Considering possible move to Santa Barbara, Solvang, SLO, Santa Maria?

[Ruth4Truth]

OP, you may have to consider townhomes, if that's ok with you. Have you looked at RE listings in the areas you're considering? That would be a good way to start.

[NW4me]

There is beautiful countryside in the Solvang/Buellton area... but perhaps it's already been bid up,
even though it's a long way from LA... SLO has already been discovered and bid up, people say.

[greenblue]

We've found a lot of lots available under 350k, so we're going to start looking at some of these and see where it goes.

Definitely looking at Solvang and Buellton.

[greenblue]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

OP, you may have to consider townhomes, if that's ok with you. Have you looked at RE listings in the areas you're considering? That would be a good way to start.

Why would we consider a townhouse??? That sounds like the opposite of what we want...

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by greenblue

Will look at Susana Knolls, Box Canyon, etc.

The link you posted is totally uninteresting to us, unfortunately. We would prefer to have a small house and a large open space to anything suburban.

Maybe like this in the Ventura area inland?


https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sal...ct/9_zm/0_mmm/


https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sal...ct/9_zm/0_mmm/

[ryanst530]

Californians, in general, are pretty wrapped up in living some sort of dream. (Be it beach bum, crunchy, eco-friendly, social-justice, urbanite, wine affectionado, throwback conservative, etc.) So be prepared to meet a lot of loopy people, and possibly become ones, yourselves.

It's mostly the transplants who do this sort of thing. Lifelong Californians are generally less scenester-ish.

Regardless, do whatever makes you happy!

[wac_432]

Originally Posted by ryanst530

It's mostly the transplants who do this sort of thing. Lifelong Californians are generally less scenester-ish.

Regardless, do whatever makes you happy!

Lifelong Californians in my neighborhood are generally the most over-the-top about this. Lots of grown-up kids living with their parents so they can live their dream of being a surfboard shaper (and waiter) or ribbon-dancer (and bartender).

If I sound condescending about this, I'm not. I lived and worked in countries where it was the social norm to live in your parents' home to enable you to make a better life for yourself and your family. I thought that was a positive, but I always thought it was a negative that the younger generation, in these places, was pressed to do things they didn't enjoy. I think it's great that lifelong Californians can leverage their parents' property, and the gig economy, to afford to pursue/live their dreams OR launch out into the wide world. The more opportunity, the more choices, the more happiness, the better.

Not to mention, the result is really fun eclectic services for the community, and happy people providing/selling them.