Considering a move to Cali - Can I afford it?
 

I grew up in Alameda Ca. I moved away in 1994 to go to school and have not moved back since. I am considering moving back in a few years to enjoy the car culture and also to be in a bit more dynamic and diverse environment.

Can I afford it?

No.

In a few years? Who knows, maybe RE prices will slip from astronomical to merely outrageous. Evansville, IN is *really cheap*..... get ready for housing sticker shock.

Tough one James. You lived in NYC which is comparable pricewise. Now you are in Indiana. You may have gotten used to making your $'s go farther.

Scott

is 200-250 a year enough? I hate to talk numbers but I am trying to estimate and without getting specific, I think I'd have 50-100 to put down on something. Plus no short term debt, eg car payments, cards, etc.

What is the 'tipping point' earnings wise?

I think LA area would be the location.

Scott, I hear you, I think NYC is 'easier' because you don't need a car, you don't have a yard, etc.

No amount is ever enough. You can get by on that.

Scott

I guess it looks like I'd be moving to Watts or Compton. Everywhere else is crazy cost wise and I don't want one of 'those' type of home loans.

Depends on where you'd be working. Riverside has a nice car culture. With 200-250/year you can do OK, here, but not spectacularly. Unless your single.

If you're putting money down, then it's not one of "those" types of loans.

I was thinking maybe a wise move would be start with a condo and then move in 5 years. OR buy a dump in the hood and be the first yupi to move in. The banks will loan me silly money, thats not the issue. The issue is, where is a good place to live and what is a smart way to move there in SoCal. I don't need to be in the best development or keep up with the Jone's, etc. I am happy to live in a modest if yet well kept place - my main issue is I have 4 cars and no plans to sell any of them ;-)

How about moving here and renting? Gives you time to get reaquanted with the area and decide where you would most like to live. Values are on the decline in most areas in SoCal so you time on your side there too.

200-250, you mean in K right? Depending on your standards/expectations you'll have no problem.

If you have to ask. . .

Seriously, wait 2-3 years. By then this whole thing will have played out and there's one of two possible scenarios as I see it:

1. RE prices will have dropped 50% to near-affordable levels so average people can actually buy without resorting to idiotic "creatively financed" mortgages to buy.

and/or

2. The area will still be hopelessly f*cked up, illegals will have taken over the region even worse than today, it'll be hopelessly gridlocked with crumbling infrastructure and it'll cost twice as much as today to live in a glorified third-world country.

Anybody's guess at this point which way it'll go.

Again, where would you be working? That's a biggie for not living on the freeways. On the other hand, maybe you don't have to work and live off of a trust. In that case, move to Ventura

yeah I mean K. And I was hoping to not need my wives income which is not reflected here. I also like to save money e.g. for that rainy day. We try and save 12-20 percent a year. It means we don't do somethings because I have an addition ahhh I mean hobby that is not cheap ;-)

200K is more than enough for most places in CA as long as you have no debt and have a good downpayment.

No, I HAVE to work, but thanks for the vote of confidence. Probably LA. Probably in relation to banking, IT or studio's. Work is not an option so I would probably try and be as close to work as I can. But since I live here in BFE right now, I've gotten in the habit of getting up early, I get to work at 630 AM so I could do the same there too...

By 6:30 AM the Freeways are bumper to bumper, try 4 AM...

wow!!!! so are people going to work at 4:30 and coming home at 3 in the afternoon?

The way things are going in America I would bet on being hoplessly fked up. This is not a Liberal or Conservative postion, both partys are doing their damdest to fk things up. Both sides blame each other, when the real culprit is the money/power/perks that are waved in front of the most well meaning Elected Officals. There is no resolve to right the problems that are facing America other than just maintaining the status quo. Meanwhile the problems grow worse and just compound themselves. Sooner or later the system will reach a critical mass and will collapse. Meanwhile it will be one he11 of a wild ride straight into the abyss.

You can't command that kind of money and be that naive. Nuf said.

what?

Naive?

I don't live there, I have no idea what it costs to live there. For example, do you know what it costs to live where I do? How could you. WOuld it shock you that on 50k a year you can live fine here? Obviously you don't have the benefits of other locations e.g. beach, etc.

I'd ask that you consider my post - I obviously don't think that amount would be enough based on research on sites such as www.realtor.com. What I see are house notes that push the bounds of any budget, and these are DUMPS I am talking about.

So I appreciate you right to your opinion, I'd just appreciate you including some advice that is actionable (not insulting) which was the point of my post.

At this point here is what I've learned:

1. I can live on that, just not as well as if I were single and not 'at a high level' e.g. top subdivision, area, etc.

2. I need to plan to be near work as the highway's are backed up well before (and after?) traditional travel times

3. I need to realize that I won't have room for extra debt not related to house, etc as my house will be the main expense I have

4. I need to plan to step down lifestyle wise from what I have here

So that doesn't seem like someone who is naive to me, it seems like someone who is trying to leverage the knowledge of those that know more.

would it be bad to rent? Maybe I could rent and just defer more to savings? do people expect RE to rise as much in the next 10 years as it has in the past 10?

rent. It isn't rocket science. No, the market will not rise over the next 10 like it did over the last 10. If so, then the place will empty out because no one could afford to live here.

If you can't live on $200K/year in LA then you have lifestyle problems. But don't expect to buy a 2000 sq ft house on half an acre and have a short drive to work.

I was thinking more of 1000SQ, 2 car garage, fixer upper. That was my 'hope'. But I guess it will be renting. But hey, at least the air is really clear there...

my god...i make $35k...$72k between my wife and i and i do just fine in North Jersey....guess my california dream move is over

Nick

I think Cali is more expensive that NYC. It is all relative based on what you want. I want to have a simple, clean and modest but comfortable house with a place to put a couple cars and a small yard that is within 30 minutes of my job. I don't need to have the biggest, best, most 'chic' house.

Maybe the houses I'd want are not on the websites I am reading that make me think that I can't afford the place?

nope...they don't exist. Sorry, that was 10 years ago.

And I'm about 8 miles from my job, which takes 30 minutes coming home.

My old house is in a nice neighborhood, 2 car garage, 9K sq ft lot (one of the biggest in the neighborhood. Peaked at $1.5M in Oct of '05. Is probably worth just north of $1M. You can pay a bit less for a smaller lot and a fixer, but not too much. Condos in my neighborhood are going for over $700K. I prefer to rent for $1600/mo. 2br/1ba 1 car garage.

Depends on your expectations. It is crowded, expensive, and a pita to live here. If you want a nice house and a nice lot and a nice life, best look elsewhere.

hmm, I will have to really think over what you said. Need a job in the midwest? ;-)

nope. I love CA. I was born here. If I move it would be to HI or another country.

But I can telecommute...what's the gig? ;)

There are some interesting lofts going up for sale downtown that were discussed in a different thread... that is if you don't mind the urban environment and sounds like you don't. If you find work downtown you wouldn't have to commute and there are lots of great restaurants and entertainment in the area.

I leave my house at 6:30 am and get to work at exposition park twenty miles away around 7:15 - 7:30.

Keep in mind Nostatic and Wayne live in beach cities $$$$$

Uh, so do I but I bought in a long time ago from family at a dicounted price.

I wish, then I'd move too. But you know, it is sounding more and more like unless we go back to NYC, we may say in the middle of the country, we are just too young to have started out before the big rise in RE values.

I don't mind renting if I can defer enough to savings to off set the cost of not owning and having the tax benefit, etc. But what do I know, I am naive :rolleyes:

I wouldn't mind that at all! thanks for the point, is there a website you know of about these?


My aunt had an acre in La Jolla she got in the early 50's... sold it in the late 80's when she retired, got a condo then, now it is worth nearly a million.

I envy the lifestyle on one level but I struggle with how people make it work as I think I am reasonably successful but still don't see the math adding up relative to being able to save enough and build equity.

Great posts fellas thanks, you've broken my OT cherry :D

How could you not afford to live in a state when you would be making more than 90% of everyone else in that state?

where did you get that stat?

Well, if my parents former home is any indication, easy! They got it for 132k. Now it is work a million.

Don't commute. Seriously. I used to commute to Glendale every day (about 35 miles each way) and it was pure hell on earth. If I didn't have a motorcycle I could count on to give me the advantages of (1) lane splitting and (2) car pool lane useage, I'd have quit that job and run away screaming long before I did. There are/were two ways to deal with a commute:

1. Leave VERY early. As in, before 6:00am. On the days I drove, if I was underway (not just walking out the door, but actually in the car driving) by 6:00am, it'd take me about an hour to get to work. If I waited until 6:05, it'd take an hour and a half to two hours (sometimes more).

2. Get a motorcycle.

3. Telecommute.

4. F*ck the whole mess and live close to where you work. As in 3-5 miles MAXIMUM.

good points

Do you seriously doubt that if you make $250K, you'd be in the top 10% of wage earners in California?

What he said... if I were moving here knowing what I know now I would find a job THEN look for housing near the job.

I have no idea what people make there. I have some friends who make less, some that make more, etc. I really don't want this thread focused on that. What I was trying to do was determine based on my goals of a simple, comfortable, small is ok home, what could I expect. I have not researched incomes in the area. I also know that we don't have kids and plan to in the coming years so that will represent further change and expense.