chirojeremy

I grew up in Santa Rosa, CA during my teen years until I joined the military. Now here I am 10 years later and I have not set foot in CA. I am in school to be a chiropractor and I am trying to figure out where to finally settle down to live and practice. My wife and I are probably going to divorce and she is from OK. I was stationed in CO and I loved it there. But there is something about CA (weather, ocean, mountains etc) that makes me want to go back there. Unfortunately the only thing keeping me from going back is the cost of living, primarily housing. With prices going way down over the last few years, I am wondering if it may be a good idea to go back to CA, enjoy the weather, scenery etc and take advantage of the lower priced real estate by either just purchasing for myself if the prices return to a normal national average or investing. I will be a doctor when I move out there and will make decent money. My question is this: How do normal people with normal jobs afford to live in CA? Do you own real estate? Do you not live in a decent part of town?

1955

I have a rich aunt.

Psydotek

I live with my parents...

chirojeremy

For instance, I just looked at San Diego real estate. There was a ton for sale so I went to page 100 because after about 40 pages into it I still was not out of the $1m price range. At the top of page 100 was a $789k house. It was nice, 3/2/2 1800 sq ft...1800 sq ft?! So I looked in OK for a house between 700-800k. The first thing I saw was a 6500 sq ft 6/8/? house. So as much as I love the weather in CA, I think if I could afford a sub $1m house, I would rather have the mansion in OK than the decent below average home in sunny San Diego for the same price. After all, I could vacation I guess...

1955

You really can't put a price on living in Sandy Eggo for all the reasons you mentioned. That's why people go there.

ChromeSE5

My cousin bought a house form an auction in the newer development area of Chula Vista. Decent size backyard, 4 bedrooms, 2 year old house for $350k.

Go_Fast

i have a sugar momma or 3.

ronjon10

I got a small 1br/1ba house for the same price I could buy a 4/3 McMansion back in North Carolina where I came from. Right now, I live in the "Mountains" about 3 miles from the ocean. Every day life (outside of work) is a vacation.

chimivee

For me, it's the opposite. That, and I bought in early '02, suckas.

chirojeremy

Thats what my wife and I used to always argue about. I wanted to live in CO because every day felt like a vacation when I could look at the mountains. I sound a lot like her right now with my reasoning. My problem is I dont know where I would want to live in CA. I grew up in No Cal, but So Cal sounds pretty nice too...

TrevorInSoCal

I'm fortunate enough to have a fairly decent paying "normal" job (Web developer. Not doctor/lawyer money, but I'm comfortable enough.), and live in a less expensive area. People talk a lot of sh*t about the inland empire, but how many single guys making less than 6-figures in LA or OC own homes, in a walkable/bikeable community, within a mile of grocery stores/restaurants/bars/downtown. Contrary to popular belief there *are* places out here that aren't wall-to-wall stucco housing developments.

I'm also, apart from bleeding money on bike racing and related expenses, relatively frugal. While you may find a new(ish) Madone in my garage, you won't find a home theater system in my living-room (At least not until numerous other savings goals are accomplished.), nor will you find a < 5 year-old car in the driveway, or many of the other typical middle class accoutrements.

I dunno how others do it. I'd guess a lot people who appear to have a lot more have dual incomes, or make much more money. Others, I'm certain, as I know some of them, are barely scraping by. I also get the impression that a *lot* of people in SoCal live way beyond their means, racking up credit debt attempting to appear wealthier than they really are. (Witness the recent real-estate market implosion for evidence of that.).

cjbruin

Hah! Rose & I bought in 1998.

I suspect that many of us could sell our homes and get much bigger ones...with more land...in other parts of the U.S. For me, the California lifestyle keeps me here. Every day we live our lives in a place where some people dream of taking a one-week vacation.

When I was training for Ironman Arizona, I was able to train outdoors throughout the winter while people from other states where in their basements on trainers and treadmills. When summer comes along, I'll still be outdoors while the folks in Oklahoma will be inside in air-conditioning trying to avoid the heat and humidity.

I value the things I have here and don't really care about the things that I don't. Everyone is different.

rooftest

I don't know any poor Chiropractors (insurance fraud pays really well.)

Just move out here and rent - you'll be able to afford a house in a few years.

cjbruin

You make some very good points...but the 909 still sucks

chirojeremy

Thats what I am talking about! Thats EXACTLY what I have been saying for the last 5 years until today for some reason! I may have to return to my roots. Now, where do I want to live in CA????

chimivee

I was five in 1998.

chirojeremy

Sounds good to me. You know, growing up in Northern California in the 90s I grew up afraid of gangs, crime and the big cities. Now I have lived in a few fairly big cities like Dallas, Oklahoma City and Colorado Springs. They really are not that big of a deal. I am sure I would never venture to South Central LA or Oak Cliff outside Dallas. I could rent for a while until I got my practice established...

tinrobot

Bought in '97

So there.

Jaguar27

This is a good question, one of my Hobbies is following the Housing market, jobs and general economy in OC...especially here in Irvine and surrounding areas...

The RE market here is much worse than people realize, we are already seeing a rollback to 2003 values on Houses, we haven't seen the worst yet, the majority of sub-prime mortgages were written on 07, give them 3 years to re-set, that takes us into 2010 before we see the real carnage.
Not only are property values falling (there were more foreclosures since Christmas than sales) rental prices are falling to, there are a slew on one bedrooms vacant here in Irvine simply because people can't afford the rent and with a one bed can't get a Roomie.
There are hundreds of properties for rent on craigslist.org, most at very reasonable prices which is good untill the Bailiff comes knocking on the Door and turfs your Butt onto the street, this is the first time in history that it's neccessary to do a background check on the Renter before handing over a deposit and moving in...

How can people afford to live in SoCal? most can't, and taking the median income per family in Irvine which is $85K per year it takes almost twice that to qualify for a mortgage here, plus you need to come up with 20% down, excellent credit and most mortgage companies are expecting a savings account to enable one to pay the mortgage for 6 months if they lose their job...

The inland empire has been badly hit, those that did have some equity in their homes used their House as an ATM machine and bought Hummers, new Mercedes and other Toys, they also used HELOCs' (Home equity line of credit) for Home improvements making their House very nice for the Bank when they snatch it back...

The service industry, of which you will be a part of as a Chiropractor is also suffering, more and more people are losing their jobs and Health benefits so we're seeing a lot of Doctors, Dentists, LASIK providers really strugling because people are only now visiting helathcare providers when they have no choice.
One of my best Friends is a Chiropractor and he's seen a huge drop in Patients over the last few months...

I'm sorry to be so negative but I'm sure you'd rather hear the way it really is...

Go to google maps, search "find business" enter "chiropractor" and the zip "92614" to find out how much competition you'll have.

Having said all that, if you're a Cyclist, SoCal has a fantastic climate as you already know, look at it this way, we pay for the climate, everything else is free ;-)

roadfix

I bought in 1990 (should have offered much less), rode the roller coaster, hung in, and made my final mortgage payment in 2006.

cjbruin

shut up

tbrown524

I strip part time. PM me for the address.

chirojeremy

Competition in CA for Chiropractic is pretty brutal. I think the Dr/Patient ratio is less than 1/2500. The place where they say you want to be is about 1/5000. There is a difference though. Most chiropractors are satisfied with having a small practice and working 40 hours per week. The real successful docs work 20 hours per week and seeing well over 100 pts per day. I met a doc yesterday who saw 300 pts on a day that was 6 hours long and wrought with torrential downpours and even a tornado touching down within miles of the practice. Its the old econ 80/20 or 90/10 rule 80 percent of the money in the industry is made my only 20 percent of the people. In chiropractic, that means there are a ton of docs out there making jack squat. It is the elite company that make the real money. That is where I want to see myself. The good news for me is I dont graduate for another 2 years, so I that will give the market out there even more of a chance of breaking down to a reasonable level...

sestivers

Answer = Yes

urbanknight

My wife and I both have professional, higher education careers and RENT a small house.