need advice thinking of moving
 

hello everyone I need advice about moving I live in California in the bay area near San Francisco and Oakland. I was planning to move to another affordable state to buy a home. I have a daughter she's 2 yrs. I'm presently attending school I should be finish in may 2007. so I was planning or thinking of moving to another state that's affordable to own a home. well the dilemma is that I have live all my life here and I'm afraid of doing such a drastic change but I'm also excited to start a new life some were else. I'm afraid of be in home sick and leave my parents and not knowing anyone. has anyone gone through this changes. but I cant afford to buy a home here I was thinking of moving to seattle Washington because its near ca and it has close enough weather as cal may be a little different but I don't want it to cold, hot or snow. I want to become independent please give any advice and anyone lives in seattle Washington tell me a little about your city and state. thanks everyone one for your help.:?:

If you're looking for affordable home rates, do not move to Seattle, WA. I don't want to scare you, but I just sold my 1400 square foot, 2 bd, 2 ba house for 355K. I listed it for 315K (I bought it 5 years ago for 240K) and got 9 offers in one day. I don't even live in Seattle, or a fashionable part of the "east side" I live in a smaller suburb up north. Seattle is definitely one of the more expensive housing markets and the "housing bubble" does not seem to be about to burst here.

The summers are pretty here, but the winters are nothing but overcast, cold, rain rain rain rain. We are so far north that it starts to get dark around 4:00 pm during the winter, it is depressing.

Don't get me wrong, I love Seattle. But I sure wouldn't move here for cost of living or climate!

Middle America is your best bet for cheap housing--Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and on up to North Dakota, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri. Rural is cheaper than urban.

To be closer to CA, you might consider Idaho. I understand that Boise has a growing economy.

I definitely keep an eye out for property/real estate articles, and I've read about a lot of areas in Texas that have very affordable prices. I live near DC, so I, too, am thinking of areas that might be cheaper to purchase a home (my search for a 2-bedroom, 1.5-bath condo--basically a high-rise apartment--for less than $250k has been quite unsuccessful).

But yeah, my best suggestion (taking into consideration housing, cost of living, and pay scale) would be Texas. You can find tons of info online about which specific areas are best. You can also check out www.salary.com to see how much money you would have to make in a different area in order to keep the same quality of life you have at your current income level in your current location. sometimes, the cheaper housing is not worth the move since you wouldn't be making enough money in that location for things to balance out, so that's a pretty helpful tool.

I moved from California to Colorado for similar reasons as you. I wanted to buy a place of my own. I really liked the fact that I had a bit more financial freedom when I moved and was able to buy a place of my own.

I am from Southern Oregon, just about an hour across the Oregon/California border and the house prices her are outrageous and good paying jobs are few and far between. Our house prices have gone through the roof since Californians are moving up here thinking the same as you are, and they sold their house down south and think the prices for houses are great up here, and they buy. This is bad because the locals can't afford to buy anything now. When my hubby and I married 5 years ago we bought a home for $100,000 now we can't touch the same house for less than $225,000 and our income is still the same!!!! Sorry to sound grumpy but now that my husband and I finally got approved to buy a house again we are having to spend $100,000 more on the same house as we would have 5 years ago. So my suggestion is to go midwest, Oregon is turning into California and the job suck. You are lucky to find a job that pays more than $10/hour unless you are a doctor, lawyer or realtor. Good luck!! Rent is not cheap either houses start at $1,000 and figure at $10 an hour, doesn't go far.

Hays Kansas is an affordable place to live. Sort of.
Well, you can get a nice 3bdrm, 2000sq ft, ranch style home with many ammenities for $150,000 easily. But thats too expensive too....
Cost of living is reasonable - right now gas is $2.67, city bills run around $40/month, rental property is around $500/month for a 1 or 2bdrm apt (but this is also a college town). The schools are good, there is very little violent crime, the neighborhoods are safe. The wages are decent: for instance if you are an unskilled worker, you can work at NEW for $8/hr + gas bonus or you could work at Enersys for $9+/hr; educated workers make probably between $30,000 - $75,000 per year here, depending what you're educated in. Also there are many small communities in the area within 1/2 an hour drive that are VERY cheap to live in and very nice. I don't live in Hays because it is too expensive for us - but even with commuting to school everyday, it is still cheaper to live out of town as we only pay $275/month for rent (in Hays our house would run $500 - $600/month).
The weather sucks. The summer is hot and windy; winters are usually mild with 1 or 2 big blizzards thrown in.
Hays has a population of around 20,000 (maybe more now, don't know).
You can visit this website: http://www.haysusa.com/

Come on down to Texas where you can get yourself a 3,000-4,000 sq ft house with a huge front and back yard for $80,000 - $300,000 but a $300,000 would be you basic mansion in Texas.

Take a look at www.har.com . You can actually see many of the homes for sale here with pictures of rooms, etc.

On the part about home sickness...I moved to NH after having spent the first 32 years of my life living around family. It was VERY scary. Especially driving a 14' UHaul with car carrier attached for 2 days with just me and my cat. LOL But I spent 8 years up there. Was very home sick at first, then it was ok. I don't regret the move at all. Now though, I'm living back in WV. However, after all those years away from family, I didn't relish the thought of living in their backyards again, so I moved to another part of the state. Close enough to visit but not to make it an every day thing this time. ;)

I know certain parts of CA like the bay area and socal are so damn expensive. We bought a 2 bed 2 bath condo here in los angeles for 9 hundred thousand, gross cost was over a million but we already made 20% appraisal on that in a year...(more income that our jobs). I have also lived upthere in Palo Alto which is comparable. I think Seattle/Portland are much cheaper than this crazy market here.
Denver, CO is quite affordable and a good neighbourhood. I can understand your security issues esp. since you have to leave your parents alone and have your lil one with you. CO is quite family friendly in that sense. (i dont know if it snows there though). And ofcourse you will make friends and have more stress-free life once you take that first step.

Have you considered Fresno/SB/San Loius Obispo/Bakersfield? some places in the south like San Diego (Carlsbad), Riverside, Palm Spings are also better than others when it comes to prices and the wether in SoCal is juust fantastic. Because really girl, (no offense to anybody) you just cant beat the action and climate of California esp SoCal...

willmakeit - I would've loved to stay in SoCal where i'm originally from but I couldn't afford to buy a place. Carlsbad is very expensive as well as other nearby cities that used to be more affordable 10 years ago or so. I agree Denver is pretty decent. It seems like a good place to raise a family. I lived there for 3 years before moving to the East coast.

My one requirement for moving from California was that I had to be near a city that was a decent size, 1 million or more. Denver fits that but still I found it a bit too small for me.

Hmmm... I just did a quick search on realtor.com and Riverside/Corona, CA seem to be pretty affordable. Boise, ID seems extremely affordable compared to anywhere here and I could see some good 3 bedroom single homes for under 300,000. I suppose Boise is also a very family place. I dont know about weather there.

Goodluck to you and hope you find your dream place soon.

Thanks everyone for your great advice and I have to agree with willmakeit its so expensive that Seattle and Oregon are cheaper than the bay area this how expensive it is a 2 bd and 1 bath home goes for 450 to 500 thousand and thanks for telling me about the cost of living in your states I have family in Houston TX but what about the floods tornadoes etc. how is the weather in your states? in winter and summer. I would like to move were is very metropolitan as the bay area I'm not country girl I'm a city girl. thanks everyone for your great advice and support as always. PS heard that Atlanta GA is a nice place to live. I'm confuse help. the answer about moving to Fresno etc it to hot and very country no thanks i don't have nothing against country living but I a city girl . thank you thank you.

Willmakeit, yes, it snows in CO. A LOT!

CA housing prices are ridiculous. That is why we left San Diego 5 years ago. Haven't looked back. The traffic is appalling as well. And the pollution.

You might look at Vegas. Growing very fast. Yes, it gets hot, but it is a dry heat. Unlike Atlanta. Ugh. I feel like I am wading through hot water anytime I am east of Dallas.

Good luck! It is very exciting to consider all of the possiblities!

I actually recently read an article about Boise, ID which said it was a great place to live. I think it is a little too small for me, but that may be something to look into as well.

As for cold, I think the east coast has it for cold :) I lived in CO for 3 years and I moved to the DC area last year. This last winter in MD was colder than any winter I ever had in CO. The east coast also has it for heat. This is the hottest summer I've ever had to endure in my life. I didn't think I was going to make it some days....

In the mountains, yes, but I'm amazed (and pleased) every winter in Denver at how mild it really is. Our snowfall is relatively light, especially compared to the east coast and midwest. Yes, it snows, but it doesn't really stick around and the roads clear up in a day or so. Also, it's a very agreeable climate... I simply must have seasons and there are 4 of them here ;) The only thing I don't like is the "spring tease"- where it will warm up a bit and then that annual storm hits in late March/early April and all of the sudden we look like Buffalo for a week. It is funny when we get visitors who are expecting a winter wonderland in Denver in January and it's brown (like I said, different story 40 miles west)- happens to my dad every New Years and he still hasn't caught on :lol:.

The housing market is starting to level off a bit in Denver- it is, by no means, cheap compared to many places, but affordable if you look around.

I love this city. Very different from the percieved "cowtown" of years past. Great downtown, moving economy, and there are TONS of transplants here, so you won't feel alone (ESPECIALLY if you from Cali ;) )

So:
*climate: good
*people: not bad, but it's a very young city, which may appeal to you
*housing: improving
*cost of living: ginormous
*drivers: :lol:
*recreational opportunities: amazing

Oh, and we have more days of sunshine/year than San Diego, I think is what the weatherman tells me...

Everytime I've gone through Denver in the winter it has been doing it's Buffalo imitation. I am more familiar with southern CO, Pagosa Springs, Alamosa, Wolf Creek....lots of snow. Up to my knees. Not for me, that's for sure. But then I am a huge wimp and would never even consider moving to the midwest (NE, WI and the like). Brrrr!! I am in New Mexico, the land of perfect weather, reasonable housing prices, and green chile.

If you don't like heat, you can scratch Texas off your list. But re: floods/tornados, I personally prefer my natural disasters to come out of the sky where I can see them, which is why I would never live in California, the land of earthquakes and mudslides.

Oh, you have no sense of adventure! We had a huge couple of quakes a few summers back and the joke was that the heat causes earthquakes (think Shake and Bake!). I do wonder about it myself--we live right along one of the biggest fault lines (it runs along I-10) and we're only 6 miles from I-10, so if the "big one" does hit, I wonder what will happen. We're mostly prepared--but I don't think anyone can be totally prepared.

Personally, I'm terrified of tornados and I doubt I'd like a hurricane, either.

Anyway, we're wondering where we'd like to retire to. We loved the Palm Springs area here when we arrived 16 years ago, but we want to retire in a few years and the growth here is amazing. Farm land is being eaten up by housing tracts and country clubs. The cost of housing is going up, up, up. I'm almost thinking New Mexico myself. We're from SLC, Utah originally, and I don't think we want to go back to such harsh winters. I'd love to live in a smaller community, perhaps one that is an hour or so away from a more populous area so we can venture in every month to stock up on supplies.

I moved from Indiana to Florida. The big changes were:

--salaries are less in Florida ("sunshine dollars" or some crap like that!)

--houses are more expensive (can get the same size home in Indiana for nearly half the money)

The pluses of Florida:
--no snow
--sun most of the time
--my partner (BF) is here!

Hello everyone thanks for the advice. I have to really think about were to move but I have to move some were so I could buy a home soon before my daughter gets older i want her to grow in a perm. home.

Reply to Thinking of Moving
 

I also consider moving. I currently live in Euless, TX, which is just between Dallas and Fort Worth (right in the Middle). I have always wanted to move to CO, but truthfully it's difficult to move, especially when I realize I probably DO live in one of the cheapest areas of the country to live in. A decent house in these parts costs about $200K, but you can certainly find cheaper. And housing prices are dropping right now due to the over-building that is going on. So it's tough to sell...also a clencher to me moving. Texas is nice - we do have a lot here, but I admit I get pretty tired of having the one big long summer that lasts from about May until September or October (we are still in the 90's right now in mid Sept) and only getting one quick cold blast around Jan or Feb. We essentially have two springs - one in the fall months and another the standard time - March/April. I'm a cold weather girl, and of course, as for most this summer has been one of the worst we've had since 1998. I get tired of the heat and long for cold weather. I guess you always want what you don't have. As for CA, so many I know move away and HAVE to go back. I understand it's a tough state to leave bc it has so much. I wouldn't move there bc it would just be too cost prohibitive.

I am currently a single legal assistant, and haven't given up the dream to move to CO one day. My target goal - CO Springs - but I'd settle for Denver if I had to. Tough to leave family...and I guess that's the biggest scary thought

PS...while Dallas is not Colorado or somewhere with mountains, we do have active people here, decent bike trails and some really nice state parks. You might be surprised. I'm an avid Mtn Biker here and there are several trails in the metroplex. Not mountain MOUNTAINs, of course (since we don't have mountains) but they are still pretty nice. Salaries are OK - mean salary is about $40K for teachers for example. I just want to leave bc I want MOUNTAINS...and always have! The question IS...is it worth the risk????

Hmmmp, I notice no one is dying to move to Alaska! :lol: We have real mountains, we have seasons (and plenty of COLD), we have reasonably priced housing ($200K will buy you a nice place), and no state income tax! So we have dark dark days in the winter (5 hours of daylight), but that balances with light light days in the summer (19 hours of daylight). We don't have large cities, and food is expensive. Ah, we love living here, and no one on this thread has persuaded me to move yet. :) Fun to hear what everyone likes about their home state though.

What I would suggest would be to look in the North Sacramento area like Rio Linda and Marysville area and so on. You would be more likely to find a job near a large city and in the northern part you can still find some relatively inexpensive homes. Found this one online today: A 2 YEAR NEW 3BR/1BA Great Location! Only $215,000. Look for an agent that will work with you on a lease with option to buy. Sometimes the owner will do a private loan or will allow you to pay extra monthly on your lease to put towards your down payment. During this time you can still be some what near your family not feeling totally detached and when holidays and what not come around you can still get together. The problem sometimes when people move out of California is that when they want to come back they find it difficult to do so. I am not saying your idea is a bad one it is very common but in your situation I would look at all of your options first.

This cracks me up, hear it all the time. I have lived in both TX and CA. TX consists of tornados, hurricanes, feezing temps, excrutiating humidity, ridiculous spontainious rains, the list goes on...SEASONALLY!!! Earthquakes and mudslides are occassional at best. When I initially moved to Tx from Ca (then returned 4 years later) alot of natives asked if the earthquakes bothered me or was I scared to live there...like it was a daily occurance or something.:dizzy:

I lived most of my life in SoCA before moving to Missouri. Nice place to raise a family and buy a home. Depending on what your career is I can't say much about jobs. I moved from there to Dallas and no offense to you Texans...I wouldn't live there again if they gave me a house free! It was a very long 7 months there and I couldn't wait to leave. I am currently living close to Wichita,Kansas now because when I met DH this is where he was and so I moved here because he has a good job and it is a good place to raise kids, the schools are decent and the cost of living is as well. You can find a nice house anywhere starting from about $120,000...depending on what you want and how big. There are lots of Aircraft jobs with having Cessna, Boeing, oops, Spirit now, Raytheon, shoot, there's a few more, just can't think of them. The weather is okay...about every 2 years we get a good snow...last winter was pretty mild, don't think we actually had much of a winter. Summer this year was a hot one but it's only a few months a year so it's not so bad. Tornado's...well, I've lived here going on 9 years now and have yet to see one. We do have some severe thunderstorms but I think all in all it's not so bad. Anyway, good luck with your home search. I hope you find the perfect place to move to!

WaterRat...I would love to move to Alaska! I came close before I met my DH.

In Ca, Earthquakes (large enough to affect anyone) happen only once in like 10 years. Mudslides: only if you live on a hill with no mudslide protection plan(rare)...SB/LA are ridiculously expensive but the climate is best of the best. I would also look into new mexico and phoenix/scottsdale.

some myths:
1.big cities have more pollution. yes they do but pollens can do more harm to ur lungs than dust and some areas like Iowa/kansas have worse air quality index than newyork/los angeles.(cdc)
2.big cities :more crime. if you check the FBI crime rates, places like kansas city have more rates than new york/sfo/la.
3.expensive house:higher salary. Not true. some places like FL/GA have relatively low salaries compared to housing rates.

You could also talk to a real estate agent and tell him your prefernces, make charts etc...and let him suggest.you could also attend some real estate seminars before buying a house if this is your first house. the seminars can be quite informative and helpful.

hey kateful in California we have earthquakes probably every 20 yrs (big ones)
but in Texas you Texans have tornadoes and floods every year or season. I would prefer to rebuild every 20ys instead of every year. no offense to any people living around natural disasters.

I'd agree with earthquakes and California, they are no big deal :) I'd move back to California in a heart beat, if I could afford to live there. Technically, I could afford to live there but I like having excess money for other things than just housing payments. I'm actually thinking that maybe I'll move back to California if we ever decide to have kids but not sure about that one :)