A native Angeleno who is considering leaving LA for good (Los Angeles: to rent, how much)

[seain dublin]

Originally Posted by Finper

Yeah, because a home is like ten dollars there. It's an undesirable flyover state. Hence the low price. I have to share a one bedroom because I only make $14/hr. If I made 100k -- the median salary here (middle class salary) -- I could afford an apartment in Silicon Valley without roommates.


14.00 a hour to 50.00 a hour.... No problem!!! You crack me up. Your going to wake up at 50 years old and think what the f*** did I do with my life

You can also end up being 50 years old living in Kansas or Iowa and owning your home outright, and one day realizing "I'm 50 years old, I own this house but never liked living here, I wish I had been more adventurous and lived some place I wanted to or at least given it a shot".

Nothing worse than the "what ifs", when you realize that time has passed you by.

I feel sorry for people like that, because it usually hits them when it is too late to do anything about it.

[FirebirdCamaro1220]

Originally Posted by seain dublin

You can also end up being 50 years old living in Kansas or Iowa and owning your home outright, and one day realizing "I'm 50 years old, I own this house but never liked living here, I wish I had been more adventurous and lived some place I wanted to or at least given it a shot".

Nothing worse than the "what ifs", when you realize that time has passed you by.

I feel sorry for people like that, because it usually hits them when it is too late to do anything about it.

I just repped you, as I say, I'd rather be poor in LA than rich in Dallas

[murfslaw]

^^^This!

I would have never discovered the little beach town in Florida that so reminded me of Santa Monica where I was born and raised. I was sharing my lament that Santa Monica had changed so much and someone suggested that I check north east Florida. I went to explore and found Atlantic Beach; bought my house there on my second visit. It is a second home but I can't imagine not having it to go to for weeks at a time to refuel my life.

[neutrino78x]

Originally Posted by boulder2015

Clearly you are qualified to give financial advice to others.

Well, I can afford to live here in Silicon Valley on $14/hr. So yes, I am qualified to explain how one can live in a desirable, expensive area on a low wage.

[neutrino78x]

Originally Posted by mvpsharky

[/b]

LOL. LA isn't the only city with parks, libraries, and museums.

Which place is going to have better parks, libraries and museums? The place where a house is $10, or the place where a house is 800k? I'm guessing the cheaper place is cheap for a reason. Just going out on a limb here.

[Financialguy]

Originally Posted by seain dublin

You can also end up being 50 years old living in Kansas or Iowa and owning your home outright, and one day realizing "I'm 50 years old, I own this house but never liked living here, I wish I had been more adventurous and lived some place I wanted to or at least given it a shot".

Nothing worse than the "what ifs", when you realize that time has passed you by.

I feel sorry for people like that, because it usually hits them when it is too late to do anything about it.

Where do you live and what do you do?

[neutrino78x]

Originally Posted by manteca man

No offense Neutrino, but with housing costs in SV rocketing up, I could never bet on you unless you have a radical increase in income.

I believe that's what I said. But owning a home is important TO YOU, not to me.

I agree with you on not wanting to live in the flyover states, but I HAVE lived in San Antonio, TX and Nashville, TN... and they're not awful. They have everything you need, *some* of what you want. That's life.

Yes, but living in the place I want to live is more important to me than the size of my dwelling. I'm sure pretty much any American could afford a mansion in Somalia....but then you had to move to Somalia.

I'll take a shack in a place like Los Angeles, New York or Silicon Valley over a mansion in a place like Somalia or Kansas or Ohio any day of the week.

As I get older, I do find my "forward-thinking" taking over my brain more and more, and I warn you, you do NOT want to continue to live in Silicon Valley when you're middle-aged and have no true assets to help prepare you for your geriatric years.

How is owning a home going to affect that? I would still be geriatric with no one to care for me. Does owning a home magically produce caregivers for free? I don't think so. If you're in that place in life, you don't care if you own a home or not. I can still save money for a 401k etc, and there's still social security. I just can't own my own home. But I don't wish to own one, so it doesn't matter.

Owning my home really means nothing to me. I see no value to that at all. As long as the rent where I live is always in my budget -- and it will be -- what would owning a home do for me? Nothing. I would rather live where things are happening, where I can enjoy life the way I want to live it. Moving to Kansas or Arizona or whatever only gives you ONE benefit: the ability to own a home and the land underneath. But you sacrificed all the great experiences in the city: great museums, great parks, great concerts, great social events.

I currently live in the west side of Los Angeles. It is GREAT to have everything and anything at my fingertips. But the cost of living never gets lower and I know I won't stay forever.

Well, don't let the door hit you on the way out, lol. More for the rest of us who want to stay in desirable areas.

[seain dublin]

Originally Posted by FirebirdCamaro1220

I just repped you, as I say, I'd rather be poor in LA than rich in Dallas

Thank you. I know a few people who moved to TX, and moved back to CA. Sure they got a bigger house for less(they also found out their taxes were higher), didn't like the extreme weather, and how flat and ugly it is, and moved back.

Originally Posted by neutrino78x

Which place is going to have better parks, libraries and museums? The place where a house is $10, or the place where a house is 800k? I'm guessing the cheaper place is cheap for a reason. Just going out on a limb here.

As the old saying goes "when you go cheap, ya get cheap".

Originally Posted by Financialguy

Where do you live and what do you do?

I live here in LA.

BTW I tried Portland, OR for a couple of years. I found people polite but not friendly. They let you know you were an outsider. I thought I wouldn't mind so much rain, I did. I also didn't like the summers where it stayed light till well after 9pm.

I also had a hit and run on Christmas Day the second year, thankfully someone got the license plate of the driver. Also more odd people and had strange things happen than almost 20 years in LA in a little over 2 years.

Oh, and the place I rented the previous tenant was apparently a criminal. I had two Portland cops at my door with their guns drawn. They knocked on the door saying they were the building manager and to my chagrin it was the cops with again, their guns drawn.

So much for a better way of life.

Moved back to LA.

[JohnG72]

Originally Posted by imaterry78259

Other than the coastal areas of LA and vista views, why are the homes so expensive. The housing stock is subpar to most major American cities. Take a look at the homes in Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio and compare to LA and it is just ridiculous the cost of homes in LA.

Because interest rates are near zero, there a ton of foreign investment in US real estate, particularly in urban west coast areas, and because real estate listings are not transparent as they ought to be.

[jacktravern]

Originally Posted by seain dublin

Nothing worse than the "what ifs", when you realize that time has passed you by.

I feel sorry for people like that, because it usually hits them when it is too late to do anything about it.

I hear this all the time from friends in the East Coast that hate the winters. But too scared to take that leap elsewhere. Takes courage

Originally Posted by neutrino78x

I'm guessing the cheaper place is cheap for a reason. Just going out on a limb here.

Yup. These states are cheaper for a reason. If SOuthern Cal had the same prices for rents and properties, it would be like WW2 where a good amount of the country flooded the West Coast.

Originally Posted by seain dublin

Yes, but she is in Kansas. It's flat, brutal winters, and humid summers.

But at the end of your life would you rather say "I enjoyed life" or "I lived somewhere I didn't like but I was able to buy a bigger house I didn't really need", I would go with "I enjoyed life".

I've got a bunch of family moving to the ATL area mainly to due to COL. Yeah, they are all buying property, but I swear they all live on blocks where it is pitch black or just living in Subdivisions out in the sticks. Nice homes, relatively cheap, but in dumpy areas or out in the sticks.


To the OP, the COL here is what it is for a reason. Alot of people would like to move here but the prices keep them away. I feel bad when my friends from the eastern part of the country come visit because they never wanna go home. It depends on your personal situation, if having property is Ultra-important to you, than yeah, maybe you need to not be here unless you are extremely comfortable living HOOD, on block where the lowest common denominator rules. A cheaper life in Columbus, yes, but for a reason.