Californians moving to TX (Houston, Dallas: apartment, rent, mortgage)

[montevista1]

Alot of people from L.A. will not like San Antonio because they are too liberal.

Most people in L.A. like Austin. People who move from CA to TX are doing so to get of the rate race of trying to pay a million dollar mortgage or several thousand dollar rent payment a month!

You can rent a nice apartment in Monte Vista for 1,000. In L.A. 1,000 gets you in a gang infested area or an area that houses mainly hispanic immigrants.

[Miranda2]

Im a Californian who just moved here.
We are all free to move anywhere in the US right? I left Calif. because Im going to be retiring in less than 10 years. I'll still work, but part time. In Calif, unless you make a combined income of at least $150,000, you will be struggling to pay a 30 yr mortgage, pay for food, utilities etc. I had a lot of health problems caused by stress from working hard and never getting ahead.
And no....we didnt have a $500,000 home!!

[Susyq25]

Originally Posted by montevista1

Alot of people from L.A. will not like San Antonio because they are too liberal.

Most people in L.A. like Austin. People who move from CA to TX are doing so to get of the rate race of trying to pay a million dollar mortgage or several thousand dollar rent payment a month!

You can rent a nice apartment in Monte Vista for 1,000. In L.A. 1,000 gets you in a gang infested area or an area that houses mainly hispanic immigrants.

So what's your point?

[montevista1]

I applaud the fact that you moved out of California! I am paying 1,000 dollars a month for a 1 bedroom!

I am trying to get a 2bedroom apartment in a good area and I am being quoted about 1700 a month, for this price i can get a house in San Antonio!

CA weather is great, but its overrated.

[montevista1]

Where can you get a home in L.A. for 500K?

It starts here at about 600-650? 500K is what you would get in Compton for a small house.

[montevista1]

why did you choose to move to San Antonio?

[pga5]

I used to tell my friends San Antonio is Los Angeles, or even worse, Houston in the making. Now they tell me we're already there.
I lived in the Bay Area of California (Fremont) before moving here (military pcs). Both locations have their good points. San Antonio is less expensive for some things, like housing and fuel, for sure. When it comes to crime, San Antonio is more dangerous. I never had to worry about someone invading my home, or stealing my car in Fremont (it is about the safest city in the US), but I couldn't afford to buy a house there. San Antonio is a way better place to raise a family IMO...the Bay Area didn't have the values I was looking for...namely, materialism gone mad.
Eventually San Antonio is going to have issues caused by a lack of civic planning and a government that tends to place commercial development ahead of anything...like people really aspire to low level service economy jobs. The lack of open space is already an issue. Water usage will eventually put a damper on growth, but until then, urban sprawl will continue unabated.

[montevista1]

San Antonio is not L.A. Are you kidding me. L.A.'s housing is apprx 4X the amount as San Antonio ( eventhough your taxes are X2) If you need a good school district in L.A. you will pay a million plus for a house. In San Antonio something good would cost 200-250K. Traffic, it takes me an hour to drive 10 miles to work. In San Antonio the same drive would be 20-30 minutes.

[pga5]

Originally Posted by montevista1

San Antonio is not L.A. Are you kidding me. L.A.'s housing is apprx 4X the amount as San Antonio ( eventhough your taxes are X2) If you need a good school district in L.A. you will pay a million plus for a house. In San Antonio something good would cost 200-250K. Traffic, it takes me an hour to drive 10 miles to work. In San Antonio the same drive would be 20-30 minutes.

My wife drives 15 miles up the NW 410 Loop at 7:15am to get to work by 8. Her commute is closer to yours than the one you describe here. And like I said, I couldn't get a house in the Bay Area, but I have a rather nice one here. Housing is expensive in California without a doubt...if you can find it. But the issues here are becoming similar. A poor public transportation system, air pollution (exceeding the maximum number of bad air days will eventually cause smog inspection for the greater San Antonio metro area), eventual water issues, lack of civic foresight when it comes to planning communities, and expanding low wage jobs...most businesses expanding here are in the retail-service industry which doesn't exactly teem with high-paying jobs. Places like the Toyota plant are much more the exception than the rule.
The benefits of living here are good. Since wages are generally lower, the housing costs are going to be less. A job is easy to find...providing you know someone. Most day-to-day life items here are less. People here are certainly more friendly than on the West Coast. But one day, there will have to be a reckoning with those major issues...this city is projected to have a population of over 2 million by 2025, and with 750,000 more residents, the planned infrastructure really can't support it...unless one counts Super Wal-Marts per capita.

[montevista1]

I do not see 3,000 people a month moving here an issue. In L.A. people live 50-70 miles from the city and have no problem with it. You have great places with lots of land that are only 25 miles from downtown.

Low Paying Jobs... L.A. has great paying jobs but still only 15% of people can afford the median house. There are lots of people here getting paid low wage jobs.

Who buys the homes in the dominion, stone oak, alamo heights etc. There has got to be some people in san antonio with money.

The only issue I see with San Antonio is the property taxes. Taxes here are like another mortgage. I think San Antonio is like L.A. lots of people with money and lots of poor, not much of a middle class.

If so many people move to San Antonio will housing prices go up? Places like Dallas and Houston are much larger than San Antonio and prices are cheap.