Coastal counties in CA affordable to live on teacher salary (San Diego: for sale, apartments)
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Originally Posted by Petoskey
I'm wondering if there are any small cities or large towns (population 6,000-25,000) with lower crime in one of the counties on the coast of CA (lower Mendocinio and south) with above average or better schools, with a safe, walkable downtown area that have homes to rent or buy (min 1600 sq ft 3 bed/1 bath) in a safe neighborhood affordable to a family living on a teacher salary as the main source of income? My husband and I are very good with money and over the years have been able to live much better than most in our income bracket because of our careful spending. Please note that I'm only interested in Coastal Counties.I know we can't afford to live right on the coast but I don't want to be any farther than a county away from a large body of water if we can afford it since I'm coming from Michigan and am used to being surrounded by water which I love. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Sorry that the responses weren't what you thought they'd be, but at least they were honest. Also, you said you were only considering coastal counties and did not want to be more than a county away from a large body of water. California counties tend to be large, so one county away may still put you a few hours away from the ocean - given your requirements. Being good money managers has nothing to do with what you can pay in rent. Your income will be your income, period. This is what some of us were getting at. If you only bring in X amount of dollars for a family to live on, then regardless of how you manage it, only so much can be allocated to rent/purchase. You gave us that price...which maxed at $1900. Yet you want no less than 1600 sf. That's asking a lot in Cali in a coastal community where places tend to be much smaller. You may be able to find it, but your husband's salary will likely not be as high either (in that county).
Make the sacrifices you must, but please don't bash people who are giving you their honest opinion based upon their experiences. Good luck with your move.
Ultra runner, the reason I hadn't considered the SF Bay area is because of the high population. There's just too many people. Brenda-by-the-sea, my research of the areas I mentioned that I had been considering provided me with the same information you've provided which is reassuring that I'm as thorough as I thought I was. I'm concerned that Arcata might be a bit too hippy and damp, Chico too hot in the summers, and Healdsburg too expensive. That's why I was really hoping to broaden my search area. It's been a long time since I've thought it might be possible for us to live close to water if we live in California. As I said, I've just decided it was worth a try to see if it was possible now that the property values were down. There is no perfect place anywhere. There's always some negatives to any area. Some places are too expensive, some have high crime, some are too wet, others too dry, too hot, too cold, no jobs, low paying jobs, etc. To the people out there that are worried about me because you think I'm unaware of all of the things you're worried that I'm unaware of, please don't be. I have read thousands of posts on this site and I understand that many people asking questions here don't consider everything they need to consider when considering relocating to another place. So I get why some of you sound kind of rude and preachy when you respond to my post. I'm sure you're fed up with some of these people. But, I can guarantee you that I'm not one of those people. I have considered everything anyone will point out to me on my post a hundred times over and then some things no one would probably consider. If I find a town I would consider living in that I feel we can afford (that would mean I would have already found out what the starting pay is for employment in that area because without that info we would'nt know if we could afford to live there right?), I would not just up and move there. I would do what I have been doing all along and have several areas I'm considering at the same time and apply for jobs in all of those areas as they post on the EDJOIN site and my husband will go for interviews when called and the whole time we're doing this, keep watching housing prices to make sure an area doesn't move above our price range and then if a job is offered for a specific salary, look again at homes for rent and see if we can find a place in our price range before accepting the position. And if no job offer comes along in an area we can afford to live, we don't move there. And by the way, California is not the only state we're looking into moving to since our sole reason for moving is so my husband can teach. Jaded, I am not bashing anyone who is giving me their honest opinion. I appreciate the feedback I'm given when it's given with helpful intent and is given along with an answer to my question. It's the responses that are condescending in nature and make no effort to provide the information I asked for that bother me. Normally I wouldn't let people that are negative bother me. I would just ignore their posts and focus on the people who are being helpful but my family has been under a huge amount of stress with the school cuts we've had this year. So I'm going to take a deep breath......and let it go. Anyone who wants to make helpful suggestions of areas that meet my criteria please feel free to do so. I'll check in once in a while.
If you're seriously thinking about California, don't wait too long to apply for your California credential. California's teacher preparation requirements are somewhat idiosyncratic and it can take many many months to earn a CA teaching license on the basis of out-of-state preparation (often requiring back-to-school classes as well). In addition to your out-of-state license, you will need to get a CLAD certificate (Culture, Language and Academic Development) to qualify for job consideration. You can procure that either by coursework taken in CA or by examination. Don't assume you'll pass the exam the first time around; many don't. I was an ESL teacher in Oregon and so thought it would by easy for me. I was amazed by how demanding the test was. Make sure you have your NCLB compliance document; nobody will look at your application without it. You'll also need to be fingerprinted by DOJ to get a CA credential. Since the scans are digital now, I'm guessing there is a way to do this from out of state and have them sent in to Sacramento, but I had to go down to Crescent City, CA to get it done. Plan on CCTC taking three to six months, depending on the time of year, to get you your credential once everything is in order.
You probably already know this, but many of the jobs on Edjoin are not really available. Per union agreement, all vacancies must be posted even if it's one that's going to be filled internally or there is a "done-deal" candidate waiting in the wings who's already been promised the job. And that's often the case. The state pink-slipped 36,000 teachers last year and more this year. Most schools are just trying to get their riffed teachers back at this point.
Last edited by Brenda-by-the-sea; 05-31-2010 at 09:56 AM..
I'm wondering if there are any small cities or large towns (population 6,000-25,000) with lower crime in one of the counties on the coast of CA (lower Mendocinio and south) with above average or better schools, with a safe, walkable downtown area that have homes to rent or buy (min 1600 sq ft 3 bed/1 bath) in a safe neighborhood affordable to a family living on a teacher salary as the main source of income? My husband and I are very good with money and over the years have been able to live much better than most in our income bracket because of our careful spending. Please note that I'm only interested in Coastal Counties. I know we can't afford to live right on the coast but I don't want to be any farther than a county away from a large body of water if we can afford it since I'm coming from Michigan and am used to being surrounded by water which I love. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
On teachers salary you say you will pay very high property tax as an first time hombyer in Califronia your property tax will be very high in order to subsdize people who lived in their houses in California longer than you or people with higher salarys and their property values but as you say you are carfeul with spending so it should not burden you to much.
On teachers salary you say you will pay very high property tax as an first time hombyer in Califronia your property tax will be very high in order to subsdize people who lived in their houses in California longer than you or people with higher salarys and their property values but as you say you are carfeul with spending so it should not burden you to much.
Nonsense...
Husband and Wife teachers do OK... my father taught public high school and a number from my Oakland High School became teachers. All have done well.
Don't forget teachers are inherently smart and well versed... it's not like just anyone can teach without meeting stringent requirements.
Don't forget that CA offers some predictability regarding property taxes and many areas have mortgage assistance for teachers.
I've experienced first hand what can happen in a State without property tax predictability... how about a 80% tax increase in one year and yes, it was 80% over the purchase price 14 months ago... happened in Washington State...
Median home prices in SLO county by community range from about $400,00 (in Arroyo Grande that will get you a double wide mobile home) to 600,000.
You can make a rough approximation of house payment as 1% of that figure monthly. So in San Luis Obispo, the median home price is $597,000, You can figure a monthly on this will be around $6,000 per month. If that is as lenders like, about 30% of your monthly you will need a bit more than $18,000 coming in the door each month.
This is an approximation, but it does give you an idea. $10,000 a month is going to be needed to buy a home in San Luis Obispo, at $5,000 per person in a double income family, that is $60,000 per person per year minimum.
"Don't forget teachers are inherently smart and well versed... it's not like just anyone can teach without meeting stringent requirements." I do not know about that. But I do know that Santa Maria, would have housing in that range or rentals, and maybe some teaching jobs as well.
Chico is about a 3.5 hour drive to Bodega and 4 hours to Santa Cruz. Meaning that area is "close" to the water.
You say Arcata might be to hippy for you. If that is the case then you might consider Fortuna or Eureka both of which are still in the far north and are still damp but do have some wonderful weather.Another place that many people do not even look at is Crescent City. Since they built the prison up there the area has improved. But yes it is a high security prison and I know some people have a problem with that.
Ukiah, Willits, Cloverdale would be somewhat decent places but again the job situation is not going to be good.
Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Petaluma areas are larger which would mean better job opportunities. Might also take a look at Novato which is at the northern part of Marin County. Can't really tell you about the rents in those areas though. You might want to look at the local newspaper sites or something like Craigslist to get an idea of rentals.
Another area you might consider would be the Napa area.
"Don't forget teachers are inherently smart and well versed... it's not like just anyone can teach without meeting stringent requirements." I do not know about that. But I do know that Santa Maria, would have housing in that range or rentals, and maybe some teaching jobs as well.
Santa Maria average is a little over 71k plus benifits based on 185 work days per year.
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