Love SoCal, Can't Afford a House Here, where to folks go? (San Jose: rent, insurance)

[Searching-01]

Originally Posted by aslowdodge

I must have missed it. I don't think the op wants a bigger home as much as he doesn't want a condo, doesn't like the style.
Based on his income and financial history I think his budget is limited.
I think he will be forced inland.

I think you're calling it right.

A condo would be fine, except for the tendency to build them like concrete waste containers and such.

The idea of having a dumpster out the front door ruins it for me.

So a condo per se isn't the problem. It's the way they tend to build the condo communities here that adds an additional problem to finding one to live in, for me.

Yes budget is limited. Otherwise I'd be looking at single family homes.

And to be honest, even homes I can't afford are too close to each other here.

Multi-million dollar homes here are close enough together to stand between them and touch both houses.

I just don't get that, LOL!

So ultimately people *far* wealthier than me are making compromises here, that given my choice, I'd not make at all.

Such is life for a working class single income earner like me I guess.

What astounds me is that I did work reasonably hard my whole life, no drugs, no divorces, none of the things that usually sink someone's finances... other than some periods of really long unemployment, and here I'm stuck.

Now at 55 I'm convinced it's possible to work hard all or most of one's life, not get involved in the usual pitfalls... and still not make it to "the good" life.

Something I wouldn't have believed at 25.

[Searching-01]

Originally Posted by dontbelievehim

Go inland
Riverside/temecula/palmdale or the central valley if you cant afford socal

Weather isnt as bad as ppl make it out to be and youll be 1 hour to 2 hours from the coast, depending where you live.
Its upper 80s/lower 90s right now and it feels great being outside cause theres a lot of cool wind coming from the ocean(im in fresno).
If you move to az or vegas, youll be stuck with that desert wind ;p
And the south is mostly humid as f..
Gl, op

I'd be fine with inland if I were more sure of what's out there and how life would play out.

Here I've had 12 years to look the area over and feel at home.

Back in the early 2000s I drove around the Inland Empire... Temecula, Beaumont, Moreno Valley, Corona, etc. looking for a place to buy. I was approved for about $450K in mortgage money... and then as now Condos in OC were running $500K+ for 2/2's... but inland I could get a 2500 sq ft. house...

But... a friend said... go hang in the grocery store where you are contemplating moving for a while... then decide...

Well... every place out there I took the time to do that... and I really did it... failed the "Grocery Store Test".

I had a feeling I'd be moving to a higher crime and social problems sort of area to be out in Inland Empire.

Some folks love it out there. Have a friend in Moreno that loves it out there. Wanted more land for horses and such and could get it there. I think I'd be climbing the walls in Moreno, LOL!

[Searching-01]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

OP, since you're 55, if you qualify income-wise, there are a lot of affordable 55+ places in CA. And depending on the area, you can actually make quite a bit of money and still qualify. Might be worth checking into.

Best of luck.

Yes, I think Laguna Woods is the closest one of those to here. Some places there I could afford. But I feel some trepidation about living there.

The prices are still high for me, and it's far enough the other side of the area, that I'm not sure it's like here.

But it is an option I'm looking at, to be sure.

It's closer than moving out of state.

[Searching-01]

Originally Posted by Finper

It was 110 here 2 weeks ago. Next week its hovering around a 100 every bloody day. I'm not feeling sorry for myself it just bugs me when people say the weathers perfect here your state sucks.

For me it has been perfect.

But I'm odd... I set the thermostat for mid 80's and leave it that way all year.

With the recent heat wave, it's been 86 indoors with no AC or heat... for me that's been perfect.

Being from Florida I like it warm.

Right this moment I'm sitting next to a running space heater basting a little, LOL! Indoor temp at the moment is 84.

Most of the year it's a little too chilly for me to get by without heat here.

That said, I've done Arizona... and once the indoor temps get closer to 90 or more, I have to run the air.

Anyway, for me, in my travels, OC has the best weather, for the longest periods of time I have ever experienced, anywhere.

Not perfect, but best for me I've ever found.

[pacific2]

Originally Posted by Searching-01

I know what you mean.

Lived in Westminster CO for 5 years. Drove up to Boulder for work every day. At that time, dreamed of going home to Fla. Hadn't lived in CA yet.

For me, S. Orange County is where I'd like to be, unless I can identify someplace that I'd like even better. (So far have failed at that... sure Maui or something... but I mean realistic destinations for me.)

But truth is, in order to stay here and be happy I need little more than a loft or 1/1, and it seems I've been priced out.

That's why the thread asks... "Where do folks that *like* CA but can't stay, go and also find happiness?"

I think everyone has lost sight of the original question... I.e. where do CA refugees go, and also be happy?

Maybe it would help to start threads at forums for states you would actually consider, and ask how CA refugees living there like the place, listing pros and cons.

[Searching-01]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

...and that's fine. But the larger point is even very basic housing is very unaffordable here in CA. The majority of people aren't making a trade off between a 5200 Sqare foot house in an Atlanta suburb vs. a cute smaller house in beachside La Jolla. Like our OP, they're feeling lucky if they can afford a mediocre 1BR condo anywhere in a CA coastal metro area (and I don't mean beach towns). Even the cheaper areas like Bakersfield and Fresno are still on the expensive side compared to comparable metro areas in other states.

Very true, and I'm actually a degree'ed professional, working for a top Fort. 500 in "tech". (But making rather substandard earnings for a number of reasons. Some my fault, some just the market I'm in, offshoring, flat revenues, etc.)

First job I had in CA they actually offered me *more* than I asked for to start the job... they explained that at the national average-ish number I had asked... I wouldn't live here very long.... they gave me $10K / year *more* than I asked for when the offer letter finally came through.

And they were right. The sticker shock was amazing, in a very bad way.

I recall the manager said, "Because it's OC", and he was from Frisco....

I was clueless, having never really looked here or been here before.

Now I fully understand...

I have never felt like such a failure in my entire life to be honest... because I can look at a hillside and see 100 homes I could never afford... and yet someone else can.

Somehow I missed the boat! LOL!

[RuggedAlpha]

Originally Posted by Searching-01

Very true.

Back near my home town in S. Fla. they are talking about changing the rules and closing some of the beaches to the public.

Has been a small uproar about it.

Unlike Ca. A lot of S. Fla the beaches are public and there is no parking charge.

It's actually the other way around. The coastline in the East Coast, including Florida have swaths of coastline that are privatized. Thanks to the CCC, all the beaches belong to the citizens of CA. Wealthy landowners that are trying to restrict access to the public are losing in the courts. It's one of the greatest things about our state.

[Searching-01]

Originally Posted by pacific2

How about RSM? There are some nice listings there, like this one, for a bit under $400K :
https://www.redfin.com/CA/Rancho-San...3/home/5417629

What's the smallest sized condo that you would consider?

You could also get a 946 sq ft condo in Laguna Niguel for $385:
https://www.redfin.com/CA/Laguna-Nig...2/home/5683424

I guess you have to decide if it's worth it to you to move away from this area just to live in a large SFR? Because, if you move, I assume there would be little likelihood of your being able to afford to return if things don't work out?

I looked at the Laguna Niguel Listing earlier this week.

Truth is, over in Niguel, those condo communities are like rows of row homes with just enough room for the garbage truck to get between them. They're like living in a garbage transfer station. (Literally.) Wouldn't want to live in any of them, or even the ones I can't afford... same deal, just more space in each unit...

I don't know who designed those communities, but they should have their engineering certificate revoked, LOL!

People just shouldn't live in such smacked up and filthy facilities, for lack of a better word.

It's a little better in Mission Viejo. Because it's hilly, they couldn't quite pack them as tight in some cases. Granted there are garbage shoot designed communities here as well.

Heck, even the single family homes aren't but one car length from the street and thus the garbage truck path. So they're almost as bad.

I searched for months to find the one or two apartment communities I found tolerable here. Have been looking at condo communities on and off for 3 years now, as well as single family homes (online of course)... 99% of them have these sort of site design flaws that just shouldn't exist.

The two biggest being dumpster locations (or that they all have the individual Waste Management cans) and recycled water irrigation (if they have any greenery at all).

So they are essentially like living in a waste transfer station and a cesspool combined.

[Searching-01]

Originally Posted by aslowdodge

The op never mentioned his work situation and financial position or if he has a family. Kind of hard to make suggestions without those.

Single, 100% Remote/Telecommute job, can afford the down payment for anything I could realistically mortgage, credit rating is good, very little consumer credit balance, etc.

The main problem is simply not making the $190K / yr. that one needs to afford an average home here, LOL!

Like most places, homes are capped at the price that a couple can float.

Not being a couple, and not being an extraordinary earner... I'm double "screwed", LOL!

[Searching-01]

Originally Posted by frikeww12

Hehe "emerald" California waters.

You know, because all the people who visit the Caribbean are like, wow if only we could be in Laguna beach. Next we might hear that the weather in Barstow is far superior because it's in California and a dry heat!

Wonder why the beachboys didn't sing later on about Point Reyes or Morro bay? You know why? Because they eventually traveled the world and said oh my Lord the beaches in the gulf/Florida/Caribbean are out of California league.

There's a bit of isolation out there CA in that folks don't really know what the rest of the country is like and why Bahamas and so forth are the preferred beach travel spots, not La jolla. Though we do love La Jolla.

I think Kokomo is actually in Indiana, if that's the Beach Boys song you mean.

In any event, was born in S. Fla... trust me, on this whole "Atlanta vs. Ca" part of this thread... I prefer OC to Atlanta by a huge stretch, and the Caribbean is pretty "ghetto" in most places outside the tourists destinations if you look at it objectively. (Haiti, right?)

And then there's Hurricanes and such.

On a good day, the Caribbean is amazing... on a bad one... it's horrific.

Anyway, FWIW, other than a few selected spots in F. Fla...*at a specific time in long past history (the 80's), I've found OC to be as good or better, and with better weather to boot.

I could've gone back to S. Fla when I earned a 100% remote job... but didn't. I returned to S. OC.

Trust me, S. Fla and The South as a whole, has a lot of social problems that haven't entered this discussion. (Preferably they won't either, because the politics of it all has a way of turning nasty.) Thing drugs, gangs, etc.

Trust me, the crime rate in Mission Viejo, is orders of magnitude better than most of the Deep South, and certainly better than S. Fla by light years.