East Coast Guy Curious About CA (Long Beach, Oxnard: middle-class, sale, apartments)

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Axxlrod

You serious?

That's somewhere you escape from; not run towards.

Yeah, hint, OP: the bars on the windows. Also, it's outside your purchase price range, isn't it?

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by M3Guy

Without going into politics, the southeast is really in your face about it (both left and right). Trust me. To the point where a random stranger in a store will bring it up in the checkout line. It gets old really quickly. .

The OP has a point, Axx (et al.); at least in CA, there's no vote suppression/disenfranchisement of anyone not belonging to the majority ethnicity going on.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Veritas Vincit

One of the things you gotta remember about politics is that you may not care about it, but it cares about you.

For instance, you say you're a car guy, but you gotta understand that as far as the 'powers that be' in CA state politics are concerned that makes you one of the baddies. The political imperative is to remove ICE vehicles from the equation entirely, but even if you're an EV guy, the politics aren't in your favor because quite frankly all individual motorized transportation stands in the way of the climate goals in the new green deal. The political focus is density and transit. As a 'car guy' you will feel that.

Also worth noting that basically anything in your buying budget, even small places, will be in a dump of a neighborhood. My budget is much much bigger than yours, and I consider buying in SoCal essentially out of question just on that count.

This isn't exclusive to California; a number of states are pursuing that strategy, and not all of them are flaming blue. Other countries are pursuing it, too, Norway being the prime example, somewhat counter-intuitively, because if anyone has oil, it's Norway.

[Veritas Vincit]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

This isn't exclusive to California; a number of states are pursuing that strategy, and not all of them are flaming blue. Other countries are pursuing it, too, Norway being the prime example, somewhat counter-intuitively, because if anyone has oil, it's Norway.

Well, I wouldn't say any European country is great for car guys. I know car guys in European countries looking for a way out. I'm saying that within the U.S., CA has been at the forefront and usually quite a bit ahead of other states on these developments. The usual course of events is CA pushing ahead on stuff, other blue states follow, if Democrats control the feds, they join in. Red states will be the holdouts depending on how red they are.


It's more an illustration of a point - politics can affect your lifestyle, people don't line in a vacuum even if they consider themselves apolitical.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

This isn't exclusive to California; a number of states are pursuing that strategy, and not all of them are flaming blue. Other countries are pursuing it, too, Norway being the prime example, somewhat counter-intuitively, because if anyone has oil, it's Norway.

It's not counterintuitive when referencing carbon emissions versus air quality. Heck even the Chinese have figured that out and in cities where restrictions of high emissions fossil-fuel burning vehicles have taken effect (Beijing and Shanghai especially) the air quality results are very tangible.

[quiet life]

Originally Posted by CalWorth

I spent most of my life in SoCal, it’s crazy-expensive now. Of your friends who live in “LA area”, Glendale is expensive, Compton is “gentrifying” but still not very safe & is over-priced, Temecula/Murrieta are nice & still possibly reasonable, & just north of that is Menifee, growing but still feasible. You realize that Temecula is far from LA, right? It’s in Riverside County. My friends live in Temecula & commute to San Diego for work, long, slow, gas-guzzling commute. But that area is what I would recommend.

Anything within 15 miles of the coast will be expensive. The further inland you go in Long Beach, the dicier the neighborhood. Someone suggested San Bernardino, NO to that, mostly due to crime & excessive heat. There are some communities in Riverside County that are good, but you have to be careful about which towns in San Bernardino County that you choose. Both of those counties are considered “close to LA”.

There are also Lancaster & Palmdale, they are in the far northern end of LA County, but actually in the Mojave Desert, but people do commute to LA from there, & I think you could find a condo or a house that “needs work” within your budget there. Good luck!

P.S. I know it sounds like ppl are gate-keeping, but they aren’t, it’s realism, unfortunately.

Ok, I am only 4 pages through this thread and taking notes because I am an east coaster looked to move to socal around 2013. I wanted to move to Temecula/Murrieta area but Mrs. QL and myself didn't have our ducks in a row so we bought a house in the Poconos area in PA. 2500 S.F. for 200k plus. .5 acre of land. Pretty nice and serene. No kids so it's just me and her. However, these old bones are not feeling the cold weather and snow we have to endure every winter so wanted to move to warmer climate and still considering socal. 10 years ago, a co-worker moved to Temecula and told us we should have bought then. I believe he was right because the prices have gone up since then for a comparable house we have here in the Poconos. Just wondering if there is anything to be had for a 200k-250k price range with the type of land I am looking for? We could go smaller house. Maybe 1500-1880 s.f. rancher since we are empty nesters. Oh yeah, back then, my former co-worker told me to avoid Lake Elsinore. Said many ex-cons and crime activity is in that area. That's one man's opinion so I don't know.

[sitonmywhat]

The big cities are all crime toilets.

Westwood: lowest rent I found was $1,725.00.
I'm paying $1,800 for 2 bed/2 bath in Honolulu.

Google map:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0978...,12z?entry=ttu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westwood,_Los_Angeles

I'm familiar with Pasadena and La Canada, especially. Up in San Marino, rents are completely astronomical. ...Wait, I found one listed as a "rent special" for $2,161.00. OOPS, the ad was LYING. That one is next to Thai Town, up against the 101 freeway. You don't want that noise.


Pasadena:
https://www.realtor.com/rentals/deta...1_M19112-20043


You might do well to learn some Spanish, by the way.

[saibot]

Originally Posted by quiet life

Ok, I am only 4 pages through this thread and taking notes because I am an east coaster looked to move to socal around 2013. I wanted to move to Temecula/Murrieta area but Mrs. QL and myself didn't have our ducks in a row so we bought a house in the Poconos area in PA. 2500 S.F. for 200k plus. .5 acre of land. Pretty nice and serene. No kids so it's just me and her. However, these old bones are not feeling the cold weather and snow we have to endure every winter so wanted to move to warmer climate and still considering socal. 10 years ago, a co-worker moved to Temecula and told us we should have bought then. I believe he was right because the prices have gone up since then for a comparable house we have here in the Poconos. Just wondering if there is anything to be had for a 200k-250k price range with the type of land I am looking for? We could go smaller house. Maybe 1500-1880 s.f. rancher since we are empty nesters. Oh yeah, back then, my former co-worker told me to avoid Lake Elsinore. Said many ex-cons and crime activity is in that area. That's one man's opinion so I don't know.

You would basically have to be out in the true desert, and not the desirable parts (think Yucca Valley, not Palm Springs) to get anything near that and it will not be 1500+ square feet and your half acre will be more like 10,000 square feet of sand. Here's what $275k gets you in Yucca Valley:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5...17490651_zpid/

This one is a little bigger, and almost a third of an acre for $250k:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5...17492078_zpid/

[CalWorth]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

First listing that came up in Santa Clarita. A much better deal than in that development outside of town.

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...=srp-list-card

It’s a manufactured/mobile home, maybe in a mobile home park, which is always a risk in SoCal, the lot rent gets raised, REITs buy the places up. I think that was the story with the “Canyon Country” listing that OP put up earlier, leased land. I wouldn’t want to deal with that.

While Canyon Country, aka Santa Clarita is not in the desert, it is hot as hell & a long haul into LA. A friend lived there, but she also liked the San Fernando Valley, which I think is miserable.

Oh, & Santa Clarita’s rep is “suburb, good for raising a family”.

[CalWorth]

My friend bought his new, 2,200 sq.ft. SFH home on a 5,600 sq ft. lot in 2003 for $307,000. He has a HOA fee. When they go on the market, houses similar to his in the neighborhood are selling now for $700,000-$780,000 or more, mostly on the higher end. His commute to work averages 1 1/4 hrs., one way. He usually takes a hodgepodge of local roads to avoid the perpetually gridlocked I-15. His wife’s work commute is 45 minutes, one way.

They are living the SoCal dream. There ya go. They are there for the good schools.

For people interested in San Bernardino & Riverside Counties, they are huge areas & have their own forum. Many people live there, many of them lurk but don’t post, I don’t know why. Maybe some will come out of hiding & help.