Good living in California

[mjoekingz28]

Is there a place in California, say, between San Francisco and Los Angeles that isn't so expensive to live in?

I read on here not too long ago that Redding was a good inexpensive place to live, but it is too far north for me.

I'd like decent prices of everything (goods, gas, taxes), close to the interstate. Right between the mountians and valley and the ocean would be superb (which basically IS the interstate). Low crime is, of course, preferred. But aren't all suburbs basically low crime when compared to the big cities.

Can I get all of this in a $50-100k 3/2 home?




Just testing and want to see which area(s) I should explore more. It won't be for quite some time, but I'm slowly trying to inch my way there.

thanks all

 

[Solo2driver]

As a California resident for 25 years, I would say you're not going to fulfill all of those conditions at the same time...there is actually a lot of crime in the central valley cities and towns. Cost goes up as you head for the coast. Fire and accessability problems in the mountains, but that's probably your best bet to be on the eastern part of the state in the Sierras. Beautiful country though!

 

[Herz]

i gave up on that a long time ago, if it werent for my current job id be in Arizona. More firearm freedom, gas is cheaper, homes are cheaper, and I can carry.

 

[The_Jeff]

I know some bay area Californians looking to retire to Arkansas so they can get lots of acreage for cheap, and the politics agree with them better. Of course I'm sure their neighbors will be groaning "there goes the neighborhood".

 

[powayroger]

You got to be kidding. We bought our house in 1991 for $150,000 in Poway and that is the only reason why we can afford to live in southern california (and I can work my dream job and the wife can work part time when the kids are at school).

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
I know some bay area Californians looking to retire to Arkansas so they can get lots of acreage for cheap, and the politics agree with them better. Of course I'm sure their neighbors will be groaning "there goes the neighborhood".

Oh! They went to Arkansas!

About 10 years ago, Californians were snatching up properties here because you could buy a decent home for half the price of what you would pay in California and there were plenty of technology based jobs in Dallas/Ft Worth, Austin, and Houston. We probably overpaid on our house because it happened to coincide with the time that we were in the market for a new home.

But now that we are looking for a new larger home to move my aging mother in law in with us, the Californian property bidding wars seem to have gone away. No one wants to pay what I paid for my house.

Now I know where they went.

 

[Astro14]

Honestly?

No...last time I was there, ( a few months ago..) everything, gas, food, everything was insanely expensive.

Even out in the desert, you can't find a house for $100K...that's garage money...

My favorite area - San Diego, you can live outside of town, about a 60-90 minute commute and a 3/2 house will run you "only" $500-600K...farther out is lower...but still expensive...and you've got the heinous drive.

If you get out in the central valley, it's lower, but still not cheap/affordable.

And the california taxes are among the highest in the nation, property, sales, gas, income, all of them. Prop 13 (from the 70's) means that old folks haven't had proerty tax increases, so all state funding comes from higher rates on new owners, sales tax (8-9% depending), gas and income taxes. Saw nearly $4.00/gal three months ago, likely higher now...

 

[L_Sludger]

Yeah, you can look at the inland cities like Fresno. They're cheap, all right.

I live in San Diego and won't live elsewhere. Homes aren't that expensive here either.

 

[Malo83]

Tulare/Visalia area comes to mind, houses are in your price range, if you can live with triple digit summers and thick Tule fog in the winter you'll be fine

 

[bdcardinal]

In short no. However you can maybe snag a nice 2bd 1ba apartment here for 350k. you might get a parking spot even!!

 

[PandaBear]

$50k to $100k in a low crime neighborhood, 3/2 home may be possible in rural area. Suburb? Unlikely.

Forget about ocean, anywhere close to ocean would be at least 200k. Do you have to own a house? Would condos be sufficient for your need? If you are lucky you might be able to get a condo inland for $100k.

State income tax would be about the same percentage anywhere, property tax is usually around 1.2-1.5% due to prop 13, but fuel, food, home cost, sales tax, etc can vary, but my guess is sales tax would be more than 5% anywhere (we are getting about 9% here).


Also, are you planning to retire or work? If you are working, most likely your income will be higher as well, so you may be able to afford more.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Avoid any city with "Beach" in the name, such as Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Venice Beach, Laguna Beach ... No house in those area is less than half mil.

The only good thing about California is weather, but we have wild fires, earth quakes and mud slides.

 

[D189379]

Originally Posted By: defektes
i gave up on that a long time ago, if it werent for my current job id be in Arizona. More firearm freedom, gas is cheaper, homes are cheaper, and I can carry.


I'd pay to live far away from you lol.

 

[Dave Hess]

Quote:
Can I get all of this in a $50-100k 3/2 home?

That would be impossible in CA, in other states you can find a decent house in a decent neighborhood for $100,000

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
The only good thing about California is weather, but we have wild fires, earth quakes and mud slides.


It depends on your job too. A lot of jobs just don't exist in large scale in other places, and for those who are in these fields, you get a "job security" knowing that your employers' competitors are just across the street.

 

[GMBoy]

Originally Posted By: defektes
More firearm freedom, gas is cheaper, homes are cheaper, and I can carry.



Agreed. I left Maryland after almost 40 years for Texas. I can carry my gun and my house is 3x bigger than what I could afford in MD.

 

[xxch4osxx]

Originally Posted By: D189379
Originally Posted By: defektes
i gave up on that a long time ago, if it werent for my current job id be in Arizona. More firearm freedom, gas is cheaper, homes are cheaper, and I can carry.


I'd pay to live far away from you lol.
What do you mean by that?

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: xxch4osxx
Originally Posted By: D189379
Originally Posted By: defektes
i gave up on that a long time ago, if it werent for my current job id be in Arizona. More firearm freedom, gas is cheaper, homes are cheaper, and I can carry.


I'd pay to live far away from you lol.
What do you mean by that?


He means he doesn't want to live somewhere that people carry guns around.

 

[tom slick]

California's Central Valley is inexpensive to live but has many drawbacks; It has some of the nation's worst poverty (farm labor), crime (gangs) and, air quality. With that said most of my family lives there and they are happy. Nice houses in good neighborhoods can be had for <$200k.

 

[tonycarguy]

The Central Valley has good cities and bad cities. Tracy has fairly low crime, but a 3/2 starter home would run $150-350k depending on the neighborhood. It's less of a farm town and more of a bedroom community for tech workers commuting into Silicon Valley, so its avg household income is higher than your typical Central Valley city.

But no, you can't find a 3/2 in a low-crime neighborhood for $100k. Even a dump in a crummy neighborhood will cost over 100k