Arizona, California, Texas?

Kabin · Mar 8, 2006

It's always possible to eek out a living in CA and save money. But try to buy an average home and it hits the fan real quick. I moved away from SoCal in 1993 because I could only afford a condo. Many Californians have been leaving the state in the last 5 years or so because of lost jobs and the lack of affordable housing. I doubt anything has changed.

Kabin · Mar 8, 2006

Last Xmas I was visiting my mom in San Diego and got a kick out of the cost of housing. Old beat up 1200 sqft homes with no garages, in poor school districts with gang infestation were going for about $400k.

Sheri257 · Mar 8, 2006

Many Californians have been leaving the state in the last 5 years or so because of lost jobs and the lack of affordable housing. I doubt anything has changed.

Last Xmas I was visiting my mom in San Diego and got a kick out of the cost of housing. Old beat up 1200 sqft homes with no garages, in poor school districts with gang infestation were going for about $400k.

If so many people are leaving the state ... who's buying 1200 square foot homes for $400,000? If so many people were leaving in the last five years ... real estate would have gone down in California ... not up. Values certainly wouldn't have skyrocketed the way they have.

And if you're an RN in California, you're certainly not unemployed ... unless you choose to be unemployed.

:typing

Kabin · Mar 8, 2006

CA's most recent skyrocking housing market has been ongoing since the 90's. I'm thinking any recent skyrocking home values would be in the undesirable neighborhoods like the $400k example I provided. Note that example was a snap shot in the classified ads and not a sale price. More recently, home values in CA have tapered off which is in line with an outflux of well paying jobs. Of course there's always that influx of workers from the south.

military spouse · Mar 8, 2006

I don't think you can use one or two real estate examples as a reflection of the cost of living for the entire state. Besides, people also benefit from the higher cost of living.
I bought my house in a location comparable to Bakersfield for only $150,000 two years ago. Now it's worth double that amount. One buyer's higher priced home is another homeowner's windfall. My cost of living is cheap and I'm sitting on $150,000 in equity in just two years.
The point is ... not everybody pays $500,000 to $1 million for a home in California. And the higher cost of living doesn't hurt everybody in the marketplace ... a lot of people who live here also benefit from it.
:typing

I understand what you're saying, but we have benefitted from increased real estate prices. We purchased a house in AZ for $188,000 and sold 8 months later for almost $100,000 more. When I left my job, I was making $31.50 per hour. I just don't know how anyone can pay over $500,000 for a house without making a whole lot more. When I was growing up, Corona was considered the "boonies." Now my father-in-law's house is worth $650,000. I suspect there are still some places in CA where one can still enter the housing market and do okay, but there are probably very few. I will take my lower wage and live in much lower priced housing. People entering the market today, compared to several years ago, will have a difficult time purchasing a home. Even if the house is $500,000--that's still $100,000 down for a traditional loan. That's a lot of money! I guess I'm just cheap

Sheri257 · Mar 8, 2006

More recently, home values in CA have tapered off which is in line with an outflux of well paying jobs. Of course there's always that influx of workers from the south.

What outflux of high paying jobs? California workers make, on average, $8,000 a year more than Arizona workers. If there's an outflux of high paying jobs ... it's in Arizona.

And the softening of real estate prices (which is going on nationwide btw, not just California) is caused by higher interest rates more than anything else. If the borrowing costs go up ... people don't pay the same prices.

As I recall ... Arizona also has a influx of workers from the south.

cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN · Mar 9, 2006

1 in 5 people moving to Arizona are from California. Cali is the #1 group of people moving here. So I doubt that all these people are moving here and taking a pay cut. My best friend says that in Cali you're 'house-poor'. That is, all of your energy and money goes towards your home. I sure can't believe that it would ever be cheaper or 'better off' moving to and living in Cali!!!

Sheri257 · Mar 9, 2006

1 in 5 people moving to Arizona are from California. Cali is the #1 group of people moving here. So I doubt that all these people are moving here and taking a pay cut. My best friend says that in Cali you're 'house-poor'. That is, all of your energy and money goes towards your home. I sure can't believe that it would ever be cheaper or 'better off' moving to and living in Cali!!!

I have $150,000 equity in my house, and I only paid $150,000 for it. How is that "house poor?" If anything, I'm house rich. You can't make broad statements that everybody in California is hurting in the housing market. For every loser there's also a winner. You can't ignore the sellers who are on the receiving end of those $500,000 sales.

And speaking of $500,000 sales ... I do know people, mostly retirees, who sold their houses here for a fortune and moved to Arizona so they could buy houses there for much cheaper and pocket the rest of the cash. And I don't blame them. I might do the same thing someday. But that doesn't mean California wasn't good for them ... it was.

True ... they didn't take a pay cut ... because they have those nice California pensions to collect during their retirement. But their paychecks ... or pension checks in this case ... are coming from California, not Arizona.

Kabin · Mar 9, 2006

My best friend says that in Cali you're 'house-poor'. That is, all of your energy and money goes towards your home. I sure can't believe that it would ever be cheaper or 'better off' moving to and living in Cali!!!

It's true. Moving to an expensive area with the intention of purchasing a home without a wad of cash will put a hurt on your disposable income. People need that extra cash to save for retirement, pay for kids to go to college, and to have fun.

I understand the recent Las Vegas housing boom was partly fueled by the California outflow. It wasn't too long ago that Gov Arnie was trying to slow it down by peddling companies and countries to move corporate offices and factories to the state. I wish him rots of ruck on that one.

Sheri257 · Mar 9, 2006

Speaking of disposable income ... I guess you weren't paying attention to the cost of living calculator ... and the fact that there are cheaper areas in California.

Or the significant difference in RN salaries ...

There are cheaper areas in California where people don't pay $500,000 for a house .... where the cost of living is not that much more than Arizona ... only 7 percent more ...

This makes sense since Arizona housing is not that cheap anymore. As the previous poster pointed out ... his house jumped from $188,000 to $288,000 in just eight months. That's not much of a difference from real estate values in Calfornia's cheaper inland areas ...

The question is: are RN wages in Arizona making up for the difference? Not really ...

Even after you adjust for the seven percent cost of living difference between Arizona and California's cheaper areas ... you end up making $10,000 more a year than you would living in Arizona ... because there's plenty of good paying RN jobs in those areas.

Arizona is still cheaper ... but cheap isn't all that great if you're making a lot less money.

:typing

military spouse · Mar 9, 2006

I have $150,000 equity in my house, and I only paid $150,000 for it. How is that "house poor?" If anything, I'm house rich. You can't make broad statements that everybody in California is hurting in the housing market. For every loser there's also a winner. You can't ignore the sellers who are on the receiving end of those $500,000 sales.
And speaking of $500,000 sales ... I do know people, mostly retirees, who sold their houses here for a fortune and moved to Arizona so they could buy houses there for much cheaper and pocket the rest of the cash. And I don't blame them. I might do the same thing someday. But that doesn't mean California wasn't good for them ... it was.
True ... they didn't take a pay cut ... because they have those nice California pensions to collect during their retirement. But their paychecks ... or pension checks in this case ... are coming from California, not Arizona.
You are probably more of an exception. I can only speak for O.C., San Francisco, and Grass Valley where one can't touch a house for $300,000. I would actually consider moving back if I could get a new house with all of the new amenities for $300,000.........but I can't........or atleast not where I would want to live.Youare very fortunate to have that kind of equity of a house with that initial price.

You are probably more of an exception. I can only speak for O.C., San Francisco, and Grass Valley where one can't touch a house for $300,000. I would actually consider moving back if I could get a new house with all of the new amenities for $300,000.........but I can't........or atleast not where I would want to live.Youare very fortunate to have that kind of equity of a house with that initial price.

Kabin · Mar 9, 2006

A few months back I was listening to Bob Brinker, a well known host for a nationally syndicated financial radio talk show and he discussed California housing and said only 1 in 20 can currently qualify to purchase a home. It's huge problem for those renting in CA or considering a move there and it's been that way for a long time. I'm sure one could find pockets of relative affordability like Bakersfield or El Centro. But images of dirty truckstop towns with Waffle House fine dining usually aren't what people have in mind when considering a moving to California.