Dallas (or L.A.) on $200K+ a year... (Orange: unemployment rate, to buy)

[stan4]

Originally Posted by trancedout

2700 Chadbourne Dr Plano TX - Home For Sale and Real Estate Listing - MLS #11496585 - Realtor.com®

Not the biggest house in town, but 3.6k sq ft in any decent LA suburb would be over 1.5 million. LOL @ "people are more accepting and open-minded" in Texas.

So I guess, both. A big house compared to the average house, and massive compared to LA's family-friendly community suburban average home.

The main reason most people move to any of the big cities in Texas - it's cheap compared to elsewhere. I've seen that reason get downplayed here, but it's obvious.

Please. I know the Plano real estate market. No house/neighborhood that someone making $200-500k would want to live in has a 'giant house for $350k.' I guess our version of giant really is different.

Obviously, however, real estate is far cheaper here. It's just another plus.

And yes...I have never faced the racism and bullying here as a child that I did in the LA area.
My brother's asthma also cleared up like some miracle when we moved here.

Dallas can also be pretty superficial, but it's nothing like the LA area.

[GreyDay]

Originally Posted by trancedout

I wish I made even a small fraction of what some of you make. With that said, it would be dumb in my opinion not to move to LA. Some of this is getting ridiculous, you need 500K minimum to live there, which isn't true. I know people on combined income 120K in LA doing just fine living in nice homes that cost around 350K.

350K will buy a big house in Plano, and a small house in Simi Valley.

lol, some people want you to goto Dallas just to become a benefactor and impress the local crowd. Small-town pandering in a big city.

$120k in L.A.? 350k house? Where Reseda? The Valley?

And it's been firmly established that swinging into Dallas proper with a $500k/year salary isn't going to suddenly change the social financial playground in Dallas.

Like EDS wrote- $500k a year couldn't even pay Cuban's gas bill (for the jet of course).

If the benefactor thing is serious, dropping hints at your $500k/year isn't likely to impress many at the Highland Park Village Starbucks much less the women that shop at Chanel like most of us shop at the Gap.

[mSooner]

I have a friend who just moved to Dallas from LA for "the job"...her husband just finished residency. They moved to:

A. Enjoy the cost of living in Dallas vs. LA
B. Be closer to her family (Oklahoma)
C. Get a variety of weather...weird I know, but while our seasons seem to be hot, warm, cool, warm she said it is more of a variety than they every got in CA

[Mvc]

Also I will say that the whole 'kids are more grounded here' thing some people say about Dallas is a myth and probably based on perception instead of reality. Kids can get into plenty of trouble here just as easily as they can in Southern California, and this includes places like Highland Park and Southlake. A lot more than location goes into the equation. Also there are safe neighborhoods and dangerous neighborhoods in Dallas, just like there are in LA, LA is just bigger.

[TX75007]

I lived in LA and San Fran and made about the same amount of money.

When I moved to TX, I bought the same size home. My cash flow after the move equalled the income tax rate I paid in CA.

The top bracket in CA is now around 13%. If you want to give the state of CA 26K ever year plus perhaps having to pay income taxes to the City, then go ahead.

I think you will like Dallas a lot. It is very diverse, clean, and a lot less crime, and race relations are very good.

I'd rent for the first year or two, then decide what you want to do.

Originally Posted by Mvc

Also there are safe neighborhoods and dangerous neighborhoods in Dallas, just like there are in LA, LA is just bigger.

LOL. I can walk around any of the "bad" hoods in Dallas and never get the looks I get when I am in parts of LA or the Bay Area.

[TX75007]

Originally Posted by stan4

Please. I know the Plano real estate market. No house/neighborhood that someone making $200-500k would want to live in has a 'giant house for $350k.' I guess our version of giant really is different.
.

Giant in LA is 3000 SF with an hour commute. Here that is nothing. You can get a 4000SF in Plano for 400K pretty easily. And the "poor" areas of Plano are much cleaner and safer than the same demographics in LA.

You'd be surprised who lives where and makes what. Some people like to spend their money. Others like to save it.

[TurtleCreek80]

I peeked on the LA forum and everyone there is telling OP to pick Dallas. Guess the grass is always greener. They all said how expensive everything is, that $200k is great for a single but not a family, and that the public schools stink so budget for private. No mention of weather or the ocean That sounds more like "real life" to me!

[GreyDay]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

I peeked on the LA forum and everyone there is telling OP to pick Dallas. Guess the grass is always greener. They all said how expensive everything is, that $200k is great for a single but not a family, and that the public schools stink so budget for private. No mention of weather or the ocean That sounds more like "real life" to me!

Generally when people speak of 'destination' type relocations, Cali, Denver, etc- unless you live on the water - how much time do you have to enjoy all the outdoor amenities? (although the perfect 78 degrees of San Diego is one exception) Generally, if you're making a good living, you're working more than 40 hours a week and time outside of work is spent socializing which is all too often work related.

The idea of being on the beach midday, bodysurfing is up there with the guy in the range rover who buys it to scale 40 degree negative inclines...sounds good, fun to say, but not likely to happen.

[moonsparkle]

Originally Posted by stan4

Please. I know the Plano real estate market. No house/neighborhood that someone making $200-500k would want to live in has a 'giant house for $350k.' I guess our version of giant really is different.

Obviously, however, real estate is far cheaper here. It's just another plus.

And yes...I have never faced the racism and bullying here as a child that I did in the LA area.
My brother's asthma also cleared up like some miracle when we moved here.

Dallas can also be pretty superficial, but it's nothing like the LA area.

I think 3.6K square feet is big compared to average. Giant, obviously not.

Yet, compared to LA's price-to-square foot ratio, a 3.6K sq ft house in Plano at 350K, would be gigantic.

[moonsparkle]

Originally Posted by GreyDay

Generally when people speak of 'destination' type relocations, Cali, Denver, etc- unless you live on the water - how much time do you have to enjoy all the outdoor amenities? (although the perfect 78 degrees of San Diego is one exception) Generally, if you're making a good living, you're working more than 40 hours a week and time outside of work is spent socializing which is all too often work related.

The idea of being on the beach midday, bodysurfing is up there with the guy in the range rover who buys it to scale 40 degree negative inclines...sounds good, fun to say, but not likely to happen.

There is also a strong undertone of jealousy when anyone wants to move to one of those destinations (especially Southern California) - not the other way around. It might sound odd, but there is something nice about being in California, just knowing how relevant it is to the rest of the world.

Every other city simply does things to sustain business between that particular city and other cities, in California, they build dreams and reach the entire world. Of course, there is other industry there too. There really is something about being in the "most known place in the world" that can draw someone to California.