Will $85k/yr Cut it For a Family of 4 in Sacramento? (San Francisco: credit, how much)

[NorCal Dude]

Originally Posted by ryuns

My bad--you did say FAMILY income in the original post. Good job trying to make the OP feel worse! Household is a much more kind comparison.

Median family income simply gives you an idea oh what other families are earnig relative to a position on a bell curve. Pretty basic.

Median house hold income is useful too. But it throws things off cause you get the people who have no children and thus have less costs, the empty nesters who have no children, the retirees who may be financially stable but live on fixed income-pensions, Social Security and such.

Median family income gives someone with a family a good handle on where the middle of the road is as far as what families are earning.

[scorpio516]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Here's a trick: check out the suburbs. Some parts of Sac'to are on Pacific Gas & Electric for utilities, other parts are on Sac'to Municipal Utility District. The difference in utility costs between those two is HUGE! You want to be on SMUD, not PG&E. It'll make a significant difference on your monthly bill.

You didn't say if you were planning to buy or rent. DO NOT BUY in CA, unless you're wealthy. You'll be throwing too much money down the black hole of property taxes.

Roseville has neither. We've got Roseville Electric, administered by the city.

If you think property taxes are high here, never, ever move to the midwest. Placer county property taxes are quite cheap in comparison. For example, a house assessed at $250,000 in Newcastle will have a bill about $4000. In metro Milwaukee, it would be over $6000/yr. And they could be almost identical houses (nice Milwaukee suburbs costs are almost identical to metro Sac in Placer county)

[ABQ1]

Originally Posted by NorCal Dude

Well for one you should not drive to the bay area from sac or vise versa. That would be a commute that is not feasible, are you going to be working in the sac area

Sacramento's cost of living is reasonably on par with the national average. Depending one where you come from in the country it could strike you as cheap, pricey, or normal.

Overall assuming you can make a downpayment and get a good loan and rate you could buy in a reasonably safe middle class area. You wont live in the best of the best and you will not have the same bang for your buck outwest.

But you should be able to find a decent home on that income. Given the income I would suggest Roseville or Fair Oaks. Some people prefer to be in diverse areas so if that is your case as well you can throw south parts of Elk Grove in there.

No way! I plan to live/work Sacramento. I was looking for similar position in the bay area which obviously pay more in comparison but the housing cost is out of this world.

Yes. It looks like Sacramento is on par with many cities it size. I am from Houston though and housing is way cheaper but the humidity is a killer.

Thank you NorCal Dude! Yes, I definitely have to be in a diverse area for among others, my kids' exposure to other people as well as the restuarant variety.

[NorCal Dude]

Originally Posted by ABQ1

No way! I plan to live/work Sacramento. I was looking for similar position in the bay area which obviously pay more in comparison but the housing cost is out of this world.

Yes. It looks like Sacramento is on par with many cities it size. I am from Houston though and housing is way cheaper but the humidity is a killer.

Thank you NorCal Dude! Yes, I definitely have to be in a diverse area for among others, my kids' exposure to other people as well as the restuarant variety.

Well glad I mentioned diversity then. The south parts of elk grove would be the best in that regard. The areas around Franklin High and Pleasant Grove high are the best for elk grove

[Chelsunny6]

So, my mom wants to relocate somewhere near Sacramento, CA from Portland, OR.
I'm not so sure that it's a good idea since she really doesn't make THAT much money (about $1,500 a month) and is taking my 6 year old brother and 18 year old sister. My sis is planning on getting a job though when they move and thinks they'll be okay as long as they get a really cheap apartment there. Here in Portland it's not so bad, but we really don't know much about living in California at all.
Any advice on where a good place would be that's not expensive and near a good school for my brother? Oh and also where the crime rates aren't too high.
Thanks.

[NorCal Dude]

Originally Posted by Chelsunny6

So, my mom wants to relocate somewhere near Sacramento, CA from Portland, OR.
I'm not so sure that it's a good idea since she really doesn't make THAT much money (about $1,500 a month) and is taking my 6 year old brother and 18 year old sister. My sis is planning on getting a job though when they move and thinks they'll be okay as long as they get a really cheap apartment there. Here in Portland it's not so bad, but we really don't know much about living in California at all.
Any advice on where a good place would be that's not expensive and near a good school for my brother? Oh and also where the crime rates aren't too high.
Thanks.

Is the 1500 a month your mom gets from a job or pension or what? I would not move to Sac unless you have a plan to bring money in to keep food on the table.

As it stands a family of 3 living on 1500 month is just simply not feasible out here, unless you want to live in a really bad area.

[ElectroPlumber]

Originally Posted by ABQ1

No way! I plan to live/work Sacramento. I was looking for similar position in the bay area which obviously pay more in comparison but the housing cost is out of this world.

Yes. It looks like Sacramento is on par with many cities it size. I am from Houston though and housing is way cheaper but the humidity is a killer.

Thank you NorCal Dude! Yes, I definitely have to be in a diverse area for among others, my kids' exposure to other people as well as the restuarant variety.

I was thinking you might be from Houston. So many of my friends and family in Texas who ridiculed me when I moved to CA (and the weather was a big factor in my case too) are now calling me and asking about the economy, housing, etc. in CA. Also seeing a lot of inquires on this forum too.

That last summer in Houston pushed a lot of people to think about moving. I don't blame them or you. I hope you can find something.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by ABQ1

I am from Houston though and housing is way cheaper but the humidity is a killer.

Sac'to is also humid, due to the Sacramento River. Do your research in this regard. It's also prone to getting thick ground fog under certain conditions.

[Malloric]

Originally Posted by ElectroPlumber

They live in small apartments or low-income, not really desirable areas.

Home prices have declined tremendously in a lot of the neighborhoods here. The home we own was purchased in 2004 by the previous owner for almost exactly double the price of what we paid for it in 2008 after it was foreclosed on.

So, unfortunately it's not a matter of getting any relief--that's already happened. In fact, it looks like the market is edging back up. It's just supply and demand. There are still a lot of people who want to live in CA, regardless of how people in other parts of the country run the state down.

Just curious--are you coming from Texas? It seems like I'm starting to see a lot of people from Texas starting to look at CA. I'm a native Texan who moved here when everyone else was moving to Texas.

Well, With Sac that's not necessarily true. Elk Grove is an example. It's not as desireable or as high-income as Roseville or EDH, but it's pretty decent. You can find houses for $175k there, which is $800 a month w/ property taxes.

Sac is a lot more affordable on its incomes than the Bay Area.

[Malloric]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Sac'to is also humid, due to the Sacramento River. Do your research in this regard. It's also prone to getting thick ground fog under certain conditions.

During the six months of summer the relative humidity is in the low 30s. Houston is up in the high 60s. We do get Tule fog which is massively overplayed, imo.