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I still think the best So Cal has to offer beats the best AZ has to offer, but the worst exceeds the worst in AZ (I've posted this opinion before). So it makes sense it would be more favorable to those with $$$$. But I agree there seems to be a favorable business climate in AZ, although we still have quite a way to go. I myself operate my business here but it is more business friendly for me because of the network I formed in college rather than anything else. I certainly wouldn't want to do what I do in So Cal, lots of extra traffic and I would need to work longer before tapping out. I do plan to be retired in my early 50's riding the beach cruiser down to the coast for breakfast while others drive to work, that part I can handle
I live in CA but actually I own more property in PHX than in CA (rentals). Here in CA the situation is getting more and more crazy.
The total property I own in PHX (4 houses) is worth about twice the value of my single house in CA, but the property taxes on all 4 PHX taxes is double my 1 house in CA. And the People's Republic of California is getting crazier and crazier. Our CA government is getting crazier. (I hate to bring up a sore subject but WTF Sheriff Joe?) You may be aware of our Prop 13 limiting property taxes, but there is talk of getting rid of that...
For example, my property in AZ is worth about 2x value of my single house in CA, yet my total AZ property taxes (4 houses) is half of my property tax on my 1 house in CA. Incidentally, I see most of my AZ property taxes goes to schools. Nice. In CA my property taxes go towards sanctuary this and welfare that.
And then there is (are?) property values, how much house you get for the money you pay. One house I own in PHX is worth about half of what my CA house is worth. The PHX house has a pool, the CA house has a view. But the CA house cost twice what the PHX house cost me, and my PHX house is nicer inside than my CA house. (Damn, I'll miss my view!)
Gasoline is cheaper in PHX. Restaurants about the same, it looks like total cost of living is lower in PHX than my area of CA.
I'm a sr. citizen and looking at half my social security income paying my CA property taxes. Yes I like the weather here better, yes I'll miss my native city, but...
There is air conditioning. We in PHX have swimming pools. (I have 4 of them in PHX.) There is the fact that it's hot as hell in summer, and I've never been in town for a haboob. But there is always the fact that it's a straight shot north to some of my favorite country in northern AZ and UT.
I'm disgusted what what's happening in CA. My retirement dream is turning to ashes.
There is a good reason people are migrating from SoCal to AZ. It's crazy in CA, not so crazy in AZ. PHX traffic from what I've seen isn't a big improvement on SoCal but at least PHX isn't as bad... yet.
I've been rethinking my long term plans, and wondering... PHX does have beaches! It just doesn't have oceans next to them. And who knows? Maybe the next SoCal quake maybe PHX will have some ocean front property!
Perhaps reading my comments will help you understand the influx from SoCal to AZ.
I live in CA but actually I own more property in PHX than in CA (rentals). Here in CA the situation is getting more and more crazy.
The total property I own in PHX (4 houses) is worth about twice the value of my single house in CA, but the property taxes on all 4 PHX taxes is double my 1 house in CA. And the People's Republic of California is getting crazier and crazier. Our CA government is getting crazier. (I hate to bring up a sore subject but WTF Sheriff Joe?) You may be aware of our Prop 13 limiting property taxes, but there is talk of getting rid of that...
For example, my property in AZ is worth about 2x value of my single house in CA, yet my total AZ property taxes (4 houses) is half of my property tax on my 1 house in CA. Incidentally, I see most of my AZ property taxes goes to schools. Nice. In CA my property taxes go towards sanctuary this and welfare that.
And then there is (are?) property values, how much house you get for the money you pay. One house I own in PHX is worth about half of what my CA house is worth. The PHX house has a pool, the CA house has a view. But the CA house cost twice what the PHX house cost me, and my PHX house is nicer inside than my CA house. (Damn, I'll miss my view!)
Gasoline is cheaper in PHX. Restaurants about the same, it looks like total cost of living is lower in PHX than my area of CA.
I'm a sr. citizen and looking at half my social security income paying my CA property taxes. Yes I like the weather here better, yes I'll miss my native city, but...
There is air conditioning. We in PHX have swimming pools. (I have 4 of them in PHX.) There is the fact that it's hot as hell in summer, and I've never been in town for a haboob. But there is always the fact that it's a straight shot north to some of my favorite country in northern AZ and UT.
I'm disgusted what what's happening in CA. My retirement dream is turning to ashes.
There is a good reason people are migrating from SoCal to AZ. It's crazy in CA, not so crazy in AZ. PHX traffic from what I've seen isn't a big improvement on SoCal but at least PHX isn't as bad... yet.
I've been rethinking my long term plans, and wondering... PHX does have beaches! It just doesn't have oceans next to them. And who knows? Maybe the next SoCal quake maybe PHX will have some ocean front property!
Perhaps reading my comments will help you understand the influx from SoCal to AZ.
Yeah I'm well aware of what things cost there, aware of property taxes and Mello roos taxes in some areas. I too have a bunch of rentals here in Phoenix and have assisted my parents as they've rented out my childhood home in Mission Viejo (which they've wisely held onto). My 3,500 sf house which is worth about $650k would go for more like 3X that in the areas we're looking, but we'd be looking to downsize quite a bit anyway. The houses we've looked at now that we like are in the $1.1M range and presumably will be more when we're ready to move in 10-12 years. But we're working hard and saving cash so that we won't have to work when we return.
Nice to hear from you asufan! Just remember one thing: as far as property values, we are all on an elevator, going up floor by floor. I believe they call this a metaphor...
That house you (or I) have in CA is on the elevator, that house you (or I) wanna buy in AZ is also on the elevator. We are going higher and higher, more $$$.
But... If you get off on any floor (say SoCal, same floor as AZ or PHX) and walk over to another elevator and get back on the ride, it doesn't really matter as far as property values.
Let's say I get off on the $500K floor in CA and mosey over to the $500 elevator in PHX: I get twice the house. Now make that three years from now. It's a different floor but I'm still getting off at CA and taking the AZ elevator. Now maybe my $500K house is worth $750K in CA, but the AZ elevator has that same house for $357K in PHX.
The only mistake is getting off the elevator (selling your house) and not getting back on the different elevator (buying another house).
My personal timing will hinge on CA politics of taxation, because I believe SoCal properties will either track PHX values or maybe perform better. I'm waiting for my CA house to appreciate $250K (CG single property CG tax gain exemption) and if CA looks crazy I might just step off the elevator and move to PHX. Get back on the elevator but my same money will buy a MUCH NICER house in PHX and I won't be living in a communist state.
Hell, I live 20 miles from the beach but on most days it would take me 2 hours to drive there in the daytime, or 30 minutes at night. Yeah I miss the ocean, and I'm not aware of any AZ ocean front properties (yet) but I'm starting to think in terms of it being crazy to NOT move to PHX.
With my gains of selling my SoCal house I could probably buy a nicer house in PHX and a 2nd house in Flag for a summer getaway.
The only thing I'd really miss is my best friend and my native CA home turf. But life is a b***** and then you die. My choice: live on the financial edge in SoCal or leave my home turf and face PHX and a new life.
As I said I'm already familiar with PHX and own properties there (eastern PHX) and if I can't continue living in the place I grew up in then I guess eastern PHX is where I'll go. I already have favorite restaurants there!
I totally disagree !
I could move back to California 5 times over....I prefer Arizona.
The people I know in very high places are very happy with Arizona
I think some people are still having problems with the thought of Arizona being a primary destination for relocating.
The writer of the article focus on couples relocating for financial purposes, the business owners are looking at the bigger picture.
I think the danger is, illusion through misconception of which the writer and some posters have been indoctrinated.
I personally feel Arizona is an all around better place to live than California.
It's apparent that many businesses feel Arizona is a better place for business than California.
The writer of this article along with many California elitist are learning the cold hard facts....Arizona is becoming the new face of the West.
Again, you might prefer Arizona to CA, many many others don't. Which is why demand is through the roof and prices keep rising. There's a reason why a house in LA costs 500K but in AZ it costs 250K.
As someone previously eluded, how long will it take before the influence of the CA immigrants creates the same situations here in PHX that they have left behind in CA? Have they learned any lessons? The government cannot give and give and give and create one restrictive law after another without any consequences. Not to mention that if we get too many immigrants (not just from CA), we may eventually find ourselves in the same kind of traffic nightmares that exist in LA.
Maybe when (if?) Trump builds his wall we can get him to add an extension that would encompass the other 3 borders of AZ! Sure, it's nice that my home is worth a lot more than I paid for it, but I would just as soon give that up and keep life the same here. Growth is not always good.
As someone previously eluded, how long will it take before the influence of the CA immigrants creates the same situations here in PHX that they have left behind in CA? Have they learned any lessons? The government cannot give and give and give and create one restrictive law after another without any consequences. Not to mention that if we get too many immigrants (not just from CA), we may eventually find ourselves in the same kind of traffic nightmares that exist in LA.
Maybe when (if?) Trump builds his wall we can get him to add an extension that would encompass the other 3 borders of AZ! Sure, it's nice that my home is worth a lot more than I paid for it, but I would just as soon give that up and keep life the same here. Growth is not always good.
There are few "certainties" in life. Change is one of them.
As someone previously eluded, how long will it take before the influence of the CA immigrants creates the same situations here in PHX that they have left behind in CA? Have they learned any lessons? The government cannot give and give and give and create one restrictive law after another without any consequences. Not to mention that if we get too many immigrants (not just from CA), we may eventually find ourselves in the same kind of traffic nightmares that exist in LA.
Just don't blame CA residents who move to AZ. They are doing the same thing any American would do, move to a sane state (AZ) when their state government (CA) goes crazy. There is no reason to believe that Californians will make AZ go crazy too. The disease is the liberal CA population who support a tax-and-spend liberal government. The people from CA are joining you in AZ because they are NOT the ones who support this crazy CA government.
As far as traffic, when I have crossed PHX east-to-west or west-to-east during commute hours the traffic is almost as bad as my big city traffic in CA. Not only that, you can't expect PHX to just not grow. The US population is growing everywhere in US especially major cities like PHX, and that's not helped by crazy liberal "amnesty" policies and give-away programs. Phoenix traffic will inevitably increase because population there and everywhere else in the US is growing, and more people means more traffic.
Just remember, PHX population is going to increase because population is growing everywhere, it's not increasing just because Californians are moving there. And please note, it's the Californians who think like Arizonans who are moving, probably very few alt-left people because they love CA politics and hate AZ politics. When conservative Californians flee communist California and relocate to Arizona they are actually improving Arizona.
If you want to keep Arizona nice, quit electing liberals like your new sheriff and elect the likes of Sheriff Joe and other conservatives, and they will take care of AZ and AZ residents.
There's a reason my property taxes in AZ are 1/4 of my property taxes in CA. The disease is the CA government, not the CA residents fleeing it for AZ. It's because CA's government is insane, and Californians like me want to flee with our wallets intact instead of being held up like getting mugged by the state government.
Just don't blame CA residents who move to AZ. They are doing the same thing any American would do, move to a sane state (AZ) when their state government (CA) goes crazy. There is no reason to believe that Californians will make AZ go crazy too. The disease is the liberal CA population who support a tax-and-spend liberal government. The people from CA are joining you in AZ because they are NOT the ones who support this crazy CA government.
As far as traffic, when I have crossed PHX east-to-west or west-to-east during commute hours the traffic is almost as bad as my big city traffic in CA. Not only that, you can't expect PHX to just not grow. The US population is growing everywhere in US especially major cities like PHX, and that's not helped by crazy liberal "amnesty" policies and give-away programs. Phoenix traffic will inevitably increase because population there and everywhere else in the US is growing, and more people means more traffic.
Just remember, PHX population is going to increase because population is growing everywhere, it's not increasing just because Californians are moving there. And please note, it's the Californians who think like Arizonans who are moving, probably very few alt-left people because they love CA politics and hate AZ politics. When conservative Californians flee communist California and relocate to Arizona they are actually improving Arizona.
If you want to keep Arizona nice, quit electing liberals like your new sheriff and elect the likes of Sheriff Joe and other conservatives, and they will take care of AZ and AZ residents.
There's a reason my property taxes in AZ are 1/4 of my property taxes in CA. The disease is the CA government, not the CA residents fleeing it for AZ. It's because CA's government is insane, and Californians like me want to flee with our wallets intact instead of being held up like getting mugged by the state government.
Sorry pal but you just lost all credibility with that statement. You can't honestly talk about preventing government waste and being fiscally conservative while supporting Sheriff Joe. That's as oxymoronic as it gets.
Sorry pal but I liked the job Sheriff Joe was doing. I want law enforcement to take a hard line against criminals. It cuts down on crime.
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It just doesn't have oceans next to them. And who knows? Maybe the next SoCal quake maybe PHX will have some ocean front property! 
