Post by captainobvious on Sept 18, 2017 11:00:14 GMT -5
H and I are in Inland North County SD - we bought where we did for the school district. It's in Poway Unified, which overall has pretty good schools. You can find a condo or townhouse in the district for around $400k (some more, some less - location dependent.) A SFH may be more in the $600k++++ range. My parents live one neighborhood over, within San Diego Unified. Their neighborhood's schools are good. Price range two years ago, when we were looking, was a tad higher there - so I'd guess now it's around $450k for the condos and $800k for SFHs. (Neighborhood is called Scripps Ranch if you want to look it up on trulia/redfin/whatever)
Payscale is a good resource online for salaries. They do tend to be commiserate with the COL here, for professional level jobs at least.
I am just up the road from farmvillelover in another south OC suburb. (Mission Viejo). I have an 8 year old son in public school. Rent here for a 3/2 bath that is on the smaller side is about $2800 - $3200. Mission Viejo is one of the original master planned communities in the area so most of the homes are older (built in the 70's) with pockets of newer homes (built in the 90's - 2000's). The larger, newer homes will rent between $3500-$5500 per month. Homes in the area start around $600K for a small home on a small lot. A two bedroom apartment rents for around $2250. The local school district here is Capistrano Unified and Saddleback. We are in Capo and it is OK. Each year though the PTA is asking us to cover more as parents and it is becoming clear that the district is not providing enough funds for the schools. For instance, the PTA has to cover the music classes, field trips, chromebooks, science classes, etc.. for the school. Class sizes are larger but we love our local school and are very happy with the area so we are staying put. Preschool started around $1600 for infants and then went down to $1K once DS was potty trained. My office is within 5 miles of my home so I don't have to commute. I do have to fly frequently for work and I love that I am 15-20 minutes from the Orange County Airport and a one way LYFT is $22-$24. Being in South OC is great in that we are still close to San Diego and LA. You just learn to time the traffic right and pretty much have unlimited beaches and options open to you.
Post by hbomdiggity on Sept 18, 2017 12:01:40 GMT -5
For reference, where have you previously lived on the west coast?
If you are concerned at all about COL, then scratch the bay area off your list. It's stupid expensive and, in my experience, salaries don't make up for it.
We lived in a neighborhood just north of downtown San Diego and our 3/2 sub 1200sqft house sold for $850k. I worked downtown and my H commuted to Carlsbad (35mins in the morning, 45-60mins in evening). My friend just purchased a 4/2 for $650k near SDSU (lots of established family neighborhoods, not college kids) and prob a 20min commute downtown.
It sounds like Seattle housing may be similar with San Diego, except CA has high income tax and still high sales tax (8% in San Diego). We visited Seattle recently and it would be high on my list if we were to relocate.
Post by 1confused1 on Sept 18, 2017 14:23:10 GMT -5
I grew up in San Jose and had to move out of the area because I couldn't afford it. I live about 30 miles east of San Jose and still commute down there, it takes 1 1/2 to 2 hours each way.
Rent in my area for a 3 bedroom house is about $3000-$3500. My kids are older, after school care is $430 per month per kid (through our rec department).
Post by pinkdutchtulips on Sept 18, 2017 15:04:21 GMT -5
I live 45m -90m due east of SF on the other side of the hills practically into the Delta. Rents run anywhere from 2500 for an 800 sf 2/1 apt w decent on up - houses start at $3k and only go up. Child care can be pricey - centers $1500/minimum, I paid half that amount bc I went the in-home route. Before/After school care through the Y runs about $600/month, DayCamp in the summer runs $700-800/month.
For reference, where have you previously lived on the west coast?
If you are concerned at all about COL, then scratch the bay area off your list. It's stupid expensive and, in my experience, salaries don't make up for it.
We lived in a neighborhood just north of downtown San Diego and our 3/2 sub 1200sqft house sold for $850k. I worked downtown and my H commuted to Carlsbad (35mins in the morning, 45-60mins in evening). My friend just purchased a 4/2 for $650k near SDSU (lots of established family neighborhoods, not college kids) and prob a 20min commute downtown.
It sounds like Seattle housing may be similar with San Diego, except CA has high income tax and still high sales tax (8% in San Diego). We visited Seattle recently and it would be high on my list if we were to relocate.
SD and Seattle, but both were MUCH cheaper at the times. I think we will def. cross the Bay Area off our lists based on these posts. We don't have a great reason to be there to justify the costs. I know I can find affordable housing outside of Seattle and have tons of family help, but I'm doing it temporarily and the commute is horrendous from where they live. If we lived here we'd have to be closer to the city and further from family help. DH doesn't really want to be in the NW and it's not the greatest for his job. We loved north county more than SD proper so maybe south OC is worth a try. We do have family in SD but they aren't the type to help with kids. DH thinks Vegas would be best COL wise, and I can't argue that it would be good career wise for both of us. We'd only be 5 hours from the beach ðŸ˜I'd rather live in Phoenix than Vegas.
I live in LA...since I don't have kids, I cannot speak to childcare or schools. I would guess my neighborhood is probably not the best for schools, but that is based on nothing. lol.
I know LA is a HCOL, but I have found it to not be that unreasonable. I mean, I don't get paid a great deal, but I am able to afford a pretty decent lifestyle for myself. I have a 30 minute commute and live alone. I do look forward to the day I have a partner because yay double income! I have found that in my field (insurance) I do get paid a little more, probably because the COL and the job market demands it. I interviewed for a job that would have been a slight promotion for me in Utah, yet the pay, which was at the high end for the area, was 15K less than I am making in LA.
But, I will say "LA" is HUGE and rent and schools vary greatly. If your office is in Woodland Hills, the answers you get will be a lot different than if you are looking at Santa Monica or DTLA.
My work would be downtown off the 110. DH's work would definitely not be downtown. It looks like a lot of opportunities for him are NW of downtown. Any good places to live around there?
I agree with what you are saying. LA has been known as HCOL/high wages for a long time. Some of the other cities are close, but the wages haven't caught up.
I live in Phoenix metro area. Definitely affordable cost of living in many areas. East valley suburbs are great for schools- Chandler and Ahwahtukee specifically. There are also tons of niche charter schools that get really high ratings. If you like the outdoors phx is amazing for urban access to hiking and biking. Lots of jobs here - Intel, Garmin, PayPal, GoDaddy are big employers.
Post by mrs.jacinthe on Sept 19, 2017 3:05:09 GMT -5
If Sacramento is an option, you may want to try living here. There are still great homes to be found for a reasonable (for CA) price in decent neighborhoods. Our traffic isn't completely terrible. I live 30 minutes east of downtown on a weekend and during commute times it might be more like an hour max if there's an accident. I can't speak to childcare, but I'd presume it's reasonable.
You'd be 2-ish hours from the bay area and <2 hours from Tahoe.
The only downside is that it gets hot here. Not Las Vegas hot, though.
I live in LA...since I don't have kids, I cannot speak to childcare or schools. I would guess my neighborhood is probably not the best for schools, but that is based on nothing. lol.
I know LA is a HCOL, but I have found it to not be that unreasonable. I mean, I don't get paid a great deal, but I am able to afford a pretty decent lifestyle for myself. I have a 30 minute commute and live alone. I do look forward to the day I have a partner because yay double income! I have found that in my field (insurance) I do get paid a little more, probably because the COL and the job market demands it. I interviewed for a job that would have been a slight promotion for me in Utah, yet the pay, which was at the high end for the area, was 15K less than I am making in LA.
But, I will say "LA" is HUGE and rent and schools vary greatly. If your office is in Woodland Hills, the answers you get will be a lot different than if you are looking at Santa Monica or DTLA.
My work would be downtown off the 110. DH's work would definitely not be downtown. It looks like a lot of opportunities for him are NW of downtown. Any good places to live around there?
I agree with what you are saying. LA has been known as HCOL/high wages for a long time. Some of the other cities are close, but the wages haven't caught up.
I think if you are willing to have a bit of a commute, you could probably find something pretty nice in Pasadena (I think the schools are known to be pretty good). I love Eagle Rock, Atwater Village, Silverlake, Los Feliz. You could also go Glendale or Burbank (though a burbank commute for you would probably be a bit rough, but there is a train line that goes from Studio City into Downtown. If you are looking for a 2 bed, I would plan on spending around $3K. There are options for 2beds in the $2-$2.5K range as well, but if you can go up to $3K, I think you'd find a really lovely little home to rent.
If COL matters, the bay area isn't a good choice. I love it here, but the tech industry has made a mess of everything else. We moved back in 2009. It was very expensive then but has gone haywire since.
The median cost for a single family home in all 9 counties (so that includes all the exurbs) is $804,000.
This article talks about how three of the four most expensive cities in the country are in the bay area (SF highest, then NYC, then San Jose, then Oakland).
(houses in our neighborhood have increased by about 70% since 2010 and we aren't near silicon valley)
If COL matters, the bay area isn't a good choice. I love it here, but the tech industry has made a mess of everything else. We moved back in 2009. It was very expensive then but has gone haywire since.
The median cost for a single family home in all 9 counties (so that includes all the exurbs) is $804,000.
This article talks about how three of the four most expensive cities in the country are in the bay area (SF highest, then NYC, then San Jose, then Oakland).
My family still lives in San Jose/Daly City and we thought about moving back because my parents are getting older but I can't stomach the cost of living.
I live 45 minutes south of Seattle and it's getting expensive here as well but at least we're already established and bought our place when the housing market was down.
If COL matters, the bay area isn't a good choice. I love it here, but the tech industry has made a mess of everything else. We moved back in 2009. It was very expensive then but has gone haywire since.
The median cost for a single family home in all 9 counties (so that includes all the exurbs) is $804,000.
This article talks about how three of the four most expensive cities in the country are in the bay area (SF highest, then NYC, then San Jose, then Oakland).
My family still lives in San Jose/Daly City and we thought about moving back because my parents are getting older but I can't stomach the cost of living.
I live 45 minutes south of Seattle and it's getting expensive here as well but at least we're already established and bought our place when the housing market was down.
Ugh. Tech money + Prop 13 is a messy, messy combo.
A family of four making $105K/year is considered "low income" in SF and qualifies for affordable housing.
I live in LA...since I don't have kids, I cannot speak to childcare or schools. I would guess my neighborhood is probably not the best for schools, but that is based on nothing. lol.
I know LA is a HCOL, but I have found it to not be that unreasonable. I mean, I don't get paid a great deal, but I am able to afford a pretty decent lifestyle for myself. I have a 30 minute commute and live alone. I do look forward to the day I have a partner because yay double income! I have found that in my field (insurance) I do get paid a little more, probably because the COL and the job market demands it. I interviewed for a job that would have been a slight promotion for me in Utah, yet the pay, which was at the high end for the area, was 15K less than I am making in LA.
But, I will say "LA" is HUGE and rent and schools vary greatly. If your office is in Woodland Hills, the answers you get will be a lot different than if you are looking at Santa Monica or DTLA.
My work would be downtown off the 110. DH's work would definitely not be downtown. It looks like a lot of opportunities for him are NW of downtown. Any good places to live around there?
I agree with what you are saying. LA has been known as HCOL/high wages for a long time. Some of the other cities are close, but the wages haven't caught up.
I quoted this because I agree 100% with jigsy - in LA there is such variety, you can make things work on many incomes. When I was a single mom, I made about half of what I make now, didn't have my DH's income and didn't get child support and was still able to live in the same city. And since we are at the beach, there are a lot of built in, free community activities. I never felt we were missing out.
That said, if you'd be downtown and your DH would be NW of downtown, the South Bay would be a crappy option. The commute for you would be 50-60 minutes and even longer for your DH. You might want to check out Burbank or Glendale. Both have reasonable housing costs and good public schools. They are NW of downtown and the commute to downtown wouldn't be terrible.
Post by mcsangel2 on Sept 19, 2017 11:41:40 GMT -5
I'm in Phoenix, ditto sangria about the east valley. Also the northwest valley (Peoria, etc). We have a good MCOL here, so I think your money would go much farther than in CA or Seattle. However, Phoenix is HUUUUUGE, as in very very spread out, so for specifics, we'd have to know where your office is located here. I wouldn't automatically assume downtown. Our downtown is not typical of most - your company could just as easily be located by the Scottsdale airport, or the 101 corridor in the east valley, or by sky harbor.
Even though I've lived here essentially my whole life, DH and I have also discussed Las Vegas should his company ever ask him to relocate. We were fine with that for awhile, but I think they've had a bust in recent years and there's not much going on there outside of the casino industry. I'm given to understand it's also much smaller and has less on offer than Phoenix.
Post by boxertdog on Sept 19, 2017 11:52:57 GMT -5
I am from Seattle but left there 7 years ago due to COL and total inability to buy a decent house. The average home price just passed $1 million. SO.....
My work would be downtown off the 110. DH's work would definitely not be downtown. It looks like a lot of opportunities for him are NW of downtown. Any good places to live around there?
I agree with what you are saying. LA has been known as HCOL/high wages for a long time. Some of the other cities are close, but the wages haven't caught up.
I think if you are willing to have a bit of a commute, you could probably find something pretty nice in Pasadena (I think the schools are known to be pretty good). I love Eagle Rock, Atwater Village, Silverlake, Los Feliz. You could also go Glendale or Burbank (though a burbank commute for you would probably be a bit rough, but there is a train line that goes from Studio City into Downtown. If you are looking for a 2 bed, I would plan on spending around $3K. There are options for 2beds in the $2-$2.5K range as well, but if you can go up to $3K, I think you'd find a really lovely little home to rent.
Pasadena public schools are bad.
South Pasadena public schools are good.
You can currently get a 3BR house next to the freeway for, say, $1.6 million.
I think if you are willing to have a bit of a commute, you could probably find something pretty nice in Pasadena (I think the schools are known to be pretty good). I love Eagle Rock, Atwater Village, Silverlake, Los Feliz. You could also go Glendale or Burbank (though a burbank commute for you would probably be a bit rough, but there is a train line that goes from Studio City into Downtown. If you are looking for a 2 bed, I would plan on spending around $3K. There are options for 2beds in the $2-$2.5K range as well, but if you can go up to $3K, I think you'd find a really lovely little home to rent.
Pasadena public schools are bad.
South Pasadena public schools are good.
You can currently get a 3BR house next to the freeway for, say, $1.6 million.
HTH.
Definitely this. That's why I left Pasadena off my list when I said Burbank or Glendale.
Holy cow, you guys. I knew that the west coast was expensive, but some of these numbers are blowing my mind.
Yeah, this is pretty scary stuff. H and I want to relocated to the west coast, but I don't have any idea how we're going to be able to do that unless salaries are significantly higher. Or maybe we'll have to accept a long commute. Some of these rent prices would be like 50-60% (or more) of our take home pay on the salaries we would have where we live now.
Holy cow, you guys. I knew that the west coast was expensive, but some of these numbers are blowing my mind.
Yeah, this is pretty scary stuff. H and I want to relocated to the west coast, but I don't have any idea how we're going to be able to do that unless salaries are significantly higher. Or maybe we'll have to accept a long commute. Some of these rent prices would be like 50-60% (or more) of our take home pay on the salaries we would have where we live now.
The picture is pretty bleak when you are looking at the Greater Los Angeles are (and even more so with Bay Area), which is why I asked for financial parameters. It is often an exercise in futility to ask for information about areas that are prohibitively expensive for most of the general population.
However, all is not lost. Obviously, the West Coast is not solely populated by millionaires. If you are willing to live more inland (specifically the Inland Empire in Southern California), you can have a pretty great quality of life at a lower cost than L.A. proper. I grew up in the Inland Empire, and my mom still lives there. It was about an hour east of Los Angeles. While we didn't have immediate access to awesome cultural offerings or museums or the beach or true city life, we were still within driving distance and could do those things a couple times a month on the weekend.
I wouldn't personally make that commute to L.A. every day, but some people do. Ideally, if you live in that area, you also work in that area. I don't really have many complaints about my childhood. I thought it was a decent place to grow up, and I think my brother and I are both fairly productive members of society now.
Holy cow, you guys. I knew that the west coast was expensive, but some of these numbers are blowing my mind.
It's getting/is unattainable for even higher earners to buy homes in LA and SF/San Jose.
Yup, I don't know how my parents are surviving. Everybody else are shacked up with each other, sharing the rent. My parents are paying $3,500 for rent.
To keep our current lifestyle and live in San Jose, DH and I have to be earning at least $150k....EACH. *cries*
I know I can find affordable housing outside of Seattle and have tons of family help, but I'm doing it temporarily and the commute is horrendous from where they live. If we lived here we'd have to be closer to the city and further from family help. DH doesn't really want to be in the NW and it's not the greatest for his job. We loved north county more than SD proper so maybe south OC is worth a try. We do have family in SD but they aren't the type to help with kids. DH thinks Vegas would be best COL wise, and I can't argue that it would be good career wise for both of us. We'd only be 5 hours from the beach ðŸ˜I'd rather live in Phoenix than Vegas.
I live outside of Seattle, in one of the Northshore Eastside areas, and housing prices here aren't as insane as Seattle proper, but it's still really high. Looking at rental prices on my local neighborhood FB page, for what you are looking for on this side of the lake it's about $2600-2800 to rent a house.
I don't have kids, so no idea on daycare costs, but I assume they are high. I believe the school district I'm in is good, but all of WA state has underfunded schools (there is a big lawsuit about that as been going on).
Commuting from the Eastside into Seattle isn't as bad as commuting from Seattle to the Eastside and back, but depending on where you are the bus system might not be a good option. Where I am specifically is kind of a transit dead spot, and I'd have to either walk a mile to get to one bus that runs about once an hour, or drive 5+ miles to a park-and-ride and be halfway to my destination anyway. This is why Microsoft (and I think Google) both setup their own shuttle system to provide additional transit options for their employees only, to sort of fill in these dead spot gaps.
My H and I are/were lucky. When I still worked, my commute was Eastside/Eastside, so I just shifted my hours so that I traveled at off peak times. I found that if I left for work at 9:30 I'd get there shortly after 10, or I could leave at 10 and get there shortly after 10. Since I worked in software and could set my own hours that made the decision easy for me. My H is also in software and he leaves for work stupid early instead, and also has an Eastside/Eastside commute 4/5 days a week. He grumbles the one day a week he has to go into Seattle, but it's mostly the evening commute because if he's not out of there by 4/4:30 he's stuck in traffic for an hour.
Prices for food and things will be about the same in the area regardless, as will the salaries, which has already been covered. Sales tax is the same as the other Seattle ladies have said, since it's still King County. The only other difference is how expensive car tabs will be will depend on if you are living within the RTA or not; people over by us who thought they were outside the boundary got a nasty shock at how high they were when that went into effect this year.
Post by formerlyak on Sept 19, 2017 13:24:23 GMT -5
I'd like to add to what miso said about the Inland Empire. I recently started working for a Riverside-based company and have learned so much about this mysterious "Inland Empire" people in LA tend to scoff at. I can say the people I have met here are amazing and nice and welcoming. I generally work out of a home office, but when I do have to commute out here, I don't totally dread it because of the people. The arts scene is starting to grow here, and it's just a hop to Palm Desert which also has a nice arts scene. One of my co-workers does go to LA on the weekends fairly regularly to see shows, eat at some of the restaurants, etc. She says getting to LA on a weekend isn't bad at all.
I will say though, if you live here, work here. One of the reasons my position was created is because no one in Riverside wanted to drive out to LA on the regular to do what we do out there. They told me it would take them 2-3 hours or more to get to LA in the morning because you sit in traffic the entire way out there. But if you can find jobs in Riverside, property is still affordable and the people are nice
I'd like to add to what miso said about the Inland Empire. I recently started working for a Riverside-based company and have learned so much about this mysterious "Inland Empire" people in LA tend to scoff at. I can say the people I have met here are amazing and nice and welcoming. I generally work out of a home office, but when I do have to commute out here, I don't totally dread it because of the people. The arts scene is starting to grow here, and it's just a hop to Palm Desert which also has a nice arts scene. One of my co-workers does go to LA on the weekends fairly regularly to see shows, eat at some of the restaurants, etc. She says getting to LA on a weekend isn't bad at all.
I will say though, if you live here, work here. One of the reasons my position was created is because no one in Riverside wanted to drive out to LA on the regular to do what we do out there. They told me it would take them 2-3 hours or more to get to LA in the morning because you sit in traffic the entire way out there. But if you can find jobs in Riverside, property is still affordable and the people are nice
I am glad to hear both you and miso say this. Makes me feel a little better! (not to thread jack here lol).
What is considered Inland Empire?
If/when H and I relocate to the west coast we thankfully will be pretty flexible on job location since we'll be brand new to the area.
Post by pantsparty on Sept 19, 2017 14:12:43 GMT -5
I live in the IE, not far from Temecula. We moved inland because we could either buy an 1800 SF condo for $650,000+++ in south Orange County or a 3,500 SF house for about $400,000.
I like that we are within driving distance to a lot of places - 4.5 hours to Vegas, 1.5 to Palm Springs, a little over an hour to OC and San Diego. There are tons of new builder communities and more amenities are coming in.
Worst part - it gets over 100 in the summers. August is bad. Also, airports. The closest is ONT but flight selections are supbar. If I want a direct flight, most of the time I have to go to SAN or worst, LAX. Both of those are well over an hour away. LAX is more like 2 with the brutal traffic.
Yup, I don't know how my parents are surviving. Everybody else are shacked up with each other, sharing the rent. My parents are paying $3,500 for rent.
To keep our current lifestyle and live in San Jose, DH and I have to be earning at least $150k....EACH. *cries*
Are they planning on retiring there? I can't understand how seniors on social security and limited income can afford to rent there.
My Dad says they "might" retire either up here in WA state or in the Philippines. I prefer for them to retire up here but shit's getting expensive ever year. I've been bugging him to get a job transfer up here but I don't think they want to leave because of family. I'm the only person in the family who moved out of state, LOL.
I have a couple of Lolas who bought houses before the housing boom. They sold their houses and moved back to the Philippines.
Holy cow, you guys. I knew that the west coast was expensive, but some of these numbers are blowing my mind.
It's getting/is unattainable for even higher earners to buy homes in LA and SF/San Jose.
Everyone should move to Pittsburgh. It's super great and cheap af. However, it is very cold. BUT I am here, so that is the #1 selling point for the city.