moving from massachusetts to california

[ragnarkar]

Can't comment for most of South OC but I kinda liked Garden Grove when I lived there several years ago. Some parts of the town seem a bit run down, especially near Santa Ana so double check your neighborhood before moving in. I hear they have some of the better schools in North OC due to the large Asian population though not as good as Irvine. Expect to pay about $2000 for a 2 br though in a good area.

[nightlysparrow]

Originally Posted by DKM

Take a look at Thousand Oaks while you're at it. You'll find all you are looking for here. If you're skilled at remodeling, not only will you have endless work but you can make real money buying older homes and fixing them up. You have to have higher end skills though. Lower end carpentry is cheap here because of all the immigrant labor.

No, not accurate. Thousand Oaks has a heavy building moratorium in place. Code restrictions are fierce, and the permit process is slow and very exacting. Rents are just as expensive as Orange County, with a lot fewer places from which to choose. All the "older" homes in TO are still $600k; the flipping era ended 10 years ago.

Now as for Simi Valley, better chances there.

[Farink]

SoCal was a long-time dream of mine as well, and after 8 years of planning, working hard, saving, and living way below our means, we were able to make it a reality and purchase a home in South County. $2,000 monthly budget? Our 700 sq. ft apartment (1-bedroom) in Laguna Niguel was $2,000 per month. This is not a fancy/upscale complex by any stretch of imagination--but up high in the hills with a terrific view of the ocean from the street, very secluded and safe, and surrounded by $4mill+ homes. That gives you an idea about the price of apartments at least in this town. I'm certain in Orange, Santa Ana, etc. (non-beach cities) rent is much lower. To answer your question about pay being probably higher out here--I can't answer that for trades. But for professional jobs in our industry, salaries are much lower here (we're from Texas). There are so many people here and willing to work for much less; I think that's what's driving salaries lower. So, higher housing costs, higher gas costs, 13% state income tax, yet lower property tax rate (notice I said rate--so 1.1% here vs. 3.2% I'm paying on my house in Texas). We love it here and will stay as long as we can stomach the higher cost of living. Is it expensive? Yes, but there's a reason for it Just do your homework about the cost of housing in the ACTUAL city you want to live in (Orange County is the name of the County and it's comprised of very wealthy cities and very poor cities that many avoid). Make sure you're looking up the rent in the city you want to live in. Don't assume because you found something for $1,100 in Santa Ana, the same holds true for Newport Beach. And based on a few studies, no, salaries are not here in many industries (don't know about trades).

[MarcellainLB]

My husband is from Massachusetts. We moved to Orange County form Miami, FL with our 10 and 12 year old daughters 3.5 years ago. I suggest looking at school districts first, then a job in the desired area, and then a place to live. I sell and rent real estate in OC. YES, you CAN find something, but you have to be flexible with your wants.

[iExtrapolate]

Originally Posted by Farink

To answer your question about pay being probably higher out here--I can't answer that for trades. But for professional jobs in our industry, salaries are much lower here (we're from Texas). There are so many people here and willing to work for much less; I think that's what's driving salaries lower. And based on a few studies, no, salaries are not here in many industries (don't know about trades).

Yeah, salaries vary by region and industry. Just because average income is higher in Orange County than other places, doesn't mean it will be higher for you in your profession. Even if you are in one of the professions that is more highly compensated in Orange County, it is unlikely that this increase in compensation will adequately compensate for the increased cost of living.

If you want to know what your income will be in Orange County, CA, look up the income for your profession specifically and don't automatically assume that employers will calibrate the pay upwards to account for the cost of living. That's not how businesses that stay in business work. If you want higher pay you need to produce higher value or operate in a skill area that is scarce relative to demand.

The amazing year round weather, job opportunities and national marketing has lead to Orange County becoming overpopulated. Overpopulation leads to high housing prices as you have more people competing for (some would say artificially) limited square footage. It also, simultaneously, leads to wage suppression as you have a large number of candidates competing for a limited number of jobs. So, these two things often end up being inversely correlated rather than directly correlated as one would intuitively assume.

The way to obtain a high salary in a market is to work in real estate, where the inflated home prices boost your paycheck (real estate agents are commissioned, 5% of 700k >5% of 200k) or to work in a field where skilled labor is scarce (aerospace in LA, Software Engineering in Silicon Beach/Irvine).

Pay for aerospace engineers averages at $130k in the LA/Long Beach metropolitan area (there are a lot of aerospace engineers here). It averages $100k in Wichita, Kansas (there are also a lot of aerospace engineers in Wichita). Adjusted for cost of living, the aerospace engineer in Wichita is wealthier, but the lifestyle is very different.

[Electrician4you]

Originally Posted by TacoSoup

Don’t let other discourage you, you’ll get a lot of this around here. Make the move, your kids will thank you. Seriously though, if your husband is an accomplished carpenter he’ll find work as there’s plenty of people with money looking, and willing to pay, for quality craftsmanship. It might just take some time for him to establish himself. Are your two kids the same sex, can they share a room? If so you’ll have a lot more options looking for 2 bedrooms places vs 3 bedrooms. Unfortunately I’m mostly familiar with the beach cities of Orange County and they’ll most likely be out of your price range, I’m just here to encourage you to chase your dream and give your family a better life. Best of luck to you and your family.

Nobody is trying to discourage OP. We’re all simply giving them our opinion because. Oh yeah we live here.
Out of all my rentals I have one that’s at 2000 ucks a month. Everything else is at least $400 higher minimum. And I am about to raise the rent on that unit mid year. The rent is lower because the tenant has been with me for 5 years and i kept the rent about 4/500 lower than the other unit but at some point I’m going to raise the rent. I’m not going to subsidize forever.

As far as wages, I had three past and current tenants. All out of staters. To a tee each and every one who moved here I saw their wages go up a average of about 35% more here than what they made in the state they came from.