For those of you who have moved to California, any regrets??? I really hate the weather in the midwest, but moving has its drawbacks: My family is in the midwest. Docs earn more in the midwest than in Kalifornia . Malpractice is better. Housing is dirt cheap... Really, the family issue is the biggest. Moving would mean my mother would only rarely get to see her grandkids... All of my cousins/nephews/etc are here... But I love California. We visit 2-3 times per year. Love San Diego and Napa Valley. Love the weather, the Life style, etc. Any of you have stories about moving? Regrets? Concern over cost of living? Etc. My wife says we should just "do it."
Figure out how much your tax would increase 1st. CA is 1 of the states w highest tax to pay for all their socialist pipe dreams
If I was in Chicago right now, I would want to get the hell out too! BUUURRRRHHH, too damn cold! I live in Sonora, CA which is 2 hours east of San Jose. Fairly rural. It's in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, western slope at 3200 feet. Drop-dead gorgeous area! Average home prices are around $450K (And climbing!), half the price of the Bay Area. What type of work do you do? In a town like Sonora, you will have to bring a trade with you.
Have lived here all my life. Great place but the politics are horrible if you are a conservative like me. Taxes and cost of housing are the most difficult things to overcome if you are from the mid-west. However, it is beautiful here and you cannot beat the weather! Even though I'm a conservative Christian (yes there are a few out here) it is a great place to live. As William H wrote, taxes are brutal!
Wisconsin isn't exactly tax friendly... Real estate is 2.2% of assesed value (which is usually spot on). 500,000 house runs 12-14,000$ per year... Income tax is 6-7% or so...not too hot. What are your rates out there??? My long term goal is to make enough recurring rental income in realestate, to replace my day job (doc). Then my occupation won't matter, neither will my location. I am several years away from that (optimistically speaking)... But several years from now the kids will be in school, and moving will be even worse.
I made the move here about 7 years ago. No regrets, and I don't think I would ever consider going back (I'm originally from New York). It is hard since my family is still there, but we manage. We usually fly out east a couple times a year, and they fly out here a couple times a year. My mother-in-law has since moved nearby, and that has been a big help. Moneywise, what can I say. The cost of living out here is nuts. I remember seeing an article a couple years ago in a newspaper with called "Going Broke on $150k/year", and sometimes I feel like that is a good analogy for living in california. But, if you are into cars, this is the place to be. Dom
CA property taxes are a tough pill to swallow. I would like to step up to a $1.5M home, but the 1.5% tax per year would be difficult. I'm currently sitting on 1.5% on a $170K home purchase from 1995 that is now worth about $700K. I have friends in Madison,WI and I am blown away with their tax rates, worse than CA!
I saw an article in National Geographic about silicon valley. It showed a software engineer, who earned over $100K, in a homeless shelter with his wife and kids because they could not find a place to live. Only in USA errrr I mean California!
Since the housing value is so low, that actually represents a lower % rate (for the quality of the house.) In order to buy a house that is the equivalent of a $500,000 house in WI, you would most likely spend twice if not three times as much in Cali. Anyhow, I loved the year I spent in Chicago and was very hesitant to move, but if your family is as important to you as it is for me. You might want to consider staying put (just take more vacations). It would be a shame to pay all the expenses of moving only to find that you spend all your vacation time + to come back to the mid-west.
If you're looking to make a career in real estate ventures CA probably isn't the place for you. Decent "starter homes" start at 1.5-2.2M in my area, crack dens go for 500k+. My head spins when I hear about property outside CA for 30-200k.. I guess I'm just used to it.
How old is everyone? If your mother is clearly near the end, why punish her? Sometimes the best alternative is to do nothing until circumstances change on their own. My parents wound up moving across country to help care for my grandmother after she had a stroke. You need to weigh your enjoyment of California against how you'd feel not being there for your mother if she was in need. If you have a sibling that lives near mom, that would make it far easier to leave IMO.
California - nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there again! Taxes are out of control there, and too many people, roads are horrible.
Ciertamente, depende encendido donde en California usted se mueve, pero hay una certeza: Usted necesita hablar la lengua.
No es problema. Hablo un poquito de espanol . A mi me gusta california...pero mi familia esta aqui... Hasta la bye-bye
My wife's uncle just sold his house in SoCal this past week. He paid about $175K a few years ago, just sold it for $400K+. It was on a 1 acre lot, In a desert SH!THOLE where there are no sidewalks. I know because I grew up in that desert SH!THOLE. He is now retireing from the SBC Sherrifs department and moving to a 40 acre lot in Wyoming that he paid $1K per acre for. In His Words "I will never again live in a State that borders an Ocean or another Country". His reason is all tax money goes to basically nothing except for Imagrants. Yes he does sound racist. But after being a cop for so many years and seeing all that crap he sees, its kinda hard not to be. Even though I don't mind living in California, it is possible that I may be leaving just to be able to afford housing and if my business doesn't start making money. I currently share a mortgage with my inlaws just to be able to get by. I could go on and on but I won't.
"His reason is all tax money goes to basically nothing except for Imagrants." What would the "truth" be?
In 2005, the current fiscal impact of immigration was negative. Immigrants used more in public services than they contributed in taxes Fiscal effects were more negative for unauthorized immigrants than for any other group of residents. Immigrants as a group (especially unauthorized immigrants) have below-average incomes, particularly in their first years of residence in the United States. The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) study used an estimate of 425,000 unauthorized immigrant K-12 students in 2004. The average cost per student was $7,577, for a total of $3.2 billion. FAIR added an additional $4.5 billion for the native-born U.S. citizen children of unauthorized immigrants. Emergency Medicaid assistance is the main federal benefit program open to unauthorized immigrants. The federal government shares in the costs of emergency Medicaid benefits. However, the percentage of costs shared is smalldespite constant pressure from states for higher reimbursements. According to the Governors 2005-2006 budget, the California Department of Corrections expects to spend $730 million in 2005-2006 for incarceration of undocumented prisoners. A single mother with one child will have no 2004 income tax liability unless she earns over $35,780. A family of four with two children will have no 2004 state income tax liability unless their income exceeds $44,480. The result is California continues to go deeper into debt every year, and the progressive tax system has steadily increased the burden on native higher income taxpayers. Thats the truth!
I moved from Cleveland to San Diego 10 years ago. Best move I made in my life. You can drive a Ferrari (or any sports car) 12 months a year. The ocean and mountains are 15 minutes from my house, and we have some of the best roads in the country for driving - coastal, mountain, name it. You can do any sport you like 12 months a year. I leave the windows open for months at a time (except when I travel.) There is a lot of truth to the lifestyle. A lot of ambitious people move out here and do innovative things, whereas many of my midwestern friends are there because they've always lived there. My brother has a magnificent 1915 Tudor house in Cleveland, and it's much larger and less expensive than my slapped together stucco tract home, but I'll take a top-down drive into La Jolla or Del Mar or up to the tennis club and I couldn't care less. "Just do it" was my attitude, and it worked out great for me - I'm just in better mood every day because I'm here. But: real estate is beyond sustainable prices now. I can't think of a worse time to try to pick up rental properties. Also, the traffic in the three biggest cities -- LA, San Diego and San Francisco -- can be a nightmare. I love California, but San Diego is maybe the last unspoiled part and it's no bargain now. SF is cold, wet, crowded and overpriced, IMO -- I've declined to move up there a couple of times. On top of that, the politics up there aren't mine (and I'm not a conservative Christian by any stretch!) It does depend on your family situation though. It's a hassle, and sometimes expensive, to keep traveling across the country for visits or if you have to care for an aging parent. You might also check out schools for your kids - CA schools are abysmal, and the few good school districts (I happen to live in one of them) have commensurately higher home prices. As a single guy who's not chained to an office, I'm more forgiving of California's problems than you might be.
And lets not forget the single biggest threat to Californians - BEARS! Image Unavailable, Please Login
[/QUOTE] Thats the truth![/QUOTE] That still does not support the statement that the taxes don't pay for anything else....the article you posted references the relationship of immigrant tax payers vs. immigrant tax benefit. That is very different than the statement that taxes don't pay for anything else except immigrants. Afterall, the guys uncle is a government employee paid by taxes. Not only did he directly benefit for a very long time from taxes through his salary, the influx of immigration into the California is one of the driving reasons for driving housing shortage (yes, I know it's easy to focus on undocumented and low income immigrants but don't forget about the ones who are tax paying and contributing citizens who own homes) which ultimately benefitted him again as the value of his home, which was supported through his salary of tax dollars, appreciated exponentially. All that aside, my statement was more reflective feeling sorry for any person who believes there is a valid excuse for being a racist. I lived in California for 15 years until 3 years ago (I guess, according to the state of California, I kinda still do live there since I still pay taxes). I still own several homes there and will move back eventually (the medical system in California is really screwed up for practitioners). The biggest thing I miss about California is the cultural aspect...restaurants, theater, diversity of population, etc. but weekend trips have made the transition not so bad. Plus, the weather is pretty nice in Dallas and thank goodness for the nice people in the Ferrari group.
