) find they can get a smiliar job somewhere else that's cheaper for the same pay. I knew someone who worked for GE years ago who was in that position. He got the same position with GE in Texas for the same pay, lower cost of living.

I also agree with what you're saying. You can like a place, but at some point, you decide it's just not worth paying through the nose for the nice weather/amenities that CA offers. That's especially true when your working years are over and you aren't dependent on the local job market for income.

I recruited and hired many software developers for a large Texas based software company. Our salary scale was 12% higher for the Bay Area. I was surprised the difference was that small - but we based our pay grades on industry data including companies such as IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Sun, etc. We did run into people who had much higher expectations, but we didn't generally move higher in pay just because people wanted more!

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by SheRa

Brilliantly said! I lived in San Francisco for a few months and was totally able to "make it." I think that if you do all the things you've listed (live a relatively low-key lifestyle, etc.), you can be just fine. I also think another problem is that Americans have been conditioned to expect to be able to afford a home by the time they're in their late twenties, and that's just not realistic these days. Just use common sense, try to find multiple sources of income and/or develop your earning potential at your career as much as possible, look for ways to save money, don't pop out a bunch of kids before you can afford them, don't expect extravagance, and you'll be just fine (even in CA)

Even in the SF Bay Area you can buy a home under a 100k and lots under 250k... it all comes down to expectations...

I've had my eye on Hearst Castle at Morro Bay... but alas... I can't afford it even if Arnold puts it on the list of available properties

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

I've had my eye on Hearst Castle at Morro Bay... but alas... I can't afford it even if Arnold puts it on the list of available properties

I'd settle for its swimming pool!

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

I've had my eye on Hearst Castle at Morro Bay

San Simeon