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Curious,in areas like a CA where the cost of living is expensive do jobs pay more to offset it?
Help me!! Want to Move to ARIZONA / NEW MEXICO-ish
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AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
Seems like if you were into your real estate 20 years ago in Cali you're pretty happy now. To get into home ownership now is a different story.
But so much for California RE discussions....
OP has some drilling down to do and some traveling as well.
Good luck and make it happen!! Too many have regrets for not taking that chance.
aquariuscsm - no.
But so much for California RE discussions....
OP has some drilling down to do and some traveling as well.
Good luck and make it happen!! Too many have regrets for not taking that chance.
aquariuscsm - no.
Originally Posted By: CKN
HTSS_TR
I lived in Chino Hills for twenty years-sold my house 4 years ago and made a nice profit. I am in Utah now and there is 3 million people in the state, compared to your almost 40 million in California. I spent most my life fighting the traffic (having driven a million miles on the freeways) for my job in industrial sales. There is only one, and I mean only one thing I miss about So. Cal-and that is good Mexican food. You can have the traffic (which is nearly 24 hours a day) the "culture" of some drivers-who don't know how to drive, the ultra high cost of living. Yes, the beach is nice, and so is the weather-But I am betting on a summers weekend day it takes you at least an hour to drive the short distance you live from the beach. Unless one is making at least (or has the opportunity to make) $150,000/yr. there is no way I would recommend someone moving there.
Mexican food in downtown Santa Ana is the best in Orange County, and they are very good in most other cities. We also have a varieties of authentic foods from Persian to Korean to Japanese to Vietnamese ...
Traffic is not the best attributes of So Cal, we used to brag that we have several free very long parking spaces in So Cal, they are I5, I10 and I405. You can park free on those highways for 20 hours a day from 4AM till midnight. It isn't stop and go traffic on those highways, it is more like stop stop stop stop then go for 1 or 2 second then stop stop stop stop, that why we call it parking lot.
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Curious,in areas like a CA where the cost of living is expensive do jobs pay more to offset it?
Yes, similar jobs in So Cal pays about 10-30% more than national average, especially high tech jobs can make 50-70% more. A new graduate nurse makes about $25-27/hr elsewhere but she/he can make $33-35/hr in So Cal.
Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Seems like if you were into your real estate 20 years ago in Cali you're pretty happy now. To get into home ownership now is a different story.
But so much for California RE discussions....
OP has some drilling down to do and some traveling as well.
Good luck and make it happen!! Too many have regrets for not taking that chance.
aquariuscsm - no.
I bought this house in July 2014, as of today Zillow estimates the house appreciate about 8-9%. So Cal housing is appreciated a little higher than national average. Few houses in my neighborhood were sold within 2-3 weeks when they were list few months ago, they sold at very close to asking price. One house sold for more than list price.
I was in Illinois and Minnesota in the 70's and 80's, I just quit and packed up moved to CA in 1986, working for Intel for 2 years in No Cal. Moved to So Cal in 1998 and stay here for good.
I didn't regret making the move. Just take a chance and hope it will turn out good.
HTSS_TR
I lived in Chino Hills for twenty years-sold my house 4 years ago and made a nice profit. I am in Utah now and there is 3 million people in the state, compared to your almost 40 million in California. I spent most my life fighting the traffic (having driven a million miles on the freeways) for my job in industrial sales. There is only one, and I mean only one thing I miss about So. Cal-and that is good Mexican food. You can have the traffic (which is nearly 24 hours a day) the "culture" of some drivers-who don't know how to drive, the ultra high cost of living. Yes, the beach is nice, and so is the weather-But I am betting on a summers weekend day it takes you at least an hour to drive the short distance you live from the beach. Unless one is making at least (or has the opportunity to make) $150,000/yr. there is no way I would recommend someone moving there.
Mexican food in downtown Santa Ana is the best in Orange County, and they are very good in most other cities. We also have a varieties of authentic foods from Persian to Korean to Japanese to Vietnamese ...
Traffic is not the best attributes of So Cal, we used to brag that we have several free very long parking spaces in So Cal, they are I5, I10 and I405. You can park free on those highways for 20 hours a day from 4AM till midnight. It isn't stop and go traffic on those highways, it is more like stop stop stop stop then go for 1 or 2 second then stop stop stop stop, that why we call it parking lot.
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Curious,in areas like a CA where the cost of living is expensive do jobs pay more to offset it?
Yes, similar jobs in So Cal pays about 10-30% more than national average, especially high tech jobs can make 50-70% more. A new graduate nurse makes about $25-27/hr elsewhere but she/he can make $33-35/hr in So Cal.
Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Seems like if you were into your real estate 20 years ago in Cali you're pretty happy now. To get into home ownership now is a different story.
But so much for California RE discussions....
OP has some drilling down to do and some traveling as well.
Good luck and make it happen!! Too many have regrets for not taking that chance.
aquariuscsm - no.
I bought this house in July 2014, as of today Zillow estimates the house appreciate about 8-9%. So Cal housing is appreciated a little higher than national average. Few houses in my neighborhood were sold within 2-3 weeks when they were list few months ago, they sold at very close to asking price. One house sold for more than list price.
I was in Illinois and Minnesota in the 70's and 80's, I just quit and packed up moved to CA in 1986, working for Intel for 2 years in No Cal. Moved to So Cal in 1998 and stay here for good.
I didn't regret making the move. Just take a chance and hope it will turn out good.
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Curious,in areas like a CA where the cost of living is expensive do jobs pay more to offset it?
My sister moved to SF and gets paid pretty well in the medical research field. Her job isn't available in many places that would have average living costs. She bought an expensive condo, and will be paying for it for a while. Her company was giving out lots of money to help with the purchase of expensive SF real estate, but wouldn't help with renting, so that made the decision easy to buy.
She'd rather pay the condo fees than mess around with maintaining a house so it works for her.
Curious,in areas like a CA where the cost of living is expensive do jobs pay more to offset it?
My sister moved to SF and gets paid pretty well in the medical research field. Her job isn't available in many places that would have average living costs. She bought an expensive condo, and will be paying for it for a while. Her company was giving out lots of money to help with the purchase of expensive SF real estate, but wouldn't help with renting, so that made the decision easy to buy.
She'd rather pay the condo fees than mess around with maintaining a house so it works for her.
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Curious,in areas like a CA where the cost of living is expensive do jobs pay more to offset it?
Not as an overall picture. The median household income for California was around 61,000/year and the national median household income was 51,900. Arizona, which has been discussed in this thread, was 50,000, and Texas was 50,700. When you compare median household income to median home values, states like California have a much larger gap than other states.
Curious,in areas like a CA where the cost of living is expensive do jobs pay more to offset it?
Not as an overall picture. The median household income for California was around 61,000/year and the national median household income was 51,900. Arizona, which has been discussed in this thread, was 50,000, and Texas was 50,700. When you compare median household income to median home values, states like California have a much larger gap than other states.
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Curious,in areas like a CA where the cost of living is expensive do jobs pay more to offset it?
Not as an overall picture. The median household income for California was around 61,000/year and the national median household income was 51,900. Arizona, which has been discussed in this thread, was 50,000, and Texas was 50,700. When you compare median household income to median home values, states like California have a much larger gap than other states.
Quote:
The BLS reports the median salary for a registered nurse was $66,640 in 2014. The best-paid 10 percent of RNs made more than $98,880, while the bottom 10 percent earned less than $45,880. The highest-paid RN positions are clustered in California, including the metropolitan areas of Santa Cruz, San Francisco and San Jose.
http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/registered-nurse/salary
They could not get RN's to move to CA if they don't pay them enough to live comfortably.
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Curious,in areas like a CA where the cost of living is expensive do jobs pay more to offset it?
Not as an overall picture. The median household income for California was around 61,000/year and the national median household income was 51,900. Arizona, which has been discussed in this thread, was 50,000, and Texas was 50,700. When you compare median household income to median home values, states like California have a much larger gap than other states.
Quote:
The BLS reports the median salary for a registered nurse was $66,640 in 2014. The best-paid 10 percent of RNs made more than $98,880, while the bottom 10 percent earned less than $45,880. The highest-paid RN positions are clustered in California, including the metropolitan areas of Santa Cruz, San Francisco and San Jose.
http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/registered-nurse/salary
They could not get RN's to move to CA if they don't pay them enough to live comfortably.
JHZR2
Staff member
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Curious,in areas like a CA where the cost of living is expensive do jobs pay more to offset it?
Not as an overall picture. The median household income for California was around 61,000/year and the national median household income was 51,900. Arizona, which has been discussed in this thread, was 50,000, and Texas was 50,700. When you compare median household income to median home values, states like California have a much larger gap than other states.
California as an extremely large state and one of the largest economies in the world all by itself, is not a good one to paint with a broad brush.
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Curious,in areas like a CA where the cost of living is expensive do jobs pay more to offset it?
Not as an overall picture. The median household income for California was around 61,000/year and the national median household income was 51,900. Arizona, which has been discussed in this thread, was 50,000, and Texas was 50,700. When you compare median household income to median home values, states like California have a much larger gap than other states.
California as an extremely large state and one of the largest economies in the world all by itself, is not a good one to paint with a broad brush.
My job pays an extra $30-40K in California. Still would not want to move there, I had many job offers over the years with my employer.
OP asked for info on Arizona and New Mexico Mexico.
OP said combined they make $90,000 a year... Why bring up California again and again ?
OP asked for info on Arizona and New Mexico Mexico.
OP said combined they make $90,000 a year... Why bring up California again and again ?
Originally Posted By: Vuflanovsky
I could never pay long term rent if it only provides me with housing and not equity. In my area, renting is more expensive than buying in several areas so there are definitely some trade-offs depending on circumstances and wishes. If I was younger and made x dollars, I would think of renting for a time but, then again, my folks place wasn't house-poor when it retained its value during the downturn and has since gained over 20% of paper value versus a stock market that will go up and down for a 7-8% historical gain each year over time. I don't doubt that Millennials don't want to "diversify" like that because the areas where you could do that are too expensive to begin with...
Exactly, long term rent with zero equity ???
I could never pay long term rent if it only provides me with housing and not equity. In my area, renting is more expensive than buying in several areas so there are definitely some trade-offs depending on circumstances and wishes. If I was younger and made x dollars, I would think of renting for a time but, then again, my folks place wasn't house-poor when it retained its value during the downturn and has since gained over 20% of paper value versus a stock market that will go up and down for a 7-8% historical gain each year over time. I don't doubt that Millennials don't want to "diversify" like that because the areas where you could do that are too expensive to begin with...
Exactly, long term rent with zero equity ???
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
Getting back to Arizona....
Housing prices take big swings here not normal in other parts of the country. We bought in '05, almost at the peak. Coming from Pa how were we to know what was going on? Our house went below 50% purchase price at the bottom even with extensive remodeling. We still aren't back to purchase price much less improvements but prices are still going up.
Going back to some previous discussion, it took us 2 years to "slow down" a little bit and actually relax once in a while. The pace of life here is definitely slower that in the east. Coming from the Midwest I'd expect the OP and wife to have no problem finding good employment unless things have tanked again. Employers recognize the different work ethic and hire people coming in from "back east" quickly. We came without jobs or even leads, wife was working in less than a month, I held out a bit longer for a job that interested me.
Spend some time on Zillow or whatever looking at listed prices not the other fluff in some areas that interest you and see if you can swing it.
Housing prices take big swings here not normal in other parts of the country. We bought in '05, almost at the peak. Coming from Pa how were we to know what was going on? Our house went below 50% purchase price at the bottom even with extensive remodeling. We still aren't back to purchase price much less improvements but prices are still going up.
Going back to some previous discussion, it took us 2 years to "slow down" a little bit and actually relax once in a while. The pace of life here is definitely slower that in the east. Coming from the Midwest I'd expect the OP and wife to have no problem finding good employment unless things have tanked again. Employers recognize the different work ethic and hire people coming in from "back east" quickly. We came without jobs or even leads, wife was working in less than a month, I held out a bit longer for a job that interested me.
Spend some time on Zillow or whatever looking at listed prices not the other fluff in some areas that interest you and see if you can swing it.
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Curious,in areas like a CA where the cost of living is expensive do jobs pay more to offset it?
Not as an overall picture. The median household income for California was around 61,000/year and the national median household income was 51,900. Arizona, which has been discussed in this thread, was 50,000, and Texas was 50,700. When you compare median household income to median home values, states like California have a much larger gap than other states.
California as an extremely large state and one of the largest economies in the world all by itself, is not a good one to paint with a broad brush.
I can echo the fact California is a big state which would bring the state-wide averages down (Your including places like Fresno, and the central valley where your looking at farm wages). I can also attest to the fact that if you have a skill/profession in demand you will make very,very good money in the major metro areas.
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Curious,in areas like a CA where the cost of living is expensive do jobs pay more to offset it?
Not as an overall picture. The median household income for California was around 61,000/year and the national median household income was 51,900. Arizona, which has been discussed in this thread, was 50,000, and Texas was 50,700. When you compare median household income to median home values, states like California have a much larger gap than other states.
California as an extremely large state and one of the largest economies in the world all by itself, is not a good one to paint with a broad brush.
I can echo the fact California is a big state which would bring the state-wide averages down (Your including places like Fresno, and the central valley where your looking at farm wages). I can also attest to the fact that if you have a skill/profession in demand you will make very,very good money in the major metro areas.
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
My job pays an extra $30-40K in California. Still would not want to move there, I had many job offers over the years with my employer.
OP asked for info on Arizona and New Mexico Mexico.
OP said combined they make $90,000 a year... Why bring up California again and again ?
I like to have more BITOG'ers in CA so we can have some meets, especially OP seems to be a nice guy.
Since they have combined income of $90k, they can have similar jobs here in So Cal at about $120-140k, which should be enough to afford decent house in average neighborhood.
My job pays an extra $30-40K in California. Still would not want to move there, I had many job offers over the years with my employer.
OP asked for info on Arizona and New Mexico Mexico.
OP said combined they make $90,000 a year... Why bring up California again and again ?
I like to have more BITOG'ers in CA so we can have some meets, especially OP seems to be a nice guy.
Since they have combined income of $90k, they can have similar jobs here in So Cal at about $120-140k, which should be enough to afford decent house in average neighborhood.
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
My job pays an extra $30-40K in California. Still would not want to move there, I had many job offers over the years with my employer.
OP asked for info on Arizona and New Mexico Mexico.
OP said combined they make $90,000 a year... Why bring up California again and again ?
I like to have more BITOG'ers in CA so we can have some meets, especially OP seems to be a nice guy.
Since they have combined income of $90k, they can have similar jobs here in So Cal at about $120-140k, which should be enough to afford decent house in average neighborhood.
Yeah, but then you have to deal with California and the people who live there
(no offense to you).
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
My job pays an extra $30-40K in California. Still would not want to move there, I had many job offers over the years with my employer.
OP asked for info on Arizona and New Mexico Mexico.
OP said combined they make $90,000 a year... Why bring up California again and again ?
I like to have more BITOG'ers in CA so we can have some meets, especially OP seems to be a nice guy.
Since they have combined income of $90k, they can have similar jobs here in So Cal at about $120-140k, which should be enough to afford decent house in average neighborhood.
Yeah, but then you have to deal with California and the people who live there
Triple_Se7en
$50 Site Donor 2024
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Yeah, but then you have to deal with California and the people who live there
(no offense to you).
Northern California has a much better, friendlier culture than further south.
Yeah, but then you have to deal with California and the people who live there
Northern California has a much better, friendlier culture than further south.
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
Originally Posted By: Triple_Se7en
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Yeah, but then you have to deal with California and the people who live there
(no offense to you).
Northern California has a much better, friendlier culture than further south.
I agree, much much nicer. I did a road trip from Phoenix to Seattle a few years ago, it was like a different world compared to Southern California.
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Yeah, but then you have to deal with California and the people who live there
Northern California has a much better, friendlier culture than further south.
I agree, much much nicer. I did a road trip from Phoenix to Seattle a few years ago, it was like a different world compared to Southern California.
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
Since this thread won't leave California, where does SoCal stop and NorCal start?
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Since this thread won't leave California, where does SoCal stop and NorCal start?
Northern California starts just below San Francisco IMO
Since this thread won't leave California, where does SoCal stop and NorCal start?
Northern California starts just below San Francisco IMO
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Since this thread won't leave California, where does SoCal stop and NorCal start?
Northern California starts just below San Francisco IMO
That's generally what most people would say. But if you look on a map San Francisco is 2/3rds up the state......
Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Since this thread won't leave California, where does SoCal stop and NorCal start?
Northern California starts just below San Francisco IMO
That's generally what most people would say. But if you look on a map San Francisco is 2/3rds up the state......
Northern California starts about 10 miles north of LA !
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
My job pays an extra $30-40K in California. Still would not want to move there, I had many job offers over the years with my employer.
OP asked for info on Arizona and New Mexico Mexico.
OP said combined they make $90,000 a year... Why bring up California again and again ?
I like to have more BITOG'ers in CA so we can have some meets, especially OP seems to be a nice guy.
Since they have combined income of $90k, they can have similar jobs here in So Cal at about $120-140k, which should be enough to afford decent house in average neighborhood.
When my brother was in the Navy stationed in San Diego, he worked with a guy who bought a house 100 miles away from the base and rode a motorcycle everyday to work. Even with military basic allowance for housing for San Diego his family could not afford to buy a house near San Diego.
His wife liked California and the guy was at the end of his 22 year military career. One thousand miles a week on a motorcycle gets old very fast. No way the average person can spend 4 hours on the road daily.
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
My job pays an extra $30-40K in California. Still would not want to move there, I had many job offers over the years with my employer.
OP asked for info on Arizona and New Mexico Mexico.
OP said combined they make $90,000 a year... Why bring up California again and again ?
I like to have more BITOG'ers in CA so we can have some meets, especially OP seems to be a nice guy.
Since they have combined income of $90k, they can have similar jobs here in So Cal at about $120-140k, which should be enough to afford decent house in average neighborhood.
When my brother was in the Navy stationed in San Diego, he worked with a guy who bought a house 100 miles away from the base and rode a motorcycle everyday to work. Even with military basic allowance for housing for San Diego his family could not afford to buy a house near San Diego.
His wife liked California and the guy was at the end of his 22 year military career. One thousand miles a week on a motorcycle gets old very fast. No way the average person can spend 4 hours on the road daily.
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