Can a large family afford to live in San Diego? (Chula Vista: for sale, how much)

[jodskiinca]

Hi,

I have a large family (6 kids) and am wondering if it's possible for a large family to survive in San Diego or North County. I know that housing will be the most difficult thing for us. We won't be moving for about 2 years (paying off debt and saving money before we move) and my oldest will be 21 at the time, so probably won't be living at home for too long after we move there. We are looking to move because my older boys' dad lives there and we are looking for a better quality of life. We are living in Oklahoma City right now and are tired of the HOT summers and cold winters and WIND. We're tired of being stuck inside all year long. We're, also, tired of not having anything to do with the kids. There are some things, yes, but San Diego offers SO much more.

I lived in San Diego and Orange County for 8 years and know there's so much to do there, but can we afford to do anything after paying our rent/mortgage?? My husband's current income is around $130,000 as a sales director and with all of his experience, he would now qualify for a sales VP job, but not sure what they make in San Diego (we will not move until hubby has a job offer). We're early in our research. I am a stay-at-home mom and looking to keep it that way. We homeschool, so schools aren't a big issue, but we don't want to live in a scary neighborhood. I know I'll miss our 4000 sf home on an acre, but we're willing to sacrifice for a better quality of life.

So, if not San Diego, is there a better part of So. California to live that is still somewhat close to beaches? Obviously, we're not looking to live in a beach town, but within an hour's drive would be nice. Thanks for any advice!

[novabrite]

I think that you can definitely find something. I don't have as big of a family as you do (3 kids), but we live in North County. I really like it here. If you live in someplace like Temecula, you can get a fantastic large home in the mid-300k's. Just check out a site like Redfin, and you'll see what I mean. I'm not sure if you want everyone to have their own bedroom or not (I assume that at least some of your kids share rooms), but I've seen 5 bedrooms for sale around there, for about that price.

In San Diego, a big house is hard to find (in my experience), unless it's a flop house that's basically meant for multi-family dwelling. Most of the newer, nicer construction tends to go toward the current trend of most families having like 2 kids, so even the bigger houses only seem to have around 3 or maybe 4 bedrooms.

Assuming your husband can make the same salary out here that he made in Oklahoma City, you can definitely do it. Places like Poway are awesome with kids, since the schools are so good, but you may be priced out of buying a large house there, and also, if you home school, the school district probably isn't your top concern anyway.

For affordable but nice and safe, I'd say (parts of) Oceanside or Vista, San Marcos, some of Chula Vista is nice (some is not), and if you are comfortable living a bit further away, Temecula area.
If you budget your expenses, $130k should be enough to support you, in North County, even for a family of your size.

[Cardiff Kook]

130k is a nice salary and you can probably live very well off where you are but your cost of living in SD is going to be triple of that in Okie City.

I'm sure you can make it fine on that salary but you won't be able to live like royalty in a 5000 sq ft house like you might have in Oklahoma

[jwblue]

Big home is overrated anyway.

All you need is a place to sleep, eat, and that kind of stuff.

[earlyretirement]

It's not just a question of how much you will make but what's your "monthly nut"? How much do you spend each month and on what categories? Do you have any debt ? Savings for an emergency?

Definitely with 6 kids that changes the picture vs. normal sized families. I'm sure home schooling will make it much easier as you will have more flexibility to live in more affordable areas and don't have to depend on being in a good school district.

Does your husband work for a big company with offices in San Diego that he can transfer with? I think that would be an ideal situation.

6 kids is a LOT of mouths to feed. I also came from a family with 6 kids and honestly I'm not sure how my parents did it.

[jodskiinca]

Thank you all for your advice and tips. Like I said in my original post, we're not planning on moving for a couple of years and will pay off our debt and save some money by then. Of course, that depends on how long it takes to sell our house and who knows how that will go. Sigh!

As for feeding 6 kids, well, we rely on the good Lord to provide, but we're not going to, knowingly, put ourselves into a bad financial situation.

I'm thinking Temecula might be a little far from San Diego. I'm sure my husband doesn't want to drive over an hour to work and back. His company does have offices there, but he's looking to move to another company, if possible. We'll see what the future holds.

JWBlue - You're so right. We have a big house now and although it's nice, we definitely don't use it all. Our family tends to gravitate to the same areas and the "kid" room is rarely in use. We just don't need it.

Thanks again!

[NorCal Dude]

Santee/Escondido bound.

[loveautumn]

If your husband's company has offices here, I would strongly suggest looking into a transfer (esp with his salary and job level). Once you get here and settled, then he could look for another position if he really wanted to. Old saying...A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush! Having a job before you move here is worth alot esp with a large family to support. Jobs here are hard to come by (esp $130k ones) and if he has the opportunity to transfer, IMO, you should take advantage of that.

[Tags]

I have seven kids and we'll be moving to the SD area this summer (from New Hampshire). I've been looking in the North County too, as it's leafier and more spread out.

Quick FYI: the Classical Academies (K-8 and HS) in Escondido cater to a lot of homeschooling families, offering hybrid part-time classroom programs and other creative educational ideas. Very vibrant homeschooling community in the Escondido/San Marcos area.

[vahnessuh]

I know you don't want to consider Temecula... but reading about how your family is... makes me think that Temecula has everything you want except for location. This is a family town and there's lots of homeschooling and stay at home moms in the area. It is far from jobs though... but it's a place that allows for a single income family while having a nice and safe place to live with great schools/homeschool support.