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Location: On the "Left Coast", somewhere in "the Land of Fruits & Nuts"
8,852 posts, read 10,455,696 times
Reputation: 6670
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lenora
Geez, why are Californians so defensive about their state? Did I say that California was unsafe or not as safe as Maryland? Did I even mention Baltimore or Maryland? I grabbed the popcorn - I was happily waiting for NEG's response.
NEG mentioned COL in CA. You replied to her post asking her for comparisons. I wanted to clarify which costs could be included in the comparison. I really thought it would be interesting to read.
So, does this mean you're not going to compare costs with NEG? Dang it. I was really looking forward to seeing a true, direct comparison of costs between CA and NE. (Or at least parts of CA and parts of NE)
Oh, well. I guess my daughter and I can compare the COL in her part of CA to the COL in my part of Maryland. Not quite as interesting though.
Have no interest in Oregon, not my cup of tea, probably except for Portland, but that's a very expensive city to live in too and rental availabilities are very low. Surprisingly, I can entertain myself here in SoCal for not much money at all, there's lots of free stuff here too and I enjoy just exploring all the different towns especially the beach towns. It's the rents that are going crazy right now and I see no end to it anytime soon. Oh well, the adventure continues!
Salem is easy driving distance to Portland and MUCH more affordable to live. Even I can (probably) afford to live there.
I own a two-bedroom plus loft, two and a half bath townhouse with two-car garage which is worth about $340K. Of course it has no yard - just flower beds in front of each unit, but it does have a pool (not a pool for each unit, of course, but a pool shared by 26 units).
My point is that your sister's case is an extreme. When people read such examples, they may falsely conclude that the example simply represents what it costs to live in urban areas of California, whereas the correct conclusion is that's what it costs to live in some urban areas of California, namely the most expensive ones.
I hate to break the news to you, but a $340k 2 BR townhouse with no yard is also extreme. How much are your HOA fees on top of that?
If I had $340K to spend, or could qualify for that type of loan more likely, I could live in a virtual mansion nearly anywhere else in the country.
As it is, I am looking at homes in the $80k to 120K range, and am working to keep it towards the bottom of that range.
And yes, you can buy a decent home for $100K plus or minus $20K in many regions of the US, in a safe neighborhood, and without serious defects.
It won't have granite countertops and solid cherry kitchen cabinets, and it won't be considered trendy or modern. But then neither am I "trendy or modern", LOL!
I could probably manage a CA home in a place like Crescent City - where it never gets really cold, but it rarely gets really warm either. The average high for the month of July is 65.
Anywhere in CA that I could afford to live, there's a darn good reason why it's "affordable".
But the biggest reason NOT to move to CA, and to get out while the getting is good - is the water situation.
Most of southern CA is arid, and some of it - where people are living and watering their lawns - is actually desert climate. The water supply system has been stressed to the max for decades. Population keeps going up. Drought in an arid or desert region is super-bad.
Snowpack, relied upon for recharging reservoirs in many areas of CA, has been and will continue to be unreliable for some time to come.
Things will become increasingly unpleasant in many areas of CA over the next 40 years or so.
In any case, as a retirement destination, most of the pleasant places to live in CA are too expensive for most folks.
Some of the more affordable and less objectionable places one might live in CA are around Merced, Chowchilla, and Fairmead (which is basically right next to Chowchilla).
There are probably a few other places. But climate change is not doing an already overstressed environment any favors. Most of these places get 12" to 15" of precipitation a year at best. Be aware.
Location: On the "Left Coast", somewhere in "the Land of Fruits & Nuts"
8,852 posts, read 10,455,696 times
Reputation: 6670
Quote:
Originally Posted by NeonGecko
I hate to break the news to you, but a $340k 2 BR townhouse with no yard is also extreme. How much are your HOA fees on top of that?
If I had $340K to spend, or could qualify for that type of loan more likely, I could live in a virtual mansion nearly anywhere else in the country.
As it is, I am looking at homes in the $80k to 120K range, and am working to keep it towards the bottom of that range.
And yes, you can buy a decent home for $100K plus or minus $20K in many regions of the US, in a safe neighborhood, and without serious defects.
It won't have granite countertops and solid cherry kitchen cabinets, and it won't be considered trendy or modern. But then neither am I "trendy or modern", LOL!
I could probably manage a CA home in a place like Crescent City - where it never gets really cold, but it rarely gets really warm either. The average high for the month of July is 65.
Anywhere in CA that I could afford to live, there's a darn good reason why it's "affordable".
But the biggest reason NOT to move to CA, and to get out while the getting is good - is the water situation.
Most of southern CA is arid, and some of it - where people are living and watering their lawns - is actually desert climate. The water supply system has been stressed to the max for decades. Population keeps going up. Drought in an arid or desert region is super-bad.
Snowpack, relied upon for recharging reservoirs in many areas of CA, has been and will continue to be unreliable for some time to come.
Things will become increasingly unpleasant in many areas of CA over the next 40 years or so.
In any case, as a retirement destination, most of the pleasant places to live in CA are too expensive for most folks.
Some of the more affordable and less objectionable places one might live in CA are around Merced, Chowchilla, and Fairmead (which is basically right next to Chowchilla).
There are probably a few other places. But climate change is not doing an already overstressed environment any favors. Most of these places get 12" to 15" of precipitation a year at best. Be aware.
It's kinda hard to imagine that almost any part of CA wouldn't be some sort of an improvement, especially for someone now living in "zip code 20011" (aka WA, DC)…with a higher COL than NYC, lousy weather, and Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed?!
I was simply stating what an $800K home would go for in New England in similar socioeconomic community. In my own state there are plenty of $800K homes, generally around Boston. But hers translates to about $250—$300K here; I've done the research because she keeps trying to talk us into moving out there. .....................
I'm sorry I didn't make my point clear. The words "an $800K home" are meaningless, even within the urban areas of California, because a home of that value could be small like your sister's or much larger and quite nice, depending on (among other things) the snob appeal of the neighborhood. There is just too much variation involved.
As it is, I am looking at homes in the $80k to 120K range, and am working to keep it towards the bottom of that range.
And yes, you can buy a decent home for $100K plus or minus $20K in many regions of the US, in a safe neighborhood, and without serious defects.
And this is why it's a good thing the U.S. is so large and varied. I'd rather die than live somewhere in an $80K house. Been there, grew up and left for the big city. But for those who want that - great! Different strokes for different folks.
With a bit of elbow grease, one person's cheap spot can become another's palace.
With a lot of homework, due diligence, and flat out LUCK...one could probably set down roots anywhere & make it work both financially & in terms of personal happiness. I don't think the weather in D.C. is so bad...but then, I just survived a hellacious winter in upstate NY.
But there's one thing I know I wouldn't want to rely on: the dwindling water supply in CA. Although I'd be a damn happy clam to spend a few weeks there now & again. A California vacation is still on my bucket list. So for now I will continue to waffle between CT & NC.
With a bit of elbow grease, one person's cheap spot can become another's palace.
With a lot of homework, due diligence, and flat out LUCK...one could probably set down roots anywhere & make it work both financially & in terms of personal happiness. I don't think the weather in D.C. is so bad...but then, I just survived a hellacious winter in upstate NY.
But there's one thing I know I wouldn't want to rely on: the dwindling water supply in CA. Although I'd be a damn happy clam to spend a few weeks there now & again. A California vacation is still on my bucket list. So for now I will continue to waffle between CT & NC.
Dwindling water supply in California..... and the high danger of fires!
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