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We're taking a trip this January to see family in the Bay Area and in LA.... and driving in-between to look at properties/land inbetween the two.
My hubby thinks that Cambria may be a little too quiet for us.... and he doesn't want to have to drive 30 miles to get to the nearest Home Depot.... We may or maynot find what we want - but it's a start.
California is always last on people's lists - because people think it's too expensive. It's not. It IS home for my husband who was raised all around LA..... and it was my second home for 15 years.
Everyone wants to live in places that are "on the rise" and on the BEST PLACES to retire list. I look at them - PROVO? Are you kidding me? and Madison, WI - my actual hometown which I love but cannot fathom those hibernating/isolating winters......
My thought is California is where we WANT to live. What can we do to make it happen....affordably. My husband thinks we can build a house for less than what we can buy it for... he may be right (his father built two homes in Los Angeles - from scratch... he's been "in the business" and know the ropes). Land between SFO and LA is plentiful.... and it's not a chain of "megalopolis" like it is on the East Coast or in the Midwest - yet. If we own our house outright - the taxes will be manageable. I've looked for months at the property taxes from Monterey and all parts inland - to San Luis Obispo....and they are way more reasonable than Big City, California....where people have to live if they have to work and support a family.
I'd rather catch a wave in California when it's on the downlow.... than try and climb atop one of the "best places" if it's not where I want to live to retire.
Nice to read your rational and objective thoughts about California. I get so tired of the California bashing, although there hasn't been any (yet) in this particular thread.
I retired to Alabama from Florida. My property taxes are $200.00 a year on a 100K house. My utilities avg $200 a month or less. My HOI is less than $600 a year.
The town I live in is very safe and the people are friendly. There are lots of things to do in this area.
I moved from Tampa due to high taxes, ins and utilities.
Nice to read your rational and objective thoughts about California. I get so tired of the California bashing, although there hasn't been any (yet) in this particular thread.
Thanks. We, my husband in particular, have high standards....
The list of things we want in retirement - are all satisfied by living in CA.... close to family and friends, great weather, familiarity with the area, to name a few.
We've been fortunate in our lives not to be hurt (much) by the recession nor by whatever life has thrown at us. If we can find a way to do this, we will.
I didn't choose my location because it was cheap but a retiree could live very comfortably here. I can tell you I have more discretionary money in retirement than I had when I was working and making a lot more money simply because it's cheap to live here.
1. East Tennessee is fair/festival happy. You could go to a different themed one just about every weekend between April and the end of October. Free to get in. Themes vary from town history, opera, dogwoods, tomatoes, moonpies, bluegrass, storytelling, fish fry, arts & crafts, fine arts, antiques, air and car shows, etc. Almost all towns have Christmas Parades, most have fireworks on July 4 and we all have County Fairs.
2. All of our state parks are free. I've been to 9 of them. No pay to park, either. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is free, too. The parks have a lot of different programs run by the rangers including wildlife and wildflower walks and fall foilage boat rides. Free arboretum.
3. Tennessee is very history oriented. I think this may be true for all of the south. There are several "Living History" type events. Last year I went to a Civil War re-enactment (with people in period costume at the booths.) I've been to a Garrison weekend at Fort Loudoun (French and Indian War and life inside the Fort) and my own town has an annual WWII re-enactment since it had a big role in WWII.
4. Free concerts in the park. Tennessee is very eclectic, music wise. You'd know this if you've seen our state's quarter. In the west (Memphis side of the state) is the roots of rock and roll (Elvis) and Beale St (Blues). In Middle Tennessee (Nashville part of the state) it's country music and East Tennessee it's bluegrass and gospel. Of course, you can hear all kinds of music throughout the state.
5. Movie theater tickets (matinee any day) - $4.75 in my town. All day Monday $4.75 for seniors.
6. Lunch out - several restaurants offer offer sit down lunches for under $10 including tax.
7. No toll roads/bridges.
8. No state income tax but we do have a sales tax and a tax on dividends and interest.
9. Low property taxes.
10. I have a twice as big apartment as I had in MD - 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and my rent is under $1000. If I was still living in MD in the same 1 bedroom apartment my rent would be $1500 - $1600 now. Rent is typically raised $10 - $15 at each lease signing here where as when I lived in NY and MD my rent went up $50 at each lease signing. My apartment complex is actually one of the more expensive ones, too.
11. My electric bill (all electric home) runs from $40 - $80. It was double in MD for a smaller apartment plus I wasn't home weekdays except at night. Now I'm home more often using it.
12. It cost $24 to register your car. No inspection except in some big cities (emissions).
13. My retiree learning program costs $100 per year. I can take 5 classes per semester and there are 3 semesters. When classes aren't filled you can take more than 5. We don't pay to park at the college that gives us classroom and office space. Actually, in my town you don't pay to park anywhere.
14. My gasoline is cheaper than MD. I know because I usually go there once a year to visit. Right now my gas is $3.54 (Shell) and I hear the national average is $3.70 something.
15. My town hosts rowing regattas - colleges come from all over to compete. Free for observers.
16. I don't see a difference in food prices. Food is cheaper here that when I lived in MD but we have a tax on food so it's a wash.
I didn't choose my location because it was cheap but a retiree could live very comfortably here. I can tell you I have more discretionary money in retirement than I had when I was working and making a lot more money simply because it's cheap to live here........
That's all I can think of right now.
Another awesome boots-on-the-ground report. Thanks for taking the time to post this. Sooo much more helpful than the purely statistical or the "best lists" articles.
There are plenty of places in Southern California a little more inland from the coast with much more reasonable real estate values than Coronado Island. Of course those places will have a little more summer heat, but that heat is not nearly as brutal as the humid heat of much of the rest of the nation or as the dry but extreme heat of places like Phoenix.
It sort of skews the whole discussion to pick an example like an upscale, highly sought-after, chi-chi place like Coronado Island. For one thing it gives non-Californians the impression that Southern California real estate in general is like the example you cited, and that just isn't true. The truth is bad enough (meaning expensive enough) without giving the extreme examples.
We're about 15 miles inland from the ocean here in NW Los Angeles and the heat in the 1st half of Aug was 100 F most of that time. Aug and Sept are dreadful. Sad thing about So Cal is that if you want to be anywhere near where it stays moderate year round it's going to cost you. Price of paradise, climate-wise.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gandalara
Go over to the Arizona forum and read the threads about Sierra Vista
It may look like desert, but it's at a higher elevation and it's much cooler.
Quote:
Regional health concerns
Residents and health professionals became concerned after observing an elevated number of leukemia and related childhood cancer cases being reported in Sierra Vista since 1995.
Too small in any case and too isolated. Thanks for the suggestion, though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by willow wind
I don't know what your bottom line is financially but you can go up the coast a ways and find that same great climate for more reasonable prices.
Look at San Luis Obispo, and the towns just to the west of it, as some of the central coast is decently priced for CA and not all of it has the marine layer of air. Even in places like Ventura you can find a single family home for under $ 400,000 and a condo for less.
Just get out a map, go as far north as Cambria . Then jot down the name of every coastal town and slightly inland and start looking on homes.com, trulia.com, realtor.com, etc. and see what is out there. Probably scratch off Santa Barbara which is also very expensive.
There is life outside of the super expensive areas of San Diego and the lovely climate goes far up the coast.
We often drive the 101, this last time a few weeks ago up to Cambria to escape the heat but only for two days. Probably better to take Amtrak up to SLO. Lots of nice little towns along the coast between SB and Cambria, most notably Pismo Beach and Morro Bay which we love. Always the same problem though, no hospital nearby for emergencies.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mlb
My thought is California is where we WANT to live. What can we do to make it happen....affordably. My husband thinks we can build a house for less than what we can buy it for... he may be right (his father built two homes in Los Angeles - from scratch... he's been "in the business" and know the ropes). Land between SFO and LA is plentiful.... and it's not a chain of "megalopolis" like it is on the East Coast or in the Midwest - yet. If we own our house outright - the taxes will be manageable. I've looked for months at the property taxes from Monterey and all parts inland - to San Luis Obispo....and they are way more reasonable than Big City, California....where people have to live if they have to work and support a family.
I'd rather catch a wave in California when it's on the downlow.... than try and climb atop one of the "best places" if it's not where I want to live to retire.
I've thought of building myself and did build a BIG house (3800 sq.ft) 3 story-downslope back in 1991. Took ten years off my life dealing with the Building Dept. Don't build in any city with a pop. of more than 100,000- the bureaucracy will kill you. The standards for earthquake safety are crazy. Land is also very expensive out here even in central Cali because everybody thinks that just because it's California that automatically raises the price tag by $100,000 for a vacant lot. And materials and labor are out of sight too, making it less expensive to just buy something in this down real estate market and without all the headaches of dealing with incompetent or downright crooked contractors.
I didn't choose my location because it was cheap but a retiree could live very comfortably here. I can tell you I have more discretionary money in retirement than I had when I was working and making a lot more money simply because it's cheap to live here.
1. East Tennessee is fair/festival happy. You could go to a different themed one just about every weekend between April and the end of October. Free to get in. Themes vary from town history, opera, dogwoods, tomatoes, moonpies, bluegrass, storytelling, fish fry, arts & crafts, fine arts, antiques, air and car shows, etc. Almost all towns have Christmas Parades, most have fireworks on July 4 and we all have County Fairs.
2. All of our state parks are free. I've been to 9 of them. No pay to park, either. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is free, too. The parks have a lot of different programs run by the rangers including wildlife and wildflower walks and fall foilage boat rides. Free arboretum.
3. Tennessee is very history oriented. I think this may be true for all of the south. There are several "Living History" type events. Last year I went to a Civil War re-enactment (with people in period costume at the booths.) I've been to a Garrison weekend at Fort Loudoun (French and Indian War and life inside the Fort) and my own town has an annual WWII re-enactment since it had a big role in WWII.
4. Free concerts in the park. Tennessee is very eclectic, music wise. You'd know this if you've seen our state's quarter. In the west (Memphis side of the state) is the roots of rock and roll (Elvis) and Beale St (Blues). In Middle Tennessee (Nashville part of the state) it's country music and East Tennessee it's bluegrass and gospel. Of course, you can hear all kinds of music throughout the state.
5. Movie theater tickets (matinee any day) - $4.75 in my town. All day Monday $4.75 for seniors.
6. Lunch out - several restaurants offer offer sit down lunches for under $10 including tax.
7. No toll roads/bridges.
8. No state income tax but we do have a sales tax and a tax on dividends and interest.
9. Low property taxes.
10. I have a twice as big apartment as I had in MD - 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and my rent is under $1000. If I was still living in MD in the same 1 bedroom apartment my rent would be $1500 - $1600 now. Rent is typically raised $10 - $15 at each lease signing here where as when I lived in NY and MD my rent went up $50 at each lease signing. My apartment complex is actually one of the more expensive ones, too.
11. My electric bill (all electric home) runs from $40 - $80. It was double in MD for a smaller apartment plus I wasn't home weekdays except at night. Now I'm home more often using it.
12. It cost $24 to register your car. No inspection except in some big cities (emissions).
13. My retiree learning program costs $100 per year. I can take 5 classes per semester and there are 3 semesters. When classes aren't filled you can take more than 5. We don't pay to park at the college that gives us classroom and office space. Actually, in my town you don't pay to park anywhere.
14. My gasoline is cheaper than MD. I know because I usually go there once a year to visit. Right now my gas is $3.54 (Shell) and I hear the national average is $3.70 something.
15. My town hosts rowing regattas - colleges come from all over to compete. Free for observers.
16. I don't see a difference in food prices. Food is cheaper here that when I lived in MD but we have a tax on food so it's a wash.
I didn't choose my location because it was cheap but a retiree could live very comfortably here. I can tell you I have more discretionary money in retirement than I had when I was working and making a lot more money simply because it's cheap to live here.
1. East Tennessee is fair/festival happy. You could go to a different themed one just about every weekend between April and the end of October. Free to get in. Themes vary from town history, opera, dogwoods, tomatoes, moonpies, bluegrass, storytelling, fish fry, arts & crafts, fine arts, antiques, air and car shows, etc. Almost all towns have Christmas Parades, most have fireworks on July 4 and we all have County Fairs.
2. All of our state parks are free. I've been to 9 of them. No pay to park, either. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is free, too. The parks have a lot of different programs run by the rangers including wildlife and wildflower walks and fall foilage boat rides. Free arboretum.
3. Tennessee is very history oriented. I think this may be true for all of the south. There are several "Living History" type events. Last year I went to a Civil War re-enactment (with people in period costume at the booths.) I've been to a Garrison weekend at Fort Loudoun (French and Indian War and life inside the Fort) and my own town has an annual WWII re-enactment since it had a big role in WWII.
4. Free concerts in the park. Tennessee is very eclectic, music wise. You'd know this if you've seen our state's quarter. In the west (Memphis side of the state) is the roots of rock and roll (Elvis) and Beale St (Blues). In Middle Tennessee (Nashville part of the state) it's country music and East Tennessee it's bluegrass and gospel. Of course, you can hear all kinds of music throughout the state.
5. Movie theater tickets (matinee any day) - $4.75 in my town. All day Monday $4.75 for seniors.
6. Lunch out - several restaurants offer offer sit down lunches for under $10 including tax.
7. No toll roads/bridges.
8. No state income tax but we do have a sales tax and a tax on dividends and interest.
9. Low property taxes.
10. I have a twice as big apartment as I had in MD - 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and my rent is under $1000. If I was still living in MD in the same 1 bedroom apartment my rent would be $1500 - $1600 now. Rent is typically raised $10 - $15 at each lease signing here where as when I lived in NY and MD my rent went up $50 at each lease signing. My apartment complex is actually one of the more expensive ones, too.
11. My electric bill (all electric home) runs from $40 - $80. It was double in MD for a smaller apartment plus I wasn't home weekdays except at night. Now I'm home more often using it.
12. It cost $24 to register your car. No inspection except in some big cities (emissions).
13. My retiree learning program costs $100 per year. I can take 5 classes per semester and there are 3 semesters. When classes aren't filled you can take more than 5. We don't pay to park at the college that gives us classroom and office space. Actually, in my town you don't pay to park anywhere.
14. My gasoline is cheaper than MD. I know because I usually go there once a year to visit. Right now my gas is $3.54 (Shell) and I hear the national average is $3.70 something.
15. My town hosts rowing regattas - colleges come from all over to compete. Free for observers.
16. I don't see a difference in food prices. Food is cheaper here that when I lived in MD but we have a tax on food so it's a wash.
17. There are many clubs.
That's all I can think of right now.
We have many of those things here.
#1 Oh, yes.
#4 Same here.
#5 Same here
#6 $6 to $8 here.
#7 This state has tolls 4 hours away in the urban area, but the majority of the state has none.
#8 I would hate to live anywhere that I had to pay income taxes.
#9 It is hard to beat low property taxes.
#10 2 bdrm 2 bath here runs $500 to $700.
#11 Same here
#12 It varies here with how new a car is, I pay $15.
#13 we have a program like that but I am not sure if they charge or how much.
Thanks. We, my husband in particular, have high standards....
The list of things we want in retirement - are all satisfied by living in CA.... close to family and friends, great weather, familiarity with the area, to name a few.
We've been fortunate in our lives not to be hurt (much) by the recession nor by whatever life has thrown at us. If we can find a way to do this, we will.
MLB, if you do decide to build a retirement home in California I hope you will keep us posted. I would love to hear all the details about a project like this, and especially the various towns between LA and SF that you consider. We spent a little bit of time traveling between Santa Maria, Solvang, Santa Cruz, and the towns around Monterey. The only town we found that was affordable for us seemed to be Salinas--but we may have given up too early. It will be extremely cool to follow your journey and to read about the towns we overlooked, especially the ones that turned out to be better places. I can believe they're out there--after all Big Bear is reasonable, so other places could be too. California is a lovely state and I can definitely understand the desire to retire there.
We're about 15 miles inland from the ocean here in NW Los Angeles and the heat in the 1st half of Aug was 100 F most of that time. Aug and Sept are dreadful. Sad thing about So Cal is that if you want to be anywhere near where it stays moderate year round it's going to cost you. Price of paradise, climate-wise.
yah. My inlaws live in the San Fernando Valley. I cannot think of a worse place to retire... but they love it.
I don't know how far our journey will take us - my husband is determined....to make this work. I will report back (if I can remember - after we look at property this January)... I suspect that the costs will be insurmountable. And I KNOW from building code/compliance - (I work for a city) ... that the bureaucracy in many towns is a PITA to say the least.
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