Does anyone want to move FROM the Bay Area? (San Jose: hardwood floors, real estate)

[City Boy]

Originally Posted by Coffee Mate

Can't deal with the prices?....Yup....Bank account.....ZERO....cost of "house" 500 thousand dollars.....so YUP I can't "deal" with the prices....

Midwest.....acreage....huge house.....extra buildings......great services...very low crime....[no tweekers even!] all under 300K.....

Great so you can move to a landlocked area and buy a big house, then what? Boredom, there's more to life than owning a house.

[dolivieri82]

Yes I completely agree! I was born and raised here, then went to Chico to go to school and LOVED the small town feel, friendly people, minimal traffic and beautiful scenery. Now I am back to pay off some loans (since I am making money here) but it seems like I cannot even do that due to rent and cost of living. Most of all, coming from Chico, I realize how rude and self absorbed people are over here and want to relocate north to Chico area or even oregon. Even given a good income out here, it isnt worth it any longer. The old adage is true.. money doesnt buy happiness!

[vampmiller]

Originally Posted by mkcking

Are they freezing up there? My husband is scared to death that he'll be shoveling snow all winter.

Weather aside, I think quality of life seems much better up there. At least we could afford vacations every year. Hawaii!!

Too funny you mentioned that. There's no snow in Portland, Oregon, but I asked about the rain and they said that with the money they're saving from not living in SF, they can travel a few times a year to Hawaii for sun.

[Coffee Mate]

I don't find it boring in the slightest...that's why I moved....
To each his own....right?
You want urban ghetto drug infested drive-by stray-bullet excitement?
Stay in Oakland....

Yo Yo Yo!

[HIGH!Lonesome]

I first came here with the Navy in the mid seventies, at first I thought this whole place was "sick" I could'nt wait to leave, four years later I did only to have the curse bring me back in 88, and the 89 earthquake really gave me the courage to stay and call it home
and the 49ers ways of winning back in the 80's and 90's made it just more fun to live here.

The Bay Area is beautiful and the city,um, well theres never a dull moment, I got jumped by about ten black kids from Washington High School on friday on the 38 Geary and I thought there for a second, if I punch one of them back then the SFPD will most definately profile me for hittin a minor even worst, a black kid and I'll get to spend the night at 850 Bryant because thats the way things work around here.

Then we have our hanky panky flamboyant mayor, rearanging everything at city hall and creating new good paying desk jobs for his friends while he could better put use of city funds to pay for security on Muni buses, NOT A FAT CHANCE, the pretty boy looking mayor sure aint got money and time to consider that.

We have the sceneries and we pay for them with our ridiculous high rents, law inforcement is minimal, board of supervisors award the very same man responsible for the outrageous high rents in the city with the green light to build his Trinity PlazaTowers, how people tend to forget, well I guess maybe a cash bribe will get someone somewhere around this town.

YES! I want to move far far away from the Bay Area and the likes of those kids that attend Washington High School, I thought about buying me a gun, but I'm afraid I will use it, San Francisco is a very dangerous city and the mayors priorities are not where they should be, I cant wait to get the "HELL" out of here.

And for you outsiders that are moving here, you better be millionaires or bring lots of cash with you the city needs it and they tend to find ways to get.

[pearljammer]

My husband and I are planning on relocating in a year, sooner if we can get out of our lease. The walls of our 800 square foot house with it's beautiful cemented front and back yards is closing in on us at a fast pace. Now that we have our 6 month old, this just isn't cutting it for us. We can NEVER afford the kind of place we want to raise our child. You pay over $600K for a house that looks like it hasn't been touched since the 70's and your lucky if it's 1100 square feet. Who can afford to renovate with over a $3000 month house payment. Not everyone who lives here makes over a 100K a year and if you do, you almost have to sell your soul to do it (meaning sacrificing home hours for work hours - no thanks!!). So, we're sitting on the edge of our seats, saving what we can and daydreaming until we can load em up and move em out.

To all of you out there who are feeling the squeeze, good luck to you!!

[Tallysmom]

TO all those leaving or thinking of leaving -- where are you thinking of going? I'd like to retire back home in Pittsburgh PA -- for the reasons I've listed in my post above.

There are complications everywhere you go. There is no Nirvana... I know I will be moving back to an area that most see as provinicial and rahter uneducated. I think that's changing, and having my family there will be wonderful. I look forward to hosting the Thanksgiving Days, and having Christmas tree cut down day, starting with pumpkin pancakes and bacon and ending with a nice meal at home.

But, I could be totally wrong. My sister is a ARCH conservative and we may decide to hate each other. I could have away long enough that I have no place there and won't be welcomed with open arms....

Or my house won't sell here.... EVER... because I picked a downtrodden neighborhood betting the place would get better and I lost....

[HIGH!Lonesome]

This city is not child freindly, starting with many parents with more than two kids cant afford to live here,and I would'nt dare raise any children here in San Francisco, I dont see how can people even have a dog living in their apartments just by judging the sidewalks.
You cant afford a home and not to mention, but the houses are old they smell stale and I dont see anything pretty about the houses here, no yards no parking and what ever yard you do have you have to share it with about ten or more tenants neighbors and strangers.
The only people that are enjoying San Francisco are the rent collectors, but I do say this much, that the day something catastrophic happens what happened in New Orleans during hurricane Katrina will only pale to what is going to happen here.

[Joker32]

I personally dont know why anyone pays the housing costs to live in Silicon Valley.(Im not ranting on SF right now, mostly San Jose). I grew up there, and I would say even Kansas is more interesting. Im still shocked as to why people pay so much to live in the Bay Area

[calitonc]

Originally Posted by Tallysmom

Yep. We are on a time line for retiring early. It may not be exactly at 50, may be 51 or 52, but we will cash out and move. (Oh, yeah -- houses have to be selling again, too )

I'm tired tired tired of small postage stamp patches of dirt. Tired of hearing traffic, tired of cars being stolen (not ours -- because they are nicely maintained engines and interiors but beater outsides), boom boom music, gang tagging, tagging tagging, junkies in the street -- did I mention we didn't buy in a very nice area? Just a lot of theft -- no murders -- yet. My next door neighbor told us his friend put in sod and the next morning he went out to water it and it was GONE.

We figured the area was ripe for a turn around.... and that was 20 years ago.

Even though we've made a nice return on our house, we won't be able to sell it and buy nicer house out here in a better neighborhood without really cashing in all our retirement funds to do so. And still have a big mortgage.

Not gonna do it -- at 48, it's too late. If we were 30 or so -- in a heartbeat.

I can sell my home, invest the proceeds, put a nice down on a 200K house in PA (where we're from, and where I hope we'll end up again) and go from 1005 square feet two bed/1 bath to 2000-2500 square feet with 3 bed/3 bath on a a couple of acres -- with a finished basement...

No more hearing my neighbor sing in the shower as I eat breakfast. No more homeless people ringing my doorbell asking for "treasures" (junk) my husband has on the back of the truck... (Oh -- yeah -- my homeless people ask nicely if they can have stuff! I guess that's a plus!)

The only question is how do I get all the cats there....

Wow EXACT same here Tallsymom. Been in this not so nice neighborhood for 20+ years and buying another house here in San Jose is just not attractive to us for the same reasons you mentioned in your post. If we sold and stayed here we would only have a huge downpayment towards a HUGE mortgage, if we were younger than maybe, not now.
Right now we are looking real hard at NC. Get a nice little house with enough property so I cant hear my neighbor fart and maybe a little gettaway house in the mountains or the coast!
Good luck to you in PA!