Relocating to Southern California (San Diego, Temecula: real estate, apartment, hotel)

[ct2bos2tx2ca]

I’m 38 AA and my husband is 35 Mexican American. 3 kids. 2 will be going to college prior to the move. So really just need to find a good school district for my son who will be in 8th grade when we move. My current job has a location in Poway where I can work or the option to telecommute. Leaving me open to move to LA. Husband has been at his same job for 19 years . Currently a director for a nationwide youth program. He’s going to want to work with kids either something in athletics or anything with youth in general. I work in retirement benefits but also sell real estate. I plan on getting licensed in CA before the move. Our combined salaries are about 120K (not including real estate income). We know it’s way more expensive in California and have no problem working additional jobs. I’m originally from the east coast and no stranger to hustling. Hoping to find an apartment. 2 bedrooms under 2K. Husband is not familiar with living in a big city. Looking for an area that’s somewhat in the burbs. Don’t need to be super close to the water about an hour ride is good. Would like a diverse area don’t care about which races but don’t want to be the only people of color. Please help. I just don’t know where to start. Hoping to move during winter break of next year.

[cruitr]

ct2bos2tx2ca... you have a lot of questions buried in your block of text. I'll try to answer a few:

1. Your husband has been in the same job for 19 years. Wouldn't he be better off staying 20 years? Most employers have some sort of pension starting at 20 years of employment.

2. I was just in Poway today. Beautiful place. Great schools. But I doubt you'll find a decent 2 bed apt anywhere near Poway for $2k. On second thought, I just checked Craigslist. $2k apts are available near Poway.

3. San Diego is not a big city. Since you live in Dallas (I used to live in Plano many years ago), you live in a big city. Moving to San Diego will be like moving to Waxahachie. San Diego may have a lot of people but those people are spread out over 325 sq miles. Other than Central San Diego, we are very sparsely populated.

4. I live less than 5 miles from the Pacific Ocean. On summer days, it can take me an hour to get from my front door to toes-in-the-sand. Distance doesn't play too big a role in getting to the ocean. It is the last few miles that are the most painful.

Good luck with your decision. We've been here about 15 years. San Diego is sort of like Hotel California... it's easy to check-in but you can never leave.

[someguy10]

I think most people would consider Dallas, TX, a fairly big city?

At $2k/mo for housing and with only your income, will your budget be ok? If so, I'd recommend finding a place that you'd really like to live and that has at least some husband-friendly jobs nearby. You can manage until your husband can find a suitable job that isn't too far away.

San Diego is unlike a lot of other cities its size: there's very little truly urban area so much of it feels suburban to a varying degree.

I don't have data offhand to cite, but it seems teaching and other similar jobs have more supply than demand in San Diego, so finding a job may not be quick for your husband.

[ct2bos2tx2ca]

Thank you so much. We’ll be out in July to looking around some more.

[ct2bos2tx2ca]

Originally Posted by cruitr

ct2bos2tx2ca... you have a lot of questions buried in your block of text. I'll try to answer a few:

1. Your husband has been in the same job for 19 years. Wouldn't he be better off staying 20 years? Most employers have some sort of pension starting at 20 years of employment.

2. I was just in Poway today. Beautiful place. Great schools. But I doubt you'll find a decent 2 bed apt anywhere near Poway for $2k. On second thought, I just checked Craigslist. $2k apts are available near Poway.

3. San Diego is not a big city. Since you live in Dallas (I used to live in Plano many years ago), you live in a big city. Moving to San Diego will be like moving to Waxahachie. San Diego may have a lot of people but those people are spread out over 325 sq miles. Other than Central San Diego, we are very sparsely populated.

4. I live less than 5 miles from the Pacific Ocean. On summer days, it can take me an hour to get from my front door to toes-in-the-sand. Distance doesn't play too big a role in getting to the ocean. It is the last few miles that are the most painful.

Good luck with your decision. We've been here about 15 years. San Diego is sort of like Hotel California... it's easy to check-in but you can never leave.

Awesome! We’re just outside of Plano. Kids go to PISD so a good school district is a must. I heard great things about the Poway schools. By time we move he will have reached over 20 years and he will get squat. No pension offered.

Is there somewhere else you may recommend that wont feel like Waxahachie. I’m from Boston so Dallas seems so slow to me. But that’s probably because it’s the south. I have the option to telecommute. So we can really more anywhere (that we can afford ).

Thank you for your response

[Trekker99]

Originally Posted by cruitr

ct2bos2tx2ca... you have a lot of questions buried in your block of text. I'll try to answer a few:

1. Your husband has been in the same job for 19 years. Wouldn't he be better off staying 20 years? Most employers have some sort of pension starting at 20 years of employment.

2. I was just in Poway today. Beautiful place. Great schools. But I doubt you'll find a decent 2 bed apt anywhere near Poway for $2k. On second thought, I just checked Craigslist. $2k apts are available near Poway.

3. San Diego is not a big city. Since you live in Dallas (I used to live in Plano many years ago), you live in a big city. Moving to San Diego will be like moving to Waxahachie. San Diego may have a lot of people but those people are spread out over 325 sq miles. Other than Central San Diego, we are very sparsely populated.

4. I live less than 5 miles from the Pacific Ocean. On summer days, it can take me an hour to get from my front door to toes-in-the-sand. Distance doesn't play too big a role in getting to the ocean. It is the last few miles that are the most painful.

Good luck with your decision. We've been here about 15 years. San Diego is sort of like Hotel California... it's easy to check-in but you can never leave.

Well done.

That'll scare 'em off.

[Hendrie]

Originally Posted by ct2bos2tx2ca

Awesome! We’re just outside of Plano. Kids go to PISD so a good school district is a must. I heard great things about the Poway schools. By time we move he will have reached over 20 years and he will get squat. No pension offered.

Is there somewhere else you may recommend that wont feel like Waxahachie. I’m from Boston so Dallas seems so slow to me. But that’s probably because it’s the south. I have the option to telecommute. So we can really more anywhere (that we can afford ).

Thank you for your response

San Diego is a slow relaxed pace as well I’m from Boston area as well don’t except it to be like Boston pace of life

[tstieber]

I'm confused about this:

"My current job has a location in Poway where I can work or the option to telecommute. Leaving me open to move to LA."

So are you also interested in moving to LA and telecommuting as another option besides living in SD? Why would you consider LA? It's even more expensive than SD, snd the traffic is much worse. I think having a job in Poway is a great opportunity, given the relatively better cost of housing. Even so, a high end apartment will be considerably more than $2000. A 1br in a large, modern complex will start around that budget. 2br will start in the high $2000 range. You may need to settle for an older, smaller building at this budget.

If you're open to telecommuting up to an hour from the cost, then you could always consider suburban wine country up in Temecula, which is a big commuter City for SD. Lower COL plus a charming old Town and lots of wineries around. However, it's a bit separated from urban areas.

If you want to live in a more bustling, city area, then your budget will get you even less, so I'd recommend sticking to suburbs. Given that you're coming from Plano, not Dallas proper, I would expect you won't find such a huge difference. San Diego is sprawling but by no means rural. We have plenty of people and crowding, just separated by swaths of open space.

[loveautumn]

The feel of SD isn’t really big city at all. Dallas/Plano is much more so. Here it’s a web of suburbs each with its own unique character. Finding a 2 bd for 2k in a very nice area will be a challenge, housing here is everyone’s biggest challenge. There’s a “ sticky” with all kinds of information on real estate here that you might find helpful. SD is a beautiful place, I think you’ll find the pace here will be a lot slower than Dallas area and Not aggressive like the east coast. SD County is huge, Poway/Scripps Ranch would be great. Keep in mind when people talk about “San Diego” they generally mean the County.

[loveautumn]

Also, since your coming from a no state tax state, keep in mind the taxes here are very high and we get taxed on everything, this will impact your earnings in a big way.