My fellow Californians..Are you struggling with the possibility of leaving? (Sacramento: car registration, violent crime)

[OutOfSoCal]

born and raised in Cali, We are moving out next summer to Colorado, one of the suburbs of Denver. We own two houses here and will be selling one and renting out the other. Thank God we bought when we did, we will make enough to buy a house twice the size with 1-5 acres less than 10 years old cash. no more house payment and we cal almost live on what the rental will bring in.
While I am greatful to reaping the benefits of the real estate boom in Cali I just can't take all the traffic and inconsiderate people anymore. the heat right now sucks too. We look at Texas but the property tax issues scared us away, I hear they're crazy in Tx. We too are leaving nothing or no one behind that really matters.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by OutOfSoCal

born and raised in Cali, We are moving out next summer to Colorado, one of the suburbs of Denver. We own two houses here and will be selling one and renting out the other. Thank God we bought when we did, we will make enough to buy a house twice the size with 1-5 acres less than 10 years old cash. no more house payment and we cal almost live on what the rental will bring in.
While I am greatful to reaping the benefits of the real estate boom in Cali I just can't take all the traffic and inconsiderate people anymore. the heat right now sucks too. We look at Texas but the property tax issues scared us away, I hear they're crazy in Tx. We too are leaving nothing or no one behind that really matters.

Awesome. I did nearly the same thing. With the exception of leaving our parents and no year round out door swimming, there were zero negatives and about ten positives moving from Southern California to near Monument, CO. You are making a wise move.

Goodbye traffic, Hello forests and prairies.
Goodbye aggravation, Hello decompression.

You'll find very few if any people who have regretted their move from California to Colorado.

Life is too short.

[goodbyehollywood]

Anywhere you go after CA is a bit of a culture shock. The wonderful weather, the beaches, the eternal sun of SoCal makes it unique. How you balance that with the undesirables (cost, traffic, congestion, noise) depends a lot on your stage of life. If you're young, you don't care. If you're rich, you can insulate yourself somewhat and costs don't apply. If you're middle class, raising a family, re-evaluating at midlife or retired, CA's negatives may outweight the positives and you may find a better quality of life elsewhere. Many of us do.

The real risk is not taking the chance if you think you'll be happier elsewhere. Visiting multiple times makes it a calculated risk, but you'll only know for sure after you actually live in a new place and immerse yourself in your new surroundings firsthand. You'll either love it, hate it or adapt. What's the worst that can happen? Not taking the chance and wishing you had.

You can always move back to CA, knowing that, warts and all, it's the place that calls most to you. Fear holds us back. Don't stay in CA because you're afraid to leave; stay because it's the right place for you. Good luck!

[mariners1]

I agree with you 100%. We are so excited to move. I was born and rasied in Tenn and moved to Sacramento 11 years ago. I have never adjusted. I have felt trapped and I finally see light at the end of this tunnel.

We are going to Gig Harbor Wa. and I feel that the area is every thing I want. It already feels like home. It is great that my husband (he is from Boston) and myself are on the same page and want to be near Seattle.

I know we will be very happy there. There are some pretty areas in California but the way things work here just make me say "huh"?

[Huckleberry3911948]

on leaving california. retiring selling your house and moving to another state this is large and stressful decision stuff. i dont like those kind of decisions. i like little ones. i just retired.
a less stressful decision that has been tried and worked by my friends is:
lease the house out thru a trusted agent, do not do it yourself.
live for awhile somewheres else, rent or buy (if you buy, buy very low, so you can walk away from it easily) then think about it.
if moving turned out was a good thing, you can always sell your ca property. if moving was not a good thing, it does not matter. when you come back to california (where you left your heart) provided you have not sold your home , the only thing that can happen, is your house will be worth more than it was when you left it. move back in.

stephen s
san diego

[jguillot]

Originally Posted by goodbyehollywood

Anywhere you go after CA is a bit of a culture shock. The wonderful weather, the beaches, the eternal sun of SoCal makes it unique. How you balance that with the undesirables (cost, traffic, congestion, noise) depends a lot on your stage of life. If you're young, you don't care. If you're rich, you can insulate yourself somewhat and costs don't apply. If you're middle class, raising a family, re-evaluating at midlife or retired, CA's negatives may outweight the positives and you may find a better quality of life elsewhere. Many of us do.

The real risk is not taking the chance if you think you'll be happier elsewhere. Visiting multiple times makes it a calculated risk, but you'll only know for sure after you actually live in a new place and immerse yourself in your new surroundings firsthand. You'll either love it, hate it or adapt. What's the worst that can happen? Not taking the chance and wishing you had.

You can always move back to CA, knowing that, warts and all, it's the place that calls most to you. Fear holds us back. Don't stay in CA because you're afraid to leave; stay because it's the right place for you. Good luck!

Well said! As for me, I know that I will be happier elsewhere. I am leaving the state when I retire.

[Huckleberry3911948]

something that has been tried by friends is leasing the house thru a trusted agent (not to the kids please) and moving out of state. if you like it sell.
if you dont go back.
works for me.
stephen s
san diego

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by Gal On The Move

Fellow Californians,

Just wanted to hear from those of you in my situation.

My husband and I are considering leaving magnificant California. Though we love it to death, we don't know if it's smart to stay. We live in Sac, which I consider to be California's greatest deal (financially speaking). We want to buy a home but we haven't seen anything we could be happy with for less then $300G's.

We've been thinking about moving to San Anotonio because you can get a great house for much less then $300G's. We've also heard it's a great place to raise the family we want to start.

But, I'm so in love with California!! Has anyone had this debate with themselves, and if so what did you decide? Move and have more financial security, a great home, a nice car without the yearly super high registration cost? Or, stay and do well, live in a smaller home, enjoy Cali's beauty?

I think we are leaning more towards moving. Especially since we have no family here. But it hurts!

Conflicted people please share!

Thanks

First of all ... if you're looking to buy in Sac, it's a buyers market and prices in the inland areas are falling fast so, if a major part of your decision is home prices, Sac homes will probably get ALOT more affordable in a couple of years.

Prices are already dropping to 250K in some places and I personally think $200K will be possible within the next couple of years.

So you may want to keep that mind. I don't think $300K is going to be the market price for long.

[Rewindmind]

So after reading all the posts about getting out of California I am more confused then ever.
I had originally posted in July that I would like to move back to California. I grew up there (Mountain View). I would really like to move to Sacramento.

<sigh> After reading all of the posts about a mass exodus ... I am wondering...should I reconsider this?
My husband (who is a GM retiree) is resisting California...prefers Florida.

I think about all the bugs down there, the humidity and the high air conditioning bills. We currently live in Michigan and I hate humidity -- the summers here are in a word...gross.

So I have asked this question before...which would be a better place to land?
Additionally I am having a hard time finding a job in either place. I have sent numerous resumes to both Cali and Florida. I get a few bites, but when they find out I am still physically located in Michigan...the are not as enthusiastic.
Words of wisdom anyone?

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by Rewindmind

<sigh> After reading all of the posts about a mass exodus ... I am wondering...should I reconsider this?

I never think it's a good idea to worry about what other people are doing. You should do what's best for you.

When you read these posts ... for every person who moved and said it was a great decision there are just as many who feel it was a mistake no matter what the location is. In other words, it's a coin toss, basically ... you can't really rely on that, IMO.

As for the "mass" exodus out of California, I had that impression from reading this board too but, that's not actually true either. Yes, 100,000 more people are leaving than coming here.

But ... we also have the most population in the country with 36 million people ... 13 million more than Texas and 18 million more than Florida.

So ... while 100,000 may sound like a lot ... it's actually only .003 percent of California's population, less than one percent. Not massive at all, actually.

And, those numbers are half of the 200,000 net annual migration in the '90s. There was actually more people leaving in the '90s than there is today but, you'd never guess that by reading this board.

I'm not saying this to talk you into moving to California. If Florida is a better move then, you should definitely do that. But, I do think you have to take these message boards with a grain a salt because the information posted on them can sometimes be very misleading.

In other words: just do what you want to do.