About moving to Sacramento (Elk Grove, Oak Park: violent crime, homes, university)

[Guingirl]

We just sold our home in Natomas and moved to the Fort Worth area (with my Mom currently). The look and feel of Sacramento has definately changed over the last few years specifically after 2001 and the dot bomb out in Silicon Valley. We had a huge growth and it has changed the landscape in many ways.

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[Lmasters]

Originally Posted by renngrrl

Before I was married I lived in midtown and in Woodlake. We both have very stable, professional careers and I'll be tossing away 7 yrs of seniority to relocate.

With home prices at 7.4 times the median income, I have no clue how anyone can buy a home now. 2.5 or 3 times the median is what is considered traditional. This just happened in the last 7 yrs. Sacramento was affordable and friendly but those days are gone.

BWT 3x median what the rest of the nation is like unless you live in one of those places where people from CA already fled to and ran up prices. I plan on going where those people didn't go.

I wonder myself how anyone can buy a house here, and for those trying to raise children have to take the chance hoping that one spouse doesn't lose there job, concerning that it takes two or more incomes to pay for the house.

My husband and I have been looking to buy in the last four months and can't find anything clean enough or big enough to buy. We have rented the house we are in for the last eight years. I guess we will have to keep renting untill we get kick out or a house comes to market we can buy.

I guess there is no leaving home at 18 anymore.

[renngrrl]

There was an article in USA Today that said that 1 in 5 homes for sale now in Sacramento is a short sale. Apparently not everyone who was buying could actually afford it.

I know of so many people who are trying to sell and leave the area. Those who can't sell are listing the property with a management company and hoping they can rent their homes out until values come back up. As a result, rents are coming down although they are still far from affordable. For what I am paying for a 2 br condo rental, I can purchase a 3/2 on a huge lot in almost any part of the US except the bubbly sections.

This is all bound to get ugly. I foresee an increase in crime and taxes as a result of this coming demographic shift.

[Lmasters]

Originally Posted by renngrrl

There was an article in USA Today that said that 1 in 5 homes for sale now in Sacramento is a short sale. Apparently not everyone who was buying could actually afford it.

I know of so many people who are trying to sell and leave the area. Those who can't sell are listing the property with a management company and hoping they can rent their homes out until values come back up. As a result, rents are coming down although they are still far from affordable. For what I am paying for a 2 br condo rental, I can purchase a 3/2 on a huge lot in almost any part of the US except the bubbly sections.

This is all bound to get ugly. I foresee an increase in crime and taxes as a result of this coming demographic shift.

I think I read that article, I believe they were talking about Elk Grove?

I see a lot of bad things happening also, like a lot of people in the streets or just leaving there homes and leaving the state. A lot of people did leave the state in 1990. I think this time around will be worse.

[chitowner]

Lmasters ,is it really that bad in Sac? Is it just the housing prices that are driving some people out?

[renngrrl]

**crossposting here since I was using lots of Sacramento data**

There are tax liens and foreclosures coming. However, even the banks are putting these properties back on the market at inflated values.

Here is the kicker regarding housing in CA. People are not basing their home purchases on 30% of gross, which is traditional, but 40 and 50% of median household. If either spouse looses a job, they straight to distressed buyer. Housing prices need to come back down to 1999 levels before they make any economic sense.

Another poster discussed wages and I'll elaborate farther. Wages in central CA cities such as Sacramento are less then in many Midwestern cities. Did you know that Lexington, KY has a higher median wage then Sacramento? And Lexington is gorgeous. The people are nice, they have a great traffic plan, less crime, and the air quality is superior to most of CA.

Sacramento Median household income, 1999 $37,049
Nashville Median household income, 1999 $39,232
Lexington Median household income, 1999 $39,813
Raleigh Median household income, 1999 $46,612
Durham Median household income, 1999 $41,160
Dallas Median household income, 1999 $37,628
Austin Median household income, 1999 $42,689
Des Moines Median household income, 1999 $38,408
Columbus Median household income, 1999 $37,897
Albuquerque Median household income, 1999 $38,272

Salaries have not risen in the central valley much. The only employment increases we’ve seen were all RE or construction related and those jobs are leaving. I began looking to relocate and found that even today, salaries for my type of employment are often 5 to 10% higher outside of CA then in Sacramento. I keep bringing up Sac just because it’s the largest of the “inexpensive” locales in CA and it happens to be there I live.

I know someone will mention the weather. Unless you’ve spent a summer in inland CA, don’t assume it’s all wonderful. I’ve been all over the US during summers and frankly it’s much different. The only places that are different are the coasts - affordability there is now down to less then 1% of the population.

Now take all that data above and look at home prices. Compare what you get per sqft. for the structure and for overall acreage.

Staying in CA has begun to feel like an economical death sentence for many CA families. Can you blame us for wanting to leave? I predict we'll see a reverse dustbowl outmigration from CA for the next 3 yrs at least.

[Lmasters]

Originally Posted by chitowner

Lmasters ,is it really that bad in Sac? Is it just the housing prices that are driving some people out?

First off let us talk about downtown Sacramento, if you were to interview a lot of people they would say they don't go down there unless they had to work, why because it is very run down, dirty, and have many people sleeping in the streets, and crime. The rest of the cities are just older without to much to do, unless you want to hang out at the river. I myself don't like the weather, it goes from cold and wet to hot to dry. The freeways are scary, fill with speeders and probally shooters. We already talked about the cost of living here also, you need to have at lease a $80,000 income just to meet your monthy bills. I also don't care for shopping here.

[silvia landers]

wow........hi everyone.......i entered here hoping to find the great things i'd be looking forward in sacramento....my husband's career has just taken a great turn...and relocated him into sacramento......and i am here in the beautiful tropics of south america, in santa cruz, bolivia, wondering what on earth am i going to be doing when i get to sacramento? my professional life is all around social development and community development....is sacramento really that bad? as i read everyone's comments, i thought maybe we could start a club of unhappy residents and begin changing some of the things we do not like, and maybe build, start, teach, shake and bake sacramento and make it place we could all enjoy!....wow.......i won't be able to sleep tonight.....and you just don't know how much i love my husband to have him go through these stages by himself....

thank you for any comments, if you could give me an idea of the "nice, best, better, location to live", it would help making some decisions.

chau....and gracias!

[looking4home]

Don't listen to these doom-and-gloom posters. Sac still has a lot of things going for it. Yes, housing has risen dramatically over the past 7 or 8 years, and now it is in a "correction" phase, which is a normal thing. As for those who over-extended themselves, or bought with zero down payments, etc. they should have known better, and looked to the recent past for proof they were making a mistake.

Sacramento has many nice suburbs. If you continue to read several threads on here, you will find out which those are. I don't know where your husband will be working, but you can't really go wrong if you move to nearby Placer County , Folsom or El Dorado Hills, all are about 1/2 hour to 45 min. away from dowtown Sac, depending on the traffic on the freeway. Sacramento isn't, and never will be, anyone's idea of a cultural mecca, but the suburbs that I have mentioned are nice places to raise a family. And I happen to like the weather here. It never gets that cold in the winter (except for this year) but we do get a lot of rain until about April, and then the warm weather starts. It gets HOT in the summer, but no humidity. The warm and balmy nights are great, and if you have a pool, or access to one, it can be heaven.

[cw68]

There are great areas closer to downtown, too. Land Park and East Sac are great, and Curtis Park has some great qualities too.