Is buyng or renting any cheaper now?

[Wim]

I mentioned to my wife that you have questions for her, and she'll get back to you when she finds a break in her work schedule.
A couple of things: you mentioned that you already have a job offer. I guess that means you know pretty much what you can expect to make and how it differs from NC.
Then, you want to move back to SD, so in your familiarity you are aware that housing is probably the least favorable aspect of life here. I think you get more for your housing money almost anywhere in the nation (except HI), which means near anywhere in the whole world! That's pretty stunning when you think of it...
But then again, nurses make more here than anywhere else and they do make above average salaries.
We are looking for a larger house to rent ourselves, and yes it is a process. It might be a bit easier from right here as you can actually drive by the places you see advertised. So if you could rought it out for a 6 month or 1 year lease in a townhouse complex while you get yourselves situated and look for less temporary housing, that would be an option.
There must be many on this blog who could advise you better on shopping for foreclosed homes than I could.

Bottom line is: you know the reasons why you want to move back to SD. And you also know that getting a deal on real estate or rent is not one of them.

[Liza54]

Actually all I did was send off my resume at this point, w/ "let's see what happens!" . Once I did, though, I thought "If I actually did get offered the job, what does it matter- we can't afford it anyway". I want to come back so much, but do have 2 young kids to think about. School and neighborhood will soon become a priority. But being outside so much, sunny weather, the lifestyle and attitudes in soCal, just being happier and really feeling like home to me is also important. It's hard to decide what's better...our bigger house here, or all the pluses of SD, but being broke....

[kettlepot]

Originally Posted by Elizabeth_P

Please share!!

There's a house for rent at the corner of Collier and 50th Street, 4 blocks north of ECB in the neighborhood of Talmadge. It's 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, renting for $1300/month. 1 Car garage, fenced back yard, no A/C, no W/D. It may or may not have hook ups in the garage - that's typically where W/D are located in older homes. A fair number of rentals in the area don't make it onto Craigslist.

There are issues along ECB at night, but it doesn't penetrate into the neighborhood very often and ECB can be avoided as there are other ways to get into and out of the neighborhood. There are a decent number of kids in the neighborhood given its urban location. Demographically, I would guess it to be 65% white, 10% Asian, 15% Hispanic, 5% Black, and 5% other. I've heard parents say that their kids actually do fine at the local elementary school, but it's the social environments of the middle and high schools that must be avoided.

[Wim]

Originally Posted by amymcc

Actually all I did was send off my resume at this point, w/ "let's see what happens!" . Once I did, though, I thought "If I actually did get offered the job, what does it matter- we can't afford it anyway". I want to come back so much, but do have 2 young kids to think about. School and neighborhood will soon become a priority. But being outside so much, sunny weather, the lifestyle and attitudes in soCal, just being happier and really feeling like home to me is also important. It's hard to decide what's better...our bigger house here, or all the pluses of SD, but being broke....

It's usually a matter of the heart, isn't it? I think you're doing the right thing, sending off the resume to see what response you get. And checking with the blog and craigs list regarding housing availability. You kinda let your feelers out and see what messages your heart picks up.

You may not be able to afford a big house, but what you will be able to get depends besides your salary on the health and strength of your general financial situation. Like, do you have many payments every month (credit cards, car(s), loans etc). Not doing daycare already saves you a good 1K every month.
I don't know how miserable "y'all" feel over there in NC...and of course moving to SD isn't going to be a ticket to everlasting happiness (wouldn't it be great if it were that easy!) But like you say, you gotto weigh it all and listen to your intuition.
I wouldn't worry so much about schooling for kids, I don't think you'd be doing better in NC than over here. There's charter schools, magnet schools if you don't like the run of the mill public education and you don't feel ready for the private school fees. And don't you think the kids are going to love the beaches, the zoo, sea world etc?
We had a nice home in the country that we moved away from to a much too small (temporary) place in SD, but I've never heard our 3 and 5 yr old ones complain. We occasionally ask them and they always say they love SD best.
So you also need to ask yourself, to what extend would you need to tighten your belt, and does it realistically stand tightening to the extend you could indeed afford to live here.
Anyway, you have probably thought of all this already...

Oh, in terms of neighborhoods; if you like suburbia then follow the recommendations of many on this blog (Poway, Santee, La Mesa, North County etc). If you don't care for that type of "out of town" environment, I would look at Clairemont, Linda Vista (that's what we're doing in our search for a place with an extra bedroom and a yard for the kids to play in).

Hope this helps a bit. And by the way, what is your critical care specialty (my wife can check if there's a shortage there at her work).
Best and courage!

[GoingBackEast]

wow. we moved from San Diego to NC just a couple of months ago. This is a different country out here !!!! But the job situation is no better than SD ( watch out for those "sunshine" dollars folks). If you are from SD you can't believe they are foreclosing on 200k spacious houses in NC (with half acre etc), since 200K buys a bad condo in SD. But they are, like crazy. The economy is bad all over. Try the Rolando area too. It's fairly quiet, not as expensive, still inside SD, edge of La Mesa. Good luck in San Diego.

[Elizabeth_P]

Originally Posted by kettlepot

There's a house for rent at the corner of Collier and 50th Street, 4 blocks north of ECB in the neighborhood of Talmadge. It's 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, renting for $1300/month. 1 Car garage, fenced back yard, no A/C, no W/D. It may or may not have hook ups in the garage - that's typically where W/D are located in older homes. A fair number of rentals in the area don't make it onto Craigslist.

There are issues along ECB at night, but it doesn't penetrate into the neighborhood very often and ECB can be avoided as there are other ways to get into and out of the neighborhood. There are a decent number of kids in the neighborhood given its urban location. Demographically, I would guess it to be 65% white, 10% Asian, 15% Hispanic, 5% Black, and 5% other. I've heard parents say that their kids actually do fine at the local elementary school, but it's the social environments of the middle and high schools that must be avoided.

Interesting; thanks!

[Wim]

Hi amymcc,

This is Wim's wife checking in. I understand you have question regarding nursing work in SD. Here's my email address: ghae_nurse@hotmail.com
Feel free to contact me and I'll see if I can be of help.

[BandPlaysOn]

Back when I moved to San Diego in 1980, the ratio of price to rent was incredibly high - that is, rents were very cheap compared to prices. Since property was appreciating, landlords were willing to take a loss on cash flow to capture the leveraged property value gains.
Now the situation has reversed completely: Rents are very high relative to (actual selling) prices, at least in some sections. (There are some areas where house prices are holding up.)
The trouble with moving to a city is that no one wants to buy at first. But rents are so high on the open market that it's hard to save up enough for the down payment. Worse, most rentals here aren't even advertised. The best rentals are referrals from friends and by networking - just like jobs. The antidiscrimination laws in CA are so strict that it discourages open advertising of rentals.
To move here, the best strategy is: Get the lowest priced rental you can stand, (a nursing job helps a lot), keep the lease short (even month-to-month is doable.) Ask about rentals from co-workers, friends, contacts. This will result in a cheaper and/or better rental. Then tighten your belt and save for that down payment. Foreclosures, short sales, and distress sales are flooding the market in some areas. The more cash you have, the harder bargain you can drive. But getting that cash, against the rent noose, is tough. Nurses can work a lot of O/T to do this, but don't expect to enjoy San Diego much during this period. All your time will be spent working.