Is 86K a year after taxes decent for a family of four in Oside, Encinitas, or Carlsbad?

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by rongermy007

Just curious. I've been offered a job making roughly 86K a year after taxes. Thats double what I make now in TX.
My wife is skeptical about moving to SoCal because she works in the Apt. industry and has alot of people moving in from Southern CA that tell her that economically CA sucks. Plus the news is saying the same thing.

Right now we live in a 3 Bd/2 Bth house in a decent (not upscale decent, but blue collar decent) neighborhood. I can actually leave my house and cars unlocked at night with no fear at all and the schools are pretty good, but not "Great"
She is absolutely dead set against moving to CA if our quality of life will be diminishing even one bit. Keeps trying to convince me that its a bad decision to take the job.
So my question is. If we were to move to Oceanside, Carlsbad, or San Clemente how would our quality of life be?
ie; what are groceries, gas, toiletries/sundrys, etc. like.
What type of life could we have on 86K (after taxes) a year?
I would really appreciate some feedback.
Thanks.

Here are some of the things no one has mentioned yet, but are frequently mentioned on California threads. In most cases, this applies to San Diego as well as any large California metro area:

--the schools here are lousy, so you really need to be in the top 20% of school districts if you want your kids to get a decent education. That means you can forget about buying a house at the (already high) median price.

--Renting can be unstable. When times are bad, rents can go down or be flat. But landlords have a way of jacking rents up mercilessly when the market turns.

--People who have the money to live here decently still sometimes complain that the materialistic value system in well off areas is not very good for kids. Lots of "latchkey kids" in the affluent and not-so-affluent areas with both parents working full time who don't have time/won't take the time to impart values to their kids.

--High cost of living area generally creates a somewhat hurried and stressful atmosphere. However, I hear San Diego is less this way than other major California metro areas (I don't live in SD area so but this is what I read on these threads).

[bigfingers]

I work with many apartment leasing agents and managers in San Diego County. The compensation ranges from $25,000 to $50,000—Average around $30,000. If you need a list of some good apartments or a good property manager to find a good home to rent, click my link below and shoot me an email or call.

San Diego
Pros:
--Weather
--Geographical Location (All within 30min of each location)
1. Beach
2. Mountains
3. Desert
--Some Great Schools
--Great Diversity of People
--Some good Restaurants

Con:
--Expensive
1. Cost of Living
2. Food
3. Gas
4. Rent
5. Homes
6. Insurance
--Commute
1. Can be frustrating depending on your work commute

[SIZE=3]Affordability: [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]1.[/SIZE] [SIZE=3]Oceanside – Most Crime of the three, by far, but most affordable as well. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]2.[/SIZE] [SIZE=3]Carlsbad – Family Oriented [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]3.[/SIZE] [SIZE=3]Encinitas—Good Overall[/SIZE]
--Cheers--
www.fast2insure.com

[socketz]

South Austin, nice spot. You will feel right at home in San Diego as Austin reminded me of San Diego in many ways.

My thinking is that if you rent, you want to rent in an area where you could eventually afford to buy.

The three spots you mentioned are close to the ocean, so that will add to you living expensives as there is always a premium associated with living close to the water.

Since almost anywhere in San Diego is ~30 minutes from a beach, you may want to consider living a little more inland. If you do not have kids in school, there are alot of decent lower cost choices inland.

San Marcos, La Mesa, Mira Mesa, East Lake, Santee.

All are decent spots to live and reasonably affordable.

Sorry though, you will want to lock your doors as opportunistic type crimes are high in San Diego (not much violent crime though).

[socketz]

"--High cost of living area generally creates a somewhat hurried and stressful atmosphere. However, I hear San Diego is less this way than other major California metro areas (I don't live in SD area so but this is what I read on these threads)."

I live in the Bay Area.....this feeling is cubed here. You hear about foreclosures and downturns in the Bay, but in reality, those occur in places 45+ miles away from metropolitan centers, or they are in areas where you could not send your kids to the public schools.

In the good school districts scattered throughout (there are a few, but highly sought after), you can expect to pay up to 40% more for your home.

Like my Realtor says, "We had a housing recession here too, and I think it lasted an entire weekend".

~14% unemployment and people are still lining up to pay mortgages on homes that are 2x what the rent is on the same home - multiple families to a home - just to be in the good school districts.

Housing here is an anamoly that is hard to describe to people outside of the area.

[Figuero]

Carlsbad is a great place to live. You have the beach right there. Now Oceanside CA is more affordable and it's right next to Carlsbad. There is an Archstone in Carlsbad. Pretty nice apts.