Can a family of 5 afford Carlsbad? (San Diego, Oceanside: rental, mortgage, appliances)

[Cotch5]

We are contemplating a move to Carlsbad. I have a stable government job where I will earn $200k, my wife currently stays home with our 3 kids. I will be working in Oceanside, we will be renting for a year in Carlsbad. My wife and I have both lived in SD before, long ago, before kids and want to make sure we can afford to live as a family of five. Is this enough of an income to live comfortably?

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by Cotch5

We are contemplating a move to Carlsbad. I have a stable government job where I will earn $200k, my wife currently stays home with our 3 kids. I will be working in Oceanside, we will be renting for a year in Carlsbad. My wife and I have both lived in SD before, long ago, before kids and want to make sure we can afford to live as a family of five. Is this enough of an income to live comfortably?

What an odd question. Surely you know how to check rental prices online as you are an executive.

[RosieSD]

Can someone making $200K a year live "comfortably" in San Diego? Well, sure. But they may not be living as lavishly as someone making the same amount in many other parts of the country. And, someone else's definition of "living comfortably" may be different than yours. So, in the end, the only two people who can answer your question are going to be you and your spouse.

If you plan to buy down the road instead of renting forever, you may want to use a site like Zillow.com to get an idea of what median home prices in the area are like today. For example, the median price for a home in Carlsbad is hovering around $780,000.

You can also use Zillow (and other similar sites) to get an idea of current rents in Carlsbad.

Here's the Zillow report for Carlsbad.

https://www.zillow.com/carlsbad-ca/home-values/

Scroll down to the bottom and click on the rental link to see what rents are running these days.

If you haven't lived in San Diego in a while, you may want to also explore a bit beyond Carlsbad, as a lot has probably changed since you last lived here. For instance, San Marcos, just to the east, has a lot of very nice family friendly areas now, and homes (and rents) may be more reasonable there. Parts of Oceanside have also gotten much nicer in recent years as well. If you're willing to have a little longer commute, you will also find your money will go a little farther inland than closer to the coast.

Good luck with your decision!

[Cotch5]

@LuvSouthOC - lol...yes we are familiar with Zillow, realtor.com, Redfin and the like - we just wanted to have some 'real' feedback from ppl living there as to how far they think the money can go.

@RosieSD - thank you for your advice. I guess by 'comfortably' we want to make sure that with that amount of income we can enjoy all that SD has to offer. The quality of life is why we want to move - but we don't want to get there and find we can't do any of it.

[Suburban_Guy]

Looking at Carlsbad, but open to options

Relocating to Carlsbad

Moderator cut: Link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

Moderator cut: Link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

[laurenaus]

Originally Posted by LuvSouthOC

What an odd question. Surely you know how to check rental prices online as you are an executive.

What a rude response. Surely you know how to be quiet when you have nothing nice to say?

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by Cotch5

@RosieSD - thank you for your advice. I guess by 'comfortably' we want to make sure that with that amount of income we can enjoy all that SD has to offer. The quality of life is why we want to move - but we don't want to get there and find we can't do any of it.

Luckily, many of the best things about living in San Diego County are free (or close to it).

Use common sense about your spending and debt, and you should be fine on $200K a year, but be open to a more modest home or maybe living a little inland and a longer commute.

In short, come with realistic expectations.

Good luck with your decision!

[Durant82]

My family and I after one year of living in San Diego decided to try out the whole buy a house thing. We looked in every part of the greater San Diego county area, from the coast to Poway.

With regards to the OP, I make about 150,000 more than you, but I am still very, very nervous about plunking down 850-900k for a house, with all the mortgage payments, taxes, etc. It would mean a severe crunch in terms of what else we could spend on.

We wouldn't be living comfortably, according to our definition, so we took a pass.

**Comfortably for us means going on multiple foreign trips/vacations a year, decking out the house with new furnishings, appliances, etc., and having enough leftover for savings/investments. Earning 350K means I can pay for the house, but not do much else and I refuse to fund any lifestyle with AMEX/MC/Visa.

And oh, with two kids in tow, I need money to put away in their college funds. The way I see it, not doing so for my kids, way way before college is not being a good parent. Again, that's my view. Not everyone would agree.

You can do all that, and then some, with 200K in Texas or St. Louis, but not here. And thats the truth.

Caveat emptor.

[someguy10]

Originally Posted by Durant82

My family and I after one year of living in San Diego decided to try out the whole buy a house thing. We looked in every part of the greater San Diego county area, from the coast to Poway.

With regards to the OP, I make about 150,000 more than you, but I am still very, very nervous about plunking down 850-900k for a house, with all the mortgage payments, taxes, etc. It would mean a severe crunch in terms of what else we could spend on.

We wouldn't be living comfortably, according to our definition, so we took a pass.

**Comfortably for us means going on multiple foreign trips/vacations a year, decking out the house with new furnishings, appliances, etc., and having enough leftover for savings/investments. Earning 350K means I can pay for the house, but not do much else and I refuse to fund any lifestyle with AMEX/MC/Visa.

And oh, with two kids in tow, I need money to put away in their college funds. The way I see it, not doing so for my kids, way way before college is not being a good parent. Again, that's my view. Not everyone would agree.

You can do all that, and then some, with 200K in Texas or St. Louis, but not here. And thats the truth.

Caveat emptor.

This pretty much sums it all up perfectly.

[hitman619]

Originally Posted by Durant82

You can do all that, and then some, with 200K in Texas or St. Louis, but not here. And thats the truth.

Caveat emptor.

Question is
Can you make that type of Money in Texas or Missouri.
Texas maybe, Missouri heck no!