Investing on a house as a nurse in California

caliotter3 · Jan 23, 2018

Hmm, seems a while back there was a report that in one area the median price for a home was more than $900,000. Out of my price range, for the moment. For some reason my nursing employers don't like to give raises above the (soon to be) minimum wage range.

Sour Lemon · Jan 23, 2018

It's a big state with a lot of variation.

vanilla bean · Jan 23, 2018

You can always check out a site like realtor.com to investigate what you get for your budget in any area you're interested in buying.

caliotter3 · Jan 23, 2018

Let's make that $1,094,500 in the SF Bay area, where I want to live. Median rent $4895. Let's see, how many of those plentiful $15-$16 an hour jobs employers are so proud to offer, would it take to move back home? Yes, even the word "plentiful" is meant as tongue-in-cheek sarcasm. Most nurses find it hard to live comfortably in desirable areas of CA unless they inherited family real estate.

NICUismylife, ADN, BSN, RN · Jan 28, 2018

Which part of CA? It's a very large state with the housing market being distinctly different in different areas. I'm in Central CA and it's very affordable to buy a home on an RN salary, even as a new grad. In the larger met areas or near the coast, it will be much more difficult, if not impossible when first starting out....

RNbubu · Jan 28, 2018

I live and work in Sacramento. I make roughly $63-66/hour depending the shift differencial I'm making that day. Just bought a 1600sq ft home for $375K. If you have money for the down payment you can do it. I am a single mom and was able to do it. But as others have said, prices and wages vary a lot. California is a big state.

another important factor to consider: taxes are really high around here. Plus, depending on where you live you have to pay extra real estate taxes (Mello roos) which aren't common in other areas. We Get paid well but pretty much 50% goes to taxes.