[red-beard]

You don't know what you are missing. Houston is a great affordable City. Even with the influx of NOLA aliens, I bet we still have less crime than LA.

And we aren't comparing Northwest Houston to Coastal View property. We are comparing Northwest Houston to inland CA, near SJC.

#1. You cannot find comparable housing in CA.
#2. Is it worth more to live in CA very near the coast? Yes. Is it worth 50% more. Sure. Double? OK. Triple? uh, I'm not sure...6-7 Times? Not a chance!!!

When I left San Diego, if you wanted a 2200 sq ft house on 4000 sq ft lot for $500K, you were buying in El Cajon. I would far far rather live in Houston for $350K than El Cajon for $500K. That same House in El Cajon is probably $700-750K now. It makes no sense. El Cajon gets just as hot as here and it is not a nice area!

When we moved here, the Median income was $57K and 60K in San Diego. The Median House price here was $133K vs $500K. When you look at the property price distribution, to get an equivalent neighborhood, our $350K house would be the equivalent of a $1.5 Million house in San Diego. $1.5 million would get you an Ocean view, but a crappy crappy house. $1.5 Million could buy you a “nice” 2000 sq ft house in Pt. Loma, but you won’t have a view.

Oh, in the outskirts of Houston, maybe 20 minutes from here, there are new housing developments going in which are $80K for over 2200 sq ft. The commute is a bit tough (30 miles), but certainly not as bad as I-8 or I-15 or I-5 or I-805 in San Diego.