Affordable burbs with decent commute time? Realistic salary?

[petsounds]

Originally Posted by maxutilperusd

OP I think the first order of business is securing a job. Then decide where you want to live. I've lived in LA my whole life and I've commuted 1-1.5 hours home everyday for 5 years at a prior job. I know most people won't stand for that, but in my opinion, life is about sacrifices. If you want to get ahead, then suck it up and commute farther.

Anyway, a job in DTLA vs Santa Monica is so far apart that choosing an area now before getting a job is putting the cart before the horse. In busy rush hour traffic the distance b/w downtown and SM will take you an hour minimum.

Once you get a job, then use craigslist, padmapper, etc. to look at places. You can judge what neighborhoods look ghetto or dilapidated using google maps. You can also come here and ask about specific areas.

And I laugh at the notion you need $90k just to "get by."

Like I said, I work for a small real estate company now so I know how to pull comps and get a gauge on places. That's a plus. I know it's like this in every city, but we have neighborhoods here where houses are like $20,000 and a few blocks away they sell for over a million (in the case of the neighborhood where Peyton Manning used to live).

Even without a job it's still nice to hear what parts of the city people like and don't like. Start general and narrow it down if I get a job. Of course, it's different here. Indy has a big circle highway surrounding the whole city and we don't really have a lot of traffic. I understand in L.A. location in relation to workplace is a lot more important than it is here.

[harhar]

Originally Posted by petsounds

Like I said, I work for a small real estate company now so I know how to pull comps and get a gauge on places. That's a plus. I know it's like this in every city, but we have neighborhoods here where houses are like $20,000 and a few blocks away they sell for over a million (in the case of the neighborhood where Peyton Manning used to live).

Even without a job it's still nice to hear what parts of the city people like and don't like. Start general and narrow it down if I get a job. Of course, it's different here. Indy has a big circle highway surrounding the whole city and we don't really have a lot of traffic. I understand in L.A. location in relation to workplace is a lot more important than it is here.

The issue with the Los Angeles is that there are no $20,000 homes. Other metros, even NYC are very very concentrated. Move out 20-30 miles and you can by a house for under 100k.

Here in LA, the median is a solid 400k+. 30-40 miles out and you're still paying 300k for a house.

This is what 25k will buy you in Compton https://www.redfin.com/CA/Compton/0-.../home/58949439

A skinny empty lot next to some apartments. I couldn't vouch for the safety or quality of the neighborhood, but I would assume poor.

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Homes in decent areas near cool things are 600-over a million. Houses in the outlying burbs, are around 300-600k+. Average commute is probably a little over an hour, one way.

On a side note: It used to take me 45 minutes to go 7miles when I used to pick up my wife from Mid-Wilshire to Los Feliz, during rush hour.

(I'm also talking single family homes, condos on the other hand (in decent areas) are usually from the 200k on up. )

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In the end your question is kinda like a math problem and we just need more info to be any more specific.

Yes, you can live here on almost any salary, but COL is higher here, and a car is an absolute must.

There are questions like do you plan on maxing your retirement, or will you try to save for a down payment for a condo/house.
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Let's say you make 60k and after taxes take home 45k. Average rent for a one bedroom/one bath in a decent area is around 2-2.5k. Let's assume that includes utilities.

300 food
200 car pay
150 car ins
100 gas
100 internet/cable
50 cell phone
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3150x12 = 37800 - 45k = 7200 (leftover)

That's not including any retirement, actual taxes (I was a bit conservative with that), and any actual savings.

This is also assuming a semi-monastic life of not going out too much to eat, or with friends or buying clothes, haircuts, maintenance for the car, etc.

Having a roommate is a good idea, however this is why people say its tough, because it's a bit of a slog to save and save if you don't have the ability to split rent.

If you wanted then to buy a condo, then assuming the condo is 250k, depending on credit you'd need at least 5% down, which is $12,500 + closing which is usually around 3% more.


TL;DR


If you don't want to buy, and prefer to rent and live with a roommate that's fine, however this is the reality of LA: certain incomes have it a bit harder here than they otherwise would in other parts of the country. It doesn't mean its not doable, but "doable" can mean a lot of different things to a lot of people AND there is no denying that at certain income levels there will be a lot more sacrifices to make.

[petsounds]

harhar, I get what you are saying, but home pricing is all relative. I mean if I look at a comp map of L.A., I'll be able to, in a general sense, identify so-called "good" and "bad" areas. Of course, you can't buy a house there for $20,000. I didn't think you could. Whatever the L.A. equivalent to the Indianapolis $20,000 is would be the starting point. Then, you have to consider rooms, beds, square footage, etc. For example, in one township here you can get a really, really nice, brand new build for about $120,000, but it's in a higher crime area. On the other side of town, in a different township, $120,000 wouldn't get you much. I was just saying that, due to my job, I have practice doing this and it's a complementary bank of knowledge.

I could also just use this: