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The general answer to your question is most likely yes, it's possible. As others have pointed out, housing in the main COL factor in both SF and SD and SD is less expensive in that regard.
I think the more important question is bigger in scope. How much are you paying in rent in SF? A $30K income cut is nothing to sneeze at. Plus of course direct and indirect moving expenses. Money aside, does your wife want to be a full-time parent and do you want to be away from family? Is there somewhere you explicitly really want to move and if so, won't moving anywhere else be going from the frying pan and into the fire?
Good questions. We're paying $3500 now. We don't care for the SF area, and the expense makes it not worth it to us. Weather is nice, but all of the negatives don't make up for the good weather. The newness has definitely worn off for us.
We are primarily looking back east, NC or VA. AZ is a possibility. We'll earn less, but we'll be a better position financially due to cost of living adjustment.
Yep, those are the things that I was consdering when this SD job came up. Cost of the actual move is a factor. Loss of my wife's income is tough, although she is okay with staying home with the little one and that will save on daycare expenses. My wife is actually very motivated to move. She finds the people generally unfriendly and not welcoming. I've lived in and around large cities, so I don't notice it as much. We both do like San Diego's more laid back vibe.
We'd probably be going from the fire, into a very hot frying pan, moving to SD.
The SD job isn't a lock by any means, but definitely wanted to look at the "what ifs?", to see if it is a viable althernative to where we are now.
Where did you come from in Virginia? I'd say the costs in San Diego are roughly equivalent to the Northern Virginia area. It's expensive, but still about half the cost of the San Francisco area. The catch, as others have noted, is that the job market is nothing like Northern VA or the Bay Area so you may be limiting yourself if something happens with the job. The rest are tradeoffs: your house is likely smaller in SD than Northern Virginia but the weather is so much better. The traffic is much better in San Diego as well.
However, in my opinion, 130k for a family is not enough for a family of three in San Diego or Northern Virginia, but you do make it work in SF and housing will be much cheaper in SD. If weather, outdoors, beaches, laid back lifestyle, are more important than job opportunities, then the move could make sense. It is also very cheap to fly between SD and SF so you will be closer to relatives..
So from a money standpoint, in SD at $3000/mo in rent you're roughly $1,500 net in the red. That could be offset by whatever your older daughter's tuition is plus saved daycare on the youngest. It seems possible that it could be roughly a wash.
Where is your wife from? Is it possible she really wants to move "home"? I would try to get to the bottom of that because moving is expensive on a lot of fronts, especially with school-age children. Keep in mind, your wife is also around the house and neighborhood a lot more than you, so she's more exposed to (un)friendliness. If she ends up not working at all, this will be even more of a factor.
In your situation, I would chose SD over SF, but plenty of other options over either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RichmondDad
Good questions. We're paying $3500 now. We don't care for the SF area, and the expense makes it not worth it to us. Weather is nice, but all of the negatives don't make up for the good weather. The newness has definitely worn off for us.
We are primarily looking back east, NC or VA. AZ is a possibility. We'll earn less, but we'll be a better position financially due to cost of living adjustment.
Yep, those are the things that I was consdering when this SD job came up. Cost of the actual move is a factor. Loss of my wife's income is tough, although she is okay with staying home with the little one and that will save on daycare expenses. My wife is actually very motivated to move. She finds the people generally unfriendly and not welcoming. I've lived in and around large cities, so I don't notice it as much. We both do like San Diego's more laid back vibe.
We'd probably be going from the fire, into a very hot frying pan, moving to SD.
The SD job isn't a lock by any means, but definitely wanted to look at the "what ifs?", to see if it is a viable althernative to where we are now.
We're paying $3500 now. We don't care for the SF area, and the expense makes it not worth it to us. Weather is nice, but all of the negatives don't make up for the good weather. The newness has definitely worn off for us.
Sounds like you're looking to leave SF for the same reason I'm looking to leave SD. Hubby and I actually do like it here (but San Diego is my husband's hometown so family IS here).
We rent here but our landlord keeps raising our rent so much that our annual raises just can't keep up with the COL.
Hubby is entertaining job offers from SLC and Sacramento at the moment. Its sad that we have to consider leaving family here but like you mentioned above, sometimes the expense just isn't worth it. For us, it was the stress...it just started to become unhealthy for us.
Have you looked into Sacramento? I know its not coastal but I've been looking at homes there and wow, I see how much more we could afford there compared to here. It would be an easy move for you guys and yet still close to SF for weekend trips. Just an idea.
Speaking from someone who relocated from the Bay Area to San Diego, if you can make the move, do it. Kearney Mesa is right in the middle, so finding a home to purchase within a reasonable commute time, is very doable--- SF has the expensive Peninsula or you have to live way out in East Bay with huge commutes in order to buy... SD is expensive but not in the same way as the Bay Area due to the limited availability of land.... most school districts in San Diego are good and the weather is warmer! I do miss living in the Bay are but am so happy that we relocated to San Diego.... Good luck!
Where did you come from in Virginia? I'd say the costs in San Diego are roughly equivalent to the Northern Virginia area. It's expensive, but still about half the cost of the San Francisco area. The catch, as others have noted, is that the job market is nothing like Northern VA or the Bay Area so you may be limiting yourself if something happens with the job. The rest are tradeoffs: your house is likely smaller in SD than Northern Virginia but the weather is so much better. The traffic is much better in San Diego as well.
However, in my opinion, 130k for a family is not enough for a family of three in San Diego or Northern Virginia, but you do make it work in SF and housing will be much cheaper in SD. If weather, outdoors, beaches, laid back lifestyle, are more important than job opportunities, then the move could make sense. It is also very cheap to fly between SD and SF so you will be closer to relatives..
Thank you for your thoughts.
We came from the suburbs of Richmond, VA. Much less expensive, but less job opportunities for me. We used to avoid Northern VA when we were in Richmond, because the traffic was so bad. Now, in SF it can sometimes take me up to 2 hours to drive 13 miles to the office lol.
Yes, definitely less job opportunities in SD, so if the job doesn't work out, I would be scrambling. Unfortunately, it's sad to say that $130k would be tough in SD too. We're actually a family of 4. 1 in grade school and the other in diapers.
So from a money standpoint, in SD at $3000/mo in rent you're roughly $1,500 net in the red. That could be offset by whatever your older daughter's tuition is plus saved daycare on the youngest. It seems possible that it could be roughly a wash.
Where is your wife from? Is it possible she really wants to move "home"? I would try to get to the bottom of that because moving is expensive on a lot of fronts, especially with school-age children. Keep in mind, your wife is also around the house and neighborhood a lot more than you, so she's more exposed to (un)friendliness. If she ends up not working at all, this will be even more of a factor.
In your situation, I would chose SD over SF, but plenty of other options over either.
Thank you for your advice. She's from VA, but most of her family is actually in the Bay area. It is tough coming from a place where people are overly polite, to a place where people ae basically indifferent.
In our neighboorhood, the homes are selling for $900k - $1m, but next door to us there are 8 guys living in a 3 bed room house, and take up so many parking spots on the street. Then you have homes that have been sold and just sit empty. It's in a state of transition. I really don't feel safe having my kids play in the front yard. We didn't have that concern where we came from. There really aren't too many housing choices here, unless you want a very long commute. Buying isn't possible for us and if we wanted to rent in a good school district we're looking at least $4500 a month.
Yes, I see SD as a possible termporary reprieve from SF, but I'm not sure if it will be a long term solution.
Sounds like you're looking to leave SF for the same reason I'm looking to leave SD. Hubby and I actually do like it here (but San Diego is my husband's hometown so family IS here).
We rent here but our landlord keeps raising our rent so much that our annual raises just can't keep up with the COL.
Hubby is entertaining job offers from SLC and Sacramento at the moment. Its sad that we have to consider leaving family here but like you mentioned above, sometimes the expense just isn't worth it. For us, it was the stress...it just started to become unhealthy for us.
Have you looked into Sacramento? I know its not coastal but I've been looking at homes there and wow, I see how much more we could afford there compared to here. It would be an easy move for you guys and yet still close to SF for weekend trips. Just an idea.
Yes, I'm worried about the neverending possilbe rent escalations in SD if we move there.
We're in the same boat, although we're not crazy about SF. The expenses are escalating faster than my salary.
We actually did look at Sacramaento, since a couple of family members moved there after the economic downturn in 2009. We checked out a bunch of different areas, but my wife didn't like it. The housing is much more affordable for sure, although it's been going up as more and more people are squeezed out of the SF area.
Last edited by RichmondDad; 05-14-2018 at 02:25 PM..
Speaking from someone who relocated from the Bay Area to San Diego, if you can make the move, do it. Kearney Mesa is right in the middle, so finding a home to purchase within a reasonable commute time, is very doable--- SF has the expensive Peninsula or you have to live way out in East Bay with huge commutes in order to buy... SD is expensive but not in the same way as the Bay Area due to the limited availability of land.... most school districts in San Diego are good and the weather is warmer! I do miss living in the Bay are but am so happy that we relocated to San Diego.... Good luck!
Thanks, Anita house! How long ago did you relocate? Did you buy a house in San Diego? Yes, that's the predicament we're in. Even the crummy areas of the Pennisula are out of our price range and I just can't see myself commuting from the far east bay, when we're not really crazy about the area anyway. Maybe if we loved it here, it might be worth the sacrifice, or if we didn't have children, since schools wouldn't be a concern.
We are also going to make the move to SD from SF area in about 6 months.
Houses are 1/2 the price when you consider good school districts & commute vs SF, as others have mentioned.
Don't know your exact financial situation, but you could buy a house in Mira Mesa for ~ $600k, good schools, good commute to Kearny Mesa. $130k income is more than sufficient for that, depends on down payment you can afford and other debts.
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