Advice for Moving from DC to San Diego (Carlsbad, Poway: real estate, rental)

[NoVA_Mover]

I wanted to solicit some advice from the folks here on moving from the Northern Virginia/ Washington DC area to San Diego.

About us: Me and my wife are both in our mid 30's and have 3 kids (10,8, & 6). Our kids attend Fairfax Co. Public schools. I work in the public sector as an IT project manager. Work is steady, and the office is only about 5 miles away from home, so traffic is not an issue here. Home is paid off, so there is no mortgage to worry about. I also have rental income coming in on the side.

I have an opportunity to move to San Diego due to a job offer. The pay is a bit less than my current salary as is somewhat expected. I do realize that the COL is bit higher in SD, but that probably comes with being a coastal community. We are primarily looking into the Poway, Rancho Bernardo and Rancho Penasquitos areas, due to the school district. Price range up to 800K. I have briefly rented in San Diego before as well (15 years go), but didn't get to enjoy much, because of lack of steady job.

Since most of our savings has been invested into our current DC home, we would need to sell that in order to purchase in San Diego. Initial plans are to rent in SD and then buy. My hesitation is job market. While my current offer is relatively OK, I am concerned with the overall market, say it doesn't work out with this new job. I don't want to be stuck in a bad situation. Was looking for experiences from folks who moved out here recently and things that I need to be aware of that I may not have realized with moving into the area.

Thanks so much.

[Cardiff Kook]

I moved out here from DC nearly a year ago now. First, I'd say in my experience that its no more expensive to live here than the NoVA/DC area. Real estate is high in both places and everything else is about the same. My utility bills are actually a fraction of what they were in NoVA due to the climate.

Sounds like you are in a good place financially and have an offer in hand so it boils down to how bad you really want it. You concern about the overall job market is the same concern a lot of people living here have. No risk, no reward. Good luck!

[RainbowHope]

We moved out here this summer. My husband is in IT, and he works on contract.

Many of the IT jobs here are contract or contract-to-hire. CA is an at-will state, so even though you have a contract that doesn't mean that they have to keep you for the full contact term. You can also leave early if you don't like the job and you find something else.

Depending what you do for IT would depend on the strength of the job market. My husband has several strong skills and is very marketable. He works with people who have a strong concentration on one thing, and their contracts ended recently. Husband found a new job already. The other people have not.

Where is your new job located? I know you are close to your job there and DC and do not have to deal with epic traffic. We have heavy commute traffic here, too. This is a big consideration for many.

[NoVA_Mover]

The job is to be located in Carlsbad, with clients spread out throughout SD. While commuting is something to consider, I would have community/schools a bit higher at this point in our lives, due to school aged kids. I have been through tough commutes here in the DC area before (4 hours daily for only 15 miles - 5 years).