To move or not to move? (San Diego, Fresno: real estate, to rent, HOA fees)

[Krispytopher]

Yes, another one of these threads hoping for answers. I am a college student 1 semester away from getting a B.A. And intends to get a masters in History. Currently my wife and I (with a 2 year old daughter and another on the way) live in Fresno, California and want to get out of here. We want a nice/safer community than what we have, close to things for the kids; zoos, lakes, museums, and hiking opportunities. From what I gather San Diego seems like a possibility, specifically Poway, La Mesa, or Santee.

My wife has been a police dispatcher for years and hopes to get a similar job in the vicinity and I hope to start substitute teaching or maybe working at one of the 50 museums around town. I am guessing our income will be about $70k. Initial looks make houses seem really expensive $300k+ (our current house was bought for 180k), and all have a very mission style look (to match the local mission and history no doubt).

Is it feasible to own a decent house in one of the places I mentioned or is it a silicone valley type area? Meaning money is needed in excess, are the areas I listed nice and relatively safe or police sirens a common occurrence? Any input or thoughts on decent places up to a hour away from the city where we could live and commute from?

Thanks for any and all input/insight.

[USDefault]

Originally Posted by Krispytopher

From what I gather San Diego seems like a possibility, specifically Poway, La Mesa, or Santee.

My wife has been a police dispatcher for years and hopes to get a similar job in the vicinity and I hope to start substitute teaching or maybe working at one of the 50 museums around town. I am guessing our income will be about $70k. Initial looks make houses seem really expensive $300k+ (our current house was bought for 180k), and all have a very mission style look (to match the local mission and history no doubt).

Is it feasible to own a decent house in one of the places I mentioned or is it a silicone valley type area? Meaning money is needed in excess, are the areas I listed nice and relatively safe or police sirens a common occurrence? Any input or thoughts on decent places up to a hour away from the city where we could live and commute from?

Let me preface by saying you are doing fine for a young family, and in most areas of the country, your plan would be viable.

San Diego? Not so much. San Diego is a very safe city and county, so the areas you mentioned would be o.k. But two kids in San Diego on $70k? It is going to be really, really tight. Impossibly tight in my opinion, and unquestionably, you will have to rent, and it's going to cost you for a family of four. Nor will you be able to put anything at all away for your kids' college education or your retirement.

Let's talk about purchasing a home for the moment. $300k for a single-family home in San Diego, pretty much impossible. You'd be lucky to find a townhome at that price. Poway has the best school district in San Diego. But forget it, the average home price in Poway is $560k, and that is going to be a dump needing work. For anything decent in Poway, you are looking at $700k plus, and prime properties with a nice lot, garage, a little privacy, and upgraded amenities are at the $1 million mark (we were looking last year). Same home would probably cost you less than half that in Fresno, and likely $275k in Texas or Nevada.

Santee average probably approaches $400k, and La Mesa is going to be more, perhaps $450k or so. Santee, not so great in my opinion, some areas I wouldn't want to live in. Hot in summer. And even with these high averages, if you buy just the average home, you'll be buying a small house with a postage-size lot, barely enough room for your family. Don't think you'll have plenty of room for four. You won't, you'll be lucky if you can get two clean bathrooms, a two-car garage, and appliances that are from this decade. Not kidding.

If it were me, straight up I'd be staying in Fresno, where the cost of living is probably half of what it is in San Diego, and housing is probably one-third of San Diego's ridiculous real estate prices. You'll save a lot more money staying in Fresno, allowing you to pay off student loans, put money towards those college savings plans, and put money away in your 401ks. People in San Diego would kill for a single family home that cost $180k. You'd be hard-pressed to find even a one-bedroom condo for that price down here.

For example, here are some recent condo listings in Mission Valley, which is centrally located, lots of condos and townhomes, decent area but nothing great, not even close to the water. Two bedrooms and a thousand square feet is going to cost you $250k in Mission Valley, plus HOA fees of around $300 bucks a month. And that's for a small condo that is insufficient for a family of four. Take a look at what $180k gets you: something that's serviceable for young college students or a starving artist.

This is just the fiscal side of things. I'll let others touch on the San Diego job market, including teaching, which I also understand is going to be tough. The bottom line is, a lot of people want to live here. Retirees and big money, people who have had a lifetime to build their bank accounts and assets, want to live here. They retire, move in, buy what they want, and don't care about jobs, kids, college, etc. Overseas purchasers from Asia and China also are buying properties in San Diego. These people think nothing of paying all-cash for multimillion dollar homes, and thus the price of everything in San Diego is going up. Heck, Mitt Romney lives here, and he'll be tearing down a nice house in La Jolla that cost him $12 million (albeit mostly land value) so that he can put up a brand new home that's double the size. That's anecdotal, of course, but it drives home the point San Diego is deemed to be one of the most desirable seaside locales in the country, and unfortunately that means a very high cost for you and your nice family.

Read my other posts. Southern California is, in my opinion, one of the most hostile places for young families, from a financial point of view. Stay put.

[mewzikguy]

I am going against the naysayers, and say yes, you guys can do this. Your kids will be so happy living here, the entire county is great for kids. Many youth activities, parks, beaches, museums, Legoland, Zoo, Seaworld - - One of my young colleagues that I teach with just bought a home in Santee, he says many young families like yours are finding ways to buy homes in that area. If you have been saving for a down payment & your credit scores are over 700, you guys can do it. Good Luck

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by mewzikguy

I am going against the naysayers, and say yes, you guys can do this. Your kids will be so happy living here, the entire county is great for kids. Many youth activities, parks, beaches, museums, Legoland, Zoo, Seaworld - - One of my young colleagues that I teach with just bought a home in Santee, he says many young families like yours are finding ways to buy homes in that area. If you have been saving for a down payment & your credit scores are over 700, you guys can do it. Good Luck

I'd have to disagree with this based on the OP's personal situation.

Still in college and getting your bachelor's degree with 2 kids? Wow. That's a lot on your plate. I'm not sure what your undergraduate degree is in but quite honestly a Master's in History isn't too practical/valuable these days, IMHO. And I'd say your hopes of substitute teaching are not that great either. I know several teachers in various districts and I can't tell you how tough they have it to just work. We had a babysitter last night that is a 5th grade teacher for SDUSD and it just sounds like a nightmare situation.

Your wife sounds like she has a good stable job there where you live. The same can't be guaranteed for San Diego where there is a LOT of demand to live here. Same with your job situation. I couldn't tell if you meant you wanted to move when you are done with your Master's degree or now? But quite honestly, I just don't think in your situation and professions it's going to be a slam dunk to get jobs here.

This is one of those times I'll agree with USDefault when he says that only making $70,000 for a family of 4 with young children involved and living in San Diego is NOT a lot at all.

No offense so I hope none is taken, with your personal situation, your field of study and having 2 young kids right out of the gate, I don't think San Diego is an ideal city to move to in your situation. In fact, I will go one step further and say it could turn out disastrous.

[gzubeck]

Originally Posted by earlyretirement

I'd have to disagree with this based on the OP's personal situation.

Still in college and getting your bachelor's degree with 2 kids? Wow. That's a lot on your plate. I'm not sure what your undergraduate degree is in but quite honestly a Master's in History isn't too practical/valuable these days, IMHO. And I'd say your hopes of substitute teaching are not that great either. I know several teachers in various districts and I can't tell you how tough they have it to just work. We had a babysitter last night that is a 5th grade teacher for SDUSD and it just sounds like a nightmare situation.

Your wife sounds like she has a good stable job there where you live. The same can't be guaranteed for San Diego where there is a LOT of demand to live here. Same with your job situation. I couldn't tell if you meant you wanted to move when you are done with your Master's degree or now? But quite honestly, I just don't think in your situation and professions it's going to be a slam dunk to get jobs here.

This is one of those times I'll agree with USDefault when he says that only making $70,000 for a family of 4 with young children involved and living in San Diego is NOT a lot at all.

No offense so I hope none is taken, with your personal situation, your field of study and having 2 young kids right out of the gate, I don't think San Diego is an ideal city to move to in your situation. In fact, I will go one step further and say it could turn out disastrous.

Not entirely! If your getting a masters degree in history you might as well get a teaching credential because that's where your value will be. The combined income then might exceed $100,000. I don't think that their plans are to stay at $70,000 indefinitely.

[moved]

A teaching credential won't do much good in San Diego.

[Krispytopher]

Thank you all for the valuable information/insight, it seems as San Diego is not going to happen. While it would be nice it would be nicer not living pay check to paycheck. Time to look into Tehachapi.

[NorthSDLifer]

Originally Posted by Krispytopher

Time to look into Tehachapi.

Oh, see what you all made him do?

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by Krispytopher

Thank you all for the valuable information/insight, it seems as San Diego is not going to happen. While it would be nice it would be nicer not living pay check to paycheck. Time to look into Tehachapi.

Originally Posted by NorthSDLifer

Oh, see what you all made him do?

Better that they figure it out before they move here vs. later afterwards. If the OP was single or married with NO kids then my advice would probably be different but quite honestly, in that situation in those fields and professions, they are doing the wise thing, IMHO.

No one is saying that they can't move to San Diego later when they are more established, done with their education, have some savings banked and their kids are also out of preschool age so no daycare expenses.

But based on what they wrote, I'm not sure how anyone would say moving to San Diego under that situation would be a wise decision.